July 2013 Media Inventory

Movies:

Man of Steel: This was actually the first Superman movie I'd ever seen, and I enjoyed it a lot, perhaps thanks to a good 3 years of prepping from Matthew about the awesomeness that is Superman. But really the movie had me at "Russell Crowe."

Little Dorrit: Another quaint, fascinating, and delightful match between Dickens and Andrew Davies. I was especially fond of poor John, who deserved better.

The Fellowship of the Ring: After watching The Hobbit last month, we were very revved up to see this film. You can never go wrong with the Shire.

Zoolander: Whenever I want to be cheered up and feel smart, I watch Owen Wilson acting goofy and hilarious. Mission accomplished.

Chronicle: Interesting film with a good story and surprisingly strong characters. I didn't care much for the "filming myself" documentary style, but everything else was impressive.

The Two Towers: Yes, yes, yes. More, more, more.

A Town Called Panic: Such a cute, funny, and delightfully illogical/crazy French film. I watched this at the International Cinema and was thoroughly amused.

Anna Karenina (with Keira Knightley): I had fun revisiting the look, themes, and characters from one of my favorite novels and actually thought the acting was pretty decent. The film came nowhere near to capturing the depth, passion, emotion, and spirit of the characters which I discovered in reading the novel, but I didn't really expect it to, so I wasn't disappointed. The whole filming it like a play was also kind of weird for me. I think I might have liked it for a different movie, but I don't think I liked it for this one.

Front of the Class: Terrific and tear-jerking (in the good way) film about a man who grew up with Tourette's Syndrome but with a lot of strength and determination refused to it stop him from becoming a teacher, finding love, and becoming a positive role model. Almost it persuadeth me to allow my children to go to public school.

Penelope: Cute, run of the mill chick flick. I do think I could pull off a "Penelope" Halloween costume one of these years.

Miss Potter: Apparently I was in the mood to cry my eyes out, because that's exactly what I did for about 1/3 of this film.

Tootsie: This not quite comedy/not quite drama reminded me of the good parts of Some Like It Hot mixed with the ordinary, down-to-earth reality of The Apartment. The serious bits were funny and the funny bits were awkwardly serious.

The Internship: Saw this on a whim with Matthew at the dollar theater. While I greatly enjoyed moments that included Owen Wilson being hilarious,  a game of Quidditch amongst Google interns, and the scenes set in an environment of Googly colorful excitement, overall the film seemed too flat, shallow, and immature to leave me with a positive impression.

The Social Network: Sharp, cynical, and intriguing film. I have no idea how much if any of it is true, but it does make for a riveting and somewhat disturbing story about our obsessions with fame, money, status, etc.

Silver Linings Playbook: I don't care much for Bradley Cooper, but LOVE Jennifer Lawrence, so naturally I like this film. I also identify pretty strongly with her during the dancing scenes (finally, a movie about REAL people dancing!)

The Host: I've tried to read the book twice, but lost interest both times. The movie was a bit more interesting than the book (or maybe it was just shorter and I was able to finish it before losing interest), but still nowhere near as riveting and exciting as I thought it should or could be. I'm not sure what was missing for me, but something was.
 
The Mighty Macs: This was a sweet and cute film about Catholic girls and their basketball coach teaching them how to become a team. I should probably just admit right now I'm a sucker for the inspirational sports movies - they get me excited and teary almost every time.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith: The more I watch this film the more I fall in love with its sense of humor and sarcastic, playful, flirtatious personality. The action, romance, and overall chemistry in this film is just fantastic - I can't even judge it fairly because I like it so much.

Miss Congeniality: Another cute movie about clever and funny people getting together and being awesome. Not as outrageously dramatic and smooth as Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but still adorable and fun.

The Man in the Moon: What WAS it with me and tearjerker movies this month? This is one of my favorite performances by one of my favorite actresses, Reese Witherspoon. The acting and characters are so deep and real that it almost doesn't matter that the story is a little underdeveloped/unfinished-feeling. Also, I love the South.

Zero Dark Thirty: There were some powerful and disturbing moments in this film, but the story did not stand out to me as particularly profound or purposeful in delivering a coherent message. It just sort of threw a lot at you and expected you to make sense of it. I was also extremely irritated by the loooooong shots of darkness during the climax. Overall, I think "Argo" was the better film.

Books:

I'll Scream Later: The autobiography of Marlee Matlin, a famous Deaf actress. Enjoyable and well-written, but also sort of sad. I am more than ever convinced that avoiding drugs is a wise decision.

The Book of Lost Things: A fairytale that is subtly mature and thought-provoking (and also somewhat frightening). I enjoyed it very much.

The "Seth" Saga, Part 2: I enjoyed this story written for me by my brother Daniel. Very reminiscent of our days fighting and escaping from bad guys in our make-believe world.

Urchin of the Riding Stars: Cute adventurous tale about talking animals, similar to Brian Jacques in its themes and tone (though I would argue it doesn't equal his brilliance in character development, writing, or plot).

Gone Girl: Intriguing and well-written book - the characters are almost disturbingly detailed and lifelike (you relate to them, and then feel horrified at yourself for doing so). One of the few books that actually deserves the "Well I never saw THAT coming" compliment in my opinion, maybe even more than once. I was afraid it would take me a long time to read since it was 400 pages, but once I got about 50 pages in, I blew through the rest in two days. I was slightly put off by the ending, which felt weak and anticlimactic, but the rest of the book was enthralling.