Monday, July 21, 2003 :::

Everything is Illuminated
by Jonathan Safran Foer

This book is amazing, in all aspects of the word. It's full of all sorts of non-traditional writing styles (more, in fact, than should reasonably be able to coexist in a single book) and hysterically funny moments, and depressingly tragic scenes, and everything else inbetween. And, amazingly, a first novel.

The story? Oh, right. The book is comprized of three differant narratives that form a whole: Alex - a young man from Ukraina - writes a story about his journey with an American Jew named Jonathan, who is looking for his roots. Jonathan is writing a fictional history of the shetl that his ancestors came from. To keep the two tied together are letters from Alex to Jonathan, about their respective stories and life in general.

Unless you're offended by sex (there's a fair deal of it) or strange writing styles, read it. It's GOOD.
::: frowled Moondog / Pineapple at 7:24 PM

i never review anything here because i'm a fucker.

but here i am. because i saw two fantabulous movies these past couple of weeks.

28 days later
i second nina's "huzzah".... everyone must go see this movie. well, those with a sturdy colon. because there are some shit-your-pants startling moments. and i don't jump at movies, period. this movie spooked me so bad that when i got up to pee halfway through, i heard a sound in the bathroom and thought it was one of the "infected", and RAN the fuck out. you'll understand when you see it. the cinematography really is unique, esp. for a genre that's known for it's cliches.
it was a non-cheesy zombie movie. a non-cheezy zombie movie that proved a point. i won't reveal plot. but moral of the story was that the healthy humans were just as viscious and dangerous as the infected. go go go and see this if you have the balls for a very scary horror movie. 'cause it spooked me, and i even had a bad dream the other night about it, and i'm a horror movie buff.

pirates of the caribbean: the curse of the black pearl
ARRR! a pirate movie, matey! shiver me poop deck and swab me timbers! plunder me bootey!
*cough* anyway. as an official co-founder of the official pirate fraternity, alpha rho rho rho (ARRR), i was of course beyond thrilled about a big-time pirate movie coming out. i love pirate movies. and this one exceeded my expectations. not because of orlando's sexiness. not because of captain barbossa's ARRRRR-y-ness. not even because of the undead swashbuckling crew. yes, this is about to become every review of this movie so far: johnny depp's drunken drag-queen of a pirate.
brilliance. he plays captain jack sparrow, the pirate without his ship and crew. we don't know much about him. he's beyond weird, and he's often referred to as either "the best pirate i've ever seen", or "the worst pirate i've ever seen". his mannerisms are so disturbing that other members of the cast actually comment on it. it's brilliance. what if he had played this role straight, as your typical pirate? i genuinely don't think i would have been as amused with this movie. he made a completely original character that turned the movie from "typical pirate movie" to "tongue-in-cheek" pirate movie.
i loved it, but i'm all about the pirates, so maybe someone else would hate it. but even if you hate pirates (watch your back), orlando is pretty hot at the new errol flynn. now i see what all these legolas girlies are talking about.
::: frowled Del at 2:01 AM

Sunday, July 13, 2003 :::

i completely forgot i was a member of this. d'oh. i can be so stupid.

what follows can be summed as being my latest obsessions as of right now.

28 Days Later. let me clarify and say that i am NOT a connoisseur of horror movies. by any means. i am such a wretched scaredy-cat when it comes to scary movies that i do not go out of my way to view them. just a word up.

but get this: an artsy ZOMBIE movie!!! madness, you might say, but nay, it is true! true i say!

while the plot dragged in some spots, i felt, was made up by the fact that the visual aspect of the film was bloody brilliant. cinematography on this film was used in such a unique and beautiful way; there were a couple of scenes in the movie where i actually had to sit back in my seat and go "aww" because of the way they incorporated digital editing and a surveillance feel to the film. and yes, they did use a surveillance kind of view in the movie, but nowhere to the effect of blair witch. much more polished than that.

the film gave a great view of human civilization and its evils (man is his own destroyer). a horror film with a conscience? social commentary involving zombies? you bet. if you're looking for a horror movie with real gore and monsters, you might be disappointed. but if you go into this film with an open mind, you won't be disappointed.

[a side note: the film is also worth it for a very attractive british actor by the name of CILLIAN MURPHY, who i imagine we'll be hearing more of in the future. VERY attractive.]


Feast of Wire by Calexico. at this point in time, this is my favorite album of the year. nothing i've heard all year comes close to it. indie rockers along the same veins of wilco, but with a southwest flare. and TRUMPETS! they have TRUMPETS! what's not to love? this group of boys (with an ever-changing line up of foreign band members who play everything from slide guitars to accordians and an instrument i can't even recognize) have more talent than you can shake a stick at. their unique mexican flavored sound have already got them up at borders listening stations. haunting at times, they can also make you want to break out your dancing shoes in the next. check out "Quattro" from this album, as well as "All The Pretty Horses" and "Stray" off their other albums. you won't be disappointed. unless you hate good music, that is. heh.

Castaways and Cutouts by The Decemberists. the album came out last year, and it was only earlier this year that i discovered them. these boys dress up in civil war uniforms and tell folk tales of yore through the eyes of pirates and soldiers and gypsies and other social castaways. pop folk with a historical twist, the decemberists perfectly combine their pop sound with beautiful lyrics. "July! July!" is perfectly catchy, while "Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect" falls beautifully into that category of brooding indie rock. these boys are a refreshing breath of air to the indie rock scene, infusing a bit a folk with their brand of historical kitsch. i find them absolutely WONDERFUL. and that's an understatement, if i've ever heard one. they've got an album coming out later this year and i am waiting with antici.....pation for that one. these boys just might be the next big thing in the scene.

[also worth mentioning is their single "Shiny", off their EP, Five Songs]

there's a lot more things worth mentioning, like Portnoy's Complaint by philip roth (or anything by philip roth for that matter) and the acid-tripping boys of Modest Mouse (whose presence is gracing the HOB this tuesday and wednesday and I WILL BE THERE WITH BELLS ON). there's the melodic yearnings of ani's To the Teeth (which i have only recently discovered and appreciated) as well as the amazing gift of POV that hitchcock imparted onto us with Rearview Window, but alas, i have run out of time AND patience. so on that note, i bring this review to a close.

all rejoice in my amazing review. hurrah!
::: frowled *nina* at 2:42 PM

Saturday, July 12, 2003 :::

doh. i posted a really long, enthusiastic review of the late stuart davis by stuart davis. but, it double posted, and i couldn't delete the 2nd one. and then finally it did, but it also deleted the other one. doh. so... just... go buy this cd. *nod*
::: frowled ~renata~ at 11:39 AM

Saturday, July 05, 2003 :::

bend it like beckham was such a great great movie. hilarious, touching, all that good stuff. had me near tears at a few bits, but has an ending that made me ridiculously happy. like a fluffy towel fresh out of the dryer for your soul.

memoirs of a geisha by arthur golden: total impulse checkout at the liberry, but i loved it. mmm, historical. very detailed, but in the good kind of way, not the "densely overloaded with details because the author wants to show off how smart he is" kinda way.

what else have i been reading? oh, right, harry potter and the ootp. fabulous. possibly my new favorite. but face it, if you haven't read it by now you probably never will ^_^ some other stuff.. i don't remember. gah.
::: frowled ~renata~ at 12:14 PM