Here's what I watched and read in between writing and grading papers during the blurry haze that was the month of April.
Movies:
My Brilliant Career: Charming but serious Anne of Green Gables-ish Australian film that was also somehow a western... at least, I saw it in western class. I largely enjoyed it except for the ending, which I found rather smug and neat in contrast to the blunt, messy realities that the film earlier embraced.
Bleak House: Absolutely LOVED this TV mini-series! I highly recommend it to anyone in the mood for humorous characters, mysterious scandals, complicated relationships, and satisfying romantic dramas of England in the 1800s.
Heart: So, this was a BYU short film that turned "The Tell-Tale Heart" into a bit of a western! And it starred Aaron Eckhart back when he was a student, apparently. He made a pretty good crazy nutcase if I do say so myself.
The Tell-Tale Heart: A more feature-film adaptation of the Poe story that greatly amused me and my classmates due to its rather theatrical style. The scandalous love triangle and betrayal of a best friend were intriguing additions, but the cake really went to an unexpected impalement, a throbbing carpet, and probably the world's worst reading of female signals by the main character. Still extremely entertaining.
Unforgiven: One of my favorites from the western class - it vies for first place right alongside "Ride the High Country." Matthew watched it with me and we both had a lot to discuss and think about afterwards. It really does stick with you.
Open Range: I had high hopes but ended up being less impressed with this one, though I continue to love Robert Duvall and (mostly) Kevin Costner as the plain-speaking, witty, too stubborn to quit cowpuncher and the shell-shocked, hardened but totally still romantically available sidekick. At least I still have Lonesome Dove and Dances with Wolves.
Water for Elephants: Enjoyable film, but I didn't find the plot all that compelling judging by the fact that it took me several days to actually finish it. While I normally love Reese Witherspoon, none of the three main characters was actually that interesting to me (the elephant was pretty good, though), and I've never been a huge fan of the whole "weather-beaten old man recounts his past to skeptical youth of today" intro.
Hitchcock: Fun, entertaining, and creative film about the making of Psycho which I particularly enjoyed since I just read and wrote about Psycho in the fall. I was a bit disappointed in how short and shallow it seemed - it only offered a slice of Hitchcock (and of Psycho, truthfully) when I was hoping for a lot more.
One for the Money: Watching this film was very similar to reading the book - I was intrigued by the overall idea and bored to tears by the particulars. I finished it, but barely.
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone: Matthew and I watched this at the Dollar Theater and it was hilarious. So many lines that I wanted to write down and quote. So much Steve Carell + Jim Carrey awesomeness. The plot was pretty cliche, but I didn't care too much because of how much I was enjoying the performances, the dialogue, and the magic tricks ('scuse me, illusions).
The Impossible: When I heard this film was about the 2004 tsunami, I wasn't enthusiastic about seeing it. I expected a lot of affirmative cliches about humanity rallying in the midst of tragedy and blatant attempts to pull on heartstrings. But this harrowing experience of a film surprised me. The tsunami itself was grim, rough, quick, and violent - probably one of the scariest things I've seen on film - and the camera let it happen without prior warning, music, foreshadowing, etc. It comes completely out of nowhere without any overt attempt to explain it or how we should feel about it as it is happening. Never so clearly have I been able to put myself in the vulnerable state of a film's protagonist as when we see pieces of trees, houses, furniture, tools, and toys hurtling at lightning speed in our direction underneath the huge wave of water that has washed over everything. After the wave has passed, the fear, frustration, confusion, and panic about where our characters are and if they're going to be okay or not is terribly convincing. More than once I found myself having to grimace, look away, and shudder at the traumatic results of injury, which to me is the mark of a film successfully engaging my emotions and attention. The story doesn't really attempt to analyze what's happening on a deeper level (i.e. Why did this happen to us? Why did God allow this to happen?), but it feels real and scary nonetheless and struck me with an awareness of how vulnerable and weak we really are in this physical state of mortality. It's probably good for someone who loves swimming and the beach as much as I do to have a healthy sense of fear and respect for water instilled into me.
Wreck-it Ralph: Matthew and I had both been hearing a lot about how good this film is, and I guess I have to say that the rumors are true. We loved it! Creative, entertaining, and clever story and characters, whether you ever played video games or not. This is one I wouldn't mind owning.
Books:
Of Wolves and Men: Interesting and accessible read about the ways of wolves and how we've feared, hated, loved, and killed them over the years. Great resource should I ever want to write a paper about wolves or just make someone feel guilty.
Watership Down: I loved this book when Mama read it to us at lunchtime many years ago, and I still love it. It took me maybe three days to read, but I was enthralled for the entire three days. It is such a beautiful story and so well written. Next to Brian Jacques, Richard Adams is probably my favorite author of books about small animals.
Tales of Watership Down: Because you never want the story to end...
Life of Pi: I have wanted to read this book for a long time, and seeing the movie finally stirred up enough interest in me to go for it. It's a great book - funny, touching, entertaining, insightful, practical. Why did it take me this long to get to it? I wanted it to be a true story and was sad when it wasn't (and was even sadder when I realized the real story was probably Eat Pray Love). Still, read it anyway.
