The Reading, watching, listening… page is dedicated to current or recent involvements. Thus, this page will serve as a home for reviews from the past that I think might be worth saving for a bit.

Suggested Reading from the past (in reverse chronological):

-Josephy Boyden’s 2005 novel, Three Day Road. I am grateful to M and S for this recommendation. It is, hands down, the best piece of Canadian Fiction I have ever read. I recommend this book. I did a full post on it.

-Jonathan Safran Foer’s 2005 Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. This book gave me heavy boots at times, and made me feel like a hundred dollars at times, but mainly heavy boots. Imagine putting together Catcher in the Rye, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime, A Hearbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and then creating something original on top of it, and you might come close to picturing this book. Every now and then you read a book that hits you in the chest, not necessarily because it is the best book you’ve read, but because it is the best book for you to be reading at that momment in your life (only you didn’t know it until you read it). I think this might have been one of those.

-Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 Pulitzer Prize Winning novel, The Road. This is indeed a prize winning piece of writing. It is one of the most depressing stories of hope you will ever read. You are walking with them. You are seeing their dreams. You want to hope, but you know the truth, just as the man does. I see they’ve made a movie of this. I don’t know if they can pull it off.

- Rory Stewart’s 2004 Non-Fiction work, The Places In Between. I’m not sure I should be allowed to read books like this… the guy walked across Afghanistan – in 2002. I mean – he’s crazy – and awesome. He’s pretty much the man.

-Thomas King’s 2003 Massey Lecture, The Truth About Stories.

The truth about stories is that that’s all we are.

For good, bad, light, dark, serious, funny, apathetic, involved, we are displayed to the world through our stories, and the stories others tell about us, or put us in. Excellent lecture, it would be good to hear him deliver it as well.

-Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men . Outstanding! The back jacket makes some comparison to Dostoevsky, and at first one smirks and thinks “how outlandish”. Then one reads it and thinks “how very accurate”. I watched the movie for a second time the next day. When I saw the film the first time I was enthralled. Watching it after reading the book only makes it more engrossing as you have a much larger sense of Sheriff Bell. I should really do a full post on this.

-Rohnton Mistry’s Family Matters was recommended by some time ago, and I finally got around to it. Admittedly it isn’t as strong as A Fine Balance but it is a work of quality. The novel examines relationships under stress and exposes some of the different paths people pursue in order to find balance when the relationships that should act as such do not. Prejudice, deceit, religion, loyalty, children, commitment to work – each of these and more serve as fulcrums for the characters. The words of Mr. Kapur also remind one that these attempts at balance are common in lives and stories throughout the world. I don’t completely agree with his thoughts, but here they are, as they at least give one cause to ponder:

Everyone underestimates their own life. Funny thing is, in the end, all our stories – your life, my life, old Hussain’s life, they’re the same. In fact, no matter where you go in the world, there is only one important story: of youth, and loss, and yearning for redemption. So we tell the same story, over and over. Just the details are different.

Ian McEwan’s Saturday. I think reading Conrad previous to this made me watch for over-arching metaphors. I certainly found them in McEwan’s writing, just not as many, not so layered and not so intertwined. However, they were just as poignant. McEwan exposes that the struggles we face as countries and societies in deciding how to interact with other countries and societies are actually the reflection of the struggles we face as we decide how to interact with our family members, friends, colleagues and in day to day encounters. When is a “preemptive strike” acceptable? Would you carry one out personally if you felt immediately in danger? Read Saturday and then ask yourself. Also, its a neat concept having the whole novel take place in the course of a single day while following one man (even though its not quite at the level of Salinger).

Kate Dicamillo’s The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane – Is heartbreak and disappointment worth loving and being loved. Edward, like so many of us, struggles to find out what love is exactly, and what his role in relationships is. Edward discovers that one’s state of mind is a personal trail, but that one can open it to joy by opening up to other people. There is risk involved, and initially Edward fears this, but true rewards only come from taking risks.

Dave Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
Do losses amount to some people’s greatest achievements? I am not sure if Eggers intended this to be the theme or question at hand, but it certainly resonated in my mind after reading his first book.

The acknowledgments section was hilarious, and fresh creative writing. Eggers outlandish honesty regarding his outlandish manipulations of the truth are the best features. Within them are certain truths in his own life – likely any readers’ lives – are explored in a new light. His “recommendations” section is correct when he says that the first four chapters are the key ingredients and that one may want to stop reading following their completion. While the remaining chapters have their moments they wander, and one wonders if they serve more as a creative writing experiment more than anything else. For the most part I did enjoy his writing and will read at least one other of his works.

Ken Dryden’s first book, The Game.
After it sat on my bookshelf for a few years I finally got around to it. The statement that it is the best hockey book ever written is certainly true. Dryden expertly captures a dynasty waning, and without disrespect he lays bare individual Canadiens that some people no doubt look upon as heroes. His uncompromising look on the ills of the game could have been written in 2005 rather than 1983. While many things change, sameness also prevails. Finally, it rings all too true that no matter what period we grew up in the golden age of hockey will always be when we were twelve years old. Unfortunately the editing in the book was horrible.

Alistair MacLeod’s No Great Mischief.
Authors that choose to float around in time piecing together a story from different years or decades face a difficult task. Usually I find works produced in this manner to be irksome and misdirected. However, MacLeod pulls it off in No Great Mischief. Rather than telling the tale of a family across generations, he opens the living of the tale to the reader. He brings the characters alive so subtly you are coaxed in to following along. He crafts a novel without a pinpointed climax – not an easy task – yet one can sense the story building, not in suspense, but in meaning. Finally, he does an excellent job of portraying a slice of Canadiana but not tackling the culture head on, rather he explores how one family finds itself in the emergence of Canadian culture.

Bill Gaston’s The Good Body
Because (as I’ve said before) they might not play hockey in the next world…. at least that seems to serve as a metaphor for a lot more in this story. He takes a bit of liberty with the way things might unfold in the hockey world, but does an excellent job of exposing how one man glosses over a fear many must have: that the body will fail while the mind and soul have unfinished business.

…it had dawned on him that, since there are no big answers available to the big questions, maybe the key was to go smaller. Ask questions less huge, questions not aimed directly at the big stuff.

Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist
“When you truly want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
I think this book may have had more of a personal impact if I’d read it five or seven years ago. It was a decent read and the concept of “Personal Legends” and the adventures the main character goes through both bring a smile to my face. I can see it as being ground breaking for some and I’d recommend it to some…. especially those may struggle with their own “Personal Legend”. A bit of a rebutal to this book though: remember the definition of “Legend” should be open to debate and choice – especially “Personal” debate and choice, it shouldn’t be set to fate. One’s Personal Legend should not be set in stone, and perhaps there is more than one.

Robert McNamara’s In Retrospect
The honesty and insight is outstanding. While McNamara can be praised for his attempts to look at the big picture, take blame, and ground his decision making in values he avoids contemplation of the complete picture (including how the administration did or did not take into consideration the lives of average Vietnamese) and does not escape all blame. I believe it is better for him to have spoken up then remained silent, even if he could have said more. Reading this book, or at least watching The Fog of War (which initially perked my interest in him – phenomenal doc), is a must for anyone interested in what goes on inside the head of someone who played such a pivotal role in so many lives last century. One might not agree with him, but at least he’s putting it out there and giving you his rationale.

Finally, this book came out in 1995 and he lists 11 lessons from Vietnam. All 11 should be required reading for those in international politics, but two are rather striking in light of events in this century:

#8: “…Where our own security is not directly at stake, our judgement of what is in another people’s or country’s best interest should be put to the test of open discussion in international forums. We do not have the God-given right to shape every nation in our own image or as we choose.”

#9: “We did not hold to the principle that U.S. military action – other than in response to direct threats to our own security – should be carried out only in conjunction with multinational forces supported fully (and not merely cosmetically) by the international community.”

Suggested Watching from the past:
-Pepe Danquart’s 2000 German Ice Hockey doc, Heimspeil, was a great documentary. Ice hockey is a very tough sport to capture for film or docs, and while this was his first time experiencing the sport he did a fantastic job. It is soooo European, and reminds me of some wonderful moments from my past. Not only is the story of a hockey team well told, but Danquart captures the rift that still exists between East and West in Germany.
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-Sean Penn’s screen adaptation of Krakauer’s book, the 2007 film Into the Wild. Quite simply, I should not be allowed to watch films of this kind and J should have known better when she made it required watching (Okay, maybe she did know and that was the point). Good job musically as well.
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-Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno’s 2006 documentary, Zidane, un portrait du 21e siècle (Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait) must be one of the most artsy representations of sport, or a sporting figure ever. I wrote a full post on this film here.
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Le Scaphandre et le Papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) is Julian Schnabel’s account of the real life story of Jean-Dominique Bauby. Bauby wrote a book by the same name in order to detail is life with “locked-in syndrome”, which he became afflicted with after a stroke at the age of 43. Bauby had complete mental faculties, but was left totally paralyzed – with the exception of his left eye. Using a blinking communication code he completed his book and saw it published just days before he passed away due to pneumonia. The camera work and character development are two shining aspects of this film. Coincidentally, the Vancouver Sun ran a two-day special on a BC man afflicted with “locked-in” recently.
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I was a little worried going into Anderson’s Darjeeling Limited (which opened with the short film Hotel Chevalier. His last offering, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zizou, while enjoyable, left something to be desired. This worry extended into the first half of Darjeeling and I found myself thinking quite plainly that I didn’t really care about any of the characters. Then, a specific event occurs, followed by a non-linear sequence of scenes and I quickly found myself caring a great deal about each of the main characters. Anderson teamed with Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman to write this film and in the end they pulled it off. The camera work and set work is quintessential Anderson and because of his uniqueness is reason alone to see this film. If you enjoy his films you should take this one in as well
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No Country for Old Men, Joel and Ethan Coen’s adaptation of Comac McCarthy’s Novel. Amazing film! During the 48 hours following the viewing of No Country my passion to view the film a second time, grew and grew. I would recall a scene, a phrase, a character, an interaction, a camera shot, or almost anything else and I would begin to develop another analogy that the film-makers were trying to present. Javier Bardem is simply outstanding in this film. The scene in the gas station could stand as an excellent short film resting solely on the intensity of his and Barry Corbin’s acting. You will not feel fulfilled after seeing this film, you will not get answers, but you will be engaged, and you will have to draw your own connections and your own resolutions. Great use of sound, great acting, great writing: great film!
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-Eugene Jarecki’s Why We Fight. This doc opens with Eisenhower’s famous word warning us to be aware of the “military-industrial complex”. It then exposes for the viewer to surmise that we really haven’t heeded the general’s warning. The best part is when they are interviewing McCain and the president calls him.
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-Paris Je T’Aime – 20 short films from 20 different film makers are packaged into a great piece. All connected with the theme of love the watcher is engaged and asked to fill in the blanks. Simply – excellent.
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Lee Jun-Ik directs Choi Seok-hwan adaption of Kim Tae-wung’s play The King and the Clown.
This 2005 film was the highest grossing Korean film ever until a few months ago. It is extremely popular, and for good reason. The direction, acting and setwork are amazingly extravagant and the cinemetography is great. These factors lead one to feel as though the Joseon dynasty has actually been captured on film. At the same time the screenplay retains some basic feelings of a play in a positive manner. This is key when adapting a stage piece to the screen. This film has the best costumes I have ever seen. The colours, design and material of each actor’s wardrobe creates a whole other dimension to the story.

Sexuality in Joseon Korea, the delicate power struggles of a royal court, and the role of theatre in Korean culture are three themes that weave throughout the story. However, the underlying theme of friendship is never far away. The two main characters are bound by a friendship that everyone should be so fortunate to have. This film is highly recommended.
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The famous Choi Min-sik stars in Park Chan-wook’s 2003 Oldboy.
Disturbing. This film did very well at Cannes, but I am not convinced all the praise is deserved. It is different than anything else I have seen, but its attempts at originality are not well founded. Instead they are extreme grasps at shock and disturbance. Mix together revenge and perhaps the most offside topic you can think of and you come out with Oldboy. Did I mention this film is disturbing.

Contains the best hammer fight scene you will ever see. On a technical note, the scene is brilliantly shot and leaves one feeling exhausted.

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“Everybody: just pretend to be normal.”

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris direct Michael Arndt’s fantastic film: Little Miss Sunshine.

This is the best movie I have seen in ten months. I knew very little about it going in. I had not seen any trailers or advertisements and only skim read one review. I had an inkling this film might be up my alley, and it most definitely was. The film’s actors couple subtlety with being over the top and the writer and directors have beautifully coupled the absolute absurd with the strikingly common to give a beautiful picture of reality magnified. All involved did an excellent job to present six meaningful characters in the span of just ninety minutes. When writers and directors magnifying reality with subtlety and a hammer – all in one – they’ve created a film that I am the prime audience for: I eat that stuff up. I ate this film up. One measure of a really good film is that it grows on you over the next few days, keeps you thinking, and laughing. This film did that. For those who enjoy Wes Anderson’s work along with films like Garden State I would highly recommend this feature as I think it fits nicely in between these two types of movies. Some excellent cinematography deserves some unexpected praise as well. While it apparently took five years for this film to get made it was well worth the effort. Special bonus points for the nods this film gives to other works including the repeating Fargo reference. This film is not for everyone, and I like that too.

“Grandpa, am I pretty?”
“You are the most beautiful girl in the world.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“No! I’m madly in love with you and it’s not because of your brains or your personality.”
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Gahite Fofana’s Un Matin Bonne Heure (Early in the Morning) attempts to tell the tale of Yaguine Koita and Fode Tounkara.

Traveled to Busan, to take in this feature at the Pusan International Film Festival. (The name of the city is actually spelt differently than the film fest). If you are unfamiliar with Yaguine and Fode’s story it is worth the short read, particularly the letter they wrote to the leaders of Europe – more than seven years ago. The film captures the boredom and frustration of these boys lives – but fails to give an accurate sense of the desperation. The music is haunting, the acting decent, but the direction not so great. While I appreciate this film being made, as it hits at the heart of the global disgrace – poverty – it deserved to be made better. I am glad to have gone and seen it though. It was special to be at Asia’s biggest film festival.

The last decent bit of television:

Season Five (the final season) of Six Feet Under.
This show encompasses what the medium of television should be, for entertainment – part of the reason I really don’t watch anything else. This show included exceptional acting, revealing relationships, fantastic use of music, and outstanding direction just to cite a few of the reasons why one should give it a chance. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that most of the actors came from the stage.