Friday, February 28, 2014

February 2014 Books and Movies

Trading Places 

An oldie but goodie from 1983 staring Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Lee Curtis. I laughed and laughed, which was good for the soul after such an emotional time in Regina. A wall street big wig and a street con artist trade places. These three will have you laughing your socks off in no time. (Warning, the vintage of this movie has elements of racism and sexism common at the time.)

Last Vegas

I was pleasantly surprised at how funny this was, for a "golden guys" type movie. Great cast (Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas and Kevin Kline) and great writing. Good diversion on a plane ride to Donna Lou's funeral in Regina, which was such a sad occasion. I really liked the 60+ bachelor party theme and the Vegas local was well shot. Give it a go!

The Great Gatsby 

I love, love, love this book, so was a little wary. That being said, it was pretty good due largely to the breathtaking cinematography and the subtle use of CGI. Leonardo DiCaprio excels in these old timey, slightly sketchy gentleman roles and did not disappoint. Daisy was a bit underdeveloped and I didn't love Toby McGuire, but the rest of the cast was stellar. The costumes and sets were to die for (I adore the twenties) and the director took great care to utilize plenty of symbolism from the book. I would watch it again, for sure.

Over You
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

These authors are famous for The Nanny Diaries, which I really liked (although the movie not so much) and Citizen Girl, which I also liked, so I was surprised when this wasn't a knock out. Maybe it was that the protagonist was 17 going on 30 but it was all at once too YA come chick lit or vice versa for me. There were some funny moments and I liked the Ex Inc. business model, but then there were some stupid SATC/The Devil Wears Prada rip off like the Teen Vogue closet. I'd still like to read more of their offerings, but maybe not the YA novels so much.