Happy Easter! (A Day Late)

I hope you all had a nice holiday weekend. I also hope none of you overdosed on Peeps and chocolate marshmallow eggs. This week's picks have absolutely nothing to do with Easter, though. (Passover maybe...)

Film: The Mist
I want to begin by saying that someone spilled the beans on the ending and that totally pissed me off! But I will never do that to all of you. And I still managed to enjoy the film despite knowing how it ends. If you haven't seen this Stephen King adaptation yet, put it on your list. The story is very compelling and realistic in terms of humanity's issues when faced with seemingly impending death. Unfortunately, the worst in us comes through loud and clear. But then, what would you do in a similar situation? It is mass-hysteria at its best. The effects are actually pretty good as well. Although the creatures are clearly other-worldly, they feel realistic. And of course there is the stupendous ending. Very intriguing and daring. Let's just say that this mist does not come on little cat feet.

Book: Persepolis
If you have not yet read Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel, what are you waiting for???!!! The first part of her work deals with growing up in Iran during the revolution. She goes from being a carefree, young girl in a posh existance to a veil-wearing young woman whose family is constantly worried about imprisonment. As a woman, I cannot even begin to imagine what it must have been like to go from having complete freedom to absolutely no freedom almost over night. Frankly, it's a topic that has scared me since I first read Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale ten years ago. (To this day I keep cash on hand in case I have to run to Canada. Although I have recently been told that $50 may not get me there any more.) The second half of Satrapi's novel is her late-teen years after her parents send her to school in Austria. Very compelling and, again, surprising. As a constant stranger in a strange land, Satrapi tries to fit in. Sadly, she doesn't really succeed and that is what makes this graphic novel so lovely. It's nice to read a story without the traditional happy ending. It's a story I think we can all relate to in some way. Plus, it will 0pen up your eyes to what it is like for the non-militant Islamic people of Iran.

Television
Again, I don't really have anything to report here. Although I did watch the first episode of The Unusuals Wednesday night. It may make the blog in another week or two. Instead, I want to recommend hulu.com to you all. If you've missed the excellent commercials - I love Seth MacFarlane - it's a free website where you can catch the major networks' shows. For example, I missed Fringe last Tuesday - it's back - so I was able to watch it on Friday. There are 30-second commercials that you cannot fast-forward, but they are bearable. This is a great alternative for those of you who, like me, would rather buy new shoes than a TiVO. Now that I can watch television on my own time, I might actually have something to share in this section of my blog.