December 2008 Books and Movies

Good-bye Lenin

Absolutely brilliant movie! D gave this to me for xmas, knowing I liked historical fiction. It centres around a family in East Germany right before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The mother suffers a heart attack and falls into a coma. When she awakes, the family decide it's best to keep her in the dark about the opening to the West, lest it upset her and cause another heart attack. The lengths they go to are very comical and the film is very well written. It's in German with subtitles. Definitely see it!

Don't Be That Girl
Travis Stork, MD with Leah Furman

This was not a very helpful book. It was poorly written (sorry Leah, I don't think it was your writing) and full of cliches. The types of women he describes are true enough, but it really comes off as "I know best, because I was on The Bachelor, but more importantly, because I'm a doctor". The overwhelming tone was, it's not him it's you. Of course I, and everyone else, knows that it takes two to tango and that sometimes it's the guy and sometimes it's the girl. So it seems a bit insulting to read something that insinuates that there are tons and tons of wonderful guys out there, just ready to date, as long as you fix all of your problems first. There are always the token "well it's not always this way" statements thrown in, possibly for legal purposes, :) which I suppose is meant to make one feel better. Give it a miss, there are a gazillion better books out there that deal with this topic.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Really enjoyed this movie. Yes, the excessive CGI was a bit distracting, but the story was pure and engaging. I didn't quite cry, but was misty eyed at parts, which for me, is always a good sign. The story is unique, based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The hero is born old and gets younger over time. Brad Pitt is well cast and Cate Blanchett is wonderful, as usual. I love historical fiction, and the production company certainly used gobs of money to make every detail historically accurate. Good film, go see it!

Irish Girls Are Back in Town
Various

Another great collection of short stories by Irish authors. Of course I didn't love every single one, but found some great authors that I will definitely look into. Particular mention should go to Julie Parsons, Morag Prunty and Cecelia Ahern (the Irish Prime Minister's daughter) who also wrote P.S. I Love You. There's a Scottish version of this collection, so I'm looking forward to discovering more new authors.

Twilight

In a word, fromage! Wow, that movie was super cheesy! I meant to read the book before going, but now I'm glad I didn't, because I have a feeling I would have been really disappointed. I will still read the series, but the movie definitely fell flat. There was some gorgeous cinematography of Washington State and the fight scene was pretty cool at the end, but the love story was stilted. A human falling in love with a vampire has been done so many times, there's only so much you can do with it. Oh and you could totally see the white powder they used on the vampires. Cheesy!

Chasing Harry Winston
Lauren Weisberger

Hmm. Well, it's no The Devil Wears Prada, or even Everyone Worth Knowing. For a third outing, not really up to par. That being said, I still read through it fairly quickly and enjoyed the characters, if not the plot so much. Two friends make a pact to change their romantic lives, with the marriage seeker having flings and the socialite to look for a man to marry, while the third friend looks on but doesn't join in. Of course, her life ends up changing as well. I did really like the character of Adriana, she was a hoot. I'll still read Weisberger novels, but I'm hoping that the next one is another Prada.

Ensemble, c'est tout (Hunting and Gathering)

Great movie of an even greater novel. I enjoyed reading this novel so much I even got it out in French after finishing it in English. The film stayed fairly true to the book, although there were necessary cuts due to the sheer length of the book. A couple of things I thought were turning points in the developing relationship between Franck and Camille were left out or worse, watered down, such as the first time he cooks for her and the first time she resumes drawing. An important pair of characters, Camille's "guardians" were not a part of the film. I adore Audrey Tautou in her French movies, The Davinci Code, not so much. Guillaume Canet is beautiful, and a wonderful actor. I really liked Laurent Stocker and Francoise Bertin as well. Excellently cast, beautifully shot and a great story, go and see it!

The Next Thing on My List
Jill Smolinski

Great chick lit. Fun, breezy writing style, interesting plot, non cookie cutter herione, a few plot twists and she doesn't end up with the guy you think she will. Although I know it was a deliberate plot device, to lead the reader on, I still suckered me in, so it was well done. The story is about a girl who sets out to complete a to do list made by a girl who suddenly dies and her adventures while doing it. The characters are well drawn, although a couple of introductions were a bit abrupt or even completely out of left field. I found myself searching for one character, paging through the parts I'd already read, because she was introduced with such familiarity. That's small potatoes compared to some of the clunkers I've read. This was a nice easy read.

3 Women

Very interesting. Robert Altman is pretty wacky. Lots of interesting stuff here: role reversal, feminism, accurate portrayal of the mid-70s, great cinematography of California and cool (for the time, 1977) special effects, fantastic, eerie score with lots of flute. It's hard to describe the plot, you just have to watch it. Lots of ideas will swirl around in your mind once you've seen it, they'll drop in days afterwards. Excellent film!

Certain Girls
Jennifer Weiner

Warning....spoilers!

Oh Jennifer Weiner, what were you thinking! It was such a great book right up to the end, and then kablooie! Why, why, why did you think that killing off the best character in the novel would make your novel better? I thought it was a bad, bad move. It completely erased all the great writing and made it very difficult to finish. I almost didn't keep reading after that. It was just plain bad writing. The death happened too quick, instead of feeling like an out of nowhere surprise, it just felt like sloppy writing. Not a fitting ending for Cannie, not a good follow up to Good in Bed. A real shame, I was expecting more. Oh well, I enjoyed it 3/4 of the way through.

Torchwood: Season 1 DVD

Absolutely brilliant! Pretty much watched it straight, one episode after another. A bit of science fiction, a bit of fantasy, lots of real life, set in Cardiff (I have to go there, I can't believe I spent nearly 2 years in England and never went to Wales), great case, cool sets, fantastic stories, the list is endless. I watched most of season 2 on the Space Channel, but was quite confused sometimes. I'm less confused now and gagging for more! I know Season 3 is being shown in the UK, but have no idea when it's coming here. Hopefully sooner, rather than later.

Wonderful Company

Last night I held a dinner party for D and two friends. I didn't really cook (just bought, heated up and put together stuff) but it was a weeknight, so I simply didn't have the time. The company was fabulous, we ate well, made our way through 2 bottles of red (one of which was an amazing 2006 Chateau Timberlay Bordeaux), had wonderful conversation in three languages and finished the evening with a homemade (not by me) maple sugar pie. The entire evening was a real treat and made me realise I have to do this more often, with more of my friends. Looking forward to the New Year, when they will host!

Wee Big Band at the Old Mill

Tonight I went to see one of my directors of music play in Jim Galloway's Wee Big Band at the Old Mill. I'd never been to that venue before, it's pretty cool. The band is quite slipperish, but the sound was cool. Bob DeAngelis was subbing in, I just love his clarinet sound. There was fair amount of xmas music in the second half (which I complimented by having a gorgeous English date pudding with toffee sauce...mmmm) including a great arrangement of Jingle Bells (in actual fact a Thanksgiving song that was so popular it stuck around until xmas) and The Duke's Nutcracker Suite. I especially liked Arabesque Cookie, what a groove! It was a touch expensive at $35 but worth it to support my peeps. :)

Birthday Party and New Hair

Here's a pic of my new hair:



Unfortunately for me, I had a severe allergic reaction to the dark rinse and have spent the day going to the walk in clinic for help. I've been prescribed a heavy duty anti-histamine and a cortisone lotion for the rash. It's pretty icky. And my head is sooooo itchy!!

Party was fun, although I would have preferred to have held it in my condo party room. Betty's was a great alternative though. There were a lot of people there, but unfortunately a few were missing. I managed to chat to everyone, then the stragglers and I went back to my place to watch an episode of Torchwood. I think I've gotten John addicted to it! :)

November 2008 Books and Movies

James Bond: Quantum of Solace

Hmmm, that's the first thing that came to mind when this movie had finished. Daniel Craig is still as gorgeous as ever, but this movie really was a string of action sequences with a bit of plodding plot in the middle. It's my theory that a Bond girl should have that special something that men and women alike fancy. Unfortunately, although Olga Kurylenko is a pretty girl, she wasn't a Bond girl. They did a bit better with their choice of Gemma Arterton, she at least had a unique look about her. I enjoyed Judi Dench as always, as well as the gadgets, so it wasn't a total loss. It just felt like the director took a lot of the things that were "James Bond" out of this new film, somewhat like the martinis he was drinking on the plane. Apparently, that type of martini is exactly what he drinks in the first book Casino Royale, but not what was established in the first movie. To quote someone from the IMDB board, remarkably unremarkable.

Knitting Under the Influence
Claire LaZebnik

Good and bad. Good for the unique story elements, knitting and autism, bad for the predictability of the storyline. I knew exactly who the three girls were going to end up with at the end from almost the beginning and of course, not one of them could end the novel single. That would be the real tragedy! I'm trying out authors from the short story collection below, but this one, I would give a miss.

How To Be Single
Liz Tuccillo

This book didn't get the best reviews, but luckily, I didn't read them before I started. The overall tone was a bit negative, but the characters were finely drawn and there were some uproariously funny moments. This is not a how to novel, but the story of one women's research on how to be single around the world. Just as a warning, the Thomas story is heartbreaking. I'm think I would actually read her next outing, if it was a piece fiction as opposed to a manual like "He's Just Not That Into You".

American Girls About Town (Short Stories)

I originally ordered this book from the library based on a search for Jennifer Weiner novels. I didn't realise it was a book of short stories until I had it in my hot little hands. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it also included a story by Lauren Weisberger (The Devil Wears Prada) and disappointed to find a story by Cindy Chupack (I really didn't like her novel effort, although I liked her writing for SATC). I also found a few others I liked (Nancy Sparkling and Claire LaZebnick) and have put their novels on order. There are a few other short story anthologies of this ilk out there (Irish Girls About Town, Irish Girls Are Back in Town and Scottish Girls About Town) so we'll see what they're like. At the very least, perhaps I'll find some other authors to read.

A Great Birthday!

Had a lovely day from start to finish. Work wasn't too bad, and I was able to get away relatively early. Went to part of band practice where everyone serenaded me with "Happy Birthday". That was pretty cool, I've never had a whole band play for just me before! Way too much yummy food and drink, all of my favorites, pizza, mushroom salad, calamari, tartuffo, pinot grigio, espresso...it was delish and too filling. D gave me a lovely present, a hardcover copy of Chekhov's novellas. He is my absolute favorite Russian playwright, with The Cherry Orchard being the best of the bunch. I'm really looking forward to reading the story collection. It's too bad that the day had to fall in the middle of the week, with two more work days to go. Can't wait to party on Saturday night, should be fun!

John McLeod's Rex Hotel Orchestra

What a band! Or should I say, what a big band! Great sound, really tight, and they even had two french horns!

The line up was fantastic: David Braid on keys, John Jonson and Andy Ballentine (I teach his kid) on alto sax, Kelley Jefferson and Alex Dean on Tenor, Reg Schwager on guitar, just to name a few. There was even a surprise visit from Bob DeAngelis playing some Xmas music.

Well worth it, especially with a stellar arrangement of "It Don't Mean a Thing" featuring the trombone section and another of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" featuring the trumpet section.

The trumpet section were a hoot, a lot of them know each other from the Rob McConnell Boss Brass days, so they were acting like naughty school children, talking while the teacher is teaching type thing. They could surely play though! John McLeod is awesome, especially on flugle. Here's a clip

Well worth the $10 admission. They play on the last Monday of every month, check it out!

Soulless

Fantastic! I love seeing indie/fringe theatre. Click here for the synopsis. Great acting, simplistic set design, intimate space, just what I needed to get my head back into theatre again. I had lost my way somewhat, because of the crap I'd been seeing. I'm inspired to see as much Canadian independent theatre as I can. All thanks to this this website, which is awesome. Check it out!

Banana Boys - The Play

Went to Hart House Theatre tonight to see a play by Leon Aureus based on the novel Banana Boys by Terry Woo. I know the author slightly and had read the book, so I was interested to see how it translated into live theatre. The results were mixed. Although a great novel, it doesn't lend itself very well to story telling on stage. The playwright and director got around this by introducing elements of 1970s style collective creation giving the actors authorship of their work. The resulting blocking was quite powerful at times. Is being CBC (Canadian Born Chinese) as relevant now as it was 8-10 years ago? I'm sure I can't answer that question, but according to the playwright's notes, times are a-changing. I'm glad I saw it, and wish the playwright and author continued success.

Remembrance Day

Through a number of odd happenings, I had a very powerful and spiritual experience this November 11th. The afternoon before the Remembrance Day assembly I found out the trumpet player I thought was coming to play the Last Post for us, was actually not booked. I never received the message. Knowing that I would never find a player in that short a time, I went in on Tuesday and found myself a school trumpet. I took a trumpet minor in high school, played a little in dance band years ago, and taught middle school band 4 years ago, so to say I was rusty would be a huge understatement. As I started to practice, it sounded, well, worse than a grade nine student, to be honest.

As the soldier I had booked was taking to the students, I slipped outside the gym to warm up. Still not great. Moments before 11:00 am, I told myself: "You have to do this, for everyone who has served and especially your grandfather, a World War II vet and not long gone from this world". I honestly believe that he helped me today, because, although not picture perfect, I played every note clearly and didn't kak once. For those of you in the know, the Last Post is HARD, with G's out of nowhere, not to mention all note changes are done with your embouchure as it is all open. I had tears in my eyes at the end, as I know I did my grandfather and myself proud.

It was a profound moment in my life and I'll never forget the feeling.

Lest We Forget.

Halloween Street Party

What a blast! Every year Church street closes between Isabella and Alexander for a massive costume street party.

Here are some of the highlights.



Em and I



Bert and Ernie



Awww!



Alf!



Creepy guy from the Saw movies



This guy's costume was fabulous! Orange fleece pants and black duct tape, orange work gloves and an actual traffic cone with a working yellow light on top.



Facebook fun!



Obama and a drag Sarah Palin



Your furry lovable pal, Grover!



Davy Jones

I'm looking forward to going next year, although based on what I saw, I'm going to have to jack up the creative juices for the costume. D says he's going as the Pet Shop Boys character from the video of "Can You Forgive Her". That'll be cool!

Mark it for next year and come on out!

October 2008 Books and Movies

Burn After Reading

Excellent movie! John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, George Clooney and the Cohen brothers are a good combo. Funny as h*ll and quite dark. I enjoyed it thoroughly from beginning to end, and that is saying a lot, considering some of the movies I've seen lately. Highly recommend it, go see it!

Goodnight, Nobody
Jennifer Weiner

Well, no one is perfect, so I knew there had to be a clunker in there somewhere. This book was just bad. The heroine was one of those really annoying klutzy, always saying and doing the wrong thing all the time, types that I really can't stand. Maybe it's because they just make me so uncomfortable thinking about real life situations while making those kind of gaffs. The worst part was, the plot dragged on and on, then didn't actually satisfactorily resolve! Bad author, bad! It's about a housewife who investigates the murder of one of the neighbourhood "perfect mommies" while recounting flashbacks to her single life in NYC. Give it a miss, there are others that are much better.

Meaghan Smith, Lori Cullen, Ron Sexsmith

Great night at Massey Hall. I've always loved the venue, the acoustics are wonderful. Meaghan Smith is a fantastic up and comer out of Toronto, looking forward to getting her full length album when it comes out.

Lori Cullen didn't quite win me over with her look and first song, but after a while she started to get in. Great lyrics and expressive singing.

Ron Sexsmith is someone I didn't know much about before I went. I knew he was a singer/songwriter and had written a number of tunes for other artists. He touched me so much, I came home and immediately downloaded one of his songs. Really reflective, wonderful melodies, great guitar and piano playing. A real treat.

Fashion Week Party

I went to my first fashion week party! It was the after party for Evan Biddell's show, the winner of Project Runway Canada. It was a fun night, people watching at its best. No one paid much attention to Em and I (we're not industry people or models, and weren't wearing quite the right clothes - case in point, apparently tights are quite big right now, and we both had bare legs between our skirts and boots.) which was fine with us. The lighting was interesting, because everyone wants to see what everyone else is wearing, so there were lots of lighted parts of the room, where people could preen and be seen. Everyone posed for everything! Pictures, friends, alcohol shots, whatever. It was pretty funny. Most of the men were gay, no one else could pull off those outfits. The straight men were fashionable, but I wonder how many of them were dressed by their significant others? Hmmmm. :)

Bike Riding on the Island and in Tommy Thomson Park

Three separate bike rides, three excellent adventures. Tommy Thompson Park is a big nature reserve just east of downtown. There's lots of paths to explore, although some of the roads are a bit dicey. The Islands were fantastic as usual. I love the quaint other world feeling of Ward Island, and the light off the water, through the clouds was stunning. Hanlan's Point Beach was quite warm for fall. My second foray into the park was more exploratory, all the way to the lighthouse. When I was on Ward Island, I could see the lighthouse in the park, and I was hoping that it would be vice versa, but the fog was so think, I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of myself. Oh well, maybe next time. I'm busy researching more places to bike ride, although I'm partial to being near the water. :)

Veritas

Unbelievably good restaurant. All organic, locally sourced food, innovative combinations and display, truly a unique gastronomic experience. I had the Arctic Char sourced from some little farm in Kleinburg and D had Mennonite farm raised chicken with wild rice fritters. We shared a gorgeous chocolate ginger cake with caramel creme fraiche. The cappuccino was slightly disappointing, but that's ok. I've been meaning to try it for a while, and it was well worth the wait!

1st Bike Accident

Owie, owie, owie! In two years of regular commuting, I have never fallen, not even a wobble. But yesterday, I hit a streetcar track half buried in water, and went flying over my handlebars. I'm pretty banged up, with my left shin and right shoulder taking the worst of it. I even have a scrape on my chin, just like a scrappy kid. I'm glad I was wearing my helmet and that my instinct was to protect my head, that I didn't land under a car or transit vehicle and that I'm basically ok. Not riding the bike for a few days though. I have to get the alignment checked out, it actually feels funny. Ok, that's it, no more bike accidents!

Spamalot

Great show based on a greater movie! Very funny, I laughed my way through most of it. The actor playing Lancelot was really good, and had unbelievable gams. Wow! The Lady of the Lake character was pretty annoying, but she was written that way. The actor playing her had some pipes on her. Fun costumes, cute sets and great jokes, an awesome way to spend a Tuesday night.

September 2008 Books and Movies

Ten Canoes

Wow...it's really hard to put into words how I felt while watching this film. It's really a time capsule, depicting Australian Aboriginal life as it was before the Europeans. It's beautiful and strange in so many ways, the cinematography, the artistic shooting, the diverse culture, it's quite breathtaking. There are so many layers to the story, it's at once a parable, a cautionary tale, an exciting adventure story and a living history. Wonderful, and well worth watching.

Good In Bed
Jennifer Weiner

This was a really good novel. I've read a few of Weiner's books now, and although I feel she basically recycles the same heroine over and over, (plus sized, witty with a swimming mother and absent father) they are infinitely readable. I'm definitely thinking that either Jennifer stole from SATC or vice versa, because there are just too many similarities for it to be a coincidence. Perhaps she wrote for the show? This novel's plot about breaking up with someone and feeling you made a mistake, when every one around you is telling you that the person is not right for you, resounded very clearly. Especially the eventual resolution. (Look Ma, no plot spoilers!) The twists and turns are interesting, although towards the end it's pretty dark. Apparently there's a somewhat recent sequel following up on Cannie's story, so I'm looking forward to reading that as well.

The Matchmaker

Cute premise, bad screenplay. Loved the Irish setting, and Janeane Garofalo but the movie was, at times rather slow. The ending was telegraphed from a mile away, but the leading man, David O'Hara is really pretty. So that more than made up for it. Take a look if you love Ireland and want a few laughs. Just don't expect to be rolling in the aisles or sniffling delicately into a hanky because of the swooning love story.

Mallrats

I generally find Kevin Smith movies much the same and this was no exception. I did like it better than clerks, mostly because of a trip down memory lane courtesy of Shannen Doherty. The lines were funny, I actually didn't want to kill Jay and Silent Bob and the ending was cheezy and romantic. I laughed quite a bit, so I would definitely give it a watch.

Little Earthquakes
Jennifer Weiner

I've come to really like this author. Her books draw you in, I wasn't expecting to read it so quickly. This topic, about 4 mothers to be, didn't really grab me at first, as I can't relate as much as some, but I was soon addicted to the zany characters and funny situations. One thing I did notice though, were some disturbing similarities to plot lines from Sex and the City. They seemed out and out copied. There was nothing like this is in the other Jennifer Weiner books that I've read. I'm looking forward to the next one, Good in Bed, that expands on a nominal character from the book of short stories I recently read.

Vicky, Christina, Barcelona

Being a Woody Allen film, I figured it would be funny in parts, if not all. And it was, although the constant dead pan narration got on my nerves. I really want to go to Barcelona now, as I'm sure most people who see it, who haven't been there want to as well. The leading man is very sexy and the whole film had a wonderful sensuality to it. Pretty good, go see it!

August 2008 Books and Movies

Perfect - Young Women Talk About Body Image
Helen Hines, Editor

A lovely collection of true life short stories out of Britain on body image. A really useful school or youth group resource, as it deals with all different shapes and sizes, image problems and their solutions to them, both negative and positive. It's also a great way to encourage young writers as the contributors themselves are budding writers. An excellent resource.

Brunelleschi's Dome How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
Ross King

As always, Ross King has written a fabulous book about an extremely interesting part of history. As usual, it took me an age to read it! The cupola of the main cathedral in Florence is an architectural wonder. The first of it's kind to be raised without centering, it's absolutely massive. If you love history and architecture, this is the book for you. I'm looking forward to more from this author.

The Guy Not Taken {Stories}
Jennifer Weiner

Great collection of short stories! Wonderfully written, obviously somewhat autobiographical. Many of these could be fleshed out into full novels, and made into movies. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

X-Files: I Want to Believe

Uggg! Completely disappointing! I was such a fan of the show, and even liked the movie that came out after the series ended. This movie was pure drivel, and badly acted to boot. I really expected more from Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny (well maybe not Duchovny :) so much) and Chris Carter. The plot was completely devoid of anything alien like, and the romance between Mulder and Scully was far fetched to say the least. Did anyone else notice that when Mulder went to phone Scully, the name programmed in the phone was Gillian? I thought that was pretty funny. Give it a miss, not worth even a rental.

Big Fish

A lovely, whimsical film about a son trying to understand his father, who always embellishes the truth in his storytelling. I was surprised that Tim Burton directed the "regular" scenes so well. Both Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney were fantastic, and I thought their southern accents were pretty good. The British always seem to have a better time of learning accents, likely because there are so many different accents in Britain, and a big part of drama training in Britain is dialectal class. The tall tales were fantastic, and it was great to see that at the end, they had a ring of truth. I laughed and cried a few tears, so it was a great movie for me.

Machiavelli: Philosopher of Power
Ross King

This was a good read. To examine Machiavelli as a person, to see what his everyday life was like, was incredibly eye opening. Previously, all I really knew about him was his "eye of the beholder" reputation, which, to be honest, isn't very flattering. The Oxford dictionary defines the term "machiavellian" as "an intriguer, an unscrupulous schemer", but this is based on how he was portrayed by dramatists such as Shakespeare and Marlowe. Of course, his writings, especially The Prince, are a reflection of his thoughts and do contain some of those elements. I found Ross King painted a fairly likable character, and it's made me want to learn more about Machiavelli.