For the Jane Eyre Fans

"****"

(4 stars) - well, maybe 3 1/2...

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

I read a book this weekend that a friend recommended to me and I thought I'd share it because I just couldn't put it down.  This novel is a modernization of Jane Eyre (by modernization, I mean set in the 1950's-60's.)  I thought it was very well written (for the most part- more on that in a minute), it was very compelling and fun to wonder how she is going to fit the parts of the Jane Eyre plot into this version and how they will be changed.  I'm not going to spill the whole book and how she did it, but I will tell you a few things.  This Jane (Gemma) was born in Iceland and is brought to Scotland by her uncle when her parents die.  So most of the book takes place in Scotland instead of England and "Mr Rochester" lives in the Orkney Islands.

Now I'm going to explain my "for the most part" in hopes that if you know going in what I do now, you may be less disappointed.  1. there is no Bertha equivalent......... I KNOW!!!  I waited and waited for something crazy in the attic and there is nothing, she chose to leave that out entirely, so don't wait for it. How could she have left that out?  I have no idea.  2. (perhaps this is just my own opinion) but I thought the romance between the leads fell pretty flat.  We can discuss this further if you read it, and I don't want to go into more detail, but they didn't quite sell it to me.  Perhaps I just find Jane and Edward's relationship so adorable it's hard to live up to. 

Those grievances aside, I really enjoyed reading this book.  I really liked Gemma's childhood and school time.  I also loved what the author did after Gemma left the Orkney Islands.  I liked the tale modernized.  It all was very compelling and like I said- hard to put down.  An enjoyable little read I'm sure I will go back to.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

3 1/2 stars!

I am guessing that most of you have heard of this book since it caused a fair stir in the literary world when it came out last year. I was drawn to it right away once I heard about it, (I don't know- something about combining a great Jane Austen book with zombies was just so cheeky and weird, I had to see what it was all about). But since fetus Elinor was inexplicably rather bent on keeping me from reading anything at all, I didn't get around to it until now. So, if any of you have been wondering about it, I thought I would be the guinea pig and read it and let you know of my opinion.

My opinion:
It was a lot of fun and I fully enjoyed it.

The secret of enjoying it I think, is to pick it up with a sense of humor. If you think you will be put off or think it lame- you probably will. But, if say, hearing that the first ball in the novel where Lizzy meets Mr. Darcy for the first time is interrupted by zombies crashing through the windows and feasting on the brains of the nearest dancers interests you- well, I recommend it. The author left the original story in tact as much as he could, but had to change a few plot points to make room for the "unmentionables" that live in this alternate world.
England for a long time (over 50 years) has been plagued by dead people leaving their graves to eat human brains. Since it is not a new thing, it has made it a mundane part of life for the characters. The ability to behead a zombie is one of the many accomplishments an "accomplished" lady may add to her list of respectabilities. All of the Bennett sisters are very accomplished in this regard, but none more then the spunky Elizabeth of course (which is one of the attractions Darcy is intrigued by). Simple things are changed to the story, for example- when Jane goes to Mr. Bingley's estate in the rain and gets ill, which leads to Lizzy walking there to see her (and getting mud on her hems), she is actually met on the road by zombies and gets a bit cut before saving herself (see how it works: zombies and fighting instead of rain and fever). Darcy's Aunt Miss Catherine is one of England's most accomplished zombie fighters having studied in Japan (and Lizzy was only a student in China, which put Lizzy down several notches in her eyes upon their meeting). You may guess how the sparring at the end between the two goes in this book as opposed to the original (which actually made me miss some of the wit that Austin's version had).
Anyway, it was a bit of fun and it's always good to read Pride and Prejudice. The zombies really take a back seat to the story and are written to the point where you actually buy it and kind of forget they aren't in the original story. Funny thing: half way through me reading the book, I came across the Kiera Knightly version on tv, so I dvr'd it. I have never seen that version since I have never had any interest in a world where Colin Firth is not Mr. Darcy. I thought it would be fun to see the story in it's purer form since I was in the middle of the book. I had to divide it up in two different nights. The first half was normal, but when I got to the second half (now almost done with the book) I was half expecting the zombies to come around since they had become such a natural part of the story for me. Oh, my biggest complaint was that about 3 times the author slipped in some "double entendres" (I really don't know how to spell that and hope I'm close), they are totally PG but that fact didn't stop it from being very aggrieves to me! Zombies- sure. They belonged in my Jane Austin stories WAY more then those couple little throw in ends of conversation that made Lizzy blush. They didn't have anything to do with the original characters/story OR zombies.
By the way, I really liked the movie- Kiera Knightly made a fine Miss Bennett, but I did miss Colin greatly.

After reading this, I have now decided to give Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters a go.

Yeah. It really exists.

Catching up a little

This week Rob and I finally got around to watching a couple movies we've been meaning to see: Slumdog Millionaire and Frost/Nixon.


Here is the Rob and Emily scoop:
Slumdog - 3 stars
Frost/Nixon - 4 stars
I'd say we probably agree star rating wise, although I liked Slumdog better then Rob did. People I think just talked it up too much and it didn't quite deliver to the point we expected. We were expecting absolute magic I guess. Instead, what we got was a movie that was quite predictable although it was entertaining. It's a story about two brothers and a little girl from yes, the slums in India. They get separated a few times for various reasons and the main character goes on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and knows all the answers and is accused of cheating. He reveals to the police how he knows every answer he was asked. This is done through a series of flashbacks throughout his life of when he learns the answer to each question. Showing you it was kind of like his destiny to win his whole life. Cool concept (Rob didn't care for), CUTE little Indian kids, as you can imagine, some of the slums images were tough to see and you get a glimpse of life in a third world country which is always disturbing. I thought the movie didn't go too overboard on that though and kept it lighter then some movies might, basically, I slept that night and wasn't too affected (that's saying a lot for me). Anyway, like I said, it was predicable and offered no surprises which kind of sucks, but overall, it was good. If someone has seen this, what is up with the credits???????? It had to have been some kind of nod to Bollywood-- it was SO CRAZY!! If you haven't seen it, uh, the very end is weird. I kept laughing in surprise but Rob took it as the final insult to a movie that disappointed him a few too many times. He said he liked it right when it was done, but the more time that passed since seeing it, it has worsened with each passing day. So, I will say he thought it was worth seeing while watching, but now might call it lame sauce. I liked it, but can't give it a hardy loved it, but find it worth seeing.


We were both really impressed with this one. The acting, the writing and the symbolism, and the parallels we each found in other presidents (which spawned some good conversations between us), and the cinematography and lighting was all really really good. I think everyone knows what this movie is about, so I'm not going to waste my time on a synopsis. Frank Langella (Nixon) did a great job with Nixon, very believeable. Micheal Sheen did a great job too. I have no idea what David Frost is like, but he was good none the less. There were a few moments where we thought Austin Powers might as well played his part (we independantly both thought this wordlessly and brought it up after the movie). We also thought he look a lot like a 70's era Jack Nicholson. An R rating is pretty surprising, all I remember is the F word a few times which the few times it is uttered is very weird and surprising to hear it coming from a president of the US, so had an impact. I would certainly recommend this to anyone who likes history and politics. I would fully recommend it to people that actually experienced this crazy piece of history for themselves. I was less then a year old during Nixon's resignation, so I have had to learn about the Watergate scandel from other sources, but I can imagine this movie would be even more interesting and effective to a generation ahead of me that followed the news stories as they happened, and more importantly, remember Nixon as he was and what Frost was able to accomplish. It really concentrates on Nixon's attitude and nature and the amazing thing Frost brought out in him. I understood the impact somewhat, but not fully. I just think a greater knowledge of Nixon would generate a greater impact from the movie if that makes sense.
I have a story about an amusing mix up of Richard Nixon the President of the United States and Richard Nixon the Stake President of my childhood involving dad and I, but alas I have to get ready for work, I may add it later.

Cinderella Man

3 1/2 - Stars

Well, I did it, I watched it last night. I thought it would be best, and I could avoid some awkward questions this weekend if I watched it before I left and had to face you all in person. The movie was very good. The story was excellent, the first 45 minutes however, I was like, "who is making me watch such a depressing movie!?" Cold, sick, starving kids make me sweat a little. But it all worked out. For how much I don't enjoy watching sports at all, I sure love me a good sport's movie (even boxing!)
With that being said, no one told me I would get to see Russell Crowe taking punches for two hours! I knocked an entire star off my rating for having it star Crowe, but added a half of a star because I got to watch him get punched. I like Paul Giamatti, and thought he did an excellent job in this, as did Renee Zelweger.
I think I handled my first Russell Crowe movie pretty good, a little better then I had anticipated. Sometimes I had to just distance myself from him and concentrate hard on the character he was portraying, sometimes I was just plain ok with him. And sometimes, his little Old Time New York Accent needed to be smacked out of him (and then it would be).
I don't like him any better then I did yesterday, but I now feel like maybe I can watch another movie he is in if it's REALLY GOOD. I know you lot are all in love with every Russell Crowe movie ever made, so we will have to see.

Some examples of some looks I would like to see smacked off his face:

North and South

3 1/2 stars

This was a BBC Miniseries done a few years ago, and was just recommended to me by my friend Ami. She saw it and liked it, and figured I would like it (she knows me very well). It was written by Elizabeth Gaskell, excuse my ignorance, but I didn't know who that was. I looked her up and she was a British author in the 1800's and was friends with Charlotte Bronte and wrote a biography of her life. Anyway, this is a Austin-esque story, but besides a romantic entanglement, has added things Austin didn't deal with. The story is about a young women that moves from Southern England with her parents to the more industrial North. She meets a Cotton Mill owner and dislikes him right away, thinks he is cruel to his workers. He likes her right away, but they are at odds because they don't understand each other. We see the driving force behind his actions and see him to be an extremely good man, while she doesn't, she just sees the cruelty. There is a worker's strike in the movie that goes badly, the history of those labor unions and stuff and the quandry everyone finds themselves in while striking was very interesting to me.
The love story is very Elizabeth/Mr. Darcy like, he proposes mid way through, she totally dislikes and misunderstands him so turns him down rudely, then finally does like him and understands him better, but gets herself into a misunderstanding, you know the story. Good stuff. Wonderful ending in a train station, worth all 4 hours.
So, lovers of period pieces and Jane Austin, this movie is totally worth your time! Now, the reason it didn't get 4 solid stars, is yes, there is a little cheesiness, I had to knock half a star for that. A few cringe worthy moments (some horrible dream sequence/flashback things) that were so cheesy! Also, John's sister (the main dude) plays her part a little over the top, sometimes I laughed, but sometimes I cringed a little. Here is the deal with that. I don't know about the rest of you, but sometimes, in the name of a good story, you have to block out a few moments where the cheese is high. You must forgive and move on. This movie is worth that. I liked how it wasn't just high society, it delved into old industrial England and problems of the lower class. Anyway, the lead actors were good, he especially, I thought his performance was totally flawless. Rob and Matt will definitely skip this one (I don't know about dad's stand on this particular genre, but gut says, he will make fun of it.) However, Amy and Haley, this is right up your alley! I am sure you will love it. Mom too, but I don't know how much of this info she gets, tell her about it. In fact, I haven't read the book, but imagine it would be very good book club material, with all the added parts of the story to talk about. Totally check it out.
I watched it in 3 nights. Again, it's on Netflix instant (I am beginning to wonder what I ever did without that), and divided up in 4 one hour installments, so I watched one a night, and then last night, just had to watch the last two! Miniseries are good that way, you can break them up into do-able segments, instead of like a 3 hour movie, I like that.

My Harry Potter Fix

So, all this Harry Potter talk has left me needing a little fix. This little challenge we have going prompted Sue and Cam to watch all the LOTR's movies one weekend, and it took me a little longer, but I needed something myself. I cruised Netflix to see if they by chance had any of the movies on instant queue, they did not as I suspected, but they did have a little documentary.
It is called Discovering the Real World Of Harry Potter and it isn't as nerdy as it sounds. Ok, maybe it is, but I liked it! After Sue did her review of the first book, we had a lengthy discussion of the real references behind the book. Well, this was a documentary that talks about that very subject. We talked about the mythology we recognized from the book and mostly about the philosopher's stone. So I put it on the lap top after Scout fell asleep this afternoon, set it on a chair next to the tub and took a hot bath and watched it on this frickin' freezing day. Here are some things that the show touched on:

-King's Cross station and a real legend surrounding it

-Hagrid is a real Greek myth! I had no idea, he was cast out of heaven but was allowed to remain on as Zeus's gamekeeper, (which sounds quite familiar).

- There is a school in Scotland (which is where Hogwarts is supposedly located, even though the exact location is kept a secret in the book), anyway this school was founded by a supposed sorcerer, who built hidden passages and dabbled in the dark arts and supposedly sold his soul to the devil. I guess he was a sytherin (haha, nerd joke). Prince Charles went to school there, and it even divides the school into houses which is common in British boarding schools, which I did not know.

- The legend of Nicholas Flamel and the philosopher's stone. (His tomb was opened and was found empty, I didn't know that, that is pretty cool).

-The Arthurian legends that tie with Harry Potter. The only thing I had picked up on before on this subject, is that Albus Dumbledore is "of the order of Merlin". There was quite a bit more, I didn't know.

-There is a guy they consult with that calls himself a "white witch" and is fairly incensed that the Rowling witches and wizards ride their brooms the wrong way! He is wearing a red robe and a pentagram looking thing around his neck and he entertained me a little.

Anyway, obviously, this doc is not for everyone, but I think anyone that has read any of the books would find it interesting. I am thinking particularly of B (who has been lamenting that she isn't a Harry Pot Pot) and I also think Kyle would really like it. It is available through Netflix, either online, or through mail and is narrated by Hugh Laurie. Also, there is a program after, which I think I will watch tonight that is about ghosts, and seems to be loosely based on the Harry Potter ghosts (the gray lady is a real ghost that supposedly haunts a castle in Britain). Anyway, ghost shows are always kind of fun, especially this time of year.

**Update**

Ok, I just watched the 2nd documentary and what the bip?? It was not all about ghosts, just the first little part. It was actually kind of the same thing, just reversed (they went through most of the same points, but in a different order) and this one was narrated by an American. Most of the info on this one was different, but about the same stuff. Really weird. It also was distictively cheeser, then it's counterpart. I kept watching it because there was new, interesting info, but I don't get what was going on. It was almost like they made that one and had someone review it and go, "dude, that was cheesy, maybe you should rework it". So they made it better, added some different info, got a famous British actor to narrate it, and then someone still thought the first one had merrit, so they tacked it on to the end of the better one to make everyone happy. It did remind me of an interesting thing, JK Rowling grew up on a street like Privet Drive and played witches and wizards with a little neighbor boy named "Potter".

Lars and the Real Girl

4 - Stars
No one I know is involved in this film

This movie was recommended to me by Sue (before this blog) and it was the first time I had ever heard of it. That is not odd as I never watch TV anymore and when I do, I never ever see commercials, so movies can pass me by easily. Anyway Sue, I LOVED it!
It is about a guy that is kind of afraid of people, and orders a ahem..... sex doll from the internet, and falls in love with her. Now stay with me here, this is a remarkably clean film (pg 13), but I had to check and make sure it was even that as there is very little allusions to the sex doll aspect, they certainly could have gone that way and didn't (cheap jokes). Instead it is a very heart warming story. There wasn't any language either. Kinda nice.
Anyway he totally believes that this doll is a real person and talks to her and hears her talk to him back. The reactions of his brother and sister in law are priceless and so is the way the whole town rallies around him and "Bianca". They totally support him and invite Bianca to functions (without Lars even). The town actually grows to care for her for real, and of course there is also a gawky "real" girl that is in love with him and that actress does a fantastic job with that character (they all do, but she just reminded me of girls I have known before and I found her very believable).
So, if you are in the mood for a fairly quirky movie, with (I hate to use this term, but---) heart, (someone please give me a better term for that, it's late) check this one out. I think you will like it.

Moral Disorder

3 stars

This was actually a book I didn't read, but rather listened to it on my ipod while doing housework. Kind of the same thing, as I heard the book, but didn't actually "read" it. I find that listening to books while hanging up clothes, doing dishes, etc. breaks up the monotony of housework and sometimes, if the book is really good, I make up stuff to do so I may continue "reading". So anyway, just wanted to clear that up.
First I am going to talk a little about Margaret Atwood, she is a fairly well acclaimed author, the only books I am at all familiar with are: The Handmaid's Tale, Cat's Eye and I believe Amy and Mom read "The Tent" in book club a while back? This is my first book of hers I have actually read (but didn't: see above). Anyway, all I have to say is that it was interesting stories to do housework to. I didn't find in particularly enlightening, nor did I get a big "wow" at the end. In fact, more then anything it got a big HUH?
It is cited as being a collection of stories which is true, as they all stand on their own, but it is stories of the same lady as a young girl, a teenager, a college age girl and an adult, then a (fairly) old lady.
Here is what the back had to say:

Margaret Atwood’s latest brilliant collection of short stories follows the life of a single character, seen as a girl growing up the 1930s, a young woman in the 50s and 60s, and, in the present day, half of a couple, no longer young, reflecting on the new state of the world. Each story focuses on the ways relationships transform a character’s life: a woman’s complex love for a married man, the grief upon the death of parents and the joy with the birth of children, the realization of what growing old with someone you love really means. By turns funny, lyrical, incisive, earthy, shocking, and deeply personal, Moral Disorder displays Atwood’s celebrated storytelling gifts and unmistakable style to their best advantage.

I've got to say, it was well written, she does seem to have a knack for storytelling, I suppose you could call it "earthy" but I gotta say, I certainly was never "shocked". To sum up: I liked it ok, I wouldn't call it a waste of time (how could you when you were able to put away 6 loads of laundry, clean 3 bathrooms including floors and tubs and showers, do countless amounts of dishes all while reading?) Although it certainly wasn't what I would describe as "memorable", but well written. Read this book if you are looking for something easy, relaxing, and good old fashioned storytelling, but don't expect to be totally wowed (or shocked).

Check it Out, if it Pleases

Fun website I found:

http://www.songfacts.com/

I always like to know as much background and facts as I can about songs I especially care for. This is one place to go.....




I love you internet!

Sorry, sometimes I just marvel about how much the internet has revolutionized our life.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Steve Martin and John Candy

5 Stars!

This is a movie I enjoy immensely to watch with my family, in fact, putting this movie on is an event in our household. Steve Martin just wants to go home for Thanksgiving, but he keeps running into John Candy. There are some scenes that just put us on the floor, such as:

-Neal (Steve Martin) getting out of the shower and using a tiny little washcloth to dry off with as Dell (John Candy) has used all the towels, then he proceeds to wash his face in a sink filled with Dell's dirty socks and dry his face with his giant underwear.

- "Those aren't pillows!"

- "They can buff that out, no problem"

But this movie's crowning achievement is a cameo by an actor that is in a ton of movies, but is known in our family as "Owen". Owen is a household name with us and can be reproduced for good laughs anytime for hours with an impression by Scott.
He is chewing on tobacco the whole time and snorts and makes this face...........man, that's some good cinema!

"You the shower curtain fella?"

"People train don't run outta Witchita, lessen your a hog or a cattle. People train run outta (insert face) studville."