Departures

Movie Review for Departures



I had no idea what to expect when arriving at the theater... I had been invited as part of local indi film group and had the vague notion that it might be a foreign film. Other than that, I went in ignorant.

And left enlightened and moved.

The film (Japanese with English subtitles) is about a young man who learns the true value of life and death while he struggles to hold on to what is dear and let go of the past that haunts him. He has given up his dreams of being a master at the cello and moved back to his village with his wife. Desperate for a job he answers a want ad that says something vague about “Departures” but it isn’t a travel agency job… instead it is preparing the bodies of the dead for cremation.

Along the way, the audience watches as he struggles to tell his wife about his “shameful” job, while dealing with his own feelings of bitterness toward a father who abandoned him as a child. The movie is set is some of Japan’s most beautiful countryside and with haunting cello performances and stirring cinematography, the entire journey flows seamlessly.

It is little wonder that the movie won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. I highly anticipate showing it to friends and family… and owning the soundtrack as soon as I can find it.

It is still playing in limited places and for limited times… I highly recommend that you seek it out and prepare yourself for a wonderful story that weaves together romance, humor, and solemn beauty to tell a story that touches us all.

Surfacing

This title comes to me courtesy of The 501 Book.




Book Review of Surfacing by Margaret Atwood




Many people will recognize Margaret Atwood as the author of The Handmaid’s Tale. This book is quite different, in fact, except for the author being one and the same, there is nothing else that ties these two together.

Surfacing is the story of a woman’s search of self as she searches for signs of her father on her family’s island home. Is he dead? Has he simply faded away in the untamed wilderness? She must know... but it isn’t just him she is looking for, it is a way to connect to him and to herself. She returns to the remote island she grew up on accompanied by two friends who are strangers and her lover and Atwood does a beautiful job of showcasing the difference between the “city” and the “country”, the ‘civilized’ versus the ‘uncivilized. The distance between the two is closer than you might expect, and when she at last taps into the wild, the reader cannot help but be lost in the woods as well.

This book is not for the faint of heart… this is not a book that can travel to the beach in a summer bag next to the sunscreen and the bottles of water. This is a book that cries out to be read in near silence, preferably near a serene lake. Not to say that you could read it anywhere… just that it begs for the completeness of your attention.

The characters are sometimes difficult to connect to, but the beauty of the description and the stillness of the action cannot be glossed over. Like a deep long dip in silent black water after the harshness of a day spent in direct sunlight, this novel will pull you under its spell and leave you transfixed, hypnotized by the desire of the heroine and craving your own wild pats… an animalistic desire for the uncivilized that lurks under the surface in each and every one of us.

The Listener

Dear Kay,

Have you heard or watched the new show “The Listener”? I was wondering what you thought about it.

-Blog Reader Who Prefers Not to Have Her Name Used



Dear Blog Reader Who Prefers Not to Have Her Name Used

I am going to call you BRWPNHHNU, no wait… even that is too long… how about Trixie? Trixie it is.

Dear Trixie,
No, I have never heard of this show, but a quick search turned it up. In order to answer your question about what I think of it, I will have to watch it. Here I go!



Since the Castle treatment was so popular, here is the same sort of thing for The Listener. (blow by blow recap of the first scene, general recap following, and snarky review along the way.)


The Listener



We open on a young man standing on what at first looks like a roof during sunrise. His voice over asks us if we ever wonder what people are thinking… he doesn’t (apparently he tells us… and then our young man (OYM until they give him a name) gets a bit cryptic because that is what every show needs… a long slow buildup to pique your interest and make you salivate for the treat. OYM, by the way, is not saliva worthy in my book. Seems OYM is a telepath who can turn off (or mute) his ability by making a fist… sort of a physical technique to mirror brain activity that hopefully won’t ever be any more symbolic than that. (I don’t want anyone thinking that the way to shut up someone else is with a fist, thank you very much) and who also refers to his gift as God giving him “free cable.” Who wouldn’t want free cable?

His intro is complete with sidewalk swagger set to piano music but with horrible lighting in which he scans the people who walk by; the semi flirty thoughts of a woman and the fashion misgivings of a man. The man, at least, is totally valid in his fashion misgivings and I crack a smile. Then OYM proves that he is a good guy who uses his powers for good by giving an old man in a diner the extra buck he was just realizing he needed. Intro complete its time for the exposition as OYM sits down at a table and strikes up conversation with his friend (Cute Friend) in which we learn that he was with a girl named Olivia last night, he is habitually late to things, he is a first year paramedic, and the lighting crew really want us to notice he has pretty eyes. Also, he might have girl trouble but doesn’t want to talk about it with Cute Friend and they head off because now they are both late and we get more voice over (because voice overs teasing of framing devices that never actually show up are such good ways to shorthand actual storytelling….). He doesn’t want to be a freak he tells us (who? Who cares.) even as he gently touches the old guy from a minute ago and tells him to have a nice day. The old guy has a look like, “Hey… where you going cutie?”

In Cute Friend’s car with adorable mirror hanger doo-dad of course, the boys discuss their mutual lack of plans for the night while OYM texts someone and describes his fights with Olivia as two people with “unique points of view.” Cute Friend is not convinced as his thoughts betray him. And then OYM has a seizure of sorts while getting flashes of a car accident with someone trapped inside. Cute Friend pulls over (there is no traffic in this part of New York [CORRECTION: Toronto] it seems) and does that whole snapping of fingers and such while naming OYM who will now be Toby. Toby assures Oz (Cute Friend) that he is okay, it isn’t a brain amorism or a migraine. (If they are such good friends, how is it that he has never seizured up like this before?) Cute Oz is about to pull away when he notices a block away the same car accident Toby had just Sam Winchester-ed about*.

The boys jump from the car and run over to help. Despite Oz being the first to notice and run over, it is Toby who breaks the window and frees the girl while Oz stands back and says helpful things like “The car’s on fire” and “Be careful Toby.” He gets the girl and carries her heroine style away from the car with Oz saying ‘I thought it was gonna blow” and Toby responding “It’s not a movie, it doesn’t happen that way.” and then of course it does. BOOM! The boys share a look and the blond in Toby’s arms faints and credits roll.



And that ends my play by play portion except to say that the credits are horribly lame with nothing more than bright lights and a very intense scowling Toby staring off into the distance. I am guessing that they spent the budget on exploding cars.


Throughout the rest of the episode we learn that they are both Emergency Medical Service people, and that Toby likes to use his “free cable” for more than the occasional charity buck. He uses it to solve crimes… to set right what once went wrong… to kiss up with the boss, to stroke the ego of Oz, to waylay the aggravations of an ex girlfriend … We also learn that Olivia is a pretty doctor with a stick up her ass, She doesn’t seem to like Cute Oz while I find myself liking him more and more (his background pantomime of the adventure involving the car was perfect) and I wish he had been in more of the episode.



Oh and the lighting never gets better.

The police detective by the way is hot in one of those “I’m a model pretending to be something else” sort of way who doesn’t ever really do any detective work and in the end all but throws up her hands in a “I don’t know what just happened, but there is happy-ending-music playing, so it’s all good.” ort of way and exits stage right.

There is also a scientist professor mentor for Toby, named Ray who knows Toby’s secret. See, Toby’s powers are increasing and that freaks him out a bit.

We get the obligatory “I have to do something, I might be the only one who can help” and the “No one can know about you.” (from Ray.) and Toby is off to be the hero, to rescue the kidnapped son of the car accident mom.

What I didn’t like about the show:

It makes the same classic reading mind mistake most shows do. It implies that people only have one thought at a time and it is super concentrated. Toby looks at a woman for 5 seconds and she only thinks one sentence? Right,. Ok. Also, Toby seems to be able to visualize what the person is thinking… living in their flashback. So, then shouldn’t the show be called something besides “The Listener” since he is doing more than listening? His gift seems to have no real set parameters and thus it makes it hard to buy the whole “my gift is evolving” plot device.

Also, the lightening really sucks.

Another thing, no one ever brings up the idea that reading people’s thoughts is a bit of a huge violation of personal space. (Is this a FOX show?**) Also, the plot devices kind of overworked the plot… when car accident mom ditches the hospital it is Dr. Olivia who confronts Toby saying that the patient is in a bad way, with a concussion. (But this was the day before… and she can’t be the only person who has ever left the hospital AMA with just a concussion right?) If Dr. Olivia is so concerned why doesn’t she go to the patient’s house to check up on her, why give Toby (an EMS worker who wasn’t even on the case) the patient’s address. Why why why? Oh right. Because the script says so. I am so sick of TV’s depiction of doctor’s without morals. Gah!

And then Toby breaks into car accident mom’s apartment!!!!!!! I mean holy crap on a two foot stick! Yeah, he can justify his bump key because he is a EMS, but still!

The time sequence seems a bit rough around the edges, a lot of coincidences and even some huge time lapses.

We never see any actual calls the boys make being all EMS-y… too much time being all detective/hero.

They change narrative devices at 19 minutes, suddenly showing us things in real time that are happening to other characters. Which… seems… like cheating. And also disrupts the flow (such as it was) of the show.

Having the poor adorable little boy with his huge eyes calling his mommy “I miss you mommy” was a bit excessive. And the way in which the bad guy is dealt with was all sorts of lame.

Mostly though, the problem is with the acting of Toby… who… can’t act. Widening your blue eyes under big bushy brows does not you an actor make. And the way he talks, bleh, all low tone and intense feeling that feels overly phoned in.



What I liked: (much shorter list)

The cop who might be too pretty for realness but who kinda didn’t take anything from Mr. Intensity (Toby). Also, she wears totally inappropriate clothes but with the figure she strikes, no one seems to mind. Is that sexist? Nope… It’s true.



Vigilante mom buys a gun and has no idea how to hold it, this was unintentionally funny and totally sad.

The hints at creepy back-story involving a “gifted” mother and repressed memories for Toby.



I give this show a C- and will probably not watch it again.

*Supernatural dig there, ignore me.
**No, it is a Canadian show that has been picked up by NBC. -sigh-

Summer Knight

Book Review for Summer Knight, Book 4 in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.

I don’t often read fluff books because fluff books tend to be overly simplistic, badly written, and the equivalent to candy for your brain: sweet, sugary, and forgettable.

This book looked like fluff, but I read it anyway because, well it was assigned for the book club and because several people told me that they had enjoyed it. One of these people is a highly intellectual literary snob such as myself, and honestly it was her recommendation that made me consider if perhaps my initial judgment of “fluff” was misplaced.

It wasn’t, the book is indeed a fluff book (at least upon initial inspection)… but fluff in the fun, enjoyable ride, piece of banana cream pie sort of way. This was enjoyable fluff!

The story takes place in Chicago and is basically a detective novel. It’s just in this case the hard boiled detective has been replaced by a snarky wizard. Yes, I did say snarky. Oh, and wizard. We join Dresden as he attempts to solve a murder, keep peace between the warring faerie nations, and avoid getting killed by a group of (pardon the pun) blood thirsty vampires.

It is an adventure story full of intrigue, fights with trolls (in a Wal-Mart no less) and magic staircases that lead up and over Lake Michigan into the Faerie Battleground, and even a faerie godmother. What the book does extremely well is twofold. There is the constant juxtaposition of the Supernatural (wizards, spells, power shields, circles of power) with the natural (needing to pay rent, wishing the magic staircase was an escalator, having to find a robe, dealing with car trouble).

There is also the brilliant writing style that is conversational and pitch perfect. We see the events through the eyes of Dresden who is brilliantly self aware of both the dangers of his life and the bizarre bits that really just have to be laughed at. When he is attacked by a “plant monster” he acknowledges that he feels silly referring to it as a “plant monster” and yet should he call it by its proper name, well why bother? It is, essentially, a Plant Monster that is trying to kill him.

That could be it… a fun to read fluffy adventure with some magic and D&D shout outs and a well written narrative that inspires interest in reading more of the series.

But…. Nope. Butcher also manages to take a tentative step over into deep symbolism, writing at times with a mature sense of literary bravado. The story is about the two warring Faerie nations (Winter and Summer) but through that, the story is about balance. The balance of the seasons, the balance of power, the balance of the Natural and Supernatural, the balance of our past actions with our future hopes all are dealt with by Butcher with subtle sensitivity and an eye for the moral lesson even if it isn’t beat into the head of the reader.

Which, is why this book is not as fluffy as it pretends to be. In Summer Knight, Butcher has done what few others have managed, he has told a complex story about great and epic ideas through the medium of simple lives and simple goals while telling a simple fantasy story through epic characters and scenarios.

The execution of all those ideas is truly worth reading.


Thankfully you can enjoy this book without having read any of the other books in the series (which I found very helpful as I had not read any of the other books in the series. Feel free to start off with this one… and if you are wondering how the Dresden Files in book form compare to the Dresden Files the TV show, all I can tell you is that I haven’t seen the show yet but I was told that the producers took it “in a whole other direction.” Whatever that means.

Waitress

Movie Review for Waitress (2007)



The story is set in a small town in the south where our heroine Jenna (Keri Russel) is a Pie Genius working as an unhappy waitress in a Pie diner. (Let me interject here to say that I have never been to a pie diner, but I would really really like to go to one.)



Anyway she is married to horrible husband Earl (played by Jeremy Sisto who was formerly psycho Billy Chenowith from Six Feet Under (and more recently a detective on Law & Order).



Horrible husband = abuser jerk. Just so we are clear.

She discovers she is pregnant and despite not wanting the baby she determines to carry and keep it. Of course this is a comedy so her moments of extensential angst are broken up with pie humor, waitress humor, small town humor, very dry witty humor, and of course an affair with her doctor who is the delightfully yummy Nathan Fillion.



Now, I am not a fan of extramarital affairs… but this movie has a few things working for it. Jenna is down to earth and despite being trapped in one very bad situation she manages to escape (with a little help from “Old Joe” who is played with perfection by Andy Griffith).



The ending could have gone a few different ways but (without giving anything away) let me remind you that a) it is a comedy and b)I liked it. So, yeah, there is a happy ending… even if it isn’t the ending that you are probably thinking.


There were several delightful moments and enough romance and quirkiness to keep even a slightly cynical heart like my own satisfied. I highly recommend this as a date movie, a girls-night-in movie, or just a lazy Sunday evening with ice cream movie.

Here is the trailer. Enjoy!

Higher Hope

Book Review for Higher Hope by Robert Whitlow

On the cover of the book, there is a quote from WORLD Magazine that says “Writes in the style of John Grisham, combining compelling legal and ethical plotlines… but Whitlow has explicit spiritual themes.”

First of all, WORLD Magazine obviously never read John Grisham. Maybe WORLD Magazine read the back of a John Grisham novel and deduced that why yes, this is a book about legal stuff…. Therefore it will be perfectly applicably comparable to any other book about legal stuff. I know this because Whitlow and Grisham have only a few things in common: they both write about legal stuff involving young lawyers and they write based in the South. Other than that? Nope, not so much.

Also, the second part about Whitlow having “explicit spiritual themes” is true… but totally irrelevant. Well, okay, irrelevant in matters of if this book is good, if the characters are compelling, if it is an enjoyable read, if you would recommend it to a friend… because all those things are going to be in or not be in a book with or without ‘explicit spiritual themes’ and I, for one, would like to think that we read books because we enjoy the plot and the characters not because the characters and the author happen to believe in the same spiritual superstitions that we do.

Maybe that’s just me.

Let me put it out there front and center. I don’t agree with the faith or value system of the main character (Tami) in regards to her political views, her gender relations views, her religious views.

But, again, all that stuff is irrelevant because had the book been written well it wouldn’t have mattered. In fact, it still doesn’t matter I just know someone out there is going to say I am picking on this book because I don’t agree with her religious beliefs and since the book is seeped in her religious beliefs, I can’t be a fair judge.

So, let’s take out the religious part. Let’s just look at it in terms of actual literary devices such as narrative devices, narrative flow, character development and motivations. Is the book good based on these criteria?

A resounding No.

Narrative flow is a staple of novels. It is what ties the story together, giving us the information we need to follow along. It is the pacing, the structure of the book and it employs narrative devices like flashbacks, foreshadowing, symbolism, point of view, etc. In this case the narrative flow was constantly (read: practically every other chapter) interrupted by a switch in point of view.

We would have a chapter written in the first person (“I walked down the hall. I felt dizzy with anticipation.”)* from the main character Tami’s point of view. This worked well enough; as readers we perched ourselves in her head and watched the story unfold with all her impressions, thoughts, and emotions laid out before us. She took her place as our protagonist.

Then the next chapter would jolt us out of our comfortable first person view and thrust us into not only a different character’s view… but into the third person omniscient point of view. Suddenly it was “She (not Tami, a different she) sat in her rocking chair and thought about her life. She was tired.”* The other she, Sister Dabny, is not our protagonist but neither is she the antagonist… and she isn’t even a symbolic foil for Tami, she is just another important character.

Now, an intentional play with the narrative structure like this could have worked if there had been a pay off at the end. The switch between two different characters can be done, if done right,,,,, perhaps by being in first person for both so that the story can run on parallel tracks telling the same story from two different sides… which can be engaging. But in this case because we got so much more emotion and general character development (such as it was) in Tami’s case, the fact that we switch to third person for the competing story of Sister Dabny actually stifles the narrative flow taking us out of the story and leaving us bitter and unsettled. At the climax of the book we stay in Tami’s head and then don’t ever go back to Sister Dabny throwing the idea of parallel structure out the window and leaving us thinking Whitlow simply either couldn’t make up his mind or simple didn’t care.

The other thing that hurts this book is the lack of decent character development. Had the story been about a “normal” young lawyer, the author could have gotten away with a bit of sketchiness on the development side of things, counting on our general knowledge of young women raised in the south and such to cover any gaping holes in who she is. But Tami is special… she has this huge aspect of her personality that is driven by a very unique and very not at all mainstream religion that permeates her psyche and dictates her thoughts, feelings, actions. Yet it is never really explained to the reader. We follow her story getting bits and pieces of how her beliefs affect her and the world through her eyes but her actual motivations for believing what she does and how that translates through her actions is lacking.

And then Whitlow breaks his own rules in regards to Tami’s faith.

We have hundreds of pages preaching to us about what she will and will not do because of her belief system… but then there are two examples of her acting so out of character that we either think Whitlow went out to lunch one day and forgot who Tami is or that he was just lazy enough to think he could get away with having her do actions extremely out of character and hope his readers were lazy enough to not notice. The infractions are small enough that they could have gone unnoticed in any other character, but in Tami’s case we spend so much of the book getting beat down by the rigidness with which she lives her life that these moments stand out in sharp relief.

Again, had this been in some way obviously intentional, such as a way of showing the reader that Tami’s beliefs are crumbling or that she is changing; that could have saved it. But there is absolutely no indication of either thing and we are left scratching out heads and being generally frustrated.

And then we have the climax. Or rather, we get about half of the climax. The story focuses on a few things: a case Tami’s firm is bringing against Sister Dabny, Tami’s romantic entanglement with two young (highly unbelievable) men, and Tami’s decision about her career path. Only one of these story lines is wrapped up (and not in a very satisfying manner either) leaving the other two just out there… twitching and demanding attention.

Because of course there is a sequel to Higher Hope, the final page of the book tells us, called Deeper Water and if we really want to know what happens to Tami, if 413 pages wasn’t enough we can go out and buy it!

I think I’ll pass.


Feel free to buy, read, and agree/disagree with me. Oh, and if you have a grandmother like mine, this book might be the perfect birthday gift.






*Not actual lines from the book

Mental

What’s the point in reviewing something everyone has read already, seen already, decided upon already?

It’s still fun!

But today I am going to review something a bit new… the pilot episode of Mental, a new medical show from Fox (home of that other medical show: House) that just premiered because lets face it, the summer rerun season is here and isn’t yet another medical show what every television network needs? (especially the network that is home of House.)

No? Well ok… I’m sure this medical show will have a totally new twist, a cast of characters so new and unique, a premise so smart and edgy that we, the audience, won’t be able to resist. And I am sure it will have nothing in common with Fox's other medical show; House.

Or not.

We join Dr. Gallagher (Chris Vance) who is a British hotshot maverick of a doctor who seems to like showing off his body and who has just started his new job running the psych unit of a large hospital in LA after only running a clinic in Vermont. (The Vermont angle is repeated so many times I figured the state paid for product placement.) Fish out of water meets hunky doctor who likes to break the rules… oh and has a bit of lust for his boss who might dress like the JC Penny’s version of Dr. Cuddy (from House) with the chest size to pull it off, but really is no substitute.

The similarities don't end with a flirtation to the boss and the desire to ride a bike (not a motorcycle like House but still a bicycle in LA) Dr. Gallagher seems to have more than a few things in common with Dr. House complete with wide eyed lackeys (doctors who play detective) who don’t understand his methods but admire his results and a tendency to do things his own way… such as get totally naked with a patient in order to win the much sought after element of trust.

Trust indeed.

Before the credits even roll I am drawing House parallels left and right with a few Lie to Me parallels thrown in for good measure and being secretly glad that the lovely Jacqueline McKenzie has made it back to the screen, as Dr. Gallagher's buttoned down foil, after The 4400 went kaput. (The 4400 by the way is an excellent sci fi show and should not be missed… check out the miniseries, you won’t regret it.)



Ahem, back to Mental. The show is okay… Dr. Gallagher butts heads with McKenzie's Veronica over whether routine or reality is a better form of therapy as expected. The show also has its moments of connection (throw cute kids into the mix and there you go) and a few moments of queasiness (the leering med student for example).

Can I go off on a tangent? What is it with people (doctors) on TV breaking and entering without any sort of repercussions. Doctors Without Borders has nothing on the crop of Doctors Without Permission. Do the ends justify the means? (Wait, this show is on Fox, home of 24 and Jack Bauer's Torture Always Works and the end so totally justifies the means that you better not even bother to ask... never mind, I withdraw the question.)


Gah, whatever. The show wants to celebrate both rational treatment and out of the box thinking, we are encouraged to feel bad for a dead cat (and dead spouse) collector, and we get glimpses of what the mental patients see and experience. As shticks go, this is well, sort of new. We get not so subtle ploys for emotional intrigue (someone has cancer, someone else has a sibling with a mental disorder Shocker!) but on the whole the show leaves little impact on the viewer after the end credits roll.

I may or may watch more episodes… chances are that had it started its run during the regular season it would have never seen the light of day but because of the summer schedule, it might have a chance. (But really, why not just watch House reruns and use the summer to catch up on your Netflix queue... or watch Glee!)

Despite the handsome doctor



(former Whistler from Prisonbreak... another Fox show where the ends always justify the means) and the always engaging Jacqueline McKenzie...



...I almost hope the show will fail so that they could be cast in something more worthy of their talents and my time.