Movies:
I managed to make it to three movies: Elysium, Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters, and Lee Daniels' The Butler.
Elysium was from the same guy who did District 9, so I expected violence, but maybe not in this magnitude. I think it bothered me more because in District 9, they look like monsters, but in Elysium, everyone is human. Also, the premise that the Earth's resources are just gone and all of the rich people take off to a new place and leave the poor to suffer didn't seem completely implausible. So it got to me a little. I liked it, but it's not one I need to see again. As usual, despite my natural dislike of Matt Damon, he did a fine job with his role...and Jodie Foster was awesome and awful at the same time.
I have a soft spot for the Percy Jackson movies, so I warn you, I'm biased. I enjoyed the movie a lot. It was not a great movie by any means, but there were several shout outs to Whedonverse fans (most notably to Buffy and Firefly fans) and that thrilled me. I didn't even mind them recasting Pierce Brosnan...because they used Anthony Stewart Head...GILES! They also added Stanley Tucci as Dionysus and Nathan Fillion as Hermes. Seriously?! With that kind of cast, I knew I would be entertained...and I was. Unfortunately, the "kids" in the movie are beginning to look older than me and the sea of monsters itself was less monstery than I would like. Overall, this isn't one I expect people to see, but I still found it a fun watch.
The Butler was awesome. Just go see it. They start with slavery and end with Obama. It's a lot of history and it was very interesting to see it from a different viewpoint going over all that time. Everyone did a great job playing these known characters. That said, Robin Williams will never be any president other than Teddy Roosevelt because of the Night at the Museum movies. It took me a while to figure out who was playing Johnson. And Cusack as Nixon was awesome. He totally nailed the role...which is disturbing in a way. This is the first one to be getting Oscar buzz, so check it out.
Books:
The library came through again! This month I read: The White Princess by Philippa Gregory, The Perfume Lover: A Personal History of Scent by Denyse Beaulieu, The Passion of the Purple Plumeria by Lauren Willig, Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love and Karaoke by Rob Sheffield, The Omega Project by Steve Alten, Private Entrance by Kathryn Harvey, This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith, and The Dinner: A Novel by Herman Koch. I also read more of The Life of Cesare Borgia by Raphael Sabatini (it's on my Kindle and I'm reading it in between other things), and tried to read two more books about perfume, but I gave up on those.
The White Princess was yet another entry into the Cousins War series. At this point, I can hardly remember who's who...I mean, I think this is the fifth book. I the main character was the same main character as book three...or was it two? I don't know anymore. It picks up pretty much where that one left off...Richard is dead and his lover is now re-betrothed to the man who caused his death, Henry. The forced marriage between them, even when it's going ok, is never a thing of happiness. There is a little more about the boys in the tower because they were the princess's brothers, but not much. True to history, Gregory leaves it a mystery, but pulls in all the gossip of the time to show you how her characters are thinking about what happened and how it tempers some of their actions. They keep trying to end the Cousins War through different marriages and allegiances, but it's still there...none of them ever trust each other, even when it seems like they should. I'm feeling pretty done with the series at this point, but I know if she writes another one, I'll read it. I just like the time period.
The Perfume Lover was a surprisingly good read. Denyse Beaulieu met up with a master perfumer and they recreated one of her passionate memories from her youth through smell. The final scent, Seville a l'Aube (letter accents not included), can be bought from L'Artisan Parfumeur. She talks about how they layer all the different notes to form her memories. It's pretty interesting. She also talks about other perfumes she's worn and how they smelled in the bottle and on her skin. It actually made me go give a few perfumes another chance, leading to a purchase, so, well done.
Lauren Willig continues her fantastic spy series, but this time, another mystery is forming in the present day. They talk of lost jewels that were smuggled to England through the spy network and how they were kept by the Pink Carnation's relatives, but no one ever found them. Once again, I found myself completely engaged in both time periods, excited about where they story was leading. Willig wrapped up both stories nicely and left me still wanting to know more about other spies and about the current day graduate student and her boyfriend who are caught up in all of it. She's really a fun writer.
Rob Sheffield writes for Rolling Stone magazine. His first book, Love Is a Mix Tape, was the story of his love and heartbreak when his college sweetheart died suddenly early in their marriage. His next book, Talking to Girls About Duran Duran, took us back to his less sad past where he learned to bond over music and try to get dates. The newest book, Turn Around Bright Eyes, takes us back to after his wife died and how he wasn't living. He moved to New York and continued to not actually live while still working and simply being. It's on a short trip back to Virginia that he truly comes alive again, listening to a DJ on the radio. He meets the DJ and over the course of time, he falls in love again and learns to live again, expressing a lot of his feelings through the songs of others by trying to sing them. His praise of the karaoke culture will make you want to straight out and embarrass yourself. I've always believed that music can heal you...and this is a sweet example of it. I'm hoping that future books will have a bit more joy to them as the author finds more to be happy about every day.
I'm not really sure I recommend The Omega Project to people. I checked this book out because I've not read anything by Alten this isn't about gigantic, mythical, sea creatures...mostly megaladons, but plenty of other things that he feels live in the deepest parts of the oceans. This book didn't disappoint in creatures...and it was certainly an interesting science fiction premise. I didn't dislike it and I did (and do) keep thinking about it. He ties religion and science together very well in this book. The alternative, nearer future he describes really doesn't seem that far-fetched: we run out of oil and while looking for alternatives, plunge the Earth into turmoil and it's pretty much The Walking Dead, only there are no zombies. The scientific projects are interesting...some of them too out there to believe, some of them I would actually expect to see in the time frame suggested. But the asteroid that hits the moon and therefore throws the Earth into a complete formation panic is kind of wild. Not that it couldn't happen, but I doubt that the scientist is frozen and wakes to go through more creation ages so many millions of years in the future (for starters, wouldn't the atmosphere have changed?). But that was the part with the cool morphology of current day animals and insects. I love that the octopus turns into a land-dwelling creature that has all of the best qualities of humanity and can communicate through touch and a bit of telepathy. Some of the other creatures...and definitely some of the hybrid-human-clone-with-animal-parts were too much. Overall, just not most people's cup of tea, but something I found interesting to read and think about. But I do wish he'd write another megaladon book. I heart sea monsters!
Private Entrance is listed as the third book of the Butterfly Trilogy by Kathryn Harvey. I reread the first two books earlier this summer in preparation for reading this one. It was completely unnecessary. This book actually had nothing to do with the other two, minus one mention of Butterfly and its demise. However, the story was very much in line with the other books. Woman treated poorly early in life; woman rises above and creates place people want to be (with escort-type services provided); woman solves mystery of her past, while putting herself and her best friend in harm's way; woman and handsome man save themselves, the bad guy is killed, and everyone else lives happily ever after, the end. An easy, fast read...just like the other two in the trilogy.
This Is What Happy Looks Like is very sweet. It is definitely a feel good kind of read, much like Smith's earlier The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. I read Statistical Probability in one sitting, not putting it down. It was about two teens who find each other and learn about each other and fall for each other. This is the same thing, only it starts with a mistaken email address. The boy emails the girl by accident, asking her to walk his pet pig, Wilbur, while he is running late. He's in California and she's in Maine, so walking the pig can't happen. They keep in touch and learn a lot about each other and when the movie shoot location falls through for the boy's latest picture, he pushes the team toward the girl's hometown so he can meet her (she doesn't know he's a famous actor). It's just a really cute book and takes a long evening to read. Thoroughly enjoyable.
The Dinner started slow for me. Two couples (the men are brothers) meet at a restaurant to discuss a problem with their children. As I got more into it, it struck me that this story would be an excellent play/movie. Much like the movie Carnage. Although the children in Carnage were also having a bullying problem, this goes far beyond what we expect to find for how civilized the book starts. The memories of the man telling the story seem whiny at first, but he does get to the point. And when action is needed, he's integral to the planning. It's a horrible train-wreck of a scene that you can't look away from...the storytelling is excellent though. This one will stay in my head for a while.
That's it for now. Have a great September!
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