pixiecrinkle (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
pixiecrinkle) wrote2004-09-13 03:07 pm
pixiecrinkle) wrote2004-09-13 03:07 pm
All things media
I was doing so well on posting book and movie reviews a few month ago, but not so much now. So here are some one-liners:
Books
The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women: Exploding the Estrogen Myth by Barbara Seaman
This was excellent, if only for the reference material in the appendix on different formulations of HRT and birth control pills and the various side effects of each. The history of how estrogen was developed as a drug was really fascinating, and all too often, ridiculously sad as well.
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Read this for book club. I liked it a lot, though there is a little something bugging me about the end. Nevertheless I sobbed through it. The book club meets to discuss it next week, so I need to look at it again and refresh myself, because, as usual, I finished it too early.
Fat Girls on Lawn Chairs by Cheryl Peck
I bought this purely based on reviews and a sale price, but I'm not all that impressed. There wasn't much coherance between the essays, and while occasionally funny, the rantiness wasn't well developed enough to be more than that.
The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell
I can't believe I waited this long to read this. Her essay on how the media played out the smarty-pants Gore v. gym-teacher Bush in the 2000 election is brilliant.
Love Dance of the Mechanical Animals: Confessions, Highly Subjective Journalism, Old Rants and New Stories by Maggie Estep
I'd read most of these pieces before, but the new ones were good enough to warrant it. The stories of her sneaking out of the Yaddo artists colony to go hang out at the horse track are the best.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas (abridged)
I read this on the recommendation of someone in my book club, and because![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
a_book_a_month was reading it. I really really liked it, but was still glad it was abridged. I think the Count was the prototype for superheroes and James Bond types. The man can get anything done no matter what the odds.
Movies:
Criminal
I liked this a lot. There were a few points where John C. Reilly's lines were a bit stilted, and the ending was a bit quick, but it was a good story with excellent pacing. And Diego Luna is a hottie.
Garden State
Didn't like this one as much as I'd expected to. It's still very good, and I'm impressed with Zack Braff as a writer and director, but the ending was way too perfect. It's a great first film though, and the soundtrack is excellent.
Napolean Dynamite
Just saw this yesterday. One of the oddest things I've seen lately, barring Elling. I liked it without really being able to say why. It's got some great vintage 80s set decoration and costuming. Kind of quirky in the Wes Anderson bent.
The Station Agent
Saw this on DVD recently. Very very good film. I love Patricia Clarkson. And I love movies that present a story I've never seen before, which are often hard to come by.
Elling
Strange Norweigian movie with a guy who looked os much like Randy Quaid that I kept wondering when he started working in Norway. Again, a very odd movie, and a fresh story. I kept feeling like I was missing something, because the subtitles were sometimes sparse and my German is good enough to clue me in that there were lines that weren't being translated, but not good enough for me to understand Dutch. (wait a minute--are Dutch and Norweigian the same? They aren't, are they?)
the last hour of A Perfect Storm (spoiler alert)
Okay--not a movie I'd normally watch (and I want to know who at the network decided it would be a good thing to program during the height of hurricane season!) but I thought that the whole point of the movie was that these guys survived at the end. So even though I hadn't seen the first hour, I felt quite ripped off when the boat sank. I suppose watching the beginning might have given me the emotional investment to care.
CDs:
Ben Folds Live
I asked for this for my birthday after seeing him with Rufus Wainwright a few months back. I wish I hadn't gotten it, because I now realize that all these things I though were spontaneous at the show were actually not. He's still a great piano player though.
Juliana Hatfield, In Exile Deo
I've had this for a few weeks, and I know it's coming up on the iPod, but nothing stands out from her other stuff. That's not necessarily bad, but it's not phenomenal either.
Jonatha Brooke, Back in the Circus
I like this one a lot, especially the title track. It's a little poppier, but a couple of her albums are all sorts of somber, so I was ready for a little more upbeat stuff.
Books
The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women: Exploding the Estrogen Myth by Barbara Seaman
This was excellent, if only for the reference material in the appendix on different formulations of HRT and birth control pills and the various side effects of each. The history of how estrogen was developed as a drug was really fascinating, and all too often, ridiculously sad as well.
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Read this for book club. I liked it a lot, though there is a little something bugging me about the end. Nevertheless I sobbed through it. The book club meets to discuss it next week, so I need to look at it again and refresh myself, because, as usual, I finished it too early.
Fat Girls on Lawn Chairs by Cheryl Peck
I bought this purely based on reviews and a sale price, but I'm not all that impressed. There wasn't much coherance between the essays, and while occasionally funny, the rantiness wasn't well developed enough to be more than that.
The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell
I can't believe I waited this long to read this. Her essay on how the media played out the smarty-pants Gore v. gym-teacher Bush in the 2000 election is brilliant.
Love Dance of the Mechanical Animals: Confessions, Highly Subjective Journalism, Old Rants and New Stories by Maggie Estep
I'd read most of these pieces before, but the new ones were good enough to warrant it. The stories of her sneaking out of the Yaddo artists colony to go hang out at the horse track are the best.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas (abridged)
I read this on the recommendation of someone in my book club, and because
a_book_a_month was reading it. I really really liked it, but was still glad it was abridged. I think the Count was the prototype for superheroes and James Bond types. The man can get anything done no matter what the odds.Movies:
Criminal
I liked this a lot. There were a few points where John C. Reilly's lines were a bit stilted, and the ending was a bit quick, but it was a good story with excellent pacing. And Diego Luna is a hottie.
Garden State
Didn't like this one as much as I'd expected to. It's still very good, and I'm impressed with Zack Braff as a writer and director, but the ending was way too perfect. It's a great first film though, and the soundtrack is excellent.
Napolean Dynamite
Just saw this yesterday. One of the oddest things I've seen lately, barring Elling. I liked it without really being able to say why. It's got some great vintage 80s set decoration and costuming. Kind of quirky in the Wes Anderson bent.
The Station Agent
Saw this on DVD recently. Very very good film. I love Patricia Clarkson. And I love movies that present a story I've never seen before, which are often hard to come by.
Elling
Strange Norweigian movie with a guy who looked os much like Randy Quaid that I kept wondering when he started working in Norway. Again, a very odd movie, and a fresh story. I kept feeling like I was missing something, because the subtitles were sometimes sparse and my German is good enough to clue me in that there were lines that weren't being translated, but not good enough for me to understand Dutch. (wait a minute--are Dutch and Norweigian the same? They aren't, are they?)
the last hour of A Perfect Storm (spoiler alert)
Okay--not a movie I'd normally watch (and I want to know who at the network decided it would be a good thing to program during the height of hurricane season!) but I thought that the whole point of the movie was that these guys survived at the end. So even though I hadn't seen the first hour, I felt quite ripped off when the boat sank. I suppose watching the beginning might have given me the emotional investment to care.
CDs:
Ben Folds Live
I asked for this for my birthday after seeing him with Rufus Wainwright a few months back. I wish I hadn't gotten it, because I now realize that all these things I though were spontaneous at the show were actually not. He's still a great piano player though.
Juliana Hatfield, In Exile Deo
I've had this for a few weeks, and I know it's coming up on the iPod, but nothing stands out from her other stuff. That's not necessarily bad, but it's not phenomenal either.
Jonatha Brooke, Back in the Circus
I like this one a lot, especially the title track. It's a little poppier, but a couple of her albums are all sorts of somber, so I was ready for a little more upbeat stuff.