the list of now

Hamlet 2 has all the ingredients for a decent parody.  It has a good root idea: a mocking mash-up of the “heartwarming inspirational teacher” movies and the popular teen plot device centered around a school play or talent show.  It has a reasonably talented cast, helmed by notable actors Steve Coogan and Catherine Keener.  It has plenty of material to build on and even a simple synopsis sounds like it would be entertaining enough – a wannabe actor struggles to teach drama to a group of uninterested teenagers, writes an ill-conceived musical sequel to a Shakespearean tragedy and hilarity ensues when the offensive material is censored.  Yet as a feature film, it’s hilarity falls flat.  It delivers some laughs, but in the end, they are only highlights of an otherwise unsatisfying and inconsistent comedy.

What is most disappointing is that you can see all of the ingredients sitting there, teasing the potential for a stronger film, and lacking only a better screenplay. Too much of the characterization relies on stereotypes and too many jokes are over-the-top in an extraordinarily dull way.  Elements that have any potential to pay-off as satire then go unchecked with no further development or purpose.  Several attempts of carrying a running joke misfire into disjointed, haphazard stupidity.  The resulting humor is too unintelligent to be provocative and too ineffectual to be really offensive.  The result is just a directionless lack of taste.

The funniest moments are quirky touches, like the introduction of the protagonist’s nemesis and harshest critic who turns out to be a cynical underclassman that speaks and writes like a character straight out of Wes Anderson’s Rushmore. Actress Elizabeth Shue also portrays a tongue-in-cheek version of herself, a bitter former star who has abandoned “the business” that turned on her.  More clever turns like these two examples could have helped it turn into a sharper, yet still outlandish and truly fun film.  Instead, it’s just ok.

It’s amusing enough to sit through once if you are in a brainless-comedy mood, as long as you don’t mind the screaming subtext of “I’m a PARODY, look how outrageous I am!” Otherwise, skip it and watch the red-band trailer to get most of the best parts, including a great Elizabeth Shue exchange that didn’t make the final cut of the film.

Introduction

I do not believe it is uncommon for the last book in a series to get mixed reviews from it’s fanbase.  In the week following the release of final Harry Potter book, there were a lot of people grieving. It was the end of an era in some ways, for many fans who would genuinely miss their favorite characters and that universe.  Others yet, were grieving for the stories they hoped for that didn’t happen or for a future of their own dreams and curiosities that was closed by what many felt was an unnecessary epilogue.  Regardless of how we all felt about that at the time, in restrospect, it appears that the fanbase is more satisfied than not with how Harry ended.

I’m thinking about this, because reading Breaking Dawn and processing it afterwards AND now, trying to write about it over a week later has evoked more conflicted than contented reactions from me.  I guess I’m trying to put my finger on exactly why and there isn’t any one unifying factor, other than my feeling that Stephenie Meyer just isn’t a very good writer.  I’ve known this all along, but I have not felt so utterly disappointed by it until reading Breaking Dawn.

NOTE: Some spoilers of the first three books ahead.  There will be greater notice of spoilers for Breaking Dawn later on.

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Joe gave me the newest album by indie-pop duo Mates of State for my birthday, back in June.   The album, Re-arrange Us has been out since May, so this is less of a review and more of a love letter.  Because now, in the days counting down to the close of summer, I have a crush on this album and don’t really want to stop listening to it.  Even though I tend to lean towards more moody, even melancholic, indie-folk-rock kinds of tunes, while driving around on starry summer nights, I can’t seem to find a reason to take the damn cd out of my car player.

It’s just so damn fun.  I can’t think of the last album that reminded me that pop can be poetic.  It is well-crafted and smart, both lyrically and musically.  Maybe it’s just the timing and how much I am enjoying this summer – my first in a long time, living so close to the ocean and enjoying the simplicity of being outdoors again – but the music is providing a perfect soundtrack.  It makes a certain kind of sense in it’s lightness and I find that listening to it actively encourages me not to take myself so seriously.  From the moment that the first deliciously catchy track, Get Better, starts: “Forget your politics for a while/Let the color schemes arrive”… it’s ok for me to be taking the back roads home just because it’s a prettier drive, it’s ok for me to go to the beach for an hour to read or write in my journal, before work and it’s ok for me to drink entirely too much iced coffee and then be hyper and wanting to do cartwheels in the sunshine.  It’s all ok.  And that is how it should be in the summertime.

In the midst of writing the explosively popular Twilight series, Stephenie Meyer departed into Sci-Fi territory with another emotionally compelling, character-driven novel, The Host. It proves to be a highly enjoyable read, but lacks enough depth or moxie to reach its full, deliciously-complicated potential.

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For many of us who remember it from childhood, the dreamy bedtime ritual of Goodnight Moon invokes memories of childhood worlds that included our most precious belongings, our personal spaces, silly dreams, nearby family and sense of security when turning out the light.

Goodnight Bush painstakingly recreates the environment of the “great green room” to play with the surreal sensations of vulnerability and insecurity, dreams and nightmares, whimsy and immaturity that have come to be inextricably associated with the last eight years in Bush’s America.  Going beyond the simple imitation of the style, this parody cleverly appropriates the look and feel of the book and adds nuanced symbolism to the positioning of the objects and characters in the illustrations.   Read it a few times and you inevitably catch smaller and more specific details in the tiny toy set-ups, puppets, figures and images that transform into biting visual critiques of the Bush Administration’s most shameful blunders and the legacy of waste, war and greed that he is bestowing upon the country.

Goodnight Bush is a perfectly executed anti-tribute.  It delights very simply with it’s brilliant hilarity, charm and snark, as the absurdity and intensity of it’s mocking grows towards the end.  Of course, the afterbite hits with the nasty pang of realization that we are laughing only because it is so true.  And we will have to find clever ways to keep laughing until this absurd nightmare is over.  A fitting farewell for such a horrible failure, indeed.

More information about the book and authors here on the official website.