Had I not read this cleverly structured book, this would have been an okay movie. But unfortunately, I had and found this to be a pale imitation of the drama and pathos of the book, which I recommend you read (even you men!) The acting was good, and I was gleefully delighted to spot Alba for the first time, but if you must chose between the experiences, I recommend you skip the movie and read the book.
This was a very fun movie, in a 1940’s-style movie way. Which means it was a little predictable, but no less fun to watch. I thought Chis Evans was a great choice for Captain America because he managed to convey both strength and compassion throughout the movie.
I had read that this was the shortest of the HP movies, though it seemed very full of length for me. Due to the aforementioned not re-reading the book, nearly everything in this movie was a surprise to me which made for a very entertaining movie going experience. I remembered the “19 years later” ending, although forgot who Harry and Hermione named their son after, and this slayed me afresh, for a perfect ending to a probably-not-to-be-repeated-in-my-lifetime book/movie experience.
This was one of those rare movies where all the characters were slightly flawed in a way that made them very human and very interesting to watch. It was also a movie filled will actors I love: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor, and the always delightful “squee, it’s her! squee!” Melanie Lynskey. Alex Shaffer, who played the flat-affect teenager, was also awesome, making this a perfect movie, with great wrestling scenes, a rarity in the movie world.*
This was a bit boring, and I did nod off during the movie. However, the chemistry was quite good between Jane and Mr. Rochester (whom I have just realized played Magneto in X-Men First Class–that guy is suddenly in everything) and I thought the acting was well done on all parts. It was rather sedately paced, good for knitting, I think.
As it tuns out, yes. Dictionary.com defines it as such:
Now we know.
I watch all my TV on DVD and it’s time to begin recognizing this fact via “three sentence movie reviews” posts.
A second viewing of this movie was just as pleasurable as the first.* Unlike other HP movies in the franchise (ahem Sorcerer’s Stone, ahem) this was quite crackling in its pacing. It helps also that I have only read the book once and that was four years ago, so I’ve forgotten many of the small (and main) details.
Peas. Grew them.
Radishes. Grew them.
Lettuce. Grew it.
Dandelion Greens: “let” them grow until I harvested them.*
*I built
the roof for myself, the walls
for myself, the floors
for myself, and got
hung up in it myself.
I felt that what this movie did well it did very well, namely accurately capturing 14 year old boy interactions, which were very funny. I felt that we went too long without seeing the monster, and that worried and distracted me, detracting from the overall film. Though it was lightly enjoyable, (think sorbet instead of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food) I thought the most interesting part of the movie would have come after the movie itself ended, when the people returned to their now devastated town.
It looks like I didn’t read much this month. This was because Mary was very long, but also because I was doing that thing I said I wouldn’t do anymore where I’m reading several books at once. Most of them I finished right after the turn of the month, look for them in the July review. In the meantime, here’s how my June went.
Read
Mary
Janis Cooke Newman
Good lord, but this book was long. It was also mostly depressing, because Mary–as depicted by this author–was just never quite fulfilled. No one ever quite loved her enough and her interests did not mesh with her sphere of the time. I think today she would have been a beloved talk show host a la Rosie O’Donnell, but maybe with a bit more of an edge. The book was interesting, and full of detail, but I just didn’t enjoy it every much.
The Wilder Life
Wendy McClure
If you could rock a Laura Ingalls Wilder Pub Trivia Night (and why have I not seen one of those?) then you will love this book. Wendy McClure does what I want to do: she visits all of the LIW home sites, immerses herself in the books, reads criticism and history of Wilder’s life and stories and even makes butter. She is also quite funny. This is a humorous, breezy book for everyone who has read the books over and over. My preferred way: my mother read them to me, but once I could handle them on my own, I read the whole series every summer. Sometimes I would read them backwards and enjoy Mary’s miraculous return of sight.
The Brothers K
David James Duncan
Read for Kenton book club. (Although it was a re-read for me, I first read it in the late 90s)
“It’s got a lot of baseball, but it’s totally worth it!” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said that to someone reading this book. And there is a lot of baseball. And I know that not everyone is into baseball. But if you can just get through the baseball (and there is less of it as the book goes on) you will read one of my top 30 books of all time. It’s very long, yes. It’s meanders, yes. It’s is chock full of America’s Pastime that no one I know seems to like very much, yes. But if you keep reading, I bet you will like it as much as I did.
Anne of Green Gables
L.M. Montgomery
I started this series when I was about 14 and enjoyed them, though not enough to finish all six books. I think I petered out in book five. I decided summer is a good time to see if a re-read is a good idea and the answer is, “Yes ma’am!” This book is funny, not in a slap-sticky kind of way, but because Montgomery is so good at writing her characters so vividly. Anne, though mostly “very good” in that early-20th century children’s book character way, is not sickening in her goodness, she’s funny. I couldn’t get enough and will be continuing on with the series. Also, of note: this book uses big vocabulary for something that is a children’s book. A lot of words were SAT-type words, and I’m not sure today’s 12-year-old would know them. Clearly, children reading books circa 1900 would have done much better on the SATs than today’s youth.
Order of the Stick, Book 1
Rich Burlew
As mentioned every time I review a graphic novel, said genre isn’t my thing due to my skimming technique and the not looking at the pictures that provide a good portion of the action. However, Matt and I read this aloud during our Bike Trip, with each of us taking parts. Matt helpfully put his finger on the frames of the comic that have no words, so I was forced to look at them and comprehend. This worked well and I enjoyed the humor of this Dungeons and Dragons Adventure send up.
