Day: May 3, 2008

Three sentence movie reviews–Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Jason Segel seems to be a less raunchy member of the Apatow mafia, so this movie skews a tiny bit older than Superbad, or even Knocked Up’s adolescent humor. One of the things I enjoy about Apatow-influenced movies is that beneath their yucky boy-centric antics, they are willing to explore the feelings of the male species circa 2008. Still not a movie you want to take your grandmother to, but very enjoyable, especially Kristen Bell and Russell Brand.

Matt and I celebrated our sixth anniversary with a double feature of Iron Man and Forgetting Sara Marshall.

Three sentence movie reviews–Iron Man.

“But Robert Downey Jr. IS an alcoholic superhero!” exclaims my friend, and that is the true success behind this movie. Just as Soon I Will be Invincible is the perfect superhero novel, Iron Man is the perfect superhero movie. Funny, touching,–did I mention that Robert Downey Jr. is in it?–fast paced, and with lots of gadgets.

If I had one more sentence I would finish with “Well worth two hours of your time and $10.00 of your money.”

Atonement. Ian McEwan

Atonement: A Novel Atonement: A Novel by Ian McEwan

My review


rating: 4 of 5 stars
I reserved this book from the library right after I saw the movie. Many other people had the same idea and I was number 198 of 198. I had avoided reading the book before I saw the movie because the whole “Booker Prize Winner” thing. I am a lazy reader and tend to stay away from Pulitzers,Bookers, and any other prize that screams “prestige”

That said, I was reminded that my attitude can keep me from some good books, of which this was one. I used to stridently side with “books” in the “movie version of the book” debate, but in my older years I have mellowed. Mostly if the movie people get the story right, I’m pretty happy. When there are changes to the story line I’m intrigued, rather than angry. Reading this book after seeing the movie was like getting a DVD extra. All the thought processes that weren’t able to be translated to the screen were there.

Atonement was gripping and eminently readable and I’m not ashamed to say I stayed home from work and read the entire thing in a day.

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