It's Superbowel Sunday (sic) and since I am allergic to all things with balls (myself notwithstanding) and have no interest in the outcome of the New England Barebacks vs the Cleveland Steamers (or whoever it may be), I thought I might take the time to give some short reviews of the entertainment materials lately to pass into my brain-sphere.Cinema
Juno is the latest from the director of Thank You for Smoking and son of the guy who did Ghostbusters, Jason Reitman. Now, Thank You for Smoking was good, but felt somehow derivative and wasn't quite as funny as I thought it could have been. That said, it did show a lot of potential.
And Juno fulfills that potential. With sharp dialogue and a great cast, it has just about everything his previous film had, but somehow hangs together better. The unlikely central relationship of (the both excellent) Ellen Page and Michael Cera is sweet without resorting to mawkish sentimentality. The supporting cast is perfectly populated with the always watchable likes of JK Simmons and Jason Bateman. And the soundtrack is so good that I may even venture out into the world of real-life shops to get the CD. All in all, three and a half thumbs up.
Literature
The Road by Cormac McCarthy is the author's latest, an obvious reflection on having children late in life. (Obvious that is when you learn he has an eight year old kid and he's in his mid-sevnties. Dirty oul'flah.) Set in a post apocalyptic America where a nuclear winter has done away with most plant and animal life, and the majority of surviving humans have turned to tribalism and roasting babies on spits, the novel tells the story of a man and his young son making their way south to where (they hope) the weather will be more clement and people more neighbourly.
This book, while unrelentingly bleak and thoroughly depressing, is nonetheless utterly compelling and could easily be read in a single sitting. (I just used too many words containing "ing".) An excellent novel about the fragility of humanity and the importance of holding onto it. Expect the movie adaptation to be a whole lot more upbeat.
Music
"Hey look at this," said my friend Sheila, pointing at a poster in Lemon Jelly. "Thomas Kitt, that must be David Kitt's cousin or something, right?"
"Could be," says I.
"I don't believe it, his new album is called Kitt Happens. That's so corny."
"Yeah," I agree.
"We could have thought of a better name."
"What, like Kitt-Head?"
"Yeah," she laughs, "or Full of Kitt."
"Or This is Some Bad-ass Kitt."
She laughs again. "Aw, we're so witty."
"Yeah," I agree.
*Sigh.* Then we left.
And Finally...
Another gem from maverick filmmaker and YouTuber Willonzo. In his own words, this is ART, mother-lickers!!
No comments:
Post a Comment