50 Books. 50 Movies. 1 Year (2014).

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I just finished the incredibly funny Texasville by Larry McMurtry. The novel is a sequel to his famous 'The Last Picture Show', and is based many years later during Duane's middle age. Duane is depressed because his marriage has turned into a semiopen relationship, kids gone completely crazy, and he's 12 million dollars in debt because of the oil boom + crash in the late 70s. The novel is incredibly funny and a fantastic look at marital relations, small town zaniness, and sexual frustration. Anyone who's read The Last Picture Show would do well to read Texasville. Apparently there are three more novels in the Duane series (I knew if Duane's Depressed), so I'll have to get around to reading them as well.
 
My first update, so everything in the entire year so far.

Movies (13):
All Is Lost
Her
Short Term 12
Inside Llewyn Davis
Dallas Buyers Club
Wolf of Wall Street
Captain Phillips
Frozen
Taxi Driver
12 Years A Slave
Enders Game
Evil Dead (2013)
Anchorman 2

Those are all I can remember right now.

Books (2):
Dune
Ubik

I'm a scrub at reading, as expected. Struggled a lot with finishing Dune, it just completely failed to captivate me. Really liked Ubik, though.
 
RatskyWatsky said:
Well, what sort of movies do you like?
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Everything from indie/arty stuff to science fiction, westerns, documentaries...it's a wide swath.

The problem is a lack of time and prioritization of books (and some television) over movies. Based on that time concern, I refuse to sit through a random movie without a decent expectation of what I'm getting into. I look to stuff with universal praise or word of mouth on here instead of just hopping into stuff.

I can say with full confidence that in a given year there are probably only 20 movies that genuinely interest me. I'll watch the best picture nominees. There's always a few surprises that are worthwhile (Lego movie looks like it fits that bill). This year I'm expecting to go back and watch some older classics to make up the difference.
 
I'm actually in luck there because I have barely watched four or five movies per year for probably the last decade of my life, and even before that I probably barely watched any. I have basically an infinite backlog of movies to watch, and it's just a question of whether they're on netflix or not at this point.

For instance, I haven't watched Aliens, or The Godfather, or any number of 'must-watch' movies. I just hate putting down that time commitment for some reason, which is odd because I'll happily spend 1-2 hours just browsing GAF doing nothing in particular without thinking about it.

I think it's a sense that you have to straight-up use a full movie-length time, compared to other activities that are shorter time 'chunks' but that you might end up watching/reading more. That said, I don't end up marathoning a lot of television, either.
 
Just watched Hammer of the Gods on Netflix. Pretty cool indie flick about Viking raiders during the 9th century.

Netflix streaming has been a great source of material for me. I've got some indie movies lined up now to go along with all the books I have planned.
 
Tragicomedy said:
Everything from indie/arty stuff to science fiction, westerns, documentaries...it's a wide swath.

The problem is a lack of time and prioritization of books (and some television) over movies. Based on that time concern, I refuse to sit through a random movie without a decent expectation of what I'm getting into. I look to stuff with universal praise or word of mouth on here instead of just hopping into stuff.

I can say with full confidence that in a given year there are probably only 20 movies that genuinely interest me. I'll watch the best picture nominees. There's always a few surprises that are worthwhile (Lego movie looks like it fits that bill). This year I'm expecting to go back and watch some older classics to make up the difference.
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Maybe your way of finding movies is what is proving you undone? Just watch a load of films that are sheer entertainment rather than praiseworthy. Add variety to taste. Watch genre movies that will never make it to the Oscars or the awards season. Watch foreign movies with subtitles.
 
Ashes1396 said:
Maybe your way of finding movies is what is proving you undone? Just watch a load of films that are sheer entertainment rather than praiseworthy. Add variety to taste. Watch genre movies that will never make it to the Oscars or the awards season. Watch foreign movies with subtitles.
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You're probably right.

In a past life I worked at a video store and watched everything I could get my hands on. Lots of foreign films like you referenced. I pretty much watched every new release from 2002-2004. Now I focus more on select genres, actors, and directors.

The biggest hole for me is pre-80s fare, so maybe I'll start there.

To be young and have nothing but time.
 
Jintor said:
pulpy action crap and comedies, I guess.

I dunno, there's a pretty good selection to watch, I just don't really like the actual act of sitting down and watching a movie
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It's definitely something that you have to acclimate yourself to if you're not used to it. Whenever I go long stretches without watching a movie, I always have a hard time readjusting. You just have to pick something relatively short and sweet.

Tragicomedy said:
The problem is a lack of time and prioritization of books (and some television) over movies. Based on that time concern, I refuse to sit through a random movie without a decent expectation of what I'm getting into. I look to stuff with universal praise or word of mouth on here instead of just hopping into stuff.
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Mmm, yeah, I don't watch random movies either (unless it sounds really really interesting). Only ones that I've heard of before.

This year I'm expecting to go back and watch some older classics to make up the difference.
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You have Netflix, yeah? They've got a ton of great classics on there.
 
Atrophis - 8/50 Books | 4/50 Movies

Was determined to watch some films this weekend. Only got two watched sadly (damn you GW2, oh how you suck up all my time).

The Summit ★★★

A dodumentary about a deadly expedition to climb K2 which left 11 people dead. Does a fairly good job of getting over the terror of being stuck on a mountain in darkness. The story does get a bit confusing towards the end and I'm still not entirely sure if this is just reflecting the reality of the events or due to poor film making. I'm leaning towards the latter - the person the documentary pushes as knowing the real story barely gets any screen time.

Bronies ★★

Well I learnt a few things watching this. I learnt that John de Lancie voices a character. I learnt that this fandom is perty much identical to many others such as anime fandom. I learnt that the show doesn't seem very good from the clips that were shown.

I didn't learn why this show is so popular among certain 20 year old males. We find out the shows creator no longer works on the show but this wasn't explored further. Sounds like their could be an interestign story behind this. Or maybe not? The documentary certainly wasn't about to elaborate.

This was full of the kind of cringeworthy footage you would probably expect but I don't find such stuff entertaining.
 
Time for an update:

Books:

The Blindness:

Saramago does a fantastic job in creating an atmosphere that feels extremely oppressive and an atmosphere filled of despair. The writing style is hit and miss a lot of the time; at certain moments, I was in love with Blindness, for others, I wanted to toss the book out of my window. I certainly understand why this won a Nobel Prize award. I have grown to appreciate the book a tad more than when I completed it, partly due to the strong philosophical knowledge I obtained. I won't venture into another Saramago book due to my dislike of his writing, but I recommend people to give Blindness a shot. You won't read anything else like it.

★★★★

Mediations:

Motherfucking Marcus Aurelus is a god damn emperor I can get behind. One must realize the time period this philosophy was made to truly appreciate the whole of Stoticism. Majority of the core concepts are idealistic and worth following: Helping the common good, valuing your own opinion above your neighbors, forgiving and loving one's neighbors regardless of his/her nature, not needlessly casting blame, not demanding rewards for being a kind person, being kind in general, and accepting death.

I disagree with his concept on deities, but hey, this was written during the Roman era where religion was a bigger deal than it is now (and I live in the South!). Remember, one must keep perspective while reading a work as old as this! The concept behind what he says is still valid. This is a wonderful piece of philosophy that every person should read.

★★★★★

Movies:

Moon:

After years of delaying the inevitable, I decided to finally watch this, surprisingly, heartfelt and unique science fiction film. The writing is solid, the acting was quite believable, the emotional punches were hard, the special effects were damn good, and the character was quite likable and well-written. A modern sci-fi film I have no problem in recommending to someone.

★★★★

The Royal Tenenbaums:

Whenever I start to feel the film medium is becoming stale, all I need to do is watch a Wes Anderson film to break myself of that illusion. This film is a reminder of why Anderson is a true craftsman.

★★★★★
 

Books
10. Zone One, by Colson Whitehead

I'm not going to join the chorus of voices declaring Whitehead's book to be "pretentious" because it's a highly respected author of sophisticated works of literature that play with structure and use 5-dollar words writing a genre novel. That seems silly; anyone can write in whatever genre they want, and writing a novel about life in a world after the zombie apocalypse has struck is selling out. However, I will say that it feels like Whitehead had explored as much about the world and the characters as he wished after about 100 pages or so, and the rest seemed like repetitions on a theme. I stress "repetitions" here rather than "variations." For example, once Whitehead pointed out to the reader the gag about how Post-Apocalyptic Survivor Disorder ("PASD") sounds like "past" when pronounced, it seemed like it was enough that we would all get the point. Instead, he hits on that gag again and again, as if it would produce a new note with each strike. Or how the American reconstruction is sponsored by corporations. Whitehead mentions it, but it doesnt' go beyond a sneer and a smirk at how everything, even the post-apocalypse recovery, would be beholden to corporate interests.

Whitehead also tries to dissect the illusion of hope in a post-apocalyptic setting, but underneath the language he uses and the structure that he employs, it felt familiar, as it likely would to anyone who's read or seen a piece about the zombie apocalypse. The narrative strength of the zombie apocalypse comes from the tireless antagonist and a world where humans are prey. Refuges fall before the shambling (or sprinting) zombie juggernaut, if they don't fall to human nature first. Again, I don't see what separates Zone One from The Walking Dead or Dawn of the Dead other than Whitehead's skill at obfuscating his plot, what there is of it, with his narrative structure and vocabulary.

Whitehead's exploration about how contemporary First World life before Last Night rendered human beings into automatons no better than his straggler zombies are similarly superficial. I think I got the point of that idea from the opening 10 minutes of Shaun of the Dead.

I can see the appeal of an author like Whitehead employing his craft to create a novel set in the post-zombie apocalypse, but it feels surprisingly derivative of other works in the genre. What sets it apart, as I've mentioned, is the structure and the game of obfuscation at which Whitehead plays. The plot is dribbled out in between long flashbacks and digressions, explorations into the narrator's personal history and philosophy. I suppose Whitehead intends the revelation that the narrator, Mark Spitz, to be a shock to the reader. Whitehead plays a game to keep the reader interested for as long as possible on as little as possible, and he mostly succeeds. Nonetheless, it feels like a gimmick, a test of the reader's patience and willingness to sit through a lot for a little.

11. The Maid's Version, by Daniel Woodrell

Woodrell invites the reader to consider what we learned from the story, and what use we will make of the story and any lessons learned from it. I refamiliarized myself with some familir lessons, like the dark secrets that lay beneath the veneer of civility that small towns lay out for visitors. I learned how a small lapse in judgment, made my a mind fuzzy from alcohol, could have catastrophic consequences. I learned that a man can spend his life trying to atone for that lapse in judgment, but it could never be enough for some survivors, particularly the person who makes the mistake. There are familiar lessons about family and grudges, about the past catching up to us, about hwo people like to dig at their old scars, not to remember in fondness, but to keep it raw. And I learned about the conspiracy of silence and how the conspirators justify its existence, usually by declaring that it would be better if the truth were suppressed and guilt pushed down in the name of something larger, like a town's livelihood.

The books is practically a novella, and it feels even shorter because of the care and furious pace of Woodrell's storytelling. The romance of a doomed couple is told with richness in three or four pages. A story of a man and his piano-playing sweetheart is told in little over one page. Woodrell finds the essential details about the town and its inhabitants and makes them universal. These brief glimpses wrap the larger tragedy in smaller doses of sorrow.

The anger comes from the conspiracy of silence and from the crippling poverty that plagued the narrator's family for generations. Watching others who had more waste and squander without concern, living off scraps, the book portrays the injustices of class and how small towns are defined by these disparities, between those who have and those do not, those who are from the town and those who came from elsewhere to settle there. The author does not pass judgment; instead, Woodrell focuses on the need to tell the stories of a crime that went unpunished and the lives that were lost.

Movies
23. Robot & Frank

HBO Go collapsed into the online video streaming equivalent of a trash fire last night during the True Detective finale, and Showtime Anytime and Max Go both went down with it, so I couldn't catch up on Masters of Sex or watch Danny Boyle's Trance. So, it was back to old and reliable Netflix to watch Robot & Frank, chosen mostly because it was one of the shorter films that made camp in my viewing queue.

Watching Robot & Frank after watching Her is an interesting proposition, as both films share the theme of people finding a way to reconnect to other people through machines. Both identify their fabricated partners as companions that are greater than their ones and zeroes. Both feature protagonists who are damaged by life in ways that make connecting with other people difficult, though the obstacles that trouble Frank Langella's Frank in Robot & Frank are more physiological than metaphysical. And Her is a little more naturalistic; Robot & Frank has to establish the setting with a slightly clumsy caption to let the audience know the film is set in the "near future."

The delineation between any comparison between Robot & Frank and Her comes to small but significant detail: Ted, played by Joaquin Phoenix, wonders what to call the artificial intelligence voiced by Scarlett Johansson, and she settles on Samantha. The idea of naming his robotic companion barely crosses Frank's mind; the robot neither receives nor chooses a name. And that plays into how the robot sees itself; it insists that it is a tool to help Frank improve his health and reminds Frank that he "is not a human being." He's a very advanced tool; Samantha is a growing intelligence, almost a new form of life.

Most of the attention that the film has garnered focuses on Langella's performance. Langella lends Frank an edge and an element of danger that makes Frank and the film seem sharper and less soppy than they could have been. Langella sells Frank's worsening dementia with grace and conviction, unafraid to show some ugliness as Frank's condition deterioriates. I suppose the wild swings between Frank's inability to remember his life (and the resulting anger) and Frank's sharp, sly as a fox ability to manipulate others could be realistic.

Jake Schreier, director of Robot & Frank, tries to catch us unaware with the one scene of genuine emotional impact, but because it had been underdeveloped, it feels like the film is trying to sell it as a shocking twist. The clues are laid out before the viewer, but the film isn't structured to be a mystery, and it's reliant on Susan Sarandon and Langella to make the scene work. After that scene, the film seems to unwind to its easy conclusion; there is a conflict in how Frank ends up where he is at the end of the film that should have been shown, at the very least. Frank, as we learned throughout the film, would have fought that fate. Instead, we see him almost content with where his life is at the end.

The film was a fine diversion to occupy me until HBO Go resolved its issues (it hadn't by the time I was finished watching Robot & Frank, but that's fine), but I was left wishing the film had gone a little deeper or trusted itself with a little more irony and complexity.
 
Wow finally getting time to update this. I really want to take part in discussion here, not just be a drive-by, I just need more time in the day. Unfortunately I haven't even dented the stack sitting on my nightstand since the year's start (about 50 pages into Underworld and Foundation, and 30 into the Moviegoer), but I was able to last-minute enroll in a Word Literature class, and I've been reading non-stop for the past month. So while I technically have only read 4 books, I've been reading around 200 pages of many different things a week. Though my original goal was to read more novels, I still consider the year so far a success. I know I've seen a movie since January, like really I have, but I can't even remember.

It's basically way too damn late to give any meaningful write up these, so I'll get to that later, but I'll say that:

Candide - ★★★
Good book, masterfully ironic, fantastically paced narrative. Its characters are more often than not fun, though maybe a bit grating. I enjoyed the philosophy and the emotion, and definitely Pococurante (or whatever his name was) the most. All in all, I don't think it's particularly outstanding as an adventure or a power philosophical text, though it is hard to put down and that certainly counts for a lot. I mean, for primarily philosophically-driven narratives--and I haven't read many--I wouldn't rank it near Camus, who just happens to resonate more with me. But I consider it a keeper, though I don't think I'll reread it anytime soon.

Notes from Underground - ★★★★
Wonderful book that really got my mind firing on all pistons. I really want to write more about this. I probably will. Hopefully. Basically, read it if you haven't already. It has such a great narrator. You will feel as though you're one of his (the narrator) acquaintances, and he will treat you as such.

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano - ★★½
I mean, it's nothing bad; I just didn't find it to be captivating or particularly engaging. It's certainly a valuable read and I don't feel as if it was a waste of time. I like the argumentation and its presentation of culture, though I really struggled to get through it.

I plan to finish Underworld ASAP since I love DeLillo with all my heart after reading White Noise. I've been reading a lot of tabletop RPG manuals in my spare time, as well, but I don't think those count...
 
Small update:

Saya - 8/50 books | 86/50 movies

Books:

  • House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski - ★★★★★
House of Leaves is mesmerizing. At least it was for me. It might not be for you. You might hate it, you might love it. There is no way to find out except by immersing yourself into the world (or house for that matter) set in this book. I read it in a week (which is fast by my standards) and I loved it. House of Leaves is a puzzle, it is a book about a book about a documentary about a mysterious house that seems to be bigger inside than outside. It will leave you thinking, perhaps even wanting more information. Part of the fun of experiencing this novel is the uncovering of clues, finding answers, and coming up with your own conclusions about what is real or not. Not everything is reliable and often you will find yourself a bit lost only for the clearer image to come through later on. Some reviews, even the Wikipedia entry on the House of Leaves, categorized it also as a love story, which I would totally agree with. Besides the inherent dark theme of the house, the books is alive with human relationships, with various results. The story of The Navidson Record was the highlight for me, it's unsettling to encounter such an unknown force in the world. There is nothing to take from it yet it leaves us wanting something out of it.

Movies:

  • Byzantium (Neil Jordan, 2012) - ★
  • In the Loop (Armando Iannucci, 2009) - ★★★★
  • Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami, 2012) - ★★★
  • Fright Night 2: New Blood (Eduardo Rodriguez, 2013) - ★
  • About Elly… [Darbâreye Eli] (Asghar Farhadi, 2009) - ★★★★★
  • Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen,2013) - ★★★★
  • Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (John McNaughton, 1990) - ★★★½
  • The Colony (Jeff Renfroe, 2013) - ★
  • Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (Isaac Florentine, 2013) - ★★★½
  • Despicable Me 2 (Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud, 2013) - ★★★½
  • Side by Side (Christopher Kenneally, 2012) - ★★★★
  • Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972) - ★★★★★
  • The Bay (Barry Levinson, 2012) - ★
 
Tragicomedy said:
I need to see this. Did you catch Fitzcarraldo? Same director and actor. Absolutely brilliant.
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It's really a brilliant film. I highly recommend it. The sheer scope and it being filmed on location is just mindblowing. Really good. Fitzcarraldo I still need to see that one. All his collaborations with Klaus Kinski are not to be missed I think. I did watch the documentary Burden of Dreams though, which is about the production of Fitzcarraldo.
 
Saya said:
It's really a brilliant film. I highly recommend it. The sheer scope and it being filmed on location is just mindblowing. Really good. Fitzcarraldo I still need to see that one. All his collaborations with Klaus Kinski are not to be missed I think. I did watch the documentary Burden of Dreams though, which is about the production of Fitzcarraldo.
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Let me just say there's a scene in Fitzcarraldo where some of the natives start throwing spears and stuff at the cast...AND IT WAS NOT A PLANNED PART OF THE MOVIE.

Absolutely insane.
 
update

Empty - 16/50 books | 21/50 movies

books

14. frank sinatra has a cold and other essays by gay talese - collection of talese's non fiction magazine profiles ranging from descriptions of the people around sinatra in the sixties to muhammed ali meeting fidel castro in the late nineties. the front cover of the book tells me that talese was a pioneer in writing non-fiction pieces as if they were good literary short stories, like the two books below, so it's a little hard to truly judge it in 2014 when its influence defines what i expect so it loses its novelty. this is also compounded by him often tackling people i don't really know about like sports stars from the era. however talese's skill as a writer is strong enough for it not to matter. he's so brilliant at drawing you into a scene, letting the dialogue speak for itself and in just twenty-thirty pages makes you really feel like you know them.

the titular essay about sinatra is masterfully written but the one that really got me was about the boxer flloyd patterson called the loser. it follows him after he's lost a second time to sonny liston, it's incredibly intimate and it goes deep into his depression and insecurity in a really heartbreaking way. at one points he says that a man defines himself in defeat then later talks about how losing is so unbearable that he takes a fake moustache and glasses to fights so he can get away without being recognized.* in a story like that the personal details are so strong that the story grips you without looking behind the curtains to see how, but a few times i found talese's invisibility a little jarring. on one hand it's a strength that he doesn't direct you overtly towards meaning and let's you interpret yourself these people's lives, but i'd like to have seen a little more sense of a conversation instead of a one way mirror.

*if you're interested in this story you can read it here it's truly amazing and i know nothing about boxing http://thestacks.deadspin.com/the-loser-the-most-honest-sports-story-ever-written-772260237

15. cathedral by raymond carver - my second collection of carver's short stories this year and he's rapidly becoming one of my favourite writers. this collection is less minimalist than what we talk about when we talk about love and aims for a bit more warm sentimentality. don't get me wrong, he still focusing on things like unhappy marriages, alcoholism and struggles to find decent work in his unadorned, precise way but some of the stories have a sense of optimism lacking in the more haunting previous collection and it's not quite as stripped down. it's hard not to describe this collection in relation to the previous one i read as this book contains an expanded version of a story in that one about the anguish of two parents who order a birthday cake only for their son to end up in hospital before it can be delivered. it's interesting to compare because it illuminates the differences but it also raises questions about editing in literature; the one in cathedral is carver's original and the one in what we talk about... is edited by gordon lish so dramatically that he literally changes the worldview of the story by removing the optimistic ending as well as a lot of the mood by cutting down the description so much and the plot by making concrete elements ambiguous. lish is certainly an outlier in being a heavy-handed editor, he probably should be on the front of what we talk about.. with carver in a lennon-mccartney-esque credit, but i'd never thought that much about the role of editing in books.

anyway that's some random words. this is a really great collection of stories that so perfectly capture how people talk, think and act in their lives, written with just this incredibly striking spare prose and has some very powerful depictions of alcoholism.

16. liars in love by richard yates

i really love richard yates but i probably would have liked this a little more if i hadn't read it at the same time as carver and soon after a munro. this is a well written and fluent collection of stories ranging from short to novella length about how people enter relationships and exit them and the lies they tell about why they do that. i didn't think it was nearly as good as eleven kinds of loneliness though - his other short story collection. i think the people were a little too bristle for them to have the beautiful moments of vulnerability among the sadness that characterizes his best work.

films -

18. a serious man - i thought this was an absolutely brilliant coen brothers dark comedy about an uncertain man having a crisis of faith. it hooked me right from the weird opening polish fable and i found its look at how you choose to live in an irrational, unknowable universe both fascinating, sad and absurdly funny. it's such a well crafted film too, one where you feel like every scene is important and with great but less showy performances, cinematography, music etc

19. the black cauldron - very beautiful but hollow disney fantasy adventure. this film is visually reminiscent of sleeping beauty and has amazing hand-drawn backgrounds but the plot has way too many characters to really work in eighty minutes, leaving you with an unsatsfying lead and villain and a plot that rarely feels more than brief vignettes.

20. only god forgives - really wanted to turn this stylish but odd revenge film off after twenty minutes but i'm glad i did even though its more curious than gripping. the film reminds me of mgs2 in that it's crazy and hilarious but also cool in how it plays with your expectations based on its predecessor. i read this film as a deliberate attempt to subvert what people took from drive, casting gosling as a sad, alienated and pathetic figure, accentuating what seems cool to the point where its ludicrous and giving him a hilarious fruedian side, then having the villain take gosling's role except played as an odd middle aged asian guy who gets solace among the violence from karaoke instead of looking at carey mulligan. it's got a ton of style with the music and neon though it feels too much, too artificial at times, though its one of those films where you wonder if the artifice is the point.

21. the spectacular now - touching and thoughtful teenage coming of age drama. it follows sutter who is obsessed with living in the now but whos philosophy is breaking as he turns into his adult and his relationship with amy who is insecure and believes herself unworthy of dating sutter or much at all. it uses these two to look at how teens define themselves and the delusions that you create to get through that part of your life and does it and the character development in a nice, satisfying way. maybe a few casting problems, the actress who plays amy is probably a little too gorgeous to be plausible as an insecure dorky girl (good looking people can believe they're ugly ofc, especially as teenagers and especially if they're girls, but come on) and i refuse to accept kyle chandler as a burned out terrible father as he is the man.
 
Quick update:
Beeblebrox - 5/50 Books | 12/50 Movies

Just saw Serenity after finally finishing Firefly, and I enjoyed it. Everything that I liked from the show was there, along with all that cheesy stuff and some weird character motivations. Overall, nice ending of the Firefly story (that spaceship battle was really nice, didn't even know I want it in Firefly until I saw it here). Wouldn't mind new show or a movie now that I think about it.
 
Empty said:
19. the black cauldron - very beautiful but hollow disney fantasy adventure. this film is visually reminiscent of sleeping beauty and has amazing hand-drawn backgrounds but the plot has way too many characters to really work in eighty minutes, leaving you with an unsatsfying lead and villain and a plot that rarely feels more than brief vignettes.
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You should definitely look at the books, The Prydain Chronicles, the movie is based on. They're children's stories based on Welsh mythology and quite a good read. :)
 
It's been a while since I've updated, so I'll do this as quickly as possible.

Strobli - 9/50 books | 19/50 movies

Over the last month and a bit I read the entire Silo series, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, The Hobbit, Slaugherhouse-Five and Of Mice and Men. All of the were great reads with the small exception of The Hobbit. It couldn't really keep my attention. Maybe it's because the movies are so fresh in my mind or maybe I just don't enjoy Tolkien's style. I'll probably still give LOTR a shot someday. On the other hand, Gaiman's and Steinbeck's books were both top notch. I'm moving on to The Book Thief now and looking at Sanderson's Mistborn series for the future.

As for movies, since the last time I posted I've watched Howl's Moving Castle, Dallas Buyers Club, Zathura, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Truman Show, The Usual Suspects, The LEGO Movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, This Is the End, and Tangled. Yeah. The Usual Suspects, The LEGO Movie and Eternal Sunshine were all fantastic. This is the End... not so much. The rest were pretty average for me. Looking to watch some more Wes Anderson before Budapest Hotel comes out next week.
 
Pau said:
You should definitely look at the books, The Prydain Chronicles, the movie is based on. They're children's stories based on Welsh mythology and quite a good read. :)
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i'll have a look, yeah. thanks.

i took like fifteen books out the library recently so it may take a bit to get round to it but i'd like to read a light fantasy book as a change of pace at some point in this challenge and the first prydian book is certainly much shorter than my previous idea of trying the sanderson book that's so popular here and it'll be interesting to see how it was condensed for the film.
 
Update: Narag - 6/50 Books | 77/50 Movies​


Random thoughts:

69. Gosford Park ★★★★ - Better than I deserved.
70. Oldboy (2013) ★★ - This cut sucked. Would be interested in seeing the 35 minute longer Spike Lee cut though.
74. Punch-Drunk Love ★★★★ - Had no idea what I was getting into with this and was given a nice surprise. Seeing Sandler in this role was like seeing Will Forte in Nebraska or Robin Williams in One Hour Photo.
76. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ★★★★ - Hated the first, really liked the second. Everything just seemed to work better
77. Scott Pilgrim vs the World ★★★ - Lukewarm on this aside from Kieran Culkin and Chris Evans who cracked me up.
 
WJD - 5/50 Books | 24/50 Movies

Watched The Raid (★★★) last night on Netflix after hearing so much good stuff about it. Enjoyed it for the most part; the action was shot near impeccably and the choreography was weighty and creative. Couple of the fights went on a little too long for me but otherwise the pacing was pretty much spot on.

Nearly at the half way point on movies now, got some catching up to do on books! Have just started reading Wool though on my girlfriend's recommendation.
 
Just finished up Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. I really liked the novel, and can see where the positive WOM for the Books of the Malazan Empire came from. I still find myself surprised at how much magic is in these "Similar to ASOIAF" fantasy series. I always expect it to be in the background like it was in GRRM's series. Any other good fantasy series where magic is either a minor component or not existent?

As much as I want to continue to book 2, these 600-700 page books kill my challenge progress. It took me 2 weeks to work through Gardens of the Moon. I think I will do some minor cheating and read through Alice's Adventures in Wonderland next. It might be under 100 pages, but I'm not counting all of these 500+ page fantasy novels as two entries, so it works out.
 
kswiston said:
Just finished up Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. I really liked the novel, and can see where the positive WOM for the Books of the Malazan Empire came from. I still find myself surprised at how much magic is in these "Similar to ASOIAF" fantasy series. I always expect it to be in the background like it was in GRRM's series. Any other good fantasy series where magic is either a minor component or not existent?

As much as I want to continue to book 2, these 600-700 page books kill my challenge progress. It took me 2 weeks to work through Gardens of the Moon. I think I will do some minor cheating and read through Alice's Adventures in Wonderland next. It might be under 100 pages, but I'm not counting all of these 500+ page fantasy novels as two entries, so it works out.
Click to expand...

Abercrombie kind of has that low-magic vibe to his work in parts. There is some stuff there but nothing as major as the Malazan books. The Thousand Names by Django Wexler is similar until the final portion of the book when that stuff becomes more overt. I guess you'd almost be looking at historical fiction for that. In which case Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles and House of Niccolo series would fit the bill.

I've had similar issues with the Malazan books. I tried doing a read through of the entire series a few years ago in the lead up to the final book's release. Each novel took me at least 2 weeks to get through. Sometimes even up to a month. I usually needed a break from the series too, for some lighter fare. Made it to the end of book 6 before stopping. Not sure I want to tackle the rest for this challenge as they'll kill my progress. Maybe once I'm close to the 50 book mark.
 

Books​
  • Nyarlathotep (1920), H.P. Lovecraft - ★★★ - Very poetic and thought provocative. Many of these shorter stories really are great ideas. Any trying horror authour should really read them all for inspiration. [added to: H.P Lovecraft - bibliography]
  • Call of Cthulu (1926), H.P. Lovecraft - ★★★ - Call of Cthulhu is really the best known, by name only, work of Lovecraft. As a book it's very though-provocative and interesting. But his way of writing really distances the reader from the action.
  • Egil Skallagrimssons saga (1220-30), Snorre Sturlasson(?) - ★★★★ - Who can resist a story about a man going viking all over the northen hemisphere starting bitter feuds whereever he goes? Basicly it's Egil (who doesn't even get introduced until 60 pages into the story) going from country to country and battling it out with various people he comes across. Some really fun gore and over-the-top violence punctuated by poetry.
  • Gunnlaug Ormtungas saga (1270-80), ? - ★★★ - The sequel to Egil Skallagrimssons saga. Basicly it does what a good sequel should. Throws the basic premise and story of the first out of the windows but keeps the characters and universe. This takes place after the events of Egil's story and follow his grand-daughter as she prepares to wed. The story follows a man who intends to marry her as he travels the world and kills other people who intends to wed her.
  • Köpmannen i Stockholm (2007), Karin Ågren - ★★★ - A thesis about salesmen in 18th century Stockholm. One thing we Swedes have been better at than any other people on earth at any time is to declare our taxes. It's absurd the amount of information (down to the cutleries they were using) you can extract from our tax records. Interesting read if this is your sort of thing.

Movies​
  • The Hurt Locker (2008, dir. Kathryn Bigelow) - ★★★½ - The likes of which you kill off big named actors seconds after they've been introduced hasn't been seen since Contagion. A good movie about a man addicted to war.
  • The Lincoln Lawyer (2011, dir. Brad Furman) - ★★★½ - Now with True Detective is wrapping up I need my McConaughey-fix in other works. A suprisingly good re-telling of Michael Connelly book. A bit predictable but exciting none-the-less.
 
Update Time!

Book:

Mother Night

Vonnegut's writing style is splendid. It's one of the reasons why I can always read through his work in a quick and very enjoyable manner. This is the first piece of fiction I have read by him. Campbell made an interesting character, and the story he writes for himself was quite a noteworthy adventure!

★★★★

Movies:

Inside Llywen Davis

Another solid Coen Brothers film. All I have to say about it. It's what you expect from the brothers at this point: A quality, well-told emotional story about a very flawed individual.

★★★★

The Wind Rises

I would been completely fine if Miyazaki decided to end his filmmaking career on this film. After the disappointment that was Ponyo, this reignited my love for the man.

★★★★★
 
Necrovex said:
Update Time!

Book:

Mother Night

Vonnegut's writing style is splendid. It's one of the reasons why I can always read through his work in a quick and very enjoyable manner. This is the first piece of fiction I have read by him. Campbell made an interesting character, and the story he writes for himself was quite a noteworthy adventure!

★★★★
Click to expand...

I feel doubly bad that I started the book club thread and still haven't finished it yet. Dang, Sanderson! I've loved what I've read so far.
 

Movies

Non-Stop ★★★

Books

Fables: The Mean Seasons (Bill Willingham) ★★★★
Eleanor & Park (Rainbow Rowell) ★★

I thought I was going to like Eleanor & Park more than I did. I thought it would be John Green-esque dialog, which I think he does very well, but this was really cheesy. It felt very Nicholas Sparksy. I also thought Eleanor was extremely annoying. I did like the conclusion of the story though.

Non-Stop was a pretty fun flick. Liam Neeson doing his usual thing--kicking ass and keeping people safe. I don't think it's anything memorable for me, but definitely a fun ride.
 
arkon said:
Abercrombie kind of has that low-magic vibe to his work in parts. There is some stuff there but nothing as major as the Malazan books. The Thousand Names by Django Wexler is similar until the final portion of the book when that stuff becomes more overt. I guess you'd almost be looking at historical fiction for that. In which case Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles and House of Niccolo series would fit the bill.

I've had similar issues with the Malazan books. I tried doing a read through of the entire series a few years ago in the lead up to the final book's release. Each novel took me at least 2 weeks to get through. Sometimes even up to a month. I usually needed a break from the series too, for some lighter fare. Made it to the end of book 6 before stopping. Not sure I want to tackle the rest for this challenge as they'll kill my progress. Maybe once I'm close to the 50 book mark.
Click to expand...

I worked my way through Abercrombie's first 4 novels in his First Law universe a few months back and am saving Heroes for a little later. That is closer to what I am looking for. I'm not against magic in my fantasy all together. It just seems like GRRM's series is a lot more toned down in that respect than a lot of these other "gritty fantasy" series, and that was sort of my gateway into the fantasy genre (other than reading LOTR 15 years ago, and a smattering of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett). I was sort of surprised when I started the Black Company earlier in the year, and it was straight out D&D levels of magic.
 
PlayDat said:
Just finished Upstream Color. I get the feeling Shane Carruth is way into ASMR.
Click to expand...

Had to look that acronym up. What was your opinion of the film? I was a bit stunned afterward. It was a lot like Primer in the sense that I watched it a second time and all the loose ends fell into place for me. It's the best movie I've seen so far this year.

Necrovex said:
If it stands in quality to the last two hundred pages of WoK, then my body is ready.
Click to expand...

I'm only a third through it, but I'd argue that it's better than its predecessor in every conceivable way. The pacing is faster and tighter and we're getting answers to every heavy hitting question (which I wasn't expecting until book three or four).

I'm not going anywhere near the official thread for fear of spoilers, since it seems a couple of people have already finished it.
 
I finished

Ray Monk - Robert Oppenheimer: His Life and Mind (A Life Inside the Center)

Monk did a fantastic job detailing the events and people that helped shaped Oppenheimer's life. He weaves the many different events together well to help explain the context surrounding the controversies in his life (Communism, Los Alamos, H-Bomb) and potential motivations. A very nice biography

David Weber - Myth and the History of the Hispanic southwest: Essays

This is a collection of essays and papers that Weber delivered on the American Southwest and Mexican North that span from the Spanish conquistadors to the Texas Revolution. It attempts to help separate myths from the known history, and also describes how and why some myths could perpetuate. He describes the history of Scholarship in this area, from Bolton to Bannon, and does brief summaries on some of the more recent focuses of Scholarship within the generalized Am SW/Mx Nth. Overall it was an interesting read, especially as I aim to find out more about the difference in viewpoint between American Historians and Mexican historians. How clashes with these borderlands were different from the American/Indian clashes. How literature and fiction set in these areas could be affected by the myth instead of the historical facts.
 
watched Chasing Madoff on netflix: a short story on what happened, but soaked in sentimentality and the personal anxiety disorder Harry appears to have (which the film uses to give it the sense of a conspiracy, except that part never happened..) . Which would work, if this was strictly a character study type documentary. Like: what being ignored does to people and so on. Except the one obvious thing is never even mentioned: that people got wiped out because they got greedy. Instead it's all bleeding hearts all round as if it's all on 'the one guy'. Making Madoff into a singular type villain is not just downright silly, it also doesn't actually answer it's own question: what the hell happened and how do you explain it? The film makes little effort in doing so and seems to spend more energy on being 'hip' than it does on being good. There is obviously potential in the story, but the way this film is, I wanted to shut it the fuck off all the way through.

also watching the fantastic mister fox, which was just delightful.
 
Tragicomedy said:
Had to look that acronym up. What was your opinion of the film? I was a bit stunned afterward. It was a lot like Primer in the sense that I watched it a second time and all the loose ends fell into place for me. It's the best movie I've seen so far this year.



I'm only a third through it, but I'd argue that it's better than its predecessor in every conceivable way. The pacing is faster and tighter and we're getting answers to every heavy hitting question (which I wasn't expecting until book three or four).

I'm not going anywhere near the official thread for fear of spoilers, since it seems a couple of people have already finished it.
Click to expand...


I almost never re-watch movies, but I need to start. I probably would've gotten much more out of both Upstream Color and Primer had I done so.

I don't really have much to say other than appreciating how different the structure of the narrative was. Even though I wasn't always 100% clear on what was happening plotwise the visuals and limited dialogue kept me intrigued throughout.
 
PlayDat said:
I almost never re-watch movies, but I need to start. I probably would've gotten much more out of both Upstream Color and Primer had I done so.

I don't really have much to say other than appreciating how different the structure of the narrative was. Even though I wasn't always 100% clear on what was happening plotwise the visuals and limited dialogue kept me intrigued throughout.
Click to expand...

Here is some pretty freaking solid analysis about Upstream Color and what it all means. Of note, nobody should read it until after they've seen the film, as it spoils everything tremendously.

What I like about Carruth's movies (apart from the fact that he writes, directs, produces, and acts in them), is how layered they are. You can watch Primer and enjoy it. You can watch it again and be blown away. Then you can consult the Chart® and see how much you still missed.
 
Update

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

Fucking awful. Easily one of the worst children's films I've seen. The animation is robotic, voice acting overblown, pacing a mess, writing trite, and all of the characters suck. Ahsoka in particular is horrible and I hope she dies in the first episode of the show.

If the live action Star Wars films are made for kids, than this shit is for toddlers.

Awful awful shit.
 
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