Posted by barb on May 16, 2003 in
Movies 3/5 stars
Andrew rented this from netflix, and originally I told him that I wasn’t interested. However, I caught a couple minutes, and it didn’t look like a typical cheesy 50s horror flick, so I told him to hold off on sending it back.
The basic story is that Professor Harrington is killed after incurring the wrath of Dr. Karswell, a cult leader who uses witchcraft. Professor Harrington was to participate in a conference in London debunking paranormal activities. Dr. Holden, an American collegue of Harrington, arrives in London shortly after Harrington’s death. And finds that Karswell is now after him to stop is expose. Holden starts to experience weird things after an encounter with Karswell at the museum…
This is definitely more psychological that I thought it would be. At times, it was almost reminiscent of a Hitchcock film.
Posted by barb on May 15, 2003 in
Concerts Andrew originally wanted to turn these tickets in, because of the flute concerto. But I like the flute, so I told him we were going. I’ve been to two concerts with pieces he really wanted to hear, but that made me want to rip my ears out (I plugged my ears during one of them), so it seemed only fair that he would have to suffer through one night. As it turned out, though, he enjoyed the piece.
Here’s what we heard:
Mozart, Overture to The Marriage of Figaro , K. 492 This one sounded very familiar — is some company using it in their ads currently?? Enjoyable piece, though. Khachaturian, Violin Concerto (transcribed for flute by Jean-Pierre Rampal) I enjoyed the flute solos and the slower, quieter bits of this piece. One of the movements reminded me a bit of Hyden’s Surprise Symphony, with quiet, lulling parts followed abruptly by loud, crashing passages. However, the loud passages were not very pleasing — they were an unpleasant assault on my ears and senses. The other movements were more to my liking. Dvorak, Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88 I don’t actually remember much about this piece anymore…if I could find my program, that might jar my memory a bit.
Overall, a nice evening at the NSO. Just don’t get me started on the audience (worst offender was a former candy-lady who brought quieter candy this time, but couldn’t stop tapping her foot for all to hear).
Posted by barb on May 15, 2003 in
Books by Jill Conner Browne
I almost didn’t make it through the Introduction of this book, because it made the Sweet Potato Queens sound exactly like the stuck up bitches I knew in high school, only older and larger. Maybe that’s all they are. Maybe I didn’t need to know that.
After the intro, I got into the book more, and quite enjoyed it. Conner gives advice on how to get any man to do anything, five men every woman needs in her life, and the best advice her father ever gave her (‘be particular’, which makes a lot of sense, and may have to become one of my mottos). My favorite chapter was on food — a topic particularly close to my heart. The recipes are sinful, but quite yummy.
Posted by barb on May 11, 2003 in
Movies 2/5 stars
Hmmm….
Not sure what to say about this. I had high hopes, and was looking forward to seeing Wil Wheaton in something recent. However, I just didn’t see the humor in most of it. Colin Mockery had some funny bits, as did Wheaton, but overall I kept wondering when it was going to get funny. There were plenty of good comedy actors (like Brad Sherwood and Debra Wilson), but it just didn’t come together for me.
The basic story is that Jane White wants to see her Dad, a talk show host based on Jerry Springer, in Chicago, since he left her family 15 years earlier. She tries to get on the show by being whatever freak the talk show is looking for (the first one is Closet Transvestite Prostitute).
Posted by barb on May 10, 2003 in
Movies 4.5/5 stars
I agree with everyone who’s been saying that they enjoyed this second installment better than the first. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the first one, and since I haven’t read any of the comics or watched the cartoon, I probably needed much of the background presented in the first movie. X2, though, had a lot more plot and did not even feel like a two-and-a-half hour movie.
The film starts with an assassination attempt on the president by a teleporting mutant named Nightcrawler. Since the world already mistrusts mutants, this attack sparks a retaliation by the president, led by his mutant advisor, Stryker. The best target they have is Xavier’s school, which they know about from interrogations of Magneto.
Posted by barb on May 6, 2003 in
Movies 3/5 stars
While I enjoyed AI, I felt that it should have ended about 20 minutes before it actually did. However, Hollywood seems to have to add a happy ending to just about everything.
In the near future, the polar ice caps have melted, causing the costal cities to flood, and resources have become scarce. The government responds by regulating the number of children born — couples need a license to conceive a child. Monica and Henry had their child, but Jake is in cyrogenic suspension due to some kind of illness. The doctor’s tell them that they must move on — it may be beyond science to revive their son.
Henry’s company deals in mechas — mechanical humans who are built to serve human’s needs. They have developed a prototype mecha that can love. A child. But, for the protection of the “adopting parents” this mecha’s love can only be imprinted on one parent, and that love will last forever. If the parents decide to get rid of this “child”, he must be brought back to the manufacturer to be destroyed.
Henry and Monica are trusted with one of the first versions of David. After taking some time to get used to the idea, Monica has David imprint his love on her. Of course, shortly there after, Jake’s condition becomes curable, and he comes home. It becomes clear that David is a danger to Jake, not on purpose, but because he just doesn’t understand. Monica drives him back to the manufacturer, but is unable to let him be destroyed. David runs, with a “super Teddy” as his only friend.
From here, David begins a quest to become a real boy — sparked by hearing Monica read Pinnochio to Jake and him.
Not bad. However, the “happy” ending was just too contrived for my taste.
Posted by barb on May 4, 2003 in
Books by Diana Marcellas
The shari’a were an ancient race, but when the Allemanii came to live in their lands, the peace only lasted 80 years. Now, several hundred years later, the shari’a are nearly extinct, believed by some Allemanii to be merely a myth of a long-ago era.
Brierley is a young shari’a witch living in Yarvannet. She’s a healer living a quiet life, trying not to bring attention to herself. She knows that if she is found out, her days will be numbered. Her secret, however, comes out when she saves the life of a noblewoman. The Earl of Yarvannet feels obligated to protect Brierley from the shari’a laws, since she could hardly be seen as evil.
This launches her on a quest to find other shari’a, her ancient lands, and lands her in love.
Wow! I went into this book expecting to enjoy it, but I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I did. The writing style took me a chapter to get into, but I must agree with the quote on the book’s cover from Morgan Llywelyn that the writing is often lyrical. I’ve never thought that about a sf book before. I’m looking forward to the second book, The Sea Lark’s Song.
Posted by barb on May 4, 2003 in
Concerts,
Movies Andrew introduced me to Hesperus shortly after we started dating. In fact, the first fall we were together, he bought a season subscription for their local concerts. I’ve enjoyed all of the concerts we have attended (though I keep missing the Christmas, Dancing Day, concert). Hesperus performs early music (i.e. Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque) on instruments from the period (or reproductions of period instruments).
The concert today was a new score they had arranged for the 1922 silent film version of Robin Hood. They had chosen music from the time of the Robin Hood legends, and performed the score while screening the film. The music, obviously, was quite appropriate, though I remember thinking once that the hunting song they chose was a bit weird for the goings-on on the screen. The film was a lot of fun, though the “prologue” seemed to take up half of the film. In fact, we didn’t get to King Richard (the lion-hearted) leading his men off to the Crusades for about an hour. The “Robin Hood” part of the film took up only the last 45 minutes or so.
Posted by barb on May 3, 2003 in
Movies 3/5 stars
While I’m certain I haven’t seen this version of The Importance of Being Ernest before, I’m sure I’ve either seen another version or actually read the book. I don’t think I read the book, because I remember another section of my English class reading it, while my section read something else. I also can’t remember having seen a version before. Perhaps there is another movie out there based on the story?
Anyway, it was a fun 2-hour diversion. Two men each have a second personality, each with the name Ernest. Jack uses his “brother” Ernest, who has fallen into some bad times, to escape his country house and got to the city as another person. Algy uses his make-believe invalid friend, Mr. Bunberry, to escape the city (and his aunt). But Jack’s Ernest becomes engaged to Cecily, and Algy pretends to be Jack’s brother Ernest come to visit Jack’s country home.
Fun movie.
Posted by barb on Apr 26, 2003 in
Movies 4/5 stars
As Andrew pointed out, there are no real likable characters in this. I can see that someone might take pity on Phuong, but I had trouble feeling too much sympathy. Brendan Fraser plays a young American, Alden Pyle, new to Saigon during the war in 1952. He seems to be an idealistic aid worker. He becomes friends with a London Times correspondent, Thomas Fowler, played by Michael Caine. Fowler has a Vietnamese lover, Phuong, whom he can’t marry because his wife, in London, will not allow it (due to her religion). Pyle and Caine end up vying for her love in the backdrop of the politics of Vietnam.