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.
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