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A Serious Man (2009)
Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is a practicing Jew who seeks answers from his faith when his life starts to unravel - but every answer he receives is unsatisfactory to him. The best thing about this film is the myriad ways it could be interpreted. As I watched it, I thought it was mostly about the failure of religion to provide an answer to ( Read more... ) -
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Good article in The New Yorker this week about how male-dominated the film industry is (it's ostensibly an article about actress Anna Faris, but it uses her career to show how much it sucks for actresses, woman writers, woman moviegoers, and basically anyone who would want to see movies of any depth, substance, or entertainment value being made in ( Read more... ) -
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I was at the Post Office the other day and I asked for a book of Forever stamps. The clerk started reaching for the Reagan Forever stamps and I said quickly, "Any except the Reagan ones!" and he replied sadly, "Yeah, no one wants them. I can't give those Reagan stamps away ( Read more... ) -
I'm Not There (2007)
Finally saw this today. Maybe if I see it again, I'll like it better. That's what happened to me with Todd Haynes' other film about music and fame and past eras, Velvet Goldmine. I'm Not There though, misses having Velvet Goldmine's Arthur Stuart character - the fan who lives through the music from afar, but in a more passionate way than even ( Read more... ) -
The Kindle
I just...hate the Kindle. And it's irrational and it's stupid and I'm friends with lots of smart people who love the Kindle for very smart and practical reasons. But I can't shake the feeling that all these e-readers are going to lead to the eventual elimination of real books. Not completely, of course, but practically. In about 5-10 years real ( Read more... ) -
The Pursuit of Love, Love in a Cold Climate, and The Brontes Went to Woolworths
I've been reading some British stuff written during, and about, the Between the Wars era. I love this period in novels - things are trivial and silly but with an edge of doom and underlying seriousness attached to everything.
First I checked out The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford. I hadn't read them sooner because ( Read more... )
