The Count of Monte Cristo - 10/12/2007

NOOO, not that Monte Cristo. This one.

Or as some of you may remember:

As I read on a T-shirt and thought was VERY fitting: Never judge a book by its movie. The Jim Caviezel version is NOT the same as the book. It's a good movie, they just.....changed things to make it spicier.

For instance, I do not see Monsieur Alexandre Dumas, the author, writing anything about premarital sex and women getting knocked up. Totally made up for the movie.

The book is the story of revenge and redemption. Our protagonist, Edmond, is 19, just became captain of his own ship in the 1830's and has the love of the beautiful Mercedes. But, one man jealous of Edmond's good fortune and another man, yearning for Mercedes, plot to destroy Edmond. They set him up as a traitor to his country. Just when you think he is about to be let free, a third man, a lawyer, commits Edmond to prison to hide the truth of the crime; that the lawyer's father is involved.

Innocent Edmond spends years in this horrid prison. He is about to kill himself when he meets a most spectacular man. An Abbe who has been digging a tunnel for years & years, only to dig in the wrong direction and end up in Edmond's cell. The two strike up a friendship. This old priest teaches Edmond everything he knows; literature, science, languages. Years and years pass and the old man dies. Edmond uses the dead man's shroud as his escape from the prison island, with a map to riches. The old priest was thought to be mad by the prison guards, because he kept mentioning riches he had hidden. Sure enough, on the small little island of Monte Cristo, Edmond finds his riches.

Nine years and MANY intricate details, plots and plans later, he emerges as The Count of Monte Cristo, to exact revenge on the 3 men who kept him incarcerated.

The machinations Edmond went through, YEARS of this, were a lot to take in. Dumas put a lot of detail in the book, and various characters. Sometimes, I got lost with who was who. I read a whole chapter with "bad guy # 1" in my head, only to realize it was "bad guy # 2." I suggest jotting down who is who at the beginning, just to keep the story straight. It does *not* end up like the movie.

The book was exciting though and I found it a quick read because of the intricate details.

Another one to cross of my list of Classics. C'est l'ouevre d'un bon auteur.

To Kill a Mockingbird, the Movie - 09/13/2007

After reading "To Kill a Mockingbird," I was sure there was a movie made of this book, so I rented it from Blockbuster on-line.

It was a really good adaptation of the book. Like all movies based on books, they had to cut some things out, but for the most part, were I Harper Lee, I would have been proud of this 1962 adaptation. In my mind, I saw Jimmy Stewart in the role of Atticus. I was close. Gregory Peck had the lead role. He did a terrific job of playing Atticus' quiet strength. Out of all the characters, I loved Atticus most. The story is told by his daughter, Scout, and some felt that the story was more about Jem's coming of age (Niki) but I still loved Atticus. His 1930's character embodied something we sorely miss; I sorely miss.

The movie was like the book; sweet & thought-provoking. The only draw-back to the movie for me was the actress playing Scout. I am sorry, I know she was young, but her acting was just so bad. It was her first role, poor thing, I know. She just never shed a tear in the crying scenes, not a one. She would make a scowling face and 5 seconds later, she's straight-faced again. I was really disappointed at her acting when she finally met Boo, played by the way, by Robert Duval (cool!!!) who had no speaking lines.

Here she is meeting BOO for Pete's sake! She's supposed to be tearing up. Instead we get a goofy, too wide-eyed look. *sigh* Aside from that, I enjoyed the movie almost as much as the book. May the Atticus be with you!

Memoirs of a Geisha - 07/08/2007

I never had any intention of reading Arthur Golden's book, "Memoirs of a Geisha." The idea of it in my mind was dullness, ritual, ancient yada yada, and it did not strike me as anything I would want to read. Yes, color me ethnocentric.
David rented the movie, or was it me? I can't remember. I just remember thinking the movie was a beautiful piece of work. I was moved by Chiyo's story and Sayuri's final conquest of her dream. A few days later, unbeknown to me, my best friend mailed me her copy of the book.

Normally, I will read the book before I watch the movie. I don't want the director/producer's views to cloud up the images in my mind for me, but in this case, I had no choice.

I find it incredible that this work came not from a Japanese woman, but from an American man. And let me tell you, I am glad he did. It was a terrific read. The movie really did do a good job. Some scenes were cut, for time, some characters changed around (again for time) but all in all, the movie stuck closely to the book. The book gave you more back story and end story, which I was grateful for. I cringed every time Hatsumomo was around. I could barely read the part with Sayuri and the Baron, as I had seen the movie and knew what was coming. I hesitated, aren't I silly? I plowed through that part like someone desperate to save a friend, but I made it. I was saddened by the devastation Pumpkin's betrayal caused Sayuri, but really, it was Pumpkin's betrayal that brought about Sayuri's happy ending. I was seeing the life of a Geisha in a new light; not a prostitute as many Westerner's think, but as an artist. They are like slave's to their art, but once they know this life, it is what they want for themselves. A beautiful, harsh existence of fine detail. Arthur Golden's prose is...soothing to the mind; does that make sense? I felt lulled by the beauty (not in a"boring" way, either). I enjoyed the ritual, the ancient, the yada yada and my mind is still entranced by it.

Dead Man's Party - 01/12/2007

Anyone see the movie "Donnie Darko?" It is a.... psychological? .... Sci-Fi.....what is it? movie about a disturbed young man. He's schizophrenic and sees a 6 foot tall frightening bunny....most definitely not "Harvey," but Frank, whose voice he hears during the day and who gives him a verbal portent of doom to come in like 26 days. This movie is existential, it's not rational. HE is not rational, yet things click into place in the end in an eerie culmination that keeps you thinking long after it is over. Jake Gyllenhal plays a convincing sad, confused oftentimes disturbed Donnie with the apropos last name. He lives and sees things in a level of reality that others can't see and his "visions" that others think are the babbling of an insane person reveal themselves to be true, but only to the audience. The ending took me a second to understand; the portal, the engine, the book the lady wrote, the second reality. It was dark, I was sad, and it was good. If you want a movie that will make you think, rent Donnie Darko.

On the literary front, I checked out "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. This was a recommendation from my pal Wendy. It was one of her book club books. Side note: I would LOVE to join a book club. She's in Minnesota, so no joining hers. I can't though, with David and my work situation.

Back to Ms. Sebold's book. I got it Thursday during my lunch break. I came home at 5:30-ish and started dinner. I bathed Isabel, and did other things, as I started to read bits and pieces throughout the night. At 11:30 p.m., when I stopped reading, I had gone through 261 pages.
The story is told by a 14 year old girl who has just been murdered. She is in heaven looking down on her parents, siblings, her friends, her town, her murderer. She is watching life unfold after she is gone. It is heart-wrenching. My heart actually ached while reading this; my eyes teared up at some points. It's the struggle of this girl; the struggle of this poor family, dealing with their loss individually, rather than as a whole. It's the breaking of some relationships, and the strengthening of others. I was extremely melancholy when I went to bed. Wendy told me to take heart; the ending is great. I have less than 100 pages to go, but I want to wait until Isabel is in bed before I give this book my full attention.

Forever - 08/11/2006

I'm a Whedonist. I have not wanted to watch t.v. since the demise of the Whedonverse: Buffy, Angel & Firefly. The man...is a genious. Really. If you have not seen his shows, then you cannot talk. And I don't mean one little episode. I mean full seasons. THEN you can comment. The language, the slang, the intelligent dialog, the funny-as-**** dialog. ("Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal" - Wash, "Serenity" 101.) The "actually having a plotiness" of it all. *sigh*

I've been rewatching Firefly this week. I miss Captain Tightpants. I miss Kayleigh, Zoe, Wash, Inara, Jayne (The Hero of Canton, the man they call.....Jayne), Book, River, Simon & Serenity. I love how Joss hired a Chinese linguist to teach the cast how to curse in Chinese so they can get away with it here. And how the future is a Chinese/American universe. The silence of space, the weird camera angles. The cowboys & country slang in space, in the future. I want to know what's up with the Blue Hands dudes. Funny how the show was cancelled because of Fox's ineptitude (moving the nights around, NOT showing the pilot first. Not showing them in order at all) and then....they release it on dvd and have record sales. Ooops, Fox. Joss never gives up, gets Universal to fund it, and bam...Movie.

Speaking of .. Joss, I have a bone to pick with you about that. Two words: Wash and Book. To quote a T-shirt I saw: "After seeing Serenity, I am never speaking to you again, Joss. Except when I meet you at a convention and tell you how awesome Firefly is. But then...no more speaking."