Couple things today. Gabriel ended his second week of school with a flourish, running into the arms of his young teacher who he may or may not want to elope with, and Julia and I found out that next week is winter break for his class. A week off already!
I'm reading two books right now, and it behooves me to bring up just how good of a movie one of the film adaptations of one of them is, The Talented Mr. Ripley. I'm sure by now anyone who has at any point in their life desired to see the movie most likely has, so my recommendation of it isn't warranted. Suffice it to say, it might even be better than Highsmith's great, classic novel, and that's no blasphemy. Yes, you heard me right. It's that good of a movie. It's not just that the late writer-director Anthony Minghella so accurately captures the range of Highsmith's moods - languid yet tense, calm and broiling. It's not just that the film takes its time, drawing out the coiled suspense, just as Highsmith does, often downplaying the dramatic. And while the scenery and location work is impressive, it's the cast/casting that does it. You'll never ready any book in the Ripley series without seeing images of Jude Law as Dickie (who is occasionally referred to in later books), actually accentuating your appreciation and visualization of the character, doing it more with it than was there in the book. Matt Damon goes so far under Tom Ripley's skin that we can only lament that there were never more treatments of the Ripley series for screen with him in the role. Gwyneth Paltrow isn't quite the blocky, chunky bland girl of the novel, but Philip Seymour Hoffman is every bit and more Freddie Miles.
I'm also about done with Oscar Hijuelos' wonderful Mr. Ives' Christmas, about the life of an orphaned boy in New York City who grows up to be an illustrator (and eventual vice president of the creative division) at an Madison Avenue ad agency. The book is about the sights and sounds of the city, the second-generation immigrant's experience in a teeming melting pot, and faith. Religion indeed plays a major role in the book, as Ives grapples with the question of whether or not God exists - and if he does, what exactly his role is. Hijuelous is a marvelously descriptive writer - the novel is fecund with details, inundated with sense memories, It feels autobiographical too and is very open-hearted, often bluntly sad and funny, a modern Christmas Carol.
So who is Oscar Hijuelos?
Born in 1951 New York City to Cuban immigrants (his mother was a homemaker, his father a hotel worker), Hijuelos attended public schools, getting his B.A. and M.A. in English from City College. His first job was at an ad agency. where he worked for seven years (1977-1984), a period that found him writing numerous short stories. His first novel, 1985's Our House in the Last World was critically-praised, and Hijuelos found himself the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts. 1989's The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love won the Pulitzer Prize. Along with Mr. Ives' Christmas (1995), Hijuelos has written the following works: The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien (1993), Empress of the Splendid Season (1999), A Simple Habana Melody (2002), Beautiful Maria of My Soul (1999), centered on one of the secondary characters in The Mambo Kings... and a 2011 memoir, Thoughts Without Cigarettes. Hijuelos has taught at Hofstra and now teaches creative writing at Duke University. He collects old maps, turn-of-the century books. He is one of the most acclaimed Latin American writers of the past few decades, the first Hispanic to win the Pulitzer.
Pretty cool guy.
The character of Mr. Ives is actually named after James Merritt Ives, of Currier & Ives, the famous printmaking team. Everyone has seen a Currier & Ives lithograph. (For a history of the firm, go here: http://www.currierandives.com/) In 1988, the American Historical Print Collectors Society decided on a list of what they felt were the best 50 large and small curio Currier & Ives prints around.
Their #1 Pick? Road - The Winter (1853)
This week's movie releases:
- The Vow An unabashed, old-fashioned romance starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum about a wife who coming out of a coma with memory loss and the husband who tries to reconnect with her. Kind of The Notebook/While You Were Sleeping-y, mediocre reviews. If you like Nicholas Sparks, you won't miss it, and the supporting cast is interesting: Jessica Lange, Sam Neill, Scott Speedman.
- Safe House Usually Tony Scott movies turn me off, but his last collaboration with Denzel Washington was the exciting Unstoppable. Besides, Ryan Reynolds is here, too, and he's always watchable, as are Vera Farmiga (yowza!), Sam Shepard, and the wonderful Brendan Gleeson. The reviews are right down the middle, as expected - trashy action junk with explosions and car chases right on cue.
- Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Blah is the theme of this week. Did we really need a sequel to the un-memorable Journey to the Center of the Earth? The Rock replaces Brendan Fraser, Vanessa Hudgens is in the cast too, as are a paycheck-cashing Michael Caine, Kristin Davis, and Luis Guzman. The plot is hardly worth a bother: mysterious island, natch, volcanoes, gold, scary creatures.
- Rampart. Directed by Oren Moverman (of 2009's terrific The Messenger) and scripted by Moverman and novelist James Ellroy, this sounds intriguing. Woody Harrelsom is reputedly brilliant as a crooked, downward-spiraling cop in 1999 L.A. Grungy and violent, intense, although some critics are turned off by the handheld camera. With more push, Harrelson could have gotten an Oscar nod.
Also, Star Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace is being re-released in 3-D. WHO CARES!!!!
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