I'm back from my two-week hiatus. Since I was on vacation for part of that time, I have had a chance to catch up on my pop culture intake. Here are the top three from the last two weeks:
Film: Night Watch
I know this Russian horror film got mixed reviews but I liked it! The film is about Others, humans who develop (which is not technically the right term) special abilities like shape-shifting and seeing. There are Light Others and Dark Others with both sides monitoring each other. This first film in Director Timur Bekmambetov's trilogy focuses on the coming of the Great Other, who will bring destruction or something to the world. Really, it's not important. What I liked about this film is the effects. It's a little Blade Runner meets Japenese horror meets The Matrix. The sequel, Day Watch came out in 2006 (Night Watch is from 2004) so that is now on my Netflix list. Twilight Watch, the final film of the trilogy, is currently in production.
Television: My Big Redneck Wedding
My mother introduced me to this show. Apparently she was channel-surfing one night and came across it. I cannot honestly describe this show adequately. It's like a 10-car pileup with dead bodies hanging out the windows: you don't want to watch but you do and then you're mortified at yourself for slowing down long enough to get an eye-full. Seriously, the show is that bad. One episode featured the bride in cammo. Another had the groom going out to hut wild pig for a bachelor party with the pig to be used for the wedding meal. Yep. That's right, folks. The show is on CMT and you can catch it randomly on Saturday afternoons. I'm sure it's on at other times, though. Really, your life will not be complete until you watch this show at least once.
Book: The Fourth Bear
This is Jasper Fforde's sequel to The Big Over Easy. I've posted my love for Fforde before and it has only increased. The second of the Nursery Crime series, The Fourth Bear sees DCI Jack Spratt and Mary Mary trying to simultaneously track down the dreaded serial killer The Gingerbreadman and determine who killed Goldilocks. As they go about their business, Jack must deal with his new neighbors Punch and Judy, who do nothing but fight, and Caliban, who is currently living under his stairs. In addition, his daughter Pandora is getting ready to marry Prometheus the Titan. All of this is just another day for Jack, and he and Mary soon prove that the Nursery Crime Devision is a necessary component of the Reading police force. If you have not yet taken my advice and read a Jasper Fforde book, do so immediately!
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Top Five Meryl Streep Roles
- Miranda Priestly - "The Devil Wears Prada"
- Susan Orlean - "Adaptation"
- Madeline Ashton - "Death Becomes Her"
- Sophie Zawistowski - "Sophie's Choice"
- Karen Blixen - "Out of Africa"
About Me
- Heather
- The self-proclaimed pop culture diva with apparently too much time on her hands.
2 comments:
Yes, Nightwatch, YES! I too love this film because its something different, both visually and in terms of its story. Both things just blew us away. My favorite is when the big yellow truck flipped in the air to avoid missing the mortal pedestrian. I would talk more about the story but that would be a total spoiler for anyone who hasn't. The moral ambiguity of the film is delectable and I was reminded of it when I read a chapter in some person's dissertation about Posthumanism and monster hunters...
There was an article in the NYTimes a few years ago when Nightwatch was in theatres that Russian horror may become the next "Asia Extreme" for horror fans looking for something new and exciting. That has not exactly panned out, but we can hope.
We own Daywatch but have not had the heart to watch it. While Nightwatch got mixed reviews Daywatch was almost universally panned. Still, we want to watch it but we also don't want to be disappointed. And are kind of hoping that it is at least a brilliant failure.
Yeah, the morality issues was great. You just know the opening scene with Anton is going to come back and bite him in the ass. Very interesting ending. The yellow truck is awesome! I really like the speed at which the film is done. Very fast and very cool. Sequels are rarely as good as the original but I have to have hope in Daywatch. Maybe, just maybe, it will be better than expected. I do wish I had come across this film about three months ago as it would have found a place in the manuscript's conclusion. Ah well, I might still be able to fit it in somewhere as a footnote.
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