Having marathoned through both seasons of "Life", a show I love to bits, I wanted to dig up some other Damian Lewis stuff. He's one of my favourite leading men, after all. Well, the obvious thing to do was to watch "Band of Brothers", which I did. That is one incredible show. If you have any interest in WWII and can bear seeing a lot of gore and exquisitely acted human suffering, I recommend the show. One of the most impressive mini-series ever, it's dramatic and oddly beautiful. The ensemble is breathtaking, the story is paced well and each of the characters seems to have an equally compelling voice.
After finishing Band of Brothers, I dug up some of Lewis' older work. A dark and quirky comedy called "The Baker" was the first one I watched. It was nice to see him in a lighter role and the film itself worked for me. I cackled with evil glee through most of it. Warmly recommended to those who do not take films too seriously and like their romantic comedies a little warped.
I followed this up with "The Situation" which was a small, but surprisingly engaging film about the American presence in Iraq. Lewis' role was a bit smaller, but the film worked. It showed the locals as human beings for a change and the film was much better for it. The Iraqi photographer played by Mido Hamada was a good character and a rare one, I think, in a Western-made film. Connie Nielsen, not one of my favourite actresses, did her part well enough, but I felt she lost out to the strong male performances. An interesting, but naturally rather depressing flick on a subject that was current in 2006 when the film was released and is still as current, sadly.
"The Escapist" is a prison movie from 2008 and Lewis' role was small, but very memorable. Brian Cox was the lead and he did a good job with the relatively mediocre script. I don't think I've liked Joseph Fiennes in anything since Shakespeare in Love and Elizabeth and I didn't believe him as the tough guy in this one, either. I think he was miscast. Dominic Cooper, whom I still see only as the guy singing ABBA in swimming trunks, was okay. Not stellar, but decent enough. The plot bothered me. The script tried to be clever and didn't quite pull it off, in my humble opinion. Worth a watch. If there's nothing better on. Definitely no re-watch value, though and if you want to see a good prison movie (about escaping, too) just see "The Shawshank Redemption" and forget about this one.
Monday 29 November 2010
Sunday 14 November 2010
On the Joys of Rereading
One of the most common questions people ask me when they see my crammed bookshelves is: "Have you read all of these?" Well, I haven't, there are books that sit firmly on the TBR list and some that I've received as gifts that just don't interest me, but I'm too polite to regift them. The second most common question is: "What do you do after you've read a book?" I usually draw a blank for a while. I don't understand, what do they mean, what do I do? Well, I put it in my shelf, of course! I boggles my mind that some people don't realize that I might want to reread a book. These individuals tend to also gape at my DVD collection and ask why I would want to see the same film twice, let alone more times. I don't bother with explanations anymore. I just say: "The fact that you needed to ask me that question tells me that you won't understand why, so I won't waste my breath trying to explain it to you." I don't say that to be rude, I say it because it's true. You either are the type to read books and see movies more than once, or you're not. That's how I've experienced it, anyway. My friends and family are either fellow hoarders or own very few books or films. There seems to be no real middle ground.
Some films and books simply improve with several viewings or readings. Some are sort of comforting in their familiarity. I have films and series on DVD that aren't incredibly great, they didn't knock me off my seat or anything, but they were fun to watch, easy to watch and very often there was something that simply struck the right chord at the right time. Those become everyday favourites. You might put the film in the player, switch the movie on and putter around the flat while paying attention only every now and then, but you know what happens in the story at any given time, so it's okay. A book you know almost word for word can still entertain. Like an old friend who doesn't tell you new jokes, but you like the old ones anyhow.
It sometimes happens that I might suddenly feel like rereading a certain book in a series. I do so and then end up rereading the whole series. I love having that choice. I love revisiting characters and stories. I love that whenever I feel like reading, I can go from shelf to shelf and really take my pick from among so many. That is why I don't usually sell on the books I'm more or less forced to buy because of my situation as a English reader in a non-English-speaking country. If I drown in books and movies one of these days (as I have been told by numerous people I will), I say it's a fine way to go.
Some films and books simply improve with several viewings or readings. Some are sort of comforting in their familiarity. I have films and series on DVD that aren't incredibly great, they didn't knock me off my seat or anything, but they were fun to watch, easy to watch and very often there was something that simply struck the right chord at the right time. Those become everyday favourites. You might put the film in the player, switch the movie on and putter around the flat while paying attention only every now and then, but you know what happens in the story at any given time, so it's okay. A book you know almost word for word can still entertain. Like an old friend who doesn't tell you new jokes, but you like the old ones anyhow.
It sometimes happens that I might suddenly feel like rereading a certain book in a series. I do so and then end up rereading the whole series. I love having that choice. I love revisiting characters and stories. I love that whenever I feel like reading, I can go from shelf to shelf and really take my pick from among so many. That is why I don't usually sell on the books I'm more or less forced to buy because of my situation as a English reader in a non-English-speaking country. If I drown in books and movies one of these days (as I have been told by numerous people I will), I say it's a fine way to go.
Recent Reads
Right, school and other inconveniences have kept me from my blogging again, but here are some of the books I've worked on lately.
Jim Butcher: Storm Front and Fool Moon, books one and two of the Dresden Files
Now, I must admit to being something of a sexist reader. I prefer books written by women, hard to say why, I just do. Something about the tone, I suppose. I'd heard good things about Butcher's work, so I decided to give the Dresden series a whirl. Storm Front seemed to start a bit slowly and I needed to really work to keep reading, but then suddenly I couldn't put it down. The same happened with Fool Moon. Slow build, that's the word. Mr. Butcher does it well. Harry Dresden is an old-fashioned, flawed hero and really quite a great guy. The mystery part of the plots was well-written and the action was nonstop once you got to it. Another admirable thing about Butcher's writing is that he's not afraid to have bad things happen to good people or to back his hero into corners. It makes for good suspense writing and great action scenes. Not my favourite series in the urban fantasy genre, but a solid good read. Will probably look further into the series in the future.
M.C. Beaton: Snobbery With Violence
The murder mystery/comedy of manners featuring Lady Rose Summers and Harry Cathcart was a subtle, but very amusing and interesting read. Set in Edwardian time, the intricacies of the social world and a juicy murder mix in a manner most entertaining. I'd read a few mysteries from Ms. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series before and found them nice enough. This series is probably more my cup of tea. I already have the second book in the series ordered from my favourite bookshop.
J.R. Ward: Crave and An Unforgettable Lady
Crave is the second book in the Fallen Angels series and I'm still sitting on the fence about the series. I like the leading man Jim Heron and his sidekicks, I'm not sure about the others. Still a good read, to be sure. I'd just go with the Black Dagger Brotherhood books if I had to recommend something by Ward.
An Unforgettable Lady is an old book which found its way to reprint when the BDB made a splash. It's a contemporary romantic suspense novel, and a good one, really, but like the Fallen Angels, it plays second fiddle to the BDB. Still, if urban fantasy isn't your bag, you can get a look at Ward's cool style of writing from this one. Her distinctive voice isn't quite at its current level yet in this earlier novel, but it's getting there.
Jim Butcher: Storm Front and Fool Moon, books one and two of the Dresden Files
Now, I must admit to being something of a sexist reader. I prefer books written by women, hard to say why, I just do. Something about the tone, I suppose. I'd heard good things about Butcher's work, so I decided to give the Dresden series a whirl. Storm Front seemed to start a bit slowly and I needed to really work to keep reading, but then suddenly I couldn't put it down. The same happened with Fool Moon. Slow build, that's the word. Mr. Butcher does it well. Harry Dresden is an old-fashioned, flawed hero and really quite a great guy. The mystery part of the plots was well-written and the action was nonstop once you got to it. Another admirable thing about Butcher's writing is that he's not afraid to have bad things happen to good people or to back his hero into corners. It makes for good suspense writing and great action scenes. Not my favourite series in the urban fantasy genre, but a solid good read. Will probably look further into the series in the future.
M.C. Beaton: Snobbery With Violence
The murder mystery/comedy of manners featuring Lady Rose Summers and Harry Cathcart was a subtle, but very amusing and interesting read. Set in Edwardian time, the intricacies of the social world and a juicy murder mix in a manner most entertaining. I'd read a few mysteries from Ms. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series before and found them nice enough. This series is probably more my cup of tea. I already have the second book in the series ordered from my favourite bookshop.
J.R. Ward: Crave and An Unforgettable Lady
Crave is the second book in the Fallen Angels series and I'm still sitting on the fence about the series. I like the leading man Jim Heron and his sidekicks, I'm not sure about the others. Still a good read, to be sure. I'd just go with the Black Dagger Brotherhood books if I had to recommend something by Ward.
An Unforgettable Lady is an old book which found its way to reprint when the BDB made a splash. It's a contemporary romantic suspense novel, and a good one, really, but like the Fallen Angels, it plays second fiddle to the BDB. Still, if urban fantasy isn't your bag, you can get a look at Ward's cool style of writing from this one. Her distinctive voice isn't quite at its current level yet in this earlier novel, but it's getting there.
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