Back to Life
Thank you so much to everyone for your very kind words and support. It really meant a lot to me during a difficult time. I have been able to bounce back into some kind of normalcy much more quickly and easily this time. I think it's a combination of the fact that Finbar was my first dog as an adult and I was much closer to him and the fact that Fiona had been quite sick for at least the last six months, so I've been preparing for this for a while. There are odd times when I really miss her and it hits me that I don't have any doggie, but most of the time I'm ok.
I have done some knitting in the interim, but I'll start with the movie reviews. I also wanted to thank everyone who sent positive comments about the movie reviews. It's nice to know that people are interested in my thoughts about something else that I'm totally passionate about. Before everything went down with Fiona, I saw this film:
I had planned to tell you all that it's a perfect movie to take your mom to for Mother's Day, because it had a very strong family theme. I'm sure many of you have read the book already, but for those who haven't, it's about an Indian family living in America. The title refers to the son of the family, who is named Gogol, after the Russian author. He and his sister are born in the U.S. and are completely immersed in American culture and norms. But the film starts with his parents, Ashoke and Ashima, who are married in Calcutta by arrangement of their families. Ashoke is a graduate student in the U.S. so they move to New York so he can finish his studies and then begin a career as a professor. In certain respects, the film is familiar in its portrayal of the younger generation clashing with the more traditional older generation. We've seen that story many times before. But this film is a bit different and feels very real and authentic. Kal Penn from "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle" plays Gogol and really captures his journey from adolescence through early adulthood. The real stars of the film, though, are Irrfan Khan and Tabu as Ashoke and Ashima. They are apparently well-known Bollywood actors and their performances in this film are so wonderful. Especially Tabu as the young bride in India, adjusting to the new life as an American wife and beyond. She really is so good. The colors of the film when it's set in Calcutta are magnificent. I also really have to mention the makeup. The parents are shown as very young people at the beginning and it goes through their middle-aged years and they look older, but it doesn't look phony. Some of the best age progression makeup I've ever seen on film. It's the little things like that that really contribute to a film.
After I had to leave Fiona at the hospital, I decided to see this film to cheer myself up:
Good call on my part. It was hilarious! This is from the crew that did "Shaun of the Dead." What they did for zombie movies in that film they do for the buddy cop movie in "Hot Fuzz", only even better in my opinion. Simon Pegg plays the Jack Bauer of the London Police force - he's a one-man crime fighting force. Only he's so good that he's making the rest of the department look bad, so he's sent out to some village in the countryside. There he finds Nick Frost as the slacker policeman son of the chief of police in the village. They team up to become the buddy cop duo fighting crime - in turns out this sleepy little village is chock-full of murderers. The film does an impeccable job of taking the fast editing, over-heated violence and the homoeroticism of the buddy cop movies like Bad Boys, Point Break or Lethal Weapon and turning it up a notch into hilarious parody. They get so many details just exactly right. For a movie-lover like me, it's comedy gold. Simon Pegg is just perfect as the leading man in the film, and you can't help but fall in love with him. And while the violence is meant to satirize the over the top violence of our action films, there are a few places where it may be too over the top for the really squeamish. But if you enjoy the Jerry Bruckheimer/Joel Silver type of films but don't take them too seriously, you're in for a good time in this parody.
I have done some knitting in the interim, but I'll start with the movie reviews. I also wanted to thank everyone who sent positive comments about the movie reviews. It's nice to know that people are interested in my thoughts about something else that I'm totally passionate about. Before everything went down with Fiona, I saw this film:
I had planned to tell you all that it's a perfect movie to take your mom to for Mother's Day, because it had a very strong family theme. I'm sure many of you have read the book already, but for those who haven't, it's about an Indian family living in America. The title refers to the son of the family, who is named Gogol, after the Russian author. He and his sister are born in the U.S. and are completely immersed in American culture and norms. But the film starts with his parents, Ashoke and Ashima, who are married in Calcutta by arrangement of their families. Ashoke is a graduate student in the U.S. so they move to New York so he can finish his studies and then begin a career as a professor. In certain respects, the film is familiar in its portrayal of the younger generation clashing with the more traditional older generation. We've seen that story many times before. But this film is a bit different and feels very real and authentic. Kal Penn from "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle" plays Gogol and really captures his journey from adolescence through early adulthood. The real stars of the film, though, are Irrfan Khan and Tabu as Ashoke and Ashima. They are apparently well-known Bollywood actors and their performances in this film are so wonderful. Especially Tabu as the young bride in India, adjusting to the new life as an American wife and beyond. She really is so good. The colors of the film when it's set in Calcutta are magnificent. I also really have to mention the makeup. The parents are shown as very young people at the beginning and it goes through their middle-aged years and they look older, but it doesn't look phony. Some of the best age progression makeup I've ever seen on film. It's the little things like that that really contribute to a film.
After I had to leave Fiona at the hospital, I decided to see this film to cheer myself up:
Good call on my part. It was hilarious! This is from the crew that did "Shaun of the Dead." What they did for zombie movies in that film they do for the buddy cop movie in "Hot Fuzz", only even better in my opinion. Simon Pegg plays the Jack Bauer of the London Police force - he's a one-man crime fighting force. Only he's so good that he's making the rest of the department look bad, so he's sent out to some village in the countryside. There he finds Nick Frost as the slacker policeman son of the chief of police in the village. They team up to become the buddy cop duo fighting crime - in turns out this sleepy little village is chock-full of murderers. The film does an impeccable job of taking the fast editing, over-heated violence and the homoeroticism of the buddy cop movies like Bad Boys, Point Break or Lethal Weapon and turning it up a notch into hilarious parody. They get so many details just exactly right. For a movie-lover like me, it's comedy gold. Simon Pegg is just perfect as the leading man in the film, and you can't help but fall in love with him. And while the violence is meant to satirize the over the top violence of our action films, there are a few places where it may be too over the top for the really squeamish. But if you enjoy the Jerry Bruckheimer/Joel Silver type of films but don't take them too seriously, you're in for a good time in this parody.
rdladd@arnan.com
