Title: A Time to be Born
Genre: Novel
Grade: B
Notable People: Dawn Powell
Review: got this boo as a Christmas gift. Strange but interesting story of the upper crust in pre-war America. Good story; well written. I think it is mostly tongue in cheek but who knows. Some focus on emerging feminism and very cynical on the economic titans of the time and their lifestyle. Depends on your taste- but I liked it.
Title: The List
Genre: Album
Grade: A
Notable People: Roseanne Cash
Review: I don’t usually review older work s(I may have even reviewed this before) but I have been listening to this 2009 record for days and really loved by it. If you don’t know the story, when young Roseanne was getting ready to gout on the road with Papa Johnny for the first time in the mid 70’s-he told her she had to master this list of songs before she could go out. They were his great Americana song book (and now they are mine-and may be yours if you listen to this record). Beautifully arranged set with incredibly tasteful instrumentation and lovely vocals. Guest harmonies from Bruce, Elvis Costello, Jeff tweedy and Rufus Wainwright. If nothing else- check out Heartache by the Numbers, an old Harlan Howard chestnut- done with incredible verve by Roseanne and Elvis. Go get this record and listen to it ten times.
Title: Flight
Genre: film
Grade: B+
Notable People: Denzel, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, Bruce Greenwood, Directed by Robert Zemekis
Review: Saw this at the discount theater as kind of “throw-off” and was very pleasantly surprised. Kind of a haunting film about alcoholism in the main stream. Denzel is puffy and great. Cheadle is slimy. Reilly is wonderful. Don’t see it right before you fly- a bit unsettling. Some pretty surprising plot turns here after some very predictable ones. Worth seeing
Title: Buddhaland in Brooklyn
Genre: Novel
Grade: B+
Notable People: Richard C. Morais
Review: Found this book at local library- intrigued by the title. Very interesting and well written book about lifelong journey of Japanese Buddhist Priest, his early years in small village in Japan and then his earthshaking assignment to bring the first American Buddhist temple to US….in Brooklyn. Touching and slyly amusing. A little slow at times but worth the time
Title: Day After Night
Genre: Novel
Grade: A-
Notable People: Anita Diamani
Review: Really, really well written and interesting book/story. True depiction of little known post war events in which Eastern European Jews made their way when liberated from concentration camps to their dreams in British held Israel. The British then interred them in their own mini-camps. This is the story of an escape from such a camp to life on the Kibbutz- told through the eyes of four young woman survivors. Sweet and bittersweet at once, it chronicles the last months of the British empire there and the seedlings of modern Israel. I read it in two days-quite compelling.
Title: Lincoln
Genre: Film
Grade: B
Notable People: Directed by Steven Spielberg, Daniel Day Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones
Review: A potent story about Lincoln’s- efforts to abolish slavery via the passage of the 13th amendment in the waning days of the War. Beautifully filmed with Spielberg’s attention to period detail. Virtuoso performances by Day Lewis and Jones. Loved the depictions of early congressional warfare- when Republicans were more like Democrats. For me, though, the film really dragged and was way too long. I think this is one you could watch on the small screen and enjoy as much..
Title: Not Fade Away
Genre: Film
Grade: A- /B+
Notable People: Directed by David Chase, John Magaro, Jack Huston, and James Gandolfini
Review: what a great movie to see on a winters’ afternoon. I gave it a split rating because I’m not sure if the appeal is more “of an age”. For me- it captured very well the dreams of the early-mid sixties; the culture, the music, the simplicity that was quickly becoming something else. David Chase and James Gandolfini reunite from the Sopranos- and they do it really well; clearly a love poem from Chase. Gandolfini is superb (though not a huge stretch from Tony Soprano) as the blue collar Jersey dad trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Steve Van Zant oversees the music with great panache. The movie opens with teen aged Mick and Keef meeting on train and talking blues, and ends with the mid teen younger sister (and narrator) dancing in the middle of LA’s Sunset Strip; seemingly a dance into the change that was to come. In between- there is some great sixties garage rock. I really liked this movie a lot and it made me want to reclaim my lost Stratocaster and old fashioned mike. Greet McGuinn-esque Rickenbacker guitar makes a cameo.
Title: Gangster Squad
Genre: Film
Grade: C-
Notable People: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Sean Penn
Review: What should I say about this one. I love dark movies set in post war LA. Chinatown set the bar for this and many have tried to follow. This one is an amalgam of the two great special cop squad movies of our era- The Untouchables and LA Confidential. The film tries to take from both of these and simply comes out as a flat cliché of itself. You don’t even get the real feeling of LA in this time period from the shoot. Lots of automatic weapons and blood. Bad dialog, bad Mickey Cohen channeling (Penn), bad boys club motif. Brolin’s gang of rogue cops could really use Sean Connery and Kevin Spacey. Emma Stone is hot and Nick Nolte has a good little run as the stand up Police Chief. That’s it. I was pretty excited to see this- but I’d say catch it late at night on TV. Boo…. (Nate – does this make you feel better about the reviews?)
Title: The Bartender’s Tale
Genre: Novel
Grade: A-
Notable People: Ivan Doig
Review: Never heard of this author or book before- total hunch from library shelf…and it turned out to be a gift. Great tale of reminiscence from a middle aged guy about his growing up in rural Montana in the 50s and 60s. Indelible characters, wonderful story and a really good writer to boot. This will make you want to go west, young man (or young woman). A great winter’s find.
Title: Life of Pi- 3D
Genre: Film
Grade: B+
Notable People: Ang Lee- Director
Review: I had not read the book- so has less expectations than many. Visually stunning movie; very moving story filled with metaphors and allegory. In many ways a technical masterpiece- though I thought the 3D was not the best I’ve seen. The entire major segment of the movie on the boat was really great; the narrative reminiscences with an older PI dragged for me. A good winter afternoon diversion.
