It's been a productive week for me. I read three books,
and I watched five movies. I’m on winter
break from work this week, so I’ll have ample time to read and watch plenty!
Books
A
Christmas Carol by
Charles Dickens: B+. I read this in high
school, and this is my first time reading it as an adult. I forgot how rich the language is, and how
much fun the writing is, outside of the famous plot.
Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar: B. I like to read Pulitzer Prize winning plays,
along with Tony Award winning plays.
Disgraced won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This is a compelling tale with various plot
points (xenophobia, religion, domestic disputes—among them), and mostly
accomplishes what it sets out to do. I
wish the first two scenes were as fleshed out as the overly long dinner scene
that takes up the third scene.
Big
Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
by Elizabeth Gilbert: C-. Reviewed here. I didn’t care much for this at all.
Movies
Midnight
Special: B+. While the film is lacking on plot, this
sci-fi film (which is being compared to Close
Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.)
more than makes up for it with impressive visual effects and capable
acting. Most films have astronomical
budgets; Midnight Special was made
for $18 million, and is just as good looking as films made with budgets
quadruple its size.
A
Monster Calls: B+. This film has been on my most
anticipated list since the summer when I read the book. That said, I'm
pleasantly surprised at how well the film works on its own: the big visual
effects didn't detract from the quality of the film; I loved the animated
sequences; the film is progressively more depressing without the mawkishness.
Speaking of depressing, this is the kind of movie that you'll probably want to
watch alone, unless you want to ugly cry around all of your friends. Apparently
2016 is the year where every other film understands how to deal with
grief...except for fucking Collateral
Beauty, which would rather have you believe that grieving people go to work
and build domino buildings for weeks on end.
Rouge
One: A Star Wars Story:
C+. The first two acts were a
snoozefest. The film didn't start to take off until the last 20 minutes. I
suppose this prequel (which sits between episodes three and four) really
couldn't have ended any other way, but I'm still pleasantly surprised that they
went there.
Fences: B+. Denzel Washington and Viola Davis give commanding performances,
and the supporting characters are all effective. It's hard to focus on the
negatives (too long; drags in the middle) when you have acting as big and
powerful as this.
Sing: C+. It's not so much of a jukebox musical; rather, it's about 10-15
seconds of songs that was relevant 5-10 years ago, and a couple full length
songs. It's silly, but if you have an hour and a half to kill, you could do
worse. Protip: Try and go at a time when
kids aren't usually there. There were way too many at the showing on Christmas
evening and I've never wanted a vasectomy as much as I do now.
I’m not sure how this
happened, but I have read 96 books this year, with a week to go. It’s very likely that I end up reading 100
books for 2016, which is something I never would have predicted for myself.
Books
The
Sun is Also a Star by
Nicola Yoon: I have 45 pages left; I’ll finish
it tonight. I’m going to post a review
of it, because it’s infuriating me so much.
Our
Chemical Hearts by
Krystal Sutherland: I got this at an
author event months ago, and I’ve been needing to read it. With a week off work, I don’t have an excuse.
What
Light by Jay
Asher: See what I just said about Our Chemical Hearts. It’s Christmas-themed, so it’s appropriate
for the season.
The
Price of Salt by
Patricia Highsmith: The film adaptation,
Carol, was one of my favorite movies
of 2015. I’ve been meaning to read this
for over a year.
Movies
Lion:
I just watched this movie in the afternoon, but I guess I should wait
until next week to talk about it.
Kubo
and the Two Strings: See above.
I’ve had a productive day!
I’m not sure what’s
available to watch on Netflix or through Redbox. I anticipate a couple documentaries, at the
very least.
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