Here's What I Plan to Read and Watch This Week (4/24 - 4/30)

I didn’t post an update last week—mostly because I forgot, but also because I’m making an effort to not read and watch as much as I have in the past.  I’m still averaging a book a week—which was my goal all along this year—but I have to remind myself sometimes that reading is a hobby, not an obligation.

And as for the movies?  It’s not that I want to consciously watch less, but that there aren’t as many appealing options for me right now.  Mediocre movies have their place (a rainy Friday night when there’s absolutely nothing else to watch), but I don’t need to pay for them on their opening weekend.

Anyway, here’s what I read and watched the past two weeks.

Books

The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell: A-.  The Room is one of my favorite bad movies because it’s just baffling to think that an incoherent mess like this was finished in the first place.  The Disaster Artist, which will itself get a film adaptation later this year, chronicles the making of The Room, along with Greg Sestero’s relationship with the actor/writer/director/producer Tommy Wiseau.  The book is consistently hilarious, and details in a refreshing way the filmmaking process.

Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately by Alicia Cook: B. Again, I’ve been obsessed with these Andrews McMeel poetry collections.  As far as quality goes, this is much better than the collection by Robert Drake I read last time.  Cook’s poetry feels natural, tells a coherent story, and is cleverly rewritten halfway through to convey different messages.

Tangles – A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother, and Me by Sarah Leavitt: B+.  It took me awhile to get into this graphic memoir—not because I wasn’t a fan of the work; however, it’s an unrelentingly depressing story.  The unusual aesthetic choices actually helped me get through this faster, as it helped me not dwell on the more tragic entries.

Movies

Everything, Everything: C/C+.  This was an advanced screening.  I usually make up my mind on a rating, but in this case, I have mixed feelings.  The movie was just as cheesy and kitschy as the book, but I had hopes that the movie would make up for the book having serious Did Not Do Research problems.  Also, the book’s big reveal worked because it wasn’t afraid to call attention to a pretty common mental disorder we see in books and movies; the movie left no traces of that, and just played it off as something else entirely.  Overall, this isn’t a bad movie, but it’s so silly and convenient that I struggle to support it.

Shut In: F. UGH! This was one of the most boring, incoherent horror movies I’ve seen.

Going in Style: C+. Fun for what it is.  Not sure what the message of the film is supposed to be.

The Room: no rating.  I had to rewatch this after reading the book, and of course this didn’t disappoint.

Newtown: B-.  Utterly depressing documentary about the Sandy Hook massacre, although the filmmaking techniques are flawed, and the whole piece feels incomplete.

Unforgettable: D. Contrary to what this random title (seriously, it has no bearing on the plot of the movie) suggests, I’ll probably forget this movie exists within the next week.

And here’s what I’m hoping to read and watch this week:

Books

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins:  The slump is still going strong, so the only thing I’m planning to read listen to is this romance.

Movies

I actually have a couple that I want to see this week!

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword: I think this comes out in 3 weeks. This is another advanced screening.

The Circle:  The previews look promising.

The Lost City of Z:  The previews look promising.  Critics are raving!

Here's What I Plan to Read and Watch This Week (4/10 - 4/16)

I posted my update for last week on a Wednesday—by which time I hadn’t read any books or watched any movies.  That said, I think I turned it around nicely…considering I’m still super slumpy, and very likely to keep abandoning books until this slump ends.

I ended up reading two books and watching four movies.

Books

Monkey Mind by Daniel B. Smith: A-. Unlike most memoirs I read, a celebrity didn’t write this; rather, Daniel B. Smith, an author and contributor to several top publications, decided to document his lifelong struggle with anxiety.  Smith does an excellent job telling his story without coming off as a know-it-all; the author openly admits that his coping methods aren’t necessarily ones anyone else could use.  I also appreciated Smith’s ability to keep things in context by giving anecdotes of famous people who also struggled with anxiety—but doing so in a way that doesn’t derail the narrative or come across as something you’d find in the IMDb trivia section of your favorite celebrities. 

Broken Flowers by Robert M. Drake: C+.  Andrews McMeel Publishing is quickly becoming something I seek out when I frequent Books A Million and Barnes & Noble.  After reading Rupi Kaur’s bestselling Milk and Honey, I went ahead and picked through other glossy books in the poetry section.  As far as this goes, it’s better than the outrageous sex poetry series I got through last month, but the poetry from Drake is a little too on-the-nose.  Additionally, it bugs me when a poetry collection like this is thrown together without respect to themes.  Because of this, one poem is about empowerment, one is about love, and then the next is about police brutality. 

Movies

The Boss Baby: C+. I guess I can thank the godawful trailers for allowing me to see this movie with lowered expectations. It's not terrible, and there are funny bits (mostly attributed to Alec Baldwin), but as a whole it doesn't rise to the level of Storks, a similar movie. Oh, this movie apparently got the rights to play 20 seconds of "Blackbird," and they milk that shit for all it is worth.

Power Rangers: C. I dreaded seeing this Power Rangers reboot, which is why it took me a couple weeks before I dragged myself.  I went in expecting my childhood to be ripped away from me and stomped on the ground, which thankfully didn’t happen; it wasn’t awful, even though it still took the silliness of the original show and attempted to make a straight-laced superhero movie.  I appreciated the attempt at character development (which is non-existent in the original show), even though it wasn't always successful. I wasn't a fan of the dark, dreary aesthetics—and the costume design was silly. Thank god for Elizabeth Banks, who is having the time of her life playing this character.

Your Name: B+.  It took a good 10-15 minutes for the movie to sell me on this Freaky Friday-esque story, but I was then hooked by the wit of the story, the infectious pop music (which I loved even though it was in Japanese), and the character development.  A twist in the middle of the film floored me, and the last few scenes had me shifting uncontrollably in my seat.  I loved this!

The Zookeeper’s Wife: C. What’s going on with Jessica Chastain’s Polish accent?  That was my initial question following this run-of-the-mill WWII drama, which had very few identifying marks.  I’ll probably forget this movie exists—and inevitably lump it in with The Book Thief, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and Sarah’s Key.  Daniel Bruhl, a dependable character actor, is excellent in this movie…so at least this movie has that going for it.

Here’s what I’m planning to read and watch this week.

Books

Again, I’m slumpy—so it’ll probably be one or two of these books.  Yes, I know I haven’t read many long books so far this year, as I promised I’d try to.  It’ll happen when I’m not abandoning things right and left.

Children of a Lesser god by Mark Medoff

The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell

Tangles by Sarah Leavitt

Movies

Train to Busan: It’s a South Korean zombie apocalypse movie that’s available on Netflix.  Sign me up!

I’m not sure what else I have to watch.  I’m not finding anything coming to theaters this week that stands out, so it might be a Netflix binge week.