February 2020 – Out & About

Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts

My favorite of the three programs.

Oscar Nominated Live Action Shorts

First time seeing!

Starman

If an alien looked like your dead husband, would you fall in love?

P.S. I Still Love You

When the relationship starts it’s not always the Happily Ever After.

Stop Making Sense

Hearing familiar songs in a brand new way.

I am not Your Negro

A documentary chock full of James Baldwin’s words.

Homecoming

Spectacular Spectacle

It was a great movie music month!

Picture Books

Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreño Played Piano for President Lincoln
Margarita Engle Rafael Lopez
Read for Librarian Book Group

Lovely illustrations capture the 1860s. This picture book has a lot of words in it which felt like a lot when I read it aloud to the cats, who were indifferent and gave me no feedback if it was too long. I would have liked a picture in the back matter.

The Bell Rang
James E. Ransome
Read for Librarian Book Group

A week in the life of a enslave family where each day starts with the bell ringing. As depictions of enslaved families are rare, this is a pretty cool book.

What is Given From the Heart
Patricia McKissack & April Harrison
Read for Librarian Book Group

Calm and quiet pictures illustrate a story of giving when one has very little.

Sulwe
Lupita Nyong’o
Read for Librarian Book Group

Sulwe’s skin is darker than her family and she is troubled by this. I’m glad to see more of this topic lately (I also enjoyed the middle grade novel Genesis Begins Again) and I loved the illustrations.

Double Bass Blues
Andrea J. Loney & Rudy Guiterrez
Read for Librarian Book Group

A lot of really great sounds paired with illustrations that are both abstract and representational. Really great faces!

Hey Water
Antoinette Portis
Read for Librarian Book Group

It’s the water cycle, but with each form having its own page. Both the illustrations and text draw the eye from page to page.

Bear Came Along
Richard T. Morris & LeUyen Pham
Read for Librarian Book Group

A book that builds on itself and has a lot of dramatic tension.

I was unclear about why the river didn’t know it was a river. Are rivers having some sort of identity crisis I don’t know about?

A Friend for Henry
Jenn Bailey, Mika Song
Read for Librarian Book Group

Henry likes very specific things. He also doesn’t like very specific things. It’s hard for him to make a friend.

Between the words of the text and the excellent illustrations, I felt for Henry. Especially with the carpet squares.

Across the Bay
Carlos Aponte
Read for Librarian Book Group

Carlos lives with his mother and grandmother, but misses his father who, his mother tells him, lives across the bay. One day Carlos travels across the bay by ferry to look for his father.

The illustrations were sunny and tropical, a nice break from gray winter skies.

Bowwow Powwow
Brenda Child, Jonathan Thunder
Read for Librarian Book Group

Windy Girl and her dog Itchy Boy remember about the powwows in the summer.

Stop Bot!
James Young
Read for Librarian Book Group

A vertical story of a bot that floats up the face of a tall building. As it floats, people try to stop it. There are many details to follow from page to page.

Gittel’s Journey
Lesléa Newman & Amy June Bates (sp)
Read for Librarian Book Group

Gittel is sad to leave her home to sail to America with her mother. She is even sadder when her mother has to send her on alone. The illustrations feel period-appropriate.

Middle Grade

Each Tiny Spark
Pablo Cartaya
Read for Librarian Book Group

Emilia Torres is making strides becoming her own person, learning to manage her style of learning and is navigating changing friendships and her dad’s return from a tour of duty. There were many good character acts.

Lety Out Loud
Angela Cervantes
Read for Librarian Book Group

Letty is learning English (her second language) and her time at a camp at the animal shelter—the kind of camp we used to call a day camp, rather than a sleepaway camp—has her writing and making plans. This book has well-rounded characters and a suitable middle-grade level of tension/subject matter.

The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree
Paola Peretti
Read for Librarian Book Group

A slim book about a girl losing her sight written by a woman who was a girl losing her sight. It was a slow, repetitive build, but I was completely emotionally invested by the end.

The Other Half of Happy
Rebecca Balcáreal
Read for Librarian Book Group

Quijana struggles with not knowing more Spanish, especially when her cousins move to her Texas town. She also has a big crush on Jayden and doesn’t want to visit Guatemala with her family.

This book hit all the middle-grade notes, and I appreciated the full-on exploration of feelings around her crush. It was also one of those books that took me forever to get through. That’s usually a sign that something hasn’t quite clicked for me.

Young Adult

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them
Junauda Petrus
Read for Librarian Book Group

The story of Audre, a girl banished from Trinidad for loving another girl. She lands in Minneapolis where she reconnects with Mabel, a childhood acquaintance.

This book includes tons of good friendship and love stuff. I loved how individual Audre and Mabel’s voices were. There was a bunch of dream stuff that I felt like meandered and I’m too linear of a person for the ending, but otherwise this was an enjoyable read.

Where the World Ends
Gearldine McCaughren
Read for Librarian Book Group

This was a book that I read to find out what happened to strand twelve people on a crag of rock more so than for a love of the story itself. There’s also a lot of bird killing in this book, which could be off-putting for some.

I didn’t love this novel, but I enjoyed how McCaughren could find a lot of plot in a tiny space where each day was the same, plus her descriptions were excellent. I also was really looking forward to the author’s note at the end and it did not disappoint. What a tale has been woven from just a few sentences in the historical record!

The Hand on the Wall
Maureen Johnson

This was a very satisfying conclusion to the Truly Devious trilogy. Aside from wrapping things up, it was good at evoking New England during a blizzard.

Cursed
Karol Ruth Silverstein
Read for Librarian Book Group

An overly long book about a fourteen-year-old girl dealing with the sudden onset of a chronic and painful disease written by a woman with the same disease. It includes a prickly male teacher I could root for. I’m always up for a teacher who is a stickler and also loves their students. Also includes a principal and a doctor who might as well have been twirling their villainous mustaches.

There were weird gaps in the plot. Sure, she lives with her dad, but why does she never see her mom?

This book wasn’t the most polished I’ve read, but a lot of people deal with chronic illness and I don’t come across depictions of the day-to-day struggles. I welcomed this portrayal.

Someday We Will Fly
Rachel DeWaskin
Read for Librarian Book Group

Did you know that Shanghai was a place for Jewish people to flee to during World War II? Me neither! This book imagines the life of a teenager from Poland living in Shanghai with her father and much younger sister. It was full of interesting details about a segment of WWII history I knew nothing about.

It’s also a WWII book set outside of Europe, something I regularly comment that we need more of. It was a World War, not a European War.

Sick Kids in Love
Hannah Moskowitz
Read for Librarian Book Group

“They don’t die in this one.” That’s what the text on the front cover says. It took me a bit to notice it because the library’s bar code was partially blocking the words, but it cracked me up when I did finally see it.

There are all kinds of illnesses, many of them not fatal, and this is the second rheumatoid arthritis book I’ve read this month.

Aside from being a great love story, it also does a deep dive into life as a sick person and how things work differently. It’s also a good “finding your family” book.

This is one of those books that was pleasurable from start to finish. It’s not changing the world, or upending literature as we know it, but it’s a good story that I put off reading the newspaper for. Nicely done, Hannah Moskowitz.

Surviving the City
Tasha Soillett & Natasha Donvan
Read for Librarian Book Group

Much of this book was unclear to me. Partially because I’m not familiar with the traditions of the culture and also because it took me a bit to catch on to the ghost things.

Young Nonfiction

The Great Nijinsky: God of Dance
Lynn Curlee
Read for Librarian Book Group

A brief history of the famous that dancer that includes just the right amount of detail and which also normalizes same-sex relationships in a way I find to be very good.

Growing up, in the 80s and 90s, we didn’t talk about gay people, except the ample use of the word “faggot.” I remember seeing a poster in the late 80s titled something like, “Famous gay people throughout history” and my first reaction was “No, all of those people can’t be gay!”

I didn’t hate gay people, I just didn’t ever see them, except as flamboyant caricatures in a very few movies, or as sick and dying men on TV. I was not overly told that being gay was a “wrong” thing, but I had absorbed the message that something was wrong with it.

I’m all better now, so no worries there, but I know there are kids who are still raised the way I was. They have more messages countering the stealthy and overt “gay is bad.” The more varieties of media that can say matter-of-factly, “these two men were lovers” the better off we all are.

Homecoming is a film by Beyoncé

The review:

In Homecoming, Beyoncé and Ed Burke capture the magic of Beyoncé’s 2018 Cochella performance which included a drum line, step dancing, tight choreography, a set that includes risers that look like a pyramid, and the power of Beyoncé’s music.* Interspersed with the action on stage are scenes of the planning and execution of this performance including information about why the show was delayed for a year and all of the personal physical preparation Beyoncé had to take to be ready.** This movie is for anyone who likes pageantry, anyone who likes to see how musical performances are created, and for sure, anyone who loves a drum line.***

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

20 Feet from Stardom
Cabin in the Sky (though it’s from 1943 and thus racist, but the performances are great!)
Purple Rain
Dreamgirls

Further sentences:

*A true confession exposing my unfortunate proclivities to discount contributions by women and by women of color: After the first five minutes, I had the thought, “I wonder how much of this Beyoncé was around for? Did she slide in after it was all choreographed and put together?” This despite the title: Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé. Luckily for me, Beyoncé (the director!) anticipated that people might wonder such a thing and I soon realized that she was the creator of everything about this incredible performance. I’m calling out my racist and sexist thought to illustrate that I still have discounting thoughts like that, and I need to catch them when they happen.
**I love that she reported her exact weight before she gave birth to twins, and talked about the difficulties of getting her body into a specific shape in time for this performance. It was also painful to watch, and I wish we lived in a world where women could live in the bodies they have after they give birth.
***I am not a follower of Ms. Knowles’s music; I recognized two songs. This did not distract me from loving every minute of this movie.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Beyoncé was paid $8 million to perform at Coachella.
(This was the only trivia item)
(Also: good job Beyoncé)

Other reviews:

I Am Not Your Negro is the Present

The review:

Raoul Peck’s I am Not Your Negro is the type of documentary that grabbed me from the preview, because who wouldn’t want to watch James Baldwin talk about stuff? The movie does an excellent job juxtaposing Baldwin’s words (read by Samuel L. Jackson) about the history of race in America with images from the past that spin a different tale of our history. It also pairs his observations about his own contemporary society with our contemporary society and the film’s many quotes that hit you right in the gut.*

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: free via Kanopy, the library’s streaming service.
Where watched: at home

Further sentences:

*This movie does not mention that James Baldwin was a gay man at a time when uncloseted gay men were few and far between. People have criticized the film for this reason.

Questions:

Does not having the context of Baldwin’s sexuality detract from the film?
How do you see the history of race in America play out in your life?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The film is based on James Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript of 30 pages for a novel which has never before been released to the public. The film, in a way, finishes this work by incorporating other interviews and writings by Baldwin and expanding on the themes through archival footage

Other reviews:

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is Incendiary

The review:

Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire is* a movie singularly focused on women in a way that few films are.** There is so much to see in this film, from the way the artist studies her subject surreptitiously, to the way the portrait evolves. It’s also a movie where class barriers are removed, and one that depicts a common issue most movies don’t address; by the end I felt fully immersed in these characters*** and their world.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: $9.00
Where watched: Living Room Theaters

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*It is at this point that I want to insert my original take, texted to my friend: I have now seen Portrait of a Lady on Fire and deem it a slow burn, but very good. There I am, being punny without meaning to. This movie is not concerned about speed, but it earns its viewers’ attention with every deliberate scene.
**Where are the men in this film? I found their absence to be not at all realistic, but also a refreshing tonic. It was like my early undergraduate days, spent at a women’s college. I suspect the lack of men in this film has something to do with the fact that I first heard about this from the Online Female Film Critics 2019 awards shortlist, and heard almost nothing about it for the rest of awards season. Movies without women? Fine. Movies without men? Just not interesting to most of the people who review movies.
***I am also now curious to look up all the previous directorial efforts of Céline Sciamma, and previous movies with Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel and Luàna Bajrami

Question:

Do you think she was actually on fire, or was it a manifestation?
Did you see the page number thing coming?
Are movies that remove standard things (men, for instance) to tell their story distracting for the lack of such things, or captivating because of the removal?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The literal translation of the original title is Portrait of the Young Girl on Fire. One suspects that “the young girl” was changed to “a lady” for the English title of the film in order to evoke the Henry James novel, The Portrait of a Lady.

Other reviews:

Post Office Site Broadway Corridor

As mentioned before, the main USPS processing facility in Portland has moved from downtown Portland to a location by the airport. That leaves the massive space to be redeveloped. My walk over the Broadway Bridge gave me the opportunity to grab some photos before everything is dissasembled.

Here’s the official notice.

Here’s a view of the back half of the 14-acre site. This part is hemmed in by two approaches to the Broadway Bridge. I’m standing on Broadway Street and you can see NW Lovejoy on the left side of the picture.

This part of the site is mostly open, as it was where semi trucks pulled in and out. The back part of the picture shows many building built in the Pearl District over the past twenty years. Before that happened, the post office fit right in. The space was filled with warehouses, rail yards, and the like.

And here’s the view of the back half of the massive building. While the post linked to above showed the public facing part of the building, most of the space was filled with mail sorting machines.

I got to tour that space once, while being a chaparone for a class studying mail. It was so fun to see all the machines.

Heartburn Starts With a Happy Marriage

The review:

Mike Nichols gives us a happy marriage that suddenly slams on its breaks in Heartburn.* I’m not a fan of Jack Nicholson** and was surprised to find him a chilled-out, easier-to-watch dude who nicely offset Meryl Streep’s performance, plus I enjoyed that darling red-headed baby.*** This is full of great lines and a great selection of 1986-era clothing, plus Kevin Spacey’s first film role, and various 80s-style ridiculous situations.

The verdict: Good

Cost: Free via Kanopy, the library’s streaming service.
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

When Harry Met Sally
Sleepless in Seattle
Sleeping With Other People
Marriage Story

Further sentences:

*I was under the mistaken impression that this movie was all divorce, all the time, but it begins with with the couple meeting at a wedding.
**”Are you watching The Shining?” the boyfriend asked as he caught a glimpse of Nicholson on the screen.”
“Nope,” I replied, “I’m watching a movie with the cutest baby ever!”
***Later in the film, looking at the way Meryl Streep was looking at that baby, I thought, “Is that Meryl Streep’s baby?” And it was. That’s Mamie Gummer.

Questions:

Knowing that this was based on the Nora Ephron/Carl Bernstein marriage, what do you think about Bernstein being a ladies’ man/lech?
Have you read this book?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

In Everything Is Copy (2015), Jacob Bernstein’s documentary about his mother Nora Ephron’s life and career, he reveals that contentious negotiations over the movie adaptation of her novel Heartburn extended his parents’ divorce for several years longer than most divorces take. Eventually, their divorce agreement included a stipulation that the movie was not allowed to depict the “Mark Forman” (Carl Bernstein) character as anything but a good, loving, and conscientious father (whatever his failings as a faithful husband were), and Mike Nichols had to be named as a legal signatory to the divorce.

Random bit of me trivia:

The Carly Simon song featured on this soundtrack “Coming Around Again” was played ad infinitum on the radio station my parents listened to.

Out of context, this quote sounds dirty. Jack Nicholson was talking about some food that Meryl Streep had cooked.

Space made for drivers walking but not for walkers walking

Sometimes I get off the MAX train early and walk across the Broadway Bridge to get to work. In the last few years, this situation has evolved. There used to be parking spaces that weren’t very well signaged, then the bike lane, then the car lane. Things have been rearranged into bike lane, then a space for walking, then the parking spaces, then the lane for cars. You can even see the bit of crosswalk that has been added.

So why does this bug me? Because that place for walking was made for the people who have driven their cars and parked. It is not for people walking who want to continue to the Broadway Bridge. You can see what happens here:

At the last parking space, the bike lane takes over where the walking space was. As a pedestrian, I am forced to either walk in the bike lane until I hit that crosswalk you can barely see in the distance or cross the bike line and walk in the grass.

While there are probably not a ton of people walking on this street, I think it’s important to include all modes of transportation, not just some.

Watergate. Now a board game.

Matt introduced me to Watergate, where one of us worked to expose the scandal, while the other was Nixon trying to stay in office and avoid resignation.