Media Report

Guess what? We might break the heat record here by having 40 consecutive days above 100 degrees! Exciting, huh? Well, I've been trying to mostly avoid the heat. My mom was here for a couple of days, and that was nice. Other than that, I've been enjoying my media:

*Book: The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold) –If my neighbor hadn’t assured me that the book would get more interesting, I would have stopped listening to the audio narration after the first few chapters. Who would have thought that a book about murder could be so yawn-inducing? But…my neighbor was right, and it did pick up. In reality, the novel is about how 14-year-old Susie’s murder affects her family, friends and others…and how this event unifies, divides and shapes the course of individual lives. I have qualms about this portrayal of the afterlife—and one particular scene towards the end was a little bit too much Ghost and Unchained Melody—but overall, it’s an interesting and ultimately uplifting story of healing and resilience. (Just as a note: Alice Sebold, the author, was brutally raped her freshman year of college. She tells that story in her memoir, Lucky, which I have also read.)

*Book: The Kite Runner (by whoever wrote it…can’t be bothered to find the book right now)—I didn’t read this completely, but I read the beginning and skimmed the rest. As with most best- sellers, I’m a little mystified by the hype. It’s pretty good. Not great. Depressing as well.

*Movie: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix—I confess that I’m still grousing that Cuaron did not direct this movie. (He directed HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which is pretty much undisputed as the best HP movie.) If Cuaron had directed OtP, it would have been moody, atmospheric and understated. Yeager chose a modernized, slick, lights and action version…which is fine, but not my preference. As a movie, it is a good movie. It is well-acted and directed. As a representation of the book, I’m a bit disappointed, but I understand the difficulty of trying to condense 600-700 pages of material into a 2 hour movie. However, some of the plot alterations really do not work in light of the events of the next book, HP and the Half Blood Prince. They are minor quibbles, and they’d probably be missed by most movie-goers. However, since I’ve listened to the book about 6 times, these minor details bother me.

*Movie: Ratatouille—Okay, so I’m not the only one who is kind of skeeved out by the rats in the kitchen, but if you can get past that, it’s a cute movie about following your dreams, loyalty and giving others a chance to shine. The animation’s great. I don’t see this as a stand-out Disney/Pixar movie, but it’s entertaining family fare. As I watched this movie, I thought about how the Disney movies of my childhood were utterly terrifying to small children (villains from Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Fantasia, etc.). Disney/Pixar has seemed to move away from that, and I think that’s a change for the better! On the other hand, I miss all of the music from the old Disney movies. We don’t get soundtracks like Lion King anymore…..

*Movie: Ocean’s 13—Well, I can’t really complain about any movie with such enjoyable eye candy, but I found this one a bit lack-luster. It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t think it was as funny as Ocean’s 12. It seemed like they were trying to be warm and fuzzy, and I’d rather they just stick to lying and cheating.

*DVD: I Trust You To Kill Me—This documentary follows Kiefer Sutherland as he travels through Europe with the band he fronts, Rocco Deluca and the Burden. ALSO, did you know that Kiefer is the grandson of the Most Important Canadian Ever, the guy who was instrumental in getting universal health care? Now you know! This DVD will appeal to two groups: 1) those who love Kiefer Sutherland (or even just love looking at Kiefer Sutherland), and 2) those who love Rocco Deluca and the Burden. Others will be bored.

*TV/DVD: Supernatural—All right, I decided to give it another shot. Why? The fanfic of course! Too many good writers that I know from other communities write in the Supernatural fandom. So I had to read their stories….and then I needed to know the background. So…the Winchester boys are growing on me. (I must say, though, that for all of the squeeing going on, the boys aren’t THAT attractive. Wentworth Miller, on the other hand….)