Susan Hated Literature

Dir: Frank Oz
Writ: Dean Craig

• Matthew Macfadyen … Daniel
• Keeley Hawes … Jane
• Andy Nyman … Howard
• Ewen Bremner … Justin
• Daisy Donovan … Martha
• Alan Tudyk … Simon Smith
• Jane Asher … Sandra
• Kris Marshall … Troy
• Rupert Graves … Robert

You never quite know what to hope for when you go to see a so-called black comedy/farce. I mean, the trailers might give you an idea of some of better moments, but you just don’t know whether the whole thing will work. Especially when the setting for the “hilarious hijinks” is a funeral. Happily, Death at a Funeral does indeed work.

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Dir & Writ: Jude Apataw

• Seth Rogen … Ben Stone
• Katherine Heigl … Alison Scott
• Paul Rudd … Pete
• Leslie Mann … Debbie
• Alan Tudyk … Jack

Proudly proclaiming the fact that this is from the same people who brought us The 40 Year Old Virgin this is a film that has been getting a lot of positive word of mouth. It seems like months ago that I first read about it. Of course, this may be because there was a delay between the US release and the release over here.

The story is a fairly simple one; on a drunken night out boy(Ben) meets girl(Alison) and she gets knocked up. This film is pretty much about the relationship between the two about-to-be parents as they come to terms with their new responsibilities. But along side this is the story of Pete and Debbie, Alison’s sister. They are married and have children, but still have a lot of figuring out to do as regards themselves and their relationship.

I really enjoyed this film. It has plenty of laughs, as well as being both harsh and endearing in depicting the relationships in the two couples.

It isn’t perfect though. I didn’t agree with the rave reviews of 40 Year Old Virgin, but this is better, although still not a film I’d be racing to go rewatch. Plenty to entertain though.

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dir. Michael Gondry

Starring:

* Jim Carrey - Joel Barish
* Kate Winslet - Clementine Kruczynski
* Kirsten Dunst - Mary
* Tom Wilkinson - Dr. Howard Mierzwiak
* Elijah Wood - Patrick

So you fall in love with someone, things go badly and you break up. Whats the next step? Why deleting them from your memory of course. Isn’t that just a great idea for a film?
It took me a while to go see this film, prolly because of Jim Carrey’s name in the credits. I’ve really liked some of his films; Man in the Moon and whatever that reality TV show one was called, but more often than not I don’t particularly enjoy them

But this is a wonderful film, funny and sad at the same time it illustrates a relationship falling apart, and then through the erasing of Joel’s memories shows us how the relationship began. And shows the audience that these two people clearly love each other. Managing to combine the wackiness of the idea with the tenderness of a love story I really enjoyed this film.

Really nice. But sad at the same time

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Dir & Writ: John Carney

• Glen Hansard - Guy
• Markéta Irglová - Girl

A busker and a Bis Issue seller meet on the streets of Dublin. He also repairs hoovers, which is handy, as she has a problem with hers.^[1] He fixes it. She asks him to sing. They talk and chat and sing and write songs. Eventually they even record a song.

Not much of a storyline it it?

But this is still a very charming, if slight film. And if you are a fan of Glen Hansard’s music then I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Personally, I like a lot of The Frames stuff, but I don’t love any of it, and often think that Hansard gets a bit too whiney at times. I couldn’t listen to him all day long. Still I did enjoy the music in this film, and that is important because there is a lot of it.

I’ve tagged this film a romance, but it isn’t really. It is more of a film about people getting on in life. A moment in time. All that sort of thing. It is a small film but an enjoyable one.

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Dir & Writ: Noah Baumbach

• Jeff Daniels - Bernard Berkman
• Laura Linney - Joan Berkman
• Jesse Eisenberg - Walt Berkman
• Owen Kline - Frank Berkman
• Anna Paquin - Lili
• William Baldwin - Ivan

A film about divorce set in the 80’s doesn’t really sound all that appealing, does it? Maybe not, but this is still a film worth seeing

I’m not sure how much of this is based on truth, but it seems that quite a bit of this film is based on Baumbach’s parent’s divorce, and there is a very strong sense of truth and honesty running through this film. And is quite a sad film, dealing as it does with the breakdown of a marraige, but at the same time it has some great humour.

It is the characters and acting that make this such a good film. Bernard is one of those overly academic types that has to analyse everything to death. Who is so sure of his own opinions that he isn’t happy until everyone else shares them. He has been a succesful author, but his most recent works haven’t been published. Joan, on the other hand, is an up-and-coming author, her work is excerpted in the New Yorker. Both husband and wife come across as caring, but somewhat distant parents to their two sons. It is almost as though they treat them too much as adults. Bernard in particular is guilty of this with Walt. Even more so after he leaves the family home and moves across the park.

But despite the excellence of Linney and Daniels, this film would be nothing if the two actors playing the sons didn’t deliver. And deliver they do.

Walt over identifies with his father. He worships him and takes all his opinions on board as though they were his own. He doesn’t even bother to read the books he recommends to a girlfriend, he so trusts his father’s opinion. In a way he is the perfect embodiment of the self-obsessed teenager, believing he is capable of greatness, and thinking he is so much better than others.

Frank seems hardest hit by the divorce. The youngest in the family he doesn’t share as many interests with his father. A fact emphasised when Frank tells Bernard that he is a philistine. That he wants to be a philistine. But he isn’t coping with the divorce to well, especially after being left behind by his father he ends up spending the weekend alone. He turns to drink and masturbation.

This isn’t a film everyone will enjoy, but I found it very entertaining, and moving in a non-sentimental way. The Bernard character comes across as more of a bad guy than anyone else, but there isn’t really any judgement being passed on any of these characters. They’ve all done silly stupid things, because that is what life is about. This film is content to simply present them and their actions and let the viewer decide on the meaning.

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Dir: Phil Morrison
Writ: Angus MacLachlann

• Embeth Davidtz - Madeleine
• Alessandro Nivola - George
• Scott Wilson - Eugene
• Benjamin McKenzie - Johnny
• Celia Weston - Peg
• Amy Adams - Ashley

This is a film that perfectly fits that horrible description; a quirkie independent film. But never annoyingly quirky, so don’t worry about that.

For the majority of the time the film is told through Madeleine’s eyes. She is an art dealer, who meets George, falls in love and marries him. Six months later while in North Carolina trying to close a deal with a prime example of “outside” art they visit George’s family. Peg and Eugene, the parents. Johnny the brother and his very pregnant wife Ashley.

The film seems to be about Madeleine and George, but George isn’t actually in it all that much. And when he is, he says very little. One the one hand he seems to have rejected his family. It was Madeleine’s decision to see his family, he doesn’t really engage with them when there, and he is very thankful when leaving. But at the same time he obviously fits in so easily. This tight-knit, religous community is very much home to him. A home that Madeleine doesn’t really get. With her “Chicago” ways

But I didn’t really like either of these characters. We never got to know George, and Madeleine while nice, always seemed a little false with her “darlings” and her kisses. But Johnny and Ashley are the heart of this film. Johnny who seems in constant anger at everything around him is shown to have a sweeter side, and Ashley is just adorable as the chatterbox with a good heart. She really steals the show.

Its quite a slow, quiet film for much of the time. We get flashes of total silence as we look at the countryside for example. And very little happens.

But it is also a very funny film. Touching, and, another horrible description, heart-warming. Very enjoyable.

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ISBN: 0743252276
Author: Glen Duncan

Nathan is dead. Only problem is that he doesn’t really know what’s going on. He is stuck with his family, trying to fill in the holes in his memories, as well as figuring out what is going on.

That’s the basic plot, but the book is really about the emotional life of a family. Nathan is the father, husband. A history teacher. Cheryl, the wife, the mother is a writer. Or has been writing without being published all her life. Now she has become a business woman. Then there are the children; Luke, Gina and Lois. Gina is like her mother, full of life with a creative drive and a knowing nature. Luke is just a passionate, but more reserved. And Lois, the youngest, is dead.

Through flashbacks, both Nathan’s own and those of the characters he comes into contact with, we learn what happened Lois, what happened the family as a result and what might become of them

A much more restrained book than others of Duncans, imo, it does touch on some familar themes. Loss, guilt, love, hope, despair, and catholicism.

Really good reading

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