Tag Archives: Film and Television

The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner

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Synopsis:
Given the shot at producing her very own TV series, a young woman scarred in a childhood accident tries to remain to true to herself while succeeding at the Hollywood game.

Review:
I haven’t actually read any of Jennifer Weiner’s other books but I had a good idea what I was getting into when I started The Next Best Thing. I have a soft spot for frothy chick lit with dishy Hollywood atmosphere, and because some of her books have been made into movies I was expecting some really sharp insider stuff. I was disappointed.

While I appreciated what Weiner was trying to do by making Ruth such an outsider because of her physical appearance, but I really found it hard to believe that someone with such an evident lack of ambition and drive could be successful in TV. Weiner sets Ruth’s journey in Hollywood off with a job interview where the two producers in the company tell her outright that they will help her any way they can, based on a short story she published while still in college. It just felt really implausible to me, and here’s why–I have worked in film and television for almost 15 years now, in various jobs, including as a TV writer. I have been the recipient of the kind of mentorship that Ruth experiences, and like Ruth I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere if someone with power hadn’t taken an interest in me. But the idea that a person would be handed that kind of opportunity in an interview is just much too hard to swallow. The concept of paying dues is deeply ingrained in the culture. No one makes that kind of carte blanche offer to a new employee. It was just a little too convenient.

I also couldn’t buy that Ruth would be named showrunner with no real experience to speak of in the writers’ room. She never even had a staff job. It would be more realistic if the Two Daves were named showrunners and Ruth got the head writer job–that in itself would be an amazing coup for a young woman. But to get to be a showrunner on the basis of a script alone? It has to be a really special, unique situation–I’m thinking of Lena Dunham and her show GIRLS–where there is a strong, original creative vision. And in most cases that comes because the writer is also a performer and a director.

I also couldn’t get past the fact that I just can’t picture Ruth’s show as described as making it very far. It just didn’t feel special to me, mostly because the dialogue all felt like I’d heard it before. In the case of the jokes, none of them were original–they were all jokes that have been around for a hundred years. So Ruth doesn’t prove herself to be a sparkling comedy writer. And the emotional stuff felt canned as well. So I wasn’t rooting for Ruth to be able to preserve her original vision because her vision didn’t feel all that original to me.

I couldn’t help but compare fictional Ruth with real-life Tina Fey the way she depicts herself in her memoir Bossypants. Like Ruth, Fey is not conventionally pretty by Hollywood standards; unlike Ruth, she has comic chops and business acumen. I just wanted Ruth to be more special in the creative department–I needed to respect her as a writer and as a potential player to really be on her side.

Bossypants by Tina Fey

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Synopsis:
Tina Fey’s memoir of her rise from nerdy little Philly girl to comedy superstar and member of the showbiz power elite.

Review:
Naturally, I opted for the audiobook version of Bossypants since Tina Fey was doing the reading herself. Yay! Bonus: it included the full version of the Katie Couric/Sarah Palin interview sketch that she and Amy Poehler did for SNL. Unbonus: it does not include the worldbeatingly awesome rap that Amy Poehler did when Sarah Palin actually visited SNL (what Fey labels a “sneaker-upper”). I know Fey didn’t write it or perform in it but it would have put the audiobook into “best audiobook ever” territory if it had.

Fey manages to convey a winsome, underdog demeanor even when she’s describing her own successes, and I ended the book with a true admiration of her tenacity and intelligence. She’s more than just a wit, she’s got ambition, drive, and the ability to make the most of her opportunities.

I will offer one small criticism–surely Tina Fey, comedy genius extraordinaire, can come up with a better way to take down moms who are smug about breastfeeding than the phrase “Teat Nazi”? People have been hurling that invective ever since a group of moms started La Leche League 50 years ago, so (a) it’s not a new joke. And (b), the word Nazi really needs to be reserved for racially motivated genocide. Last I checked, even the most pompous sanctimommy out of Park Slope doesn’t want to kill any body, even if she thinks you’re a crap parent for not hitting your Mothering Magazine-approved checklist of crunch points. You can find a lot more awesome schtick on Trolls with Wooden Spoons.

Favorite Films A to Z

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Taken from my dear Sheila:

List your favorite films from A to Z, one for each letter of the alphabet.

A for Amadeus
B for Blade Runner
C for Cabaret
D for Dressed to Kill
E for East of Eden
F for Fear Eats the Soul
G for Ginger Snaps
H for The Haunting
I for Imitation of Life
J for Johnny Guitar
K for Krull
L for Leave her to Heaven
M for Mildred Pierce
N for Natural Born Killers
O for Ossessione
P for Pandora’s Box
Q for Queen Christina
R for Raise the Red Lantern
S for Seance on a Wet Afternoon
T for Two Friends
U for The Usual Suspects
V for Valley of the Dolls
W for Whale Rider
X for X-Men
Y for You Can Count on Me
Z for Zoolander

Movie Quote Meme–How Many Can You Guess?

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Found this via It’s All About Books, and since movies are written by writers I think it works for a blog about reading. How many can you guess?

Here are the rules:
1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb (Internet Movie Database) and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess (if you know them all, please don’t guess every one).
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. No Googling or IMDb-ing. That’s cheating, and that’s no fun!

1. I found myself driving past convenience stores… that weren’t on the way home.–Raising Arizona, guessed by Christel!

2. Of course, I may bring a boyfriend home occasionally, but only occasionally, because I do think that one ought to go to the man’s room if one can. I mean, it doesn’t look so much as if one expected it, does it? — Cabaret, guessed by Ellen

3. On the page it looked nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse – bassoons and basset horns – like a rusty squeezebox. Then suddenly – high above it – an oboe, a single note, hanging there unwavering, till a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no composition by a performing monkey! This was a music I’d never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed to me that I was hearing the very voice of God. — Amadeus, guessed by Janet

4. I can’t forget what it’s done to you. I’ve been thinking of nothing else since it happened. It’s gone forever, that funny young, lost look I loved won’t ever come back. I killed that when I told you about ****. It’s gone. In a few hours, you’ve grown so much older. — Rebecca, guessed by Bybee

5. Isn’t it the first cardinal rule of perm maintenance that you are forbidded to wet your hair for at least 24 hours after getting a perm at the risk of deactivating the ammonium thioglycolate? — Legally Blonde, guessed by Janet

6. When I sit, you sit. When I kneel, you kneel. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera! — The King & I, guessed by Sarah!

7. You’ll be out in a year and a half. I’ll get cozy with your parole officer. You touch her again, I’ll have you violated on a kiddie raper beef. You know what they do to kiddie rapers in Quentin, don’t ya? — LA Confidential, guessed by Sheila

8. That’s the way it crumbles… cookie-wise. — The Apartment, guessed by Christel!

9. But I know something about you / You went to Cranbrook – that’s a private school — 8 Mile, guessed by Bybee

10. My pearl necklace. I want you to give it to Susie…for her weddin’. Give her a real bridey wedding… with all the fixins. Our weddin’ day… and the day we die… are the great events… of life. — Imitation of Life, guessed by nobody :(

Non Fiction Meme

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I’m late getting to Gautami’s Non Fiction Meme.

* a) What issues/topic interests you most in non-fiction, i.e, cooking, knitting, stitching, there are infinite topics that have nothing to do with novels? Books about food, books that explain scientific topics for general readers, biography, memoir, history, travelogues.

I love reading books about my hobbies, particularly knitting and cooking. My library is filled with books of film history, criticism, and theory. I like some books on Christianity by authors like CS Lewis and Dan Allender.

Lately I’ve been reading books on natural family living and breastfeeding because I’m interested in becoming a post-partum doula. I also enjoy reading about natural childbirth and the politics of childbirth and breastfeeding.

I went through a true crime phase in my 20s, but I can’t stomach them now. Small Sacrifices was a particular favorite.

I also like a good muckraking read, like Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation.

* b) Would you like to review books concerning those?

I’ve been reviewing some crafting books here, and I’d love to review some cookbooks!

* c) Would you like to be paid or do it as interest or hobby? Tell reasons for what ever you choose.

I have fantasies about reviewing for the New York Times, but right now it’s just a hobby. I’ve done film reviewing professionally, however, and enjoyed it.

* d) Would you recommend those to your friends and how?

I’m the queen of recommending books–it’s a big reason why I blog!

* e) If you have already done something like this, link it to your post.

Browse the tags below-

* f) Please don’t forget to link back here or whoever tags you.

I found it at Shelf Life, A Reader’s Journal, and Framed and Booked.

Early Oscar Predictions

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I know, I know… this is a blog about reading. But I have to indulge myself for the occasional post about film.

The nominees are in. I’ve bolded what I want to win, and italicized what I think will win.

1. Best Picture: “Atonement,” “Juno,” “Michael Clayton,” “No Country for Old Men,” “There Will Be Blood.”

2. Actor: George Clooney, “Michael Clayton”; Daniel Day-Lewis, “There Will Be Blood”; Johnny Depp, “Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street”; Tommy Lee Jones, “In the Valley of Elah”; Viggo Mortensen, “Eastern Promises.”

3. Actress: Cate Blanchett, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”; Julie Christie, “Away From Her”; Marion Cotillard, “La Vie en Rose”; Laura Linney, “The Savages”; Ellen Page, “Juno.”

4. Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”; Javier Bardem, “No Country for Old Men”; Hal Holbrook, “Into the Wild”; Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Charlie Wilson’s War”; Tom Wilkinson, “Michael Clayton.”

5. Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, “I’m Not There”; Ruby Dee, “American Gangster”; Saoirse Ronan, “Atonement”; Amy Ryan, “Gone Baby Gone”; Tilda Swinton, “Michael Clayton.”

6. Director: Julian Schnabel, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”; Jason Reitman, “Juno”; Tony Gilroy, “Michael Clayton”; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “No Country for Old Men”; Paul Thomas Anderson, “There Will Be Blood.”

7. Foreign Film: “Beaufort,” Israel; “The Counterfeiters,” Austria; “Katyn,” Poland; “Mongol,” Kazakhstan; “12,” Russia.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Christopher Hampton, “Atonement”; Sarah Polley, “Away from Her”; Ronald Harwood, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”; Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, “No Country for Old Men”; Paul Thomas Anderson, “There Will Be Blood.”

9. Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, “Juno”; Nancy Oliver, “Lars and the Real Girl”; Tony Gilroy, “Michael Clayton”; Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco, “Ratatouille”; Tamara Jenkins, “The Savages.”

10. Animated Feature Film: “Persepolis”; “Ratatouille“; “Surf’s Up.”

11. Art Direction: “American Gangster,” “Atonement,” “The Golden Compass,” “Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “There Will Be Blood.”

12. Cinematography: “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “Atonement,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” “No Country for Old Men,” “There Will Be Blood.”

13. Sound Mixing: “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “No Country for Old Men,” “Ratatouille,” “3:10 to Yuma,” “Transformers.”

14. Sound Editing: “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “No Country for Old Men,” “Ratatouille,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Transformers.”

15. Original Score: “Atonement,” Dario Marianelli; “The Kite Runner,” Alberto Iglesias; “Michael Clayton,” James Newton Howard; “Ratatouille,” Michael Giacchino; “3:10 to Yuma,” Marco Beltrami.

16. Original Song: “Falling Slowly” from “Once,” Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova; “Happy Working Song” from “Enchanted,” Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz; “Raise It Up” from “August Rush,” Nominees to be determined; “So Close” from “Enchanted,” Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz; “That’s How You Know” from “Enchanted,” Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.

17. Costume: “Across the Universe,” “Atonement,” “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” “La Vie en Rose,” “Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

18. Documentary Feature: “No End in Sight,” “Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience,” “Sicko,” “Taxi to the Dark Side,” “War/Dance.”

19. Documentary (short subject): “Freeheld,” “La Corona (The Crown),” “Salim Baba,” “Sari’s Mother.”

20. Film Editing: “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” “Into the Wild,” “No Country for Old Men,” “There Will Be Blood.”

21. Makeup: “La Vie en Rose,” “Norbit,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”

22. Animated Short Film: “I Met the Walrus,” “Madame Tutli-Putli,” “Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven),” “My Love (Moya Lyubov),” “Peter & the Wolf.”

23. Live Action Short Film: “At Night,” “Il Supplente (The Substitute),” “Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets),” “Tanghi Argentini,” “The Tonto Woman.”

24. Visual Effects: “The Golden Compass,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” “Transformers.”