life with the furry and feathered crew

A book and a movie

"Charlie Wilson's War" is the story of - you guessed it - Charlie Wilson!  He was a U.S. Congressman from Texas, a bit of a playboy, enjoyed fast living, but had a worldly outlook.  So much of a worldly outlook, and membership on the right committees in Congress, that he managed to wrangle funding for the resistance fighters in Afghanistan during the Russian occupation.  After pushing the Russians out however, Charlie couldn't get any funding for rebuilding the country.  He realized that Afghanistan would be lost without building infrastructure, and in an interview, he considers this to be his greatest failure.  This is a true story. 

Tom Hanks plays Charlie Wilson.  Julia Roberts plays the rich bitch right winger from Texas who played Charlie Wilson to fund and fight the war - for her it was all about fighting Communists.  I don't care much for Julia Roberts and this movie didn't change my opinion at all.  Tom Hanks was great as Wilson, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the maverick CIA agent was superb.  He should win every award possible for supporting actor. 

Now the book.  One day in the life of Ivan Denosovich.  A story about a prisoner in a hard labour camp during Stalin's reign in Russia.  The last time I read this book was in high school.  Probably you read it then too.  I encourage all three of my faithful readers to go out and read it again.  The latest translation is the real deal.  All of the previously censored passages have been restored, and the translation is excellent.  I judge a translation by how literary it reads.  This one is very good. 

Even though the story is horrible - a political prisoner in a very harsh gulag and environment (the dead of winter) - the story is not related in a depressing manner. Ivan D. is not depressed about his situation.  Mostly, he is focused on making it through the day with a minimum of trouble and a maximum of benefit.  He judges the day by these criteria.  It's not an optimistic view, but a pragmatic view that he espouses.  Well worth reading.   

Burn, baby, burn

After I saw Mystic River I read just about every Dennis LaHane book.  Most of his stories are about Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro - two private investigators in Boston.  Burn, baby, burn is one of the earlier Kenzie-Gennaro stories.  A 3-yo girl disappears and her concerned aunt hires the PI pair to "augment" the police investigation.  As the story unfolds, the coke-head mother of the girl stole money from a drug dealer.  Oops.  Naturally it seems that the drug dealer took the girl to exchange for the stolen money.  The exchange goes badly and the girl falls into a quarry.  But wait!  It's only half-way through the movie.  Hmmm.  I won't spoil all the twists and turns and where it all ends because I hope you'll go see the movie.  Good entertainment.  Good acting, especially by Casey Affleck who plays Kenzie.  Then, after you see the movie, visit the bookstore for more Kenzi-Gennaro stories. 

3:10 to Yuma

Even as a kid, I loved westerns.  I watched them all on TV, made up stories of the old, wild west.  Just like true science fiction, not enough westerns are made these days.  So of course I had to go see 3:10 to Yuma.  Russell Crowe plays the BAD guy, captured and being taken to the 3:10 prisoner train that leaves from Contention.  It's a very long trip to Contention and an even longer trip from the hotel in Contention to the train station.  But Christian Bale gets him to the train - against all odds.  Good movie.  Good acting.  Love those westerns. 

Bourne Ultimatum

Short on plot, long on action.

The Oscars got it wrong

Just my humble opinion - after seeing all 5 movies nominated for best picture - the Oscar should have gone to either "Little Miss Sunshine" or "Letters from Iwo Jima". 

"Children of Men"

Children of Men is a true science fiction movie, set in the near future when people can no longer have children.  One immigrant woman in England is pregnant however.  Luckily, she happens upon a protector who sacrifices everything to help her to safety.  A bit dark of a movie, but not depressingly so.  Excellent in every way.

The Good Shepherd - Movie

Matt Damon as a stone-faced, man of few words OSS, then CIA, agent.  Even I could do that acting job!  (Terry disagreed with that boast however when I cracked a little smile.)  The plot is supposedly about the beginning of the CIA.  Actually it is about the sacrifices that spies make for their country.  And it is a vehicle for Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie.  While I wasn't bored, I wasn't enthralled either - the movie had very little tension or suspense.  To be fair, Terry quite liked the movie.  We agreed to disagree on this one.

The Pursuit of Happyness - movie review

Terry won't write a movie review, but I didn't see this movie.  It's reported to be a "two-hankie" movie.  Unfortunately, Terry didn't take even one hankie with him so he came home with some very wet shirt sleeves. 

Casino Royale

Good fun.  Not nearly as gimmicky as previous James Bond movies.  Lots of high tension, nail biting chases.  Judy Densch as "M" is wonderful of course.  Daniel Craig plays a darn good Bond.  Shaken, not stirred.

"Borat"

"Borat" is shorthand for "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan". 

Funny movie.  Not side-splitting funny, but clever funny.  I like that the interviews in the movie were real.  Meaning that the interviewees didn't know that it was a set-up.  Haha.  The one that came out looking bad was the rodeo guy - a racist and intolerant flag-waving red state clown.  I hope he's crying tonight.  Hehe.

Here's the Yahoo site synopsis....

Borat Sagdiyev, Kazakhstan's sixth most famous man and a leading journalist from the State run TV network, travels from his home in Kazakhstan to the U.S. to make a documentary. On his cross-country road-trip, Borat meets real people in real situations with hysterical consequences.