So... hot... so... very... hot...
Julia and I have just hung out at home this weekend, in the cool, cool air conditioning. We went out today to take Gabriel to the pet store (where he stared, ecstatically, at the fish) and to Steak N'Shake, where he, ecstatically, ate fries and a milkshake.
Brief Movie Reviews:
Ramona and Beezus (2011)
Joey King and Selena Gomez, both adorable, play the title characters in this firm, likable, G-rated adaptation of several of the books in Beverly Cleary's beloved series. Ramona is always in trouble but means well; she is just hard-headed, curious, klutzy. Her sister, Beezus, is more dependable, her feet on sturdier ground. Their daughter (eternally game, likable John Corbett) has lost his job, forcing their mother (Bridget Moynahan) to go back to work. Aunt Bee (Ginnifer Goodwin) is helpful, always ready for snuggly, sympathetic advice, but she is still hung up on the hunky next door neighbor (Josh Duhamel) who stole her heart back in high school and never gave it back. With its appealing cast and willingness to deal with some uncomfortable problems that beset some families (losing the house, the passing away of a pet), the film is sturdy and smart. Adults will like it in the same way they like Kit Kitteridge, that fine film from a few years back with Abigail Breslin and a similarly pearly adult cast.
(***)
The Eagle
The British novelist Rosemary Sutcliff (1920-1992) was renowned more for her work in children's fiction than she was for her adult historical fiction and non-fiction, and The Eagle of the Ninth, from 1954, was the first in a series of loosely connected books about the Roman Empire. The Eagle, written for the screen by Jeremy Brock and directed with flair and force by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, State of Play), is a rock-solid, exciting adaptation, filmed in some predictably stunning, expansive landscapes (Hungary and Scotland doubles for England). The story follows Marcus Flavius Aquila, a Roman centurion whose father disappeared along with the rest of the Ninth Legion somewhere north of Hadrian's Wall when Marcus was a just a boy. Along with his British slave (Jamie Bell, all grown up from Billy Elliott), a grown-up, imposing Marcus sets off to the north to find out what happened to his father's legion and to retrieve the metal eagle standard, symbol of the Roman Empire.
In the title role, Channing Tatum has a strong physical presence and is deft enough as an actor to give the role gravitas without wallowing in earnestness. Jamie Bell, as the slave Esca, manages to make his character complex; north of the wall, of course, is Esca's home, and all bets are off, in regards to the pair's master-slave relationship. Esca's father was killed by Marcus' - can Esca now be trusted? Donald Sutherland, as Marcus' uncle, has a patrician, slightly fruity decadence. The fight scenes - mostly involving the north-of-the-wall Seal People (a vicious, painted tribe) - are well-staged and brutal. It gets off to a slow, so-so-serious start and viewers might wonder why none of the actors have accents (for me, it was better that way, less distracting), but for the fight scenes and the complexity of the characters and the lack of b.s., I would definitely recommend checking this one out.
(***)
Book Review
Colin Cotterill's The Coroner's Lunch (2004), the first in his series of Doctor Siri novels, initially grabbed my attention because of its unique setting: it's 1976 Laos, and the Communistic Pathet Lao party rules the country. Siri is a 72-year old physician forced into the position of the country's head (and only) coroner. A barrage of cases come his way - dead bodies left and right - and Siri, with his two assistants (one a saucy female, the other a mentally-handicapped man), has to figure out who among his higher-ups is behind all the intrigue. The setting is a stand-out and I can honestly say that I learned some stuff from this book. In truth, I wanted more history, less of the mystery. Siri is a fairly colorful character (he became a communist because of a girl and views his fellow members' with more sardonic, impudent skepticism than honor or respect) but I could have done without his shamanistic, supernatural visions (the dead come to him in his dreams). Truth be told, I loved it at first, but lost more and more interest as the story went on and on; because there are multiple mysteries, it got too confusing. But overall, I thought it was brisk, original enough read.
(***)
*
Let's plow forward with my list of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time:
Gene Hackman
as Royal Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
I don't like this movie. Like most of Wes Anderson's work, it has a cute, hermetic whimsy, with almost no emotional connect. But in the title role, Hackman is nothing short of great; he has a crusty, lived-in, cantankerous spirit, a wily wisdom. He is a grumbly, playful spirit who loves to mix it up. Hackman's long absent (from many standpoints) father re-enters his weird family of prodigies and tries to worm his way back into their uniquely strange lives. The movie has a large, in-sync cast (Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson) but Hackman (in a role written for him) dominates the proceedings. Damn if you can ever get a read on him. You never know what to think of him - he can be crinkly warm one minute, just plain mean the next (especially to Danny Glover's interloper), but what's so special is how you can see how his character traits have been passed down to (and have infected) each of his kids. His scenes with Anjelica Huston are the best, most moving Anderson has ever done. I just wished I like the movie before, wished Anderson was more direct, less stylized, not so in love with his style.
Images:
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