2018-01-31

The Feature Films of January 2018

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At home:


Shane (1953): I always intend to watch this film, of course, but Logan forced my hand. So we all watched it tonight. Lady Steed was troubled by the reality of the violence and the reality of the bad guys. The kids were quiet. We had to rush them to bed, so I'm not sure what they'll think about it as it moves into memory, but no question Shane paints a convincing picture. And it's not an easy movie. It may have a literal white hat and a literal black hat, but it's not simple. Sure, you could read it simply, but that's not what the movie deserves. It asks challenging questions.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): We've owned the dvds for, gosh, over ten years now? But we only now took the plastic off. The kids liked it! The callous loss of life is less fun for me now and the final face-melting is less distressing than it used to be, but it's indeed fun. I just wish Marion hadn't disappeared for so many films.

The Creature Walks Among Us (1956): The poster's a bit misleading (no San Francisco rampage, alas), but I really liked this series of films. None of them are "great" movies but each one was thematically distinct. This one, for instance, is about trust and kindness; the real monsters are the lead doctor who is cruel to his wife and the hired muscle who's always trying to force himself onto her. And they're the ones who get the comeuppance. I do hope, however, that The Shape of Water either leaves the science alone or tries a little harder.

Believe (2013): I had high expectations for this film based on who recommended it to me. But he did recommend it for my kids and they did like it. Me, however. This is not a good movie. Most of the pieces are good (the cast, the filming, the camera work), but they don't come together. Largely, this is because the script isn't good. It's a slapdash quilt of cliches. Or, rather, it's a brick wall of cliches held together with crap mortar. Nothing fits right; some bits are missing; it's all slowly collapsing.

One Man's Treasure (2009): I have no memory of hearing about this Mormon comedy, but it came up on Prime when I was looking for something else, and the set-up intrigued and I was looking for a Sunday night movie to share with my ten-year-old, so why not? It was unlikely to be Singles Ward bad, after all. And it wasn't! I won't defend it as a great film---certainly the acting wasn't always on and the set-up / continuance of the treasure-hunt device was a bit ... unlikely (although that's the disbelief the movie's asking us to suspend, and it's a reasonable ask), but overall, this is good stuff. This is certainly no worse than some of the '70s Don Knotts films my kids enjoy, and anything that normalizes missionary service is a plus. And I won't go crazy on a second watch, so I'm going to make sure the other boys see it as well. Thumbs up. (As an added bonus, the six missionaries are of two sexes, two accents, and two colors.)

A Goofy Movie (1995): This is an exquisitley crafted movie. One of the greatest father/son movies ever made. And it does it while simultaneously embracing its madcap cartoon universe.

Cast Away (2000): This movie was released later than I thought. Which means my memories of watching it are incorrect. I don't know when I saw it or where or how many times. But oh do I remember it. It's a great movie. It shows how to use a long runtime and to use it well. I can only see about thirty or forty seconds I would cut, but that's largely true only because Tom Hanks is bleeding amazing in this movie. We wouldn't think of this movie in the same way had it starred, say, Sean Penn. I also now realize why losing Wilson is so sad: it's a stand-in for everything he has lost and will lose as well. Wilson is a totem for everything. Which is a crass way to put it, but no one's paying me to write essays here.

The Avengers (2012): Not as good as the first time I saw it but better than the second time. This was Lady Steed's first (she had refused previously because of her anti-Joss bias). She did, as I predicted, love the schwarma scene.

The Wolfpack (2015): I've wanted to see this movie for a while. Almost talked Lady Steed into going to the theater with me. But we've finally made it. And on the one hand, it was about exactly what I expected. On the other, it had much more emotional resonance than I anticipated. It's a beautiful story. These kids became beautiful people. When it started, given recent news, I wondered if this was really a documentary I wanted to watch just now. The answer: was yes.

Faces Places (2017): This film made me so happy. It shares some elements with her first film (Gleaners and I), but having a constant companion and the undercurrent of mortality makes this film truly beautiful. Inspiring.




Elsewhere:


Hot Rod (2007): I don't know if this movie doesn't know what it is, or if I'm just thrown by not being able to fit it into a box. Maybe this is the issue professional critics have with Jared Hess? Anyway, this is a movie that recreates '80s sports films with zero respect, but massive love. I have no way to predict whether or not you will enjoy it.

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982): This has been a movie I've wanted to see for as long as I've been seeing it on video-store shelves. And I only finally got around to it because the '80s All Over guys were drolling over it and told me something I did not know: in addition to Steve Martin, there's is footage from old-time noir intercut. So this film's supporting cast includes Humphrey Bogart and Ingmar Bergman and Fred MacMurray and Bette Davis and Alan Ladd and Vincent Price and Veronica Lake and Kurt Douglas and Jame Cagney. Plus: this was Edith Head's last movie. So, in short, it looks right. Although, perhaps weirldly / perhaps appropriately, the movie it reminds me of the most is Chinatown. Parts of this movie are hilarious. Parts are successfully full noir. But that simultaneously means the movie's a bit uneven. As an aside, I was telling my students today that one watch is enough to have a reaction to a movie. But an opinion only comes with rewatching.

College (1927): I wasn't really watching this (alas) but I was present and the moments I caught were as wonderful as ever. Also, if you can, help?






Previous films watched


2018
jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2018-01-24

Make Mine Marvel

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010) The Vision by Tom King et al., finished January 23

Considering how little interest I had in this comic (why did I even pick it up?), this is about the best two volumes of comics I've read in some time. So while I wasn't thrilled about the seeming hint in the Infinity War trailer that this vision of Vision may be in the distant,
future, now I hope MCU has the courage to make this film. Which would be the most expensive Oscar bait film in some time (think American Beauty, Terms of Endearment, In the Bedroom, Little Miss Sunshine, The Kids Are All Right, Winter's Bone, The Ice Storm, The Descendants...). I'm not joking. Done right, a film based on this comic could be a serious contender.

It's not that unusual to read a Marvel or DC comic that dives into philosophy or religion or the meaning-of-life or whathaveyou, but these attempts don't always land. By keeping the canvas relatively small (one family's struggle), Vision has much more success. I've never cared about Vision (silly robot! feelings are for kids!), but this proves at least as well as Blade Runner or Ex Machina that robots can be topnotch metaphors. These robots' humanity pierces.


Anyway. I'm always happy when superhero comics surprise me by doing something small and beautiful. It's my very favorite thing. It's the sort of superhero comics I would right. Also, Tom King's thank-you at the end, this is related, warmed my heart.
three or four days


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011) Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds, finished January 24

I requested this book from the library because I don't know much about Miles but he seems like an intriguing character. When the book showed up and it wasn't even a comic but a novel, I almost didn't bother. But then I thought two thoughts. Some of my kids have ceased reading prose and who knows: maybe this was close enough to comics they might pick it up. And a more diverse set of protagonists would be good for them as well. However. They never picked it up. So I thought I should read the first couple chapters and see if them seeing me would make them pick it up.

No, as it ends up, but I kept reading. So there's that.

The last YA novel I started with a black protag was The Hate U Give.


I picked it up because my son will be reading it in class this year and I had never heard of it (because it's brannew, as it ends up) but only read a bit more than one chapter. Which I felt a little bad about (see diversity point above), but I was instantly bored by the voice. It tasted just like John Green or Rainbow Rowell. So I was sure it would be good, but I ... just couldn't go on. So it languished until the library wanted it back.

I didn't have that problem here. It was an easy book to slip into. And it introduced some heavy topics (racism, both personal and institutional, for instance)
with finesse. The final third of the book got a bit heavy-handed and overly mystical, I thought (both with the Big Ideas and some of the personal relationships),
but it was a smart and challenging book for its intended audience. (Not really recommended to adults, no. But seriously, adults: read a book for grownups. Geez.)

The funny thing about the climax though was the flashbacks it gave me to Get Out.


Sometimes, man. Sometimes the zeitgeist is just so ... zeitgeisty, you know?

Anyway! I've always voted DC over Marvel, but man. The last decade DC's been playing some serious catchup. Add both these books to Marvel's ledger of the legit.
under two weeks





The other books of 2018


1 – 4
001) Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet Book 3 by Ta-Nehisi Coates &‎ Brian Stelfreeze & al., finished January
002) The Complete Peanuts 1950-2000 by Charles M. Schulz & al., finished January
003) The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, finished January 10
004) El Deafo by Cece Bell, finished January 12

5 – 9
005) Cleopatra in Space: Target Practice by Mike Maihack, finished January 13
006) Nabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve by Ben Blatt, finished January 15
007) Glister by Andi Watson, finished January 18
008) Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke, finished January 20
009) The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun by J.R.R. Tolkien, finished January 21


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

* the most recent post in this series *
_____________________


final booky posts of
2007 = 2008 = 2009 = 2010 = 2011 = 2012 = 2013 = 2014 = 2015 = 2016 = 2017


2018-01-21

When I read a book, it stays read

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005) Cleopatra in Space: Target Practice by Mike Maihack, finished January 13

I'm so sick of this set-up. It was fresh and fun when I first saw it, but no more. Spunky badboy goodguy? Check. (Bonus points if this protag is not yet an adult.) Protag hates school / work / being told what to do? Check. Clean-lined cartoon forms? Check. Lots of action and weird aliens? Check. Protagonist is the subject of some prophecy? Check. Protag has amazing battle skills? Check.

I could go on.

Anyway. I suppose there's gold in them thar hills.
one night


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006) Nabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve by Ben Blatt, finished January 15

Although not completely unaware of word-level computational analysis of literary texts, I didn't really start thinking about it until an article in an alumni magazine. Then I started reading stuff from Stanford Literary Lab. I've been wanting to introduce these methods to my students, but I haven't really come very close to figuring out how until reading this book. His style is clear,
his questions are simple, his analysis is understandable. And while I don't know that I will be putting together giant corpuses for my students to work with, I do think that reading from this book will help explain to them how this kind of thinking works.

Incidentally. Dumb title.

Among the analyses Blatt does in the book are:
do adverbs actually track with book quality

is there a pattern to fine opening sentences

who uses the most cliches

how few words are needed to predict an author's identity
Definitely worth reading if you love nerdy math in your nerdy lit.
at most two weeks


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007) Glister by Andi Watson, finished January 18

I loved this book. Like Neil Gaiman or Orson Scott Card, Watson is taking the rules of fairy tales and creating something new and wonderful and appropriate to our age.
The only similarly accomplished work I can think of off the top of my head in comics is Castle Waiting, but Glister is superior in terms of childlike wonder. I'm not sure how old the title character is, but ten plus or minus seems like a good guess. She is a little girl who is surrounded by the weird. Her home is alive, she grows relatives on trees, she deals with dangerous fae--- But Glister is never fazed---at least not for long---she's smart and resourceful and optimistic. And so she gets just what she deserves.

The book consists of three primary stories, each in a different monochrome and accompanied by shorter accompanying tales. The volume also includes various Glister-themed crafts.

I don't think I can easily express how wonderful this book was. Get it for yourself, but tell your kids its for them.

couple weeks


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008) Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke, finished January 20

I was reading customer reviews on Amazon following my disappointment with Cleopatra (see above) and someone recommended this series instead. And so the library provided. And the customer was correct. This was much, much better. First, as one example,
there was again a prophecy, but this time it was nonsense. That's so much better. Or at least, a nice change from all the stupid prophecies in all these sorts of books.

Second, something about the writing---the dialogue and interactions---just felt more honest and real. Zita seems more like a real girl. Which is refreshing. Instead of a bunch of marysues, she collects a band of misfits.

I just---I just liked this one.

one day


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009) The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun by J.R.R. Tolkien, finished January 21

In some ways, this long poem is a clearer look at Tolkein's ideas of myth and language and tapping into ancient forms and thinking than Lord of the Rings.
Here's what the volume consists of:

The long poem of the titles.

Two shorter long poems that also tell tales of corrigans (fae that steal babies or try to get mortal men to, you know, given them babies)

Two inbetween versions that show Tolkein's development from the second corrigan poem to the finished lay.

Plenty of notes and commentary, some from Christopher Tolkien and some from the volume's editor, scholar Verlyn Flieger.

As a work of scholarship aimed at a broad audience, it's a terrific example of how to put together a volume like this. I see it as aspirational, in that respect.

My personal favorite of Tolkien's works in this volume was the first corrigan poem, the one least connected to the other poems (the only one about a changeling).


Anyway! I doubt Tolkien's poetic work will get nortonized anytime soon, but that's more because it's not representative of its era. As poetry, I think it's pretty good.
three noncontiguous days


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The other books of 2018

1 – 4
001) Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet Book 3 by Ta-Nehisi Coates &‎ Brian Stelfreeze & al., finished January
002) The Complete Peanuts 1950-2000 by Charles M. Schulz & al., finished January
003) The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, finished January 10
004) El Deafo by Cece Bell, finished January 12


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

* the most recent post in this series *
_____________________


final booky posts of
2007 = 2008 = 2009 = 2010 = 2011 = 2012 = 2013 = 2014 = 2015 = 2016 = 2017

2018-01-12

New books!

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001) Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet Book 3 by Ta-Nehisi Coates &‎ Brian Stelfreeze & al., finished January

A strong finish to the Wakandan civil war as the nation takes on a ... Scandanavian-like royalty. Sorta. But instead of sharing old issues of yesterdecade at end of the volume, it instead included a contemporary story that required waaay too much other-Marvel cosmic knowledge to be terribly enjoyable on its own for a noncarer like myself
a couple days


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002) The Complete Peanuts 1950-2000 by Charles M. Schulz & al., finished January

Instead of the concordance I'd been asking for, this was a book of books. Several of the standalone books (like Happiness Is a Warm Puppy, but not that one as it's never been hard to find) are included. Some I'd never seen. Some I had only seen on the walls of the museum (eg, It Was a Dark and Stormy Night). It also includes much of the insane amount of good work Schuz did to promote the Ford Falcon. And a bunch of other like things. All great work. All of which merely hints at how much great work is NOT in the Complete Peanuts.

It also includes a nice note from series designer Seth. And a lovely afterward by his wife Jeannie.

The nice thing about this closing volume is how clearly it reveals that this has been a labor of love.
A money-maker, I'm sure, but a labor of love as well.

Now: Time to start over!
a couple weeks


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003) The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, finished January 10

I shouldn't have interrupted my reading to fit in a couple library books. I lost some of the emotional momentum. That said, it's not hard to see why this book has moved so many people. I finally read it because I got tired of admitting to my students than I had not. It comes up every year. They read it the previous year and want to make connections to Slaughterhouse-Five. So I'm a better person now.

He is indeed some kind of writer. I'm not sure I understand the passion for him, but we'll all be a little better after reading this book. If I never read another Vietnam collection, at least I've read this one.
couple months


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004) El Deafo by Cece Bell, finished January 12

A charming comics memoir aimed at kids. It manages to walk that dangerous line between sentimental and ridiculous, to show the darkness of childhood without falling into cynicism.
over a month




final booky posts of
2007 = 2008 = 2009 = 2010 = 2011 = 2012 = 2013 = 2014 = 2015 = 2016 = 2017


2018-01-08

Looking back over 2017's books

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Hi. No complicated statistical analysis here. It's just---every year I have a sense of what I read. But am I right? I logged over 140 books in 2017, but I don't feel like I read that much. I feel like I read a lot of comics and poetry. Books that aren't as word heavy as finally getting Gibbon read.

So here's a pdf.

I did read a lot of comics (62 volumes---almost half the total) and what I guess is probably a lot of poetry (17 volumes), but there were surprises as well. For a fellow who does not think of himself as a big reader of nonfiction, I fit in 17 volumes. Which ain't shabby, even if a couple of them are humor books. I even read multiple straight-up political books in 2017! Crazy!

I should note that not all the books' categorizations are inarguable. For instance, if I'm putting Letters to a Young Mormon into the minors category, shouldn't I also for Between the World and Me? Could well be. There are multiple examples of such conundrums. Books are complicated things.

Other interesting things I noted:
Only one Mormon novel this year (unless you include the Orson Scott Card scifi number.

Speaking of Mormon stuff, depending on how you count, add two comics, a YA novel, two nonfiction tomes, five volumes of poetry.

Picking up a manga series bulks up a books-read list real fast.

I averaged two works of adult fiction finished per month. Not terrible, but not a happifying number either.
Anyway. That's enough navelgazing for one day.