10 Items or Less (2006)

(My apologies if I have posted this movie in the past. I meant to do it, but could not find it anywhere!)

Oh, I really liked this movie! Morgan Freeman has yet to disappoint me – ever, and Paz Vega proves again she is more than a “delight to the eyes”. The pace is slow, unlike what we are accustomed to in this “entertain me every minute” world we live in. The plot is simple, yet unexpected and amusing. It grabbed my attention, not by special effects, mysterious plot, or by any other extraordinary means, but with very ordinary everyday people, setting, and events. I wanted to watch what happened, much the way I like to “people watch”. And although nothing remarkable appeared to happen in this entire movie – so much did! It’s a film about chance meeting – and not what you’re thinking at all. It’s about the dichotomies of life and what is and isn’t important. The more I thought about this movie, the more significant its underlying messages became. Note: Several of my friends watched this movie with very mixed reviews.

“The Waitress”

This is one of the most enjoyable movies I’ve watched in a long time. It’s gentle, and it’s real. In some ways it’s a lot like “Like Water for Chocolate.” Our heroine, Jenna (Keri Russell), is a pie-making genius and her daydreams take the form of visualizing creating delicious-looking pies based on her current situation. She’s also a small-town waitress in a bad marriage, unhappily pregnant, and having an affair with her gyneocologist. Andy Griffith gives a memorable performance as an old curmudgeon with a gift for insight, and an unexpected friend to Jenna. This is a movie I could watch again and again.

Seven Years In Tibet (1997)

While looking for something new to watch, I stumbled upon an older movie and decided to give it a try. Not only gorgeous to watch (both the scenery and Brad Pitt), this story is a beautiful one about personal struggle and redemption. The film is based on the real life events of Heinrich Harrer, an egocentric Australian mountain climber who is taken prisoner of war in 1939 by Allied forces in Tibet.  Harrer, who gives up everything (his wife and unborn child}in an attempt to climb the Himalayan’s, seems to lose it all when before making it to the summit, he and his fellow climbers are captured.  However, that is only the beginning of the story. Eventually, fate finds him in the Forbidden City, where he befriends the teenage Dalai Lama. He stays with the peaceful Tibetans the remaining “seven years” where he undergoes a spiritual transformation that changed the course of his life. Most have probably seen this movie, however if you haven’t – give it a try.

Evening (2007)

What a wonderful movie this is! Although the movie appears to be about dying, it’s really about living and loving. I will not be surprised when it is nominated for several Oscars. The all-star cast of Venessa Redgrave, Meryl Streep, Clare Danes, Toni Colette, and Patrick Wilson along with Redgrave’s real-life daughter, Natasha Richardson and Streep’s real-life daughter, Mamie Gummer help to make this movie a powerfully emotional experience. The story meanders from present to past and back again many times weaving the fabric of a life lived in full – and all the heartache, happiness and regret that comes with doing so. This film tugs at the heart and has a great mix of complex characters with multifaceted relationships which compliments real life. A word of caution – If you’ve read the book by Susan Minot, I’ve heard this movie does not follow the book. But, what movie ever does? Oh, and last but not least, the setting is simply gorgeous!

Not your (grand)mother’s Gone with the Wind

Worth reading, with caveats …

First of all, Mr. McCaig has done a good job on several points with this novel. He elicits a very real sense of historical time and place. Most memorable here was the retreat of the Confederate troops from Atlanta. It was done pretty well visually in the GWTW film, but very well verbally here, without an excess of words. McCaig’s own characters are interesting. Tunis Bonneau, Rhett’s childhood friend and a freed slave’s son, gives a perspective Margaret Mitchell wouldn’t have conceived of. In addition, Rhett’s sister Rosemary is very well developed here. One gets the feeling that she is who Scarlett might have been if a man had written the character.

There are a few negatives, though. I felt like some of Margaret Mitchell’s characters got less care than then did in the original. Ashley and Melanie especially seemed out of character, a lot less dignified or genteel than they were in GWTW. (Miss Melly writing about sex and seduction in a letter to a friend? God forbid!) And at times I found myself wishing for a clearer understanding of Rhett (as there was of Scarlett in GWTW), and less so of his “people”.

Overall, I’m glad I read Rhett Butler’s People. It gave me a wider understanding of the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction South, in some ways maybe a little more realistically than GWTW did. But when it comes to Rhett Butler, nothing beats Clark Gable and the mystique of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind. 

This guy isn’t the Messiah of anything

I just finished Kid Rock’s new release, Rock N Roll Jesus, and I have to say it was less than revelational.  The air of corniness aside, this album felt as though it were a frankensteinian collection all the rock standards that the kid grew up listening to on the radio.  One song in particular kept making me think of “werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic’s, and his hair was perfect!”  Aside from this, at times the songs feel forced, as though the artist was trying to present something more mature, more timeless, but failed in the attempt.   As a whole, the album was listenable, but definitely nothing to preach about.

Slowhand rocks!

II have read several celebrity-musicians’ biographies over the past several years. Most of them seem a bit egocentric or esoteric & unapproachable – fascinating info, but difficult for the reader to relate to the subject/writer. Clapton: The Autobiography was different for me. Eric Clapton has been on the music scene for decades, and has done a lot in his life. But in this book Mr. Clapton leaves his ego at the door. One of his most engaging qualities is his utter and total love of music, and his wonder at being a part of it. He tells his tale in a very down-to-earth manner which is very appealing. From drug use to affairs to illegitimate children, Clapton is candid, and not necessarily proud of the things he’s done. Especially moving are accounts of the loss of his young son, Conor, and his ongoing battles with addictions. Clapton has been sober for 20 years now, and in 1998 founded the Crossroads Centre, a rehabilitation facility for drug and alcohol abuse on the island of Antigua. The story ends happily, as Clapton meets and eventually marries Melia McEnery in 2002, with whom he has three daughters. By the end of the book I had a very real sense of the guitarist finally being at peace with himself and his life, a very satisfying place to be.

Garden Spells

I just finished listening to Sarah Addison Allen’s Garden Spells, with Susan Ericksen reading/narrating for Brilliance Audio.  The Library hasn’t received the physical audiobooks yet, but I was able to download the audiobook from the EVPL Digital Library.  One of the advantages of the electronic format is receiving a title and making it available to our customers immediately after ordering it. 

Garden Spells reminded me of the literary gems I used to find and discuss with staff and customers many years ago when I was a branch manager and read more literary fiction.  This book is charming and lyrical.  It’s full of magic, and family, and relationships.  Each of the Waverleys has a ‘gift,’ and when Sydney and her daughter Bay return to small-town Bascom, North Carolina, after running from an abusive relationship, we learn more about those gifts and love with them.  Garden Spells drew me in and captivated me.   I’d find myself driving around the block or sitting at my destination listening to just a little more before turning off the car’s MP3 player.

Year of the Dog (2007)

I knew I had to write a review on this quirky movie starring Molly Shannon, but I kept asking myself – “what do I say?”  I’ll begin by saying, I really liked it. Now, I’d like to point out that if you’re looking for a Comedy (as this movie is labeled), you’re going to get more than that. It’s not that there aren’t any laughs, because there are many. But, there are an equal number of sad and melancholy scenes. Shannon shines in every aspect as she portrays Peggy, a 40-something single office secretary whose life takes unexpected turns when she loses her beloved Beagle, Pencil. Be prepared for anything and take the ride with a great group of supporting actors – Laura Dern, Regina King, John C. Reilly, and Thomas McCarthy. If you are a friend of four-legged creatures, and especially if you have ever loved a dog, this film will give you plenty to think about and some chuckles as well.

A Mystery and a Road Trip

I think I get around to writing something about maybe one in five books I read.  And I only finish reading about one in five books I want to read! 

Anyway, a couple of good books I finished this past week: Breakfast With Buddha by Rolland Merullo.  I particularly enjoyed this book because I’ve been meditating regularly with other folks in a local Buddhist Sangha (community) for about 10 years now, and it’s always fun to find a good fiction book that does a decent job of sharing some of that perspective.  It’s sort of like a fictionalized dharma (teachings) talk.  This book is based on an actual road trip the author made from Bronxville, New York, to Dickinson, North Dakota, in the summer of 2006.  In Breakfast With Buddha, Otto makes such a trip with Volya Rinpoche, and the fictional Rinpoche’s ideas are from the author’s “thirty years of reading across the religious, philosophical, and psychological spectrum and meditation retreats at Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, and nondenominational retreat centers and monasteries.” 

Dead Heat by Dick Francis and his son Felix Francis.  I first started to read Dick Francis because he was one of my sweetie’s favorite authors.  He’s become one of mine, also.  I love the complexity and humanness of his characters, and his plotting, shared information about the horse racing world, and use of the language add much also.  This is his second book since his long-time co-author, his wife, died.  Having a co-author seems to help tighten, and make flow better, the writing and plot, and I’m glad he has his son with him on Dead Heat.  Dead Heat is not his typical racing mystery.  The main character in this book is a chef, not a jockey, although some of the plot and setting is around racetracks and polo matches.