The 2010 Summer Screen Review

For Sonya, I'll comment briefly on my film and DVD viewing this year as well. Don't worry, rest of the world, I'll keep it brief.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to see Toy Story 3 and was pleasantly surprised. Don't get me wrong -- it's not that I expected it to be bad, but I was a bit wary of returning to the characters after such a long hiatus and possibly feeling like it was a purely cash-grabbing move to produce the movie at all. (I'd recently watched a very interesting documentary about Pixar.) What I got was a story that took into account that hiatus and had some decent heart along with its fun, adventuresome story. But man, that baby doll is creepy. Ha!

That covers my trips to the movies, to be honest, but I have been active with DVD, particularly with television on DVD.

Being a fan of Veronica Mars and working my way through its third and final season on DVD (and might I say that, had the show been on a stronger network, it might have lasted longer), I picked up Pulse, since it starred Kristen Bell and was seriously cheap. Hmm. Yeah, it's also really, really bad.

Yesterday, Betsy at long last had a long-overdue movie night and watched two movies. Drag Me to Hell was an enjoyable little romp from Sam Raimi, the brains behind The Evil Dead, which pretty much showcases what he does with a budget. It has a lot of the fun and schlock-horror elements but with some money behind the effects. Not brain-busting, but fun.

Then it was time for Let the Right One In, an unconventional vampire film from Sweden. So unlike the movie that would have been made in America, it is graciously calm in its storytelling, not really qualifying as horror so much as supernatural drama, I suppose. It is generous with stillness and silences, with a score I'd love to get on CD. Perhaps not everybody's cup of proverbial tea (and probably not for the teenaged gore-crowd), but a fine film.

Summer 2010 Reading Spectacular #2

Alright, I've fallen behind already, thanks to a hectic few weeks with very limited internet access. I'm going to divide my reading update over a couple of entries here.

Firstly, I read Issue Two/Spring 2010 of Elephant, an Arts and Visual Culture quarterly from the UK. It was something I picked up when disappointed that I couldn't get my hands on the latest issue of The Believer and I have to admit that it was a good consolation prize. It's quite a beautiful and hefty magazine, sitting at just over 200 pages of image-laden articles and almost no advertising (and a bargain at $20, might I add). A particularly interesting idea for a section of the magazine interviewed several artists about their work and the cultural and arts scene in Madrid, each giving their thoughts, favourite places to eat, and places to visit. I'll certainly consider grabbing Issue 3 when it's available (which should be soon, if not now, I suppose).


The Society of S by Susan Hubbard is a novel about vampires with a rather misleading title. The Society is mentioned fleetingly during the book and doesn't seem central, at all, to the plot, although a certain affinity for the letter S is expressed repeatedly. I'm assuming that it becomes increasingly relevant as the series of books progresses. My main complaint about the novel is that it doesn't really arrive anywhere notable. Yes, there is a protagonist, and yes, she experiences events which set the plot in motion. Yes, she embarks on a personal quest, and yes, she even arrives at a conclusion. What is my problem, then, you ask? My problem is that the rising action doesn't rise that much. When you arrive at the end, you're left saying, "Oh. Well there you go." Sort of like embarking on a "Thelma and Louise" road trip and realizing that you're just heading to the grocer's for some milk. Having already purchased the second book (it was a sale), I'll probably read it at some point and hope for more.

Next up was the latest from one of my usual summer reading authors, Jonothan Santlofer. The Murder Notebook is his second to feature forensic sketch artist Nate Rodriguez and the first which doesn't feature the art world centrally in the story. The drawings (provided by Santlofer, a visual artist himself, and representing Rodriguez's work) are less integral to the plot than in Santlofer's previous books. While I have preferred his earlier trilogy featuring Kate McKinnon, I still enjoyed The Murder Notebook. I'm not sure if Santlofer will have a new novel ready for my 2011 summer reading, but I hope so.

The update will continue...

Summer 2010 Reading Spectacular #1

So, it's been a hectic year. Just take my word for it; I don't plan to bore you with the details. I'll try to do better.

I'm planning to finish off the 52 Pages project which clearly didn't turn out to be a once-weekly entry in the end, but I'm determined to get to 52 pages in total regardless. I'm also considering another little project, but we'll see whether I get it up and running any time soon or not. Biting and chewing and all of that.

But here I am, and if nothing else, I'm back with this year's Summer Reading Spectacular, or, "What I Read Between the Beginning of July and Labour Day". I'm sure Sonya will be thrilled.

I finished up a few things just at the end of June, but technically those don't qualify, so I'll start with the things I've finished in the past few days.

I whipped through The Flash: Rebirth by Geoff Johns and Ethan van Sciver. It's a graphic novel which chronicles the return of Barry Allen, the second and "Silver Age" Flash from seeming death/obliteration back during the days of Crisis on Infinte Earths in the DC universe. Yeah, if you're not a comic reader, that probably makes little sense to you. I was around and reading back in the days of Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC's attempt to tidy up its mythology a bit, but I don't remember that much about it, to be honest. In any case ... I picked up Rebirth just out of interest since I don't read much comic-wise any more.

My reaction is somewhat lukewarm, though, perhaps because I'm removed from the current climate in the DC universe, but compounded by the fact that there just seem to be too many Flashes and Flash-like characters. There's Jay (the original Flash) who is around again these days (don't ask me). There's Barry Allen (who has returned). There's Wally West, the latest Flash. There's some teenaged Flash character, Bart Allen. There's Wally's kids, one of whom becomes the new Impulse. There's some Liberty Belle woman and some Johnny Quick character. Then there's the baddy, Reverse Flash. Seriously. Enough with the fast characters. We get it. I had thought they might be creating this storyline in order to whittle it down to one or two, but not so much. So there you have it. Maybe current Flash fans ate it up, but I just sort of went, "Huh?"

Next, I finished reading Just In Case by Meg Rosoff. You might recall that she wrote How I Live Now, winner of the Michael Printz medal and on my list of reading last summer. While I enjoyed Just In Case, it didn't grab me quite so immediately or firmly as her debut novel. This time around, she tells the story of David Case who has an experience that triggers an obsessive belief that Fate is out to get him and who subsequently tries to hide from Fate by changing his identity and name. That's just the start. It's a rather complicated narrative, in many ways, full of freak accidents, an imaginary dog, a male rabbit named Alice, mixed in with some teenaged hormones. The result is one of those "young adult" novels that I suspect has less appeal to its target audience than to those who have already passed the young adult stage. I'm not sure how readable the majority of adolescents will find it, though I have no doubt that a rather sophisticated sub-group of teen readers would eat it up.

Next up, I read Judith Guest's The Tarnished Eye, a very digestible suspense story about the vicious murder of an entire family in their summer residence in Michigan. Short, energetically written chapters and more insight than usual into the victims' characters helped to motivate quick, page-turning reading. I will keep my eyes opened for other Judith Guest titles; apparently she wrote the book Ordinary People, which was turned into a movie in the 80s.

Finally, a few minutes ago I finished reading Elephant: Issue 2, an "Arts and Visual Culture Magazine" from the UK. It's quite a hefty volume for a magazine, sitting around 200 pages, but one to read from front to back. Of those 200 pages, as well, very few are advertisements, though the magazine is quite lushly illustrated with images and works of art. I'm definitely going to watch for Issue 3 of this quarterly. I wish I'd discovered it at Issue 1. Darn.

There you have it. The start to my summer of reading. I've got five things on the go right now, so hopefully I'll manage to get through a few this coming week and keep you (both) up-to-date.

Timely

Check out this strip from A Softer World. Happy Birthday to me.

Summer 2009 Reading Spectacular #14

Well, August was a busy month and, although I didn't read as copiously as I am usually wont to do during the month, I thought I should wrap up this year's Summer Reading Spectacular. Today, being Labour Day, marks the end of the Summer Reading Spectacular.

While vacationing, I did manage to read a few things.

First, I finished Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon, an author new to me. Dismantled concerns itself with a group of individuals who, as art students a decade ago, fancied themselves quite the revolutionaries until a fateful tragedy alters their paths. In the present, several unsettling events force them to revisit that event from their paths and threatens to expose what they've worked so hard to conceal. The author is quite masterful at jumping between times and events, revealing the mysteries of the past in increments, looping foreshadowing, fractured flashbacks, and connecting it all to the current situation. A whim purchase, Dismantled certainly kept my attention. (It's not a book for my parents, though. Ha!)

Next, I finished Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society, a good humoured romp for young readers. Through a newspaper ad and a series of unusual tests, Mr. Benedict (or, as I like to think of him, The Mysterious Mr. Benedict) puts together a team of young spies who, using each of their unique strengths together, must get to the bottom of nefarious goings-on at a curious private school on an island. Silly and fun, I'll have to read the sequel, especially since the first chapter was provided as a sneak-peek at the back of this edition.

Upon returning home, I read American Born Chinese, a Michael L. Printz Award winning graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. You may recall that I had to read this because it beat out The Book Thief for the award that year. Now, I believe that it's the format (it's the first graphic novel to receive the award) that eked it out the winning slot more so than any other factor, but that is not to say it's not good. The novel follows three seemingly unrelated stories all related to the Chinese American experience. The structure (yes, all three stories prove to be connected, in the end) is inventive and works well, and there is a very truthful core to the book. The artwork is clean and infused with humour (as is the story itself). (I still believe The Book Thief should have won, but I can't really begrudge this book its win, either, because it is genuinely good.)

Finally, I finished A Widow for One Year by John Irving. While in BC, I finished the books I'd brought with me and, seeing this on the shelf where I was staying, knew it was a safe choice to start, since I had the exact book on my shelf at home. I took note of the page at which I left off in BC, came home and continued with my own copy. I'm not overly familiar with Irving, though I have read and enjoyed A Prayer for Owen Meany. I'm a bit torn on A Widow for One Year, simply because it's preoccupation with characters' varied sexual appetites isn't particularly my usual fare. Still, I like Irving's writing style and the book kept me reading, if only to see where the group of distinctly flawed folk would end up.

There you have it! Another summer of reading is behind me. I don't feel like I managed to read quite as much as I did last year, but I did manage to clear a few more titles off my "to be read" shelves. Of course, I did accidentally arrive at a store for a huge book sale, so ...

Here's a photo of this summer's reads (give or take any books, like Velocity, which I may have forgotten to set aside for the photo).

Thematically Linked

When one reads many books in a short period of time, seemingly coincidental connections between them become evident. Not long ago, for example, I suddenly realized that three books in a row made mention of the drug laudenum.

Here are some thematic links I’ve noticed so far during this Summer Reading Spectacular:

art and artists (particularly Impressionists) -- The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World; False Impression;

wars -- The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World; How I Live Now, False Impressions, Maus: Volume One, The Book Thief;

The Second World War, in Particular -- The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World, Maus: Volume One, The Book Thief;

pregnancy and birth -- Feathers, Edward’s Eyes, 11 Birthdays;

deafness -- Hate That Cat, Feathers;

hiding places -- The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Ordinary Ghosts, Off the Road, False Impressions (sort of), The Book Thief, Where I Live Now, Maus: Volume One;

metaphors about bowling balls in stomachs (seriously) -- The Book Thief, 11 Birthdays;

the sentiment that you can’t eat books -- The Book Thief, Maus: Volume One;

death -- almost all of them.

Summer 2009 Reading Spectacular #13

(Five months to Christmas!)

As this was my last day on the Hermitage, I wrapped up a few things I was reading, but that didn’t stop me from starting a couple of others.

First off, I completed The Underwood See by Michael Lawrence. It’s the final book in the Withern Rise trilogy, and I have to admit that I’m a bit split in my opinion. The series deals with alternate realities of a family and homestead in England, called Withern Rise. The first book (A Crack in the Line) got things off to an interesting start as two kids, Alaric and Naia, accidentally find themselves moving between their worlds. In one, Ivan and Alex(andra) had a boy and later Alex dies. In the other, they have a girl and the mother lives. After discovering one another, the two dimensional travelers accidentlly end up stranded in the other’s reality. In the second book (Small Eternities) things got more complicated, with other realities colliding and other characters entering the scene. In this third volume, the story gets further complicated before being resolved. And yes, things are reasonably resolved, which is a good thing. It kept my interest.

But the flip side is that this volume took on a distinctly darker tone, in places, and it didn’t seem quite to fit with the tone of the other volumes. Now, it has been quite some time since I read volumes one and two, so perhaps I’ve just forgotten, but if not, then I find it a bit disappointing that this one wandered off the path a bit. Course language, an attempted rape, and some moderate religious disdain seemed to come out of nowhere. An interesting series, but I just wonder if the author became a bit self-indulgent by this point.

Next, I read Maus: A Survivor’s Tale Volume One – My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman. The first half of a graphic novel (originally serialized in Raw magazine), it’s a biographical comic based on the author’s father’s experiences as a Jew in Germany and Poland during the Second World War. There are several interesting things about the book. First off, perhaps inspired by the quotation on the back of the title page (“The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human,” by Adolf Hitler), the characters are represented as animals. Jews are mice (hence the title), Polish are pigs, and the Germans, cats. Secondly, the narratives are a combination of conversations between the author and his father and step-mother (as mice, of course) and the stories themselves passed on by the father during these interviews. There’s a real sense of transcription to the manner in which the story is told. Finally, the book is interesting in that the characters, particularly that of Vladek, the father, are not idealized. At one point, in fact, the author, as represented within the body of the text, distresses that his comic’s representation of his father might reinforce awful stereotypes of the Jew.

I’m looking forward to finding and reading Volume Two, but also to finding out more about the comic, its history, and the author. The name “Art Spiegelman” rings a bell, but I have no idea why.

Finally, I finished a fluffy little dessert book for kids called 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass. In a nutshell, it’s a “Groundhog Day” story about a girl who, having had a falling out with her lifelong friend the previous year, begins to relive her eleventh birthday over and over again. It was ... fine. What made it meh for me, in particular, was the feeling that the author seemed to try and overcomplicate matters, trying too hard to add “layers” to the mystery of what is happening to Amanda and how to resolve the problem. A simpler, cleaner resolution (perhaps one about the need for this slightly whiny, self-indulgent protagonist to suck it up and stop thinking only of herself) would have rung more true to me; instead the second half of the book took on a sort of “just ‘cause” feeling. I’m sure many kids will like it.

Summer 2009 Reading Spectacular #11

Today, I pretty much marathon-read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I started it yesterday, alternating as I usually do between it and other books. This morning, I took up residence in my little beach chair and read several more chapters, skipped over to another book for a few chapters, and then returned to The Book Thief. Apart from breaking for a meal, I read it straight through from there until I was finished.

Wow.

I don’t even want to bother clumsily summarizing its plot, other than to say that it’s set during the Second World War. I’ll quote two sentences from its narrator instead:

I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race – that rarely do I simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant.

This is one of those books that I’ll be sharing with others without a doubt. It was given the Michael L. Printz Honor in 2006 and I’m left with one itching question: What the heck won the medal that year?

[I looked it up. American Born Chinese, the first graphic novel to receive the award, won. I just ordered it.]

Production Values

Have you ever noticed the variety and sheer number of producers working on television shows? No? Let me talk you through it.

Here's what you'll find during the opening credits of Episode Two of 30 Rock, a show I find fatally enjoyable.

Executive Producer: Tina Fey

Executive Producer: Joann Alfano

Executive Producer: Marci Klein

Executive Producer: David Miner

Co-Executive Producer: Robert Carlock

Co-Executive Producers: Brett Baer and Dave Finkel

Co-Executive Producer: Jack Burditt

Co-Executive Producer: John Riggi

Supervising Producer: Adam Bernstein

Producer: Jeff Richmond

Produced by Jerry Kupfer

Still not enough for you? Then let's look at the closing credits, as well!

Executive Producer: Lorne Michaels

Co-Producer: Irene Burns

Co-Producer: Matt Hubbard

Co-Producer: Margo A. Myers

Associate Producers: Jennifer Danielson and Andrew Singer

Them's a lot o' producers.

Summer 2009 Reading Spectacular #10

Two more books finished today and four currently in the works.

Fist, I finished up the short novel Edward’s Eyes by Patricia MacLachlan, author of the Newbery Medal-winning Sarah, Plain and Tall. One thing that has always struck me about MacLachlan’s books is the gentle, sincere nature of the storytelling. She deals with emotion in a way that rings true without ever using it sensationally. One of my students had read Edward’s Eyes and told me I should read it, which I’m glad I did. It’s the sort of novel that my ten-year-old self would have loved, too.

I also finished the Michael L. Printz Award-winner How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff. I went into reading unknowingly, basically having bought the book from the bargain shelves because it seemed vaguely interesting and had the Printz seal on its cover. I was pleased, then, to finally pick it up and start reading and to be sucked in quite readily. In a nutshell (and an overly simplistic nutshell this will be), the book follows Daisy, an American sent to live with unknown relatives in England, as she arrives in the countryside home of her cousins and quickly finds herself cut off from everything she finds familiar when the country becomes an Occupied Territory in the midst of War. The narrative voice is distinct, a big part of the book’s appeal. The storyline is engaging, affecting, and will have certainly (I’m sure) drawn the attention of the Southern States who are so much in love with making lists of books to ban. A quick, but satisfying read, it’s certainly one I’d recommend.