A suspense movie with comic moments, this is also 117 minutes of thinking how awesome Blake Lively looks in a suit. I felt the script pointed me in a clear direction early on; this turned out to not be the actual direction, so when things resolved themselves it took some time for me to let go of my framework and accept what the movie was telling me. Other than that, this was a crisp, succinct fabulous movie.*
Cost: $6.00 Where watched: McMenamins St. Johns Theater with Matt, who is an Anna Kendrik fan.
*This film is more evidence of my hypothesis: Paul Fieg is the best white male director for stories about women.
Mr. and Mrs Bo Jo Jones was a good read made better by the physical copy of the book I was reading. Some of the fun features:
Buckram! That’s that hard wrapping that used to be put on all books when I was growing up. This was before it became standard practice to retain the book cover, but fortify it with plastic. I prefer the new method, but the texture of buckram is something I enjoy.
This book also has an older style barcode. The barcode is only a backup measure. The book is checked out using RFID, which is a small chip placed inside the front cover of the book.
It’s also got an old-style sticker on the spine and a highlight on that old-style sticker. I’m guessing the highlight has something to do with how the book is stored at the library.
The paper was thick and stiff, much more so than books I read today. It made the pages easier to turn and the relative heft was appreciated.
And inside was the best treat of all: the old checkout pocket. I was sad when these were eliminated, because I liked to look back and see how often a book was checked out. Also note that at one time this was a 28 day book with no renewals. Now books are checked out for 21 days with unlimited renewals.
The second page in the pocket tells us that the book was checked out infrequently over three decades and was shelved in the “Young Peoples” section. The author of this book wrote it for adults, though it has been categorized as “for teens” since the 60s.
And on the front page, a stamp identifying the Multnomah County Library. I’m not sure why the library association is listed in parenthetical, but I’m sure there was a committee brought together to decide that.
For me, it’s the most forgettable Ocean’s movie* but that doesn’t really matter because it’s another opportunity to hang around with the crew. Though lacking in both Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ellen Barkin does some great work. And there’s that funny bit with Linus’ nose.
Cost: free from library Where watched: at home, with Matt
*Unlike the other two movies, I remembered nothing about the plot.
