I've decided to make this a weekly blog, so check in on Sundays for the week's picks.
Literature: Autobiography of a Fat Bride
The book is actually called Autobiography of a Fat Bride: True Tales of a Pretend Adulthood. Consider it nonfiction chick lit. I rarely laugh out loud at a book but this one made me giggle and cackle throughout. (Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods does as well.) The book is a bunch of 2-3 page vignettes about author Laurie Notaro's life. Her life is way funnier than mine, but nothing she writes seems untrue; it all could happen. My favorite story is "It Takes Guts." This isn't something you have to read the whole way through at once. Consider leaving it on your bedside table and turn to it every few days.
Movies: Sweet Land and The Holiday
This week I saw two excellent romances and couldn't judge between them. Now, romance - as many of you know - is not my most favorite of film genres but these two might just sway me to the dark side.
Many of you probably haven't heard of Sweet Land. The film came out in 2005 and stars Elizabeth Reaser and Tim Guinee. Unless you're a Stargate SG-1 fan, you probably won't recongize either of them. Inge (Reaser) is a German woman who is sent to American by Olaf's (Guinee) parents to be his wife. In essence, she's a mail-order bride. Unfortunately, she is a German entering America during WWI and the two face a lot of adversity and hatred. It's a really sweet love story that has a framing technique similar to Frankenstein: a story within a story within a story. Good stuff!
Many of you probably have heard of The Holiday. I have to admit, I was skeptical, especially considering the famousness of the cast and my aversion to both Camerion Diaz and Jack Black. But I loved this film! Jack Black proves, yet again, that obnoxious and annoying comedians can actually do serious pretty damn well. (The others would be Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey.) My favorite part of the film is actually a sub-plot with Arthur (Eli Wallach) and Iris (Kate Winslet). This film reminds me of an old-fashioned love story like The Philadelphia Story, and given the aforementioned sub-plot, I think that's the point. If you're looking for a great Friday night popcorn film, get this one!
Television: Ice Road Truckers on The History Channel
The History Channel is one of my favorite channels. I came to Ice Road Truckers about three episodes into the season. If you haven't heard about the show yet, it focuses on truck drivers on one of Canada's ice roads. These men drive huge loads 200+ miles to diamond mines in northern Canada. They make oodles of money but the trip is very dangerous. Can you imagine driving a semi on ice that is less than 3-feet thick and cracking the entire time you're on it? They can only drive 15 mph and the trips take upwards of a day. Once they get back to base, they turn around and do it all over again. The show's first season ended last Sunday, but the show was popular enough that the season repeats starting tonight at 10pm. I would strongly suggest you catch the "Dash for the Cash" the second time around.
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3 comments:
Indeed, why are infotainment channel reality shows so damn addictive? I have avoided Ice Road Truckers like the plague because I can just imagine hours of my life disappearing with nothing to show for them if I allowed myself even one episode. Housemate Lisa has gotten me addicted to Top Gear on BBC America. Imagine Monster Garage and those car shows on Spike with the testicular male posturing replaced by dry British wit.
I never watch reality tv unless it's on an infotainment channel. Have you seen Gene Simmons' Family Jewels? I wasted an entire Saturday watching a marathon. Who knew?
No, can't say that I can stand the thought of Gene Simmons existing let alone allow him to be on my TV. But yeah, infotainment cable channels have resulted in a few "lost" weekends at my house.
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