My Sister’s Keeper / This Island Earth

Cover of My Sister’s Keeper: A Novel

I’m reading My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult.

My mother highly recommended it.  She says she likes Picoult’s books because they are about ethical issues.

When I told her was reading Keeper at last, she mentioned I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.  Years ago I read it and kept suggesting it to my mother.  Last year, she finally read it and then went on an Angelou reading binge.  I smirked a lot.  My mother appears to be preparing to be unbearably smug about Picoult.

Why I’m capitulating now is partly because there’s a movie version and partly because my sister ordered me to.  She’s nearly done and wants to discuss it.

It is engrossing.  I wonder why the parents never joined any kind of support group during the years that they struggled with their daughter’s illness. Other than that, it’s like watching a daytime talk show.  Well, a daytime talk show with an uneffusive host and articulate guests.

This Island Earth (1955)

This was on my science fiction movie project.  While watching it, I remembered that I had attempted it years before but found it dull.  It’s a classic film in the genre but it’s still dull.

blog recap for 2009

Top Five Posts

Vampire Diaries on TV

Marie Antoinette (2006)

beauty and the beast links

2000s movies – top 25

My Ps and Qs

Most of the hits were for pictures but at least the philodendron isn’t the top post any more.

Top Search Terms

• philodendron
• nina dobrev
• marie antoinette
• ian somerhalder

Tags

• sexy manga
• girls with sling-shots (the webcomic)
• 1001 movies (which I’ve given up)
• best movies
• sexy witches

In Memoriam: People Lost in 2009

David Carradine – (1936-2009). Acting credits include Kill Bill and Kung Fu.

Philip José Farmer – (1918-2009). Bibliography includes To Your Scattered Bodies Go and Tarzan Alive. “The universe is a big place, perhaps the biggest.”

Paul Harvey – (1918-2009).  Radio commenter.  “And now you know the rest of the story.”

Jane Aiken Hodge - (1971-2009). Bibliography includes Double Life of Jane Austen and Marry in Haste.

John Hughes - (1950-2009). Film credits include Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Natasha Richardson – (1963-2009). Film credits include Nell and Widow’s Peak.

Koko Taylor - (1935-2009). Blues singer.  Songs include – “Big Boss Man” and “Wang Dang Doodle.”

Donald Westlake – (1933-2008). (he died on New Year’s Eve of 2009, so I am including him.) Bibliography includes The Hunter and The Hot Rock.  “Everybody in New York is looking for something. Once in a while, somebody finds it.”

Andrew Wyeth – (1917-2009).  Painter of the Helga series and Christina’s World.

Image by freeparking via Flickr

Movies I Watched in December 2009

1. Holiday Affair (1949) – fluffy, old-fashioned Christmas story.
2. Castle 2:1 – fluffy mysteries.  I like Nathan Fillion and his daughter together.
3. My Name is Earl 3:4  Did not like season three.
4. Nana (2005) Live action version.  Very sweet and youthful.
5. Heroes of Horror 1.  Decent biopics of the horror stars.  Vincent Price and Boris Karloff were interesting people.
6. No Reservations 1:2.  I am assured it gets better as it goes along.
7. Man from Elysium Fields. (2001) Incompetent drivel.
8. New Moon (2009).  Better than the book.  Still painful.
9. Princess and the Frog (2009).  Loved, loved, loved it.  Might be too much for tykes.
10. The Squeakuel (2009).  Corrine Bailey Rai’s Put Your Records On in squeaky-voice was amusing.  Otherwise, not much recommend.
11. My Name is Earl 4:1.  Season four is starting off well.
12. Battlestar Galactica (2003) the miniseries.  This held my attention during a painful and difficult holiday.  I really enjoyed this.
13. Julie & Julia (2009).  Julia Child and her husband make an adorable couple here.

Lie to Me the series had very weak scripts and I decided to drop it.

Color of Magic just didn’t appeal to me, although I have no real complaint about it.

Books I Read in December 2009

1. To Taste Temptation by Elizabeth Hoyt
2. The Chain of Destiny by Betty Neels

The next couple of books in the Elizabeth Hoyt series are pretty good.  Temptation was just OK.

Oddly enough, I finished one book and and am nearly done with two others just today.  Maybe that bodes well.

Recycled Movie Costumes

Image via Wikipedia

I had a lot of fun looking through all of the galleries at Recycled Movie Costumes.  Site tracks costume appearances in films.

I was especially surprised at the overuse of the Emma Thompson/Elinor Dashwood gown.

Stop Disasters game

I recently found the Stop Disasters simulation games (link).  It gives you disaster scenarios and you select options to prevent death and property damage.  Little facts pop up as you play that inform you of the nature of your choices.

I played the wild fire in Australia, the flooding in Europe, the hurricane in the Caribbeans, and the tsunami in Asia.

The earthquake game doesn’t show the risk tiles, so I didn’t play it.

The death toll rises each time I play it.  It’s getting depressing.

The Thing (1982)

Image via Wikipedia

Scientists in a camp in the Antarctic encounter a strange enemy.

John Carpenter directed and Kurt Russel starred and Rob Bottin created the effects.  Bottin is full of enthusiasm about his work and about effects in general.  He’s a delight to listen to.

The setting was the best part.  The icy crunch as they walked and the way they moved and breathed – I could feel the cold.  Even the way the snow crunched under their feet added to the chill.

The special effects were influential and changed the way people thought about effects.   It’s still pretty grotesque and startling in places.  It really surpasses the Alien for creating a unique and disturbing alien form.

In the first half of the movie, a half wolf half dog “Jed” represents the monster and quite a bit of tension and sympathy is built up in the audience for man’s best friend/worst nightmare.

As the shapeshifting monster moves on to different forms, the story became shapeless as well.  The team seemed an unpleasant lot of people.  It was also difficult to figure out the timeline of the story and the characters’ efforts to solve the mystery are haphazard.  I lost interest in the team fairly quickly.

I listened to the commentary and the interviews on the disk.  The movie that everyone is describing sounds great but somehow I didn’t see it.

Carpenter’s movie is a remake of the Thing from Another World.  That was a much better movie in my opinion.  There were people worth rooting for.  They tried to solve the problem by reason rather than shooting it at a lot.  The set and special effects were nowhere as good, of course.

Somebody in the extras commented that audiences didn’t like the ending.  I think a bleaker ending would have suited it better.

Tagline: Man is The Warmest Place to Hide.

Positive review by Classic-Horror.com

Best Horror Movie’s review.

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Movies I Watched in November 2009

Image by Spec_J via Flickr

1. Steamboy (2004)
2. Castle 1:1
3. Wedding Peach 1:1
4. The THING from Another Planet (1951)
5. Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
6. House 2:2
7. Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations 1:1
8. Hammish Macbeth 2:1
9. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency 3
10. The Thing (1982)
11. Never Been Kissed (1999)
12. Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
13. One Crazy Summer (1986)

Steamboy had some good animation both of people and of machines.  It was a bit too mecha for me but still well-done.

Castle is a frothy mystery series.  I like it because I like Nathan Fillion but the mysteries are not so good.

Wedding Peach is a clone of Sailor Moon and my nieces enjoyed it.

Thing from Another Planet – worth watching – here’s my take.

Intolerable Cruelty – George Clooney and Catherine Zeta Jones are hot together and it’s a good farce.

House M.D. – have I mentioned before that I thoroughly dislike Dr. Cameron.  I do.  Hugh Laurie as House makes up for it. All the other characters are fun and fun together.  I still check Polite Dissent to learn about the medicine in the show.

No Reservations – Bourdain went to New Jersey and to Paris.  He really had issues with Jersey, so that was less pleasant.  He loves Paris, though.  I liked the trip to the market best.

Hammish Macbeth – no my favorite series but then I don’t much care for the books by M. C. Beaton.

No. 1. Ladies Detective Agency – Must see. Superb in every aspect.  Jill Scott and Anika Noni Rose are wonderful.

The Thing – I was disappointed in this movie.  The special effects were OK but the characterization and the story were lacking.  Plus, the end was not nearly grim enough for me.

Never Been Kissed – Not much to it but it is a sweeter movie than I had remembered.

Grosse Pointe Blank – I had forgotten how much fun this movie is.  I must own it.

One Crazy Summer – The cartoon shorts are better than I remembered and the rest of it is less compelling than I remembered.

Books I read in November 2009

1. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
2. Getting Rid of Bradley by Jennifer Crusie
3. California Demon by Julie Kenner
4. Juniper by Monica Furlong

I was busy last month and it’s evident that I didn’t spend my free time reading.

Sookie continues to walk a morally questionable path.  It helps that everyone she associates with has no conscience whatsoever.  It’s interesting to see how she’s changed.  I have a suspicion that she wouldn’t go back to her morally sound and uneventful life, even if she could.

Getting Rid of Bradley – It was fine.  Not one of my favorites but it’s hard to out and out dislike Crusie.

California Demon – Very perky.  Imagine a first season Buffy Summers as a soccer mom/demon killer.  Lots of fun to read.

Juniper – Fairly serious magical girl story.  I liked it quite a lot, especially since the protagonist’s fate was not what I expected.  I need to read Wise Child now.