Saturday 31 January 2009
Doubt
This is a superbly played film. I think that the Academy Award nominations are fully deserved, especially by Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
It's a bit strange to see Meryl in this serious role after seeing her last year in Mamma Mia -- I'm more convinced than ever that she can play anything.
As for Philip -- I don't like his roles generally, but I must admit he's a very good actor.
Now for the film itself -- well, all this set-in-stone moral certainty is a bit scary in the sense that it can go to extremes and adversely affect people's lives. It hasn't been definitively proven that Father Flynn (Hoffman's character) was guilty of anything. And as it turns out, even the most certain people have doubts and there's some truth in that doubts brings us together, as Father Flynn says in one of his sermons. But so do joys and misfortunes.
What I like about this film is that in a comparatively short time (less than 2 hours), a truly complex story unfolds -- we see the strict discipline of a church school in the late 60s in Bronx, we see the complications arising from the first black student there; we see the family problems this boy has, we see the inner squables, the tensions between the priesthood and the nunnery, etc. It's quite a multi-layered snapshot.
Worth seeing.
Not for cheering oneself up, though.
Tuesday 27 January 2009
Just Throwing it In
I've wanted His Dark Materials since last summer when I saw the series in Dublin. Twilight was priority then and I couldn't squeeze everything in my luggage. But Pullman's time came last week in Cologne.
I've started The Golden Compass and am reading happily along. It's got a sense of mystery to it which turns the pages, though the amount of detail gets me pausing from now and then, but I expect this will stop when I am better acquainted with the world of the book.
From my cursory internet research on Pullman and the trilogy, it seems to me that it's not pure fantasy; Pullman put quite a lot of science fiction in it. I'm not a huge science fiction fan generally, but we'll see.
What originally caught my attention was the daemon idea. I enjoyed The Golden Compass film as well. I hope there's more of daemon theory in the course of the plot.
I'm still not sure if Lyra is my type of character. I hope she is, because I like books better when I like the characters in them:)
Cologne Revisited
I spent almost six months in Cologne, Germany more than ffour years ago. As it happened, together with a friend, we retraced our steps this past week.
I didn't notice any major changes, it's as colourful and multicultural place as it used to be. (OK, a bit on the grey side, but that's because it's winter.)
All the same, I was struck anew by the Cathedral. It's imposing and huge. You can't take one look at it and be done. The amount of detail that went into its construction was amazing.
Here it is:
Other favourite towers and turrets:
But Cologne is not only about spires. It's also about chocolate. The best place to learn about it is the Chocolate Museum:
Irresistable spots (especially in rainy, windy weather):
And of course, it's not only Cologne we went to. But that's for another post.
P.S. A mystery unsolved:
Why do they lock the rubbish containers?
Friday 23 January 2009
First Thoughts on Hopping Pots, Hairy Hearts and Death
SPOILER WARNING!
Death has always been a major theme with JK Rowling, both in her personal life (her mother's) and in her Harry Potter series (the death of Harry's parents).
And so it is in Tales of Beadle the Bard, her collection of fairy tales for the wizarding children. My favourites are the Fountain of Fair Fortune and the Tale of the Three Brothers /familiar from the Deathly Hallows, but as good as ever/.
The Fountain deals with the perennial quest of happiness and the mistaken idea that it comes from the outside and not from one's inner self and that there's a panaecea that can solve all your problems.
The Three Brothers is a tale of escaping death. The morale is that it can't be escaped, let alone be outwitted; the best one can hope for is to delay it as long as possible so as to have time to lead a rich and fulfiling life.
This story isn't as scary as it sounds, though. The most scary for me was the one about the Warlock's Hairy Heart. The images are pretty gruesome; cutting out heats, shrivelling hearts, etc. Hardly looks like a children's story, but then JK Rowling's belief is that children should meet serious stuff as early as possible in books so that they are prepared for it in real life.
The best thing about the book is Dumbledore's commentary. I expected less but they are quite detailed covering the possible origins of the tales, their morale, various historical notes, etc. Some are quite fun, the quirkiness of Dumbledore shines through:)
Twilight the Second
It's been a while since I saw Twilight again, but it's been pretty busy so I didn't get a chance to visit my blog until today.
Eerie. That's the prevailing feel of that film. Lots of factors contribute to it. The romance of the story, the vampire link, the cloudy, deep-green of the scenery, the mysticism of the Quilettes ...
I think Rosalie could have been prettier, but apart from her and Charlie, I'm quite happy with the cast. The chemistry between Bella and Edward is superb, the director and the actors can take full credit for it. I think this is the most important aspect of the film and they simply nailed it. I hope it won't be lost in future films of the series with the change of directors, etc.
I think we could have seen a bit more of Jasper; he hardly talks and there is no mention or example of his powers ... I hope he's not downplayed in the future.
On the whole, it seems that the filmmakers show some respect for the Twihards, the film being as true to the book as it is.
That's all, folks:)))
For this viewing, at least
Eerie. That's the prevailing feel of that film. Lots of factors contribute to it. The romance of the story, the vampire link, the cloudy, deep-green of the scenery, the mysticism of the Quilettes ...
I think Rosalie could have been prettier, but apart from her and Charlie, I'm quite happy with the cast. The chemistry between Bella and Edward is superb, the director and the actors can take full credit for it. I think this is the most important aspect of the film and they simply nailed it. I hope it won't be lost in future films of the series with the change of directors, etc.
I think we could have seen a bit more of Jasper; he hardly talks and there is no mention or example of his powers ... I hope he's not downplayed in the future.
On the whole, it seems that the filmmakers show some respect for the Twihards, the film being as true to the book as it is.
That's all, folks:)))
For this viewing, at least
Sunday 11 January 2009
Twilight - 1st Viewing
SPOILER WARNING!
http://www.twilightthemovie.com/
I've decided to push the thought of the Twilight movie to the very back of my mind - I expected a looong wait. And yet, towards the end of the abnormally long 1st post New Year workweek, I got it!
It's as good as I expected; judging from the trailers and clips I've seen before. And I agree with most of the reviewers -- Kristen and Robert did a great job, especially Kristen. She got both the ordinariness and the depth of Bella. As for Robert, I'd say that he was more reserved than he should have been; I'm afraid that most of the time the nonTwilight fans of the audience wouldn't get him. I guess that it is for that part of the viewers that we have that scene in the forest (it's in one of the trailers, too) when Bella says that she knows what he is. That looked a bit cheap to me.
Apart from that, I think the movie is very true to the book; all that should be in the movie is there. The casing is great, all vampires (nomads included) look like the classic Hollywood stars (as they should). I would have liked to see a bit more of them, it wouldn't have taken so much time. I'm a bit unhappy with Charlie: I don't know if it's the casting or the script, but he came across as too sad and unemotional. OK, Charlie is like that, but not to that extent.
Cinematography is fabulous. Loved the scenic shots. The way that they filmed the vampires walking was great as well. Maybe the battle scene in the end, in the ballet studio, left something to be desired in the realistic corner, but that's not the most important thing. It's a book about two people finding each other and trying to deal with the consequences. The movie is about the same.
And I'd see it again. And again.
Tuesday 6 January 2009
Got it!
Finally laid my hands on Beadle the Bard, the fairy tales of J K Rowling's wizarding world!
Now ... to reading:)
Now ... to reading:)
Sunday 4 January 2009
Looking Back ...
Pros and cons.
Used to be quite keen on listing pros and cons (mentally, not literally) when recapitulating past experiences or making decisions.
Not so much anymore. I know it's widely recommended in various writings of the self-help genre, but I don't think it's either helpful or, well, right. Drawing from my own experience, I've come to the conclusion that this method is no good. Pros and cons have often come more or less equal in both number and strength with the result of confusing me even more and making any decision almost unthinkable. (to say nothing of the muddled state of my intuition). Or else, I've end up with a very strong advantange/s or disadvantage/s in one of the options, which renders the whole exercise useless. The truth is that a simple method as this can hardly encompass the complexity of important choices; in such situations you almost never know all the variables in the equation; hence you cannot easily assign a positive or negative value to all of them and come up with the correct answer. It can work with more straightforward cases, I guess.
Bottomline: won't take stock of 2008 by means of pros and cons.
In the last year I've come closer to the thinking that whatever happens, happens for a reason. Of course, I've known this for a long time. My mother broght me up to believe that there are no coincidences, that whatever you do, whether for the better or worse, finds its way back to you (or to your loved ones) sooner or later. The new thing this year (past year, already) is that judging from what happens around me, all these things are true. This does not necessarily mean that I enjoy everything and everyone in the same way or that I rejoice in succcess as much as in failure. What I mean is that I'm better convinced now than I was a year ago, that we do not live in a vacuuum, because everything we do in thought, word or deed is not left hanging in the air. It affects us as much (if not more) than the people we direct it at. Anger, love, hate, everything bounces back. It's the same with thoughts. Sometimes it happens that when I think continously about someone, I either meet them or get a call from them. Of course, it's easy to overdo this by seeking significance in any trivia or milking every second for more that it's worth. I think this is where a good intuition (sixth sense, higher power or whatever you may wish to call it) can step in and guide us.
At the end of the day, or rather the year, you cannot but be full of hope for the next one. Looking forward to 2009:)
Saturday 3 January 2009
Three Men in a Boat
http://www.amazon.com/What can you possibly expect from three men in a boat with a dog of the same gender?
Lazy hours of pipe-smoking and whisky-drinking? No cooking or at least no edible result of it? Mysterious loss of anything essential for the trip? Occassional commotion over who is supposed to do what? The gloss of humour glinting off whatever trouble they get themsleves in?
Surely, you don't expect anything contemplative or poetic as the following. At least I didn't.
And yet it seems so full of comfort and of strength, the night. In its great presence, our sorrows creep away, ashamed. The day has been so full of fret and care, and our hearts have been so full of evil and of bitter thoughts, and the world has seemed so hard and wrong to us. Then Night, like some great loving mother, gently lays her hand upon our fevered head ... and the pain is gone.
Sometimes our pain is very deep and real, and we stand before her very silent, because there is no language for our pain, only a moan. Night's heart is full of pity for us ... she takes our hand in hers, and the little world grows very small and very far beneath us, and, borne on her dark wings, we pass for a moment into a mightier Presence than her own, and in the wondrous light of that great Presence, all human life lies like a book before us, and we know that Pain and Sorrow are but the angels of God.
Simply loved it.
Occassionaly, there's the odd passage like the one above; otherwise the book centers mostly on the experience of the four characters I already mentioned and their adventures on a boat trip along the Thames. It's full of humour and irony for classic stereotypes like fishermen, barmen, landlords and situations like packing, shopping, putting up a tent, playing a musical instrument, eating even.
Reflections on peeling potatoes, boiling water for tea and working in general are such joy to read!
I must say that this book surpassed my expectations. Generally I don't fall for an episodic, sketch-like of novels, I mean the Tristram Shandy kind of novel. I like continuos plots and characters I can love/identify with/learn something from, ie. anything to catch my eye and hold my emotions. Three Men in a Boat is funny and thoughtlful at the same time; definitely gives me something to take away with me.
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