Here's what I plan on reading and watching this week (10/30 - 11/5)

Happy Halloween!

I feel like every week I start with the best of intentions, and then slowly regress.  I was going to read and watch a bunch of horror content, but I cleverly watched several new movies (none of which fall in the horror genre), and rewatched one classic horror film.  My reading selections this past week all fell on the horror spectrum, though—so there’s that at least. 

Books

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs and Cassandra Jean:  C+.  I am glad I decided to continue reading this series with the graphic novels, because I feel like the story flows better and the visuals are better expressed than through intermittent black and white photos.  I didn’t like this as much as the original:  the exposition was clunky and contrite; the plot moves at a glacial pace; the conclusion should have ended about 5-10 pages before it did. 

The Birds by Daphne du Maurier:  B.  I’ve always meant to read a Daphne du Maurier story, and her novella The Birds is as good of a start as any.  It’s technically the source material of the classic Alfred Hitchcock film, but Hitchcock decided to base the film in the U.S. instead of Great Britain and changed every character to fit the standard Hitchcockian tropes.  In short, the film is an in-name-only adaptation that uses the same premise but deviates everywhere else.  They’re both great on their own; while I give a better grade to the film, the novella creates a slow-building phobia driven atmosphere, and never lets up until the heart wrenching conclusion.  I’m a big fan!

Psycho by Robert Bloch:  B+.  This is the book Alfred Hitchcock didn’t want you to read.  A 1959 release, right after Hitchcock secured the rights to have it adapted, he instructed his assistant to buy as many copies of the book as possible; he didn’t want the audience to know the film’s twists beforehand.  In contrast to Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds, Hitchcock faithfully adapted the source material.  There is a name change with one of the main characters, and Norman Bates is an overweight alcoholic in the book but is played by frail Anthony Perkins in the film.  Other than that, the film plays out exactly like the book does (except the book is even more violent than the classic horror film).  I do take points off for the way Robert Bloch tackles alcoholism and its relation to the plot twist at the end that everyone knows about, but otherwise it’s a tightly wound thriller that is worth your time—especially at this time of the year!

Movies

The Birds:  A-.  I decided to rewatch the film before reading the novella, and I’m glad I did:  the creepy factor is high in this film, and the special effects work even 53 years later.   

Hacksaw Ridge:  D+.  Oh, Mel Gibson!  I have a complicated relationship with Braveheart (which I mostly dislike, but I keep giving it multiple opportunities to impress me), and I like what he attempted to show through The Passion of the Christ even when it was hard to sit through.  Hacksaw Ridge is the kind of movie which has two halves, neither of which are very good—but both containing aspects that leave me unable to hate it.  I’m finishing up a full review for this film.

The Space Between Us:  D.  Dear Lord, I don’t think I’ve seen a movie as silly as this in a long time.  It is the most contrite fish outta water film you’ll run across.  If not for the charming screen presence of Asa Butterfield—who gamely plays the first person born on Mars like it’s a captivating story—I would have failed it. 

Christine:  A-.  This is the 2016 film chronicling the last weeks of reporter Christine Chubbuck, not the adaptation of the cheesy Stephen King novel which had a killer car as the villain; please don’t confuse these!  The only reason Christine Chubbuck is known these days is because of her on-air suicide, so it’s not a spoiler to reveal that the film dramatizes her descent into depression which triggers this result.  Rebecca Hall is revelatory as the title character.  I’m also fond of the screenplay, which had to work on a few factual pieces we are aware of and then create a two-hour drama with suggested content.  It’s a haunting drama that I won’t soon forget!

Certain Women:  B-.  It’s very rare that I’ll see something that I overall liked but I vehemently discourage anyone from seeking it out, but Certain Women qualifies.  The film, directed by Kelly Reichardt, is intentionally paced unlike the conventional Hollywood drama, and doesn’t have a plot as much as it is the camera acting as a fly on the wall as it drops in on the lives of three women in different stages of life.  This is something that can be called “boring” by less patient moviegoers.  The acting is appropriate for what the film is selling, but I’m unable to find a standout amongst the women.  Overall, I enjoyed the experience for what it was, and nothing more.

The St. Louis International Film Festival starts this weekend, so my reading and watching plans will have to adjust accordingly to how busy I’m going to be over the next two weeks. 

Books

Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra.  I’ve never heard of a book written as a standardized test, so I’m intrigued. 

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven, et. al.  Does anyone remember this series in the late 90s and early 00s?  It was one of those gag gifts that you’d get for the holidays and then never read.  If I recall correctly when I’d flip through them in bookstores, they were sometimes clever.  I may regret requesting five of these at my local library.

I’m not sure if I’ll have time to read anything else.  I’ve been to so many author events over the past few weeks; if I do have time, I’ll read something from one of those authors.

Movies

I would like to catch a classic horror film in honor of the holiday this evening, but let's be real; I'll probably end up on the couch watch reruns of Chopped.

Moonlight.  This is getting serious Oscar buzz, and I’m glad to be able to see it, because the plot alone makes it one of my most anticipated. 

The rest of these are SLIFF movies that I’ll watch on Friday and Saturday:

Cold Moon.

Enclosure. 

Manchester by the Sea.

I don’t know much about the first two, but I’m really excited to see how they play.  Manchester by the Sea, another film with heavy Oscar buzz, it highly anticipated.