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Links (when provided) lead to full reviews...
Liens vers les critiques.
April 2008 (updated 04/03):
- I have reread Pride and Prejudice,
by Jane Austen (review coming soon)
- I have watched Poseidon, a remake
of 1972's Poseidon Adventure. Since I have not seen the
original, I cannot compare both versions. Poseidon is a
good disaster movie which delivers, in the sense that there is
no time to think about plot or character weaknesses. The story:
A luxury cruise ship called Poseidon is turned upside down by a
huge tsunami-like wave. While the captain orders the survivors
in the big theater to stay put and wait for help, a small group
of people lead by Dylan Johns (Josh Lucas) decide they stand a
better chance of surviving by trying to reach the bottom of the
boat (which is now at the top) and find a way out. Good
suspense, but the characterization is very superficial (I am
thinking about the Richard Dreyfus character for instance, which
is not sufficiently exploited. A misuse of a great actor, in my
opinion...). Russell's role as the protective father reminded me
a bit of the Bruce Willis character in Armageddon. My
advice: Do not watch if your next vacation is on a cruise ship!
Rating: 3,5/5
March 2008:
Best book I have read this month:
The Box Garden, by
Carol Shields
- I have read Moral Disorder, short
stories by Margaret Atwood. I am not a big reader of short
stories, because they often leave me with a sense of
frustration, and honestly, I think it is sometimes presumptuous
of an author to ask a reader to familiarize himself with a world
and characters they will have to abandon so soon... In Moral
Disorder, no such problem, since the stories are connected:
they all concern the character of Nell, a woman at different
times of her life. It starts with Nell as an elderly woman, but
the other stories are chronological, following Nell from a young
girl to an adult. The first stories are first-person narration,
the other third-person. They deal with different subjects
concerning a woman's life, from the burden of old age to sibling
relationships, loneliness, or family ties. If I always enjoy
Atwood's superb writing and her peculiar sense of humor, I can't
help being disappointed when I compare this novel with some of
her best works (The
Blind Assassin,
Oryx and Crake).
The last two stories come back to the theme of old age: in one
of them Nell's father is dealing with the aftermath of a stroke,
and in the other her mother is dying of Alzheimer's. I enjoyed
the two stories concerning the farm experience (town people
trying to become farmers...), or Nell's having to deal with the
whims with her husband's ex-wife. Still, here Atwood reminded me
more of Alice Munro than of herself. I think it is because as in
Cat's Eye, Atwood
has chosen to draw from her life experience, which is not as
fascinating as what her imagination can summon. She's a
wonderful storyteller and here her storytelling is not at its
best, in my opinion.
  
- I have read In a Dry Season, by
Peter Robinson. Ever since my first experience with a book by
Robinson (Aftermath),
I have been reading the series from the start and looking for
the novel where the series really grows up: and this is the one!
The introduction of DS Annie Cabbot, adding a new dynamics to
the series, is probably part of the improvement. Robinson also
makes his stories more complex, introducing multiple point of
views and a first-person narration. In In a Dry Season, a
boy discovers a body in a dried-up reservoir, where the water
used to cover the remains of Hobbs'End, a small village.
Inspector Banks is in a tricky situation, both professionally
and personally. Still missing his wife Sandra, who left him, he
is also in disgrace after provoking his superior, Jimmy Riddle.
Riddle asks him to inquire about these old bones, thinking that
he is sending him on a wild goose chase. But the body might not
be so old after all, and Banks and Cabbot, whose attraction for
each other is immediate, might finally be of some use...
Alternating with the chapters concerning the investigation, the
facts leading to the murder are narrated by a person connected
to them. Good war-time suspense story and interesting evolution
of the Banks character...
- J'ai lu Seras-tu
là? de Guillaume Musso. Elliott est un médecin de soixante
ans, père d'une jeune fille de 18 ans, et atteint d'une maladie
incurable. Après une opération sur un jeune garçon au Cambodge
dans le cadre d'une mission humanitaire, un vieil homme lui
demande quel est son vœu le plus cher. Elliott n'hésite pas: il
aimerait revoir Ilena, l'amour de sa vie, qu'il a perdu trente
ans auparavant. Seras-tu là? est une histoire fort
divertissante sur les voyages dans le temps et leurs
conséquences. Musso n'a rien d'un grand d'écrivain, mais à la
manière d'un Marc Lévy, il semble détenir la formule magique qui
fait d'un roman un best-seller. On peut certes critiquer le
style (médiocre), et le manque d'originalité d'un sujet vu et
revu (le voyage dans le temps) mais il faut bien avouer que ce
roman tient en haleine jusqu'au bout. Beaucoup mieux que
Sauve-moi, mais je dois préciser que le sujet du voyage dans
le temps est l'un de mes favoris (Musso y ajoute un aspect
intéressant: le conflit d'intérêt entre un personnage et...
lui-même, version plus jeune).
- I have read
The Drowning Tree,
by Carol Goodman.
- I have read Dead Right, an
Inspector Banks mystery by Peter Robinson. After reading
Aftermath, I wanted
to read all Inspector Banks mysteries, and wanted to see when
the series was going to really take off. Well, unless the next
one is it, it must be with Aftermath that the series
really takes off! All the other novels, Dead Right
included, are good but nowhere near as good as Aftermath,
or The Summer That Never Was that follows. In
Dead Right, a young man involved in a racist organization,
the Albion League, is killed after an evening at the pub. An
altercation with young Pakistanis makes them prime suspects,
until Banks discovers a more complex scheme behind an apparently
simple racial murder. Banks also has to go through a personal
crisis, when his wife, Sandra, tells him she needs a break and
leaves home...
- I have read
The Box Garden, by
Carol Shields.
- I have watched Catch and Release,
an uninteresting and unremarkable comedy/drama, about a woman
who tries to get on with her life and learn many things she
didn't know after the death of her fiancé. I found Gray
(Jennifer Garner's character) particularly irritating...
Rating: 2/5
- I have watched Freedom Writers,
about an idealistic and committed teacher, determined to be
useful to at-risk high-school students at the cost of her free
time and marriage. Inspired by a true story, convincing
performance by Hillary Swank, but not a new subject (very
similar to Dangerous Minds) Rating:
3,5/5
February 2008
Best book(s) I have read this month:
Duma Key,
by Stephen King
Best movie/TV series I have watched this
month: Toki
wo kakeru shôjo (aka The Girl Who Leapt Through Time,
aka La Traversée du temps)
- I am reading Pretties, number 2 in
the Uglies trilogy (which has 4 books, by the way), and
as much as I liked Uglies, this one fails to hook me so
far. The Pretties language is really annoying, and even if this
is the intended effect, I find it really offputting. Don't know
as yet if I will persevere with the series...(Given up for the
moment, maybe I will feel like picking it up later)
- I am reading Under the Banner of Heaven:
A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer. (also given up
momentarily. Well-documented book, but I feel that I know as
much as I want to know about Mormons and Mormon
fundamentalism...)
- I have read Things we Knew Were
True, by Nicci Gerrard. A while ago I had been favorably
surprised by The Moment You Were Gone, and this one
confirms that Gerrard is really a terrific writer, when writing
alone. The Nicci French novels (cowritten with her husband) are
thrillers of unequal qualities, both for the content and style,
some well written and entertaining other not so. But her own
novels are a completely different style, they deal with the
angst of the middle-aged woman, who looks back on her life and
memories. Of course not everybody feels concerned by such
novels, dealing with the ordinary, the everyday life, but I do,
and every little detail rings true... In this one, Edie, the
main character is 16 when she falls in love with Ricky, a
troubled teenager not approved by Edie's parents. But when
tragedy strikes in the family, Edie moves and leaves Ricky, but
never manages to completely forget her first love. Years later,
as she is herself a mother, her own mother dies and Edie is
thrown head first in the past, to reexamine the things she knew
were true. The novel deals with family secrets and first loves...
- J'ai lu Décalogue, une série
graphique de 10 tomes écrits et illustrés par différents auteurs
et dessinateurs, autour du sujet de Nahik, un mystérieux
manuscrit qui parle d'un décalogue inscrit sur une omoplate de
mouton.... L'intérêt principal de cette BD réside dans la
narration inversée, puisque l'on suit la trace de Nahik et des
personnes dont la vie a été changée par leur rencontre avec le
manuscrit, en remontant dans le temps jusqu'à la rédaction du
mystérieux décalogue. Le voyage nous mène de l'Ecosse actuelle à
l'Egypte du 7e siècle, en passant par la France, la Grèce ou
encore la Bosnie. Les épisodes de cette saga sont de qualités
inégales, mais l'ensemble forme une fiction prenante et digne
d'intérêt.
- I have read Uglies, by Scott
Westerfeld. This teens novel is about a civilization (taking
place in the future) where beauty is the main value. People are
"Uglies", until they undergo, at the age of 16, an operation
which gives them perfect features and body. They spend some
years just having fun and enjoying their new beauty, until they
become "Middles", get a job and have (ugly) children. Tally, who
turns 16 soon, can't wait to be pretty until she meets Shay,
also nearly 16, who wants to stay ugly (meaning normal), escape
to the Smoke (a mysterious place for people who don't want to
abide by the rules), and take Tally with her. When Shay escapes
(alone), Tally will be put in front of a terrible dilemma:
betray Shay and the Smoke and become a pretty or stay ugly
forever. Of course, Uglies is primarily intended for
young girls struggling with the angst of adolescence and the
diktats of fashion but it is also very entertaining sci-fi for
all, and a good reflection on the dark side of our society which
values appearance so much...
- J'ai lu
Le Parfum
d'Adam, de Jean-Christophe Rufin.
- I have read
Duma Key, by Stephen
King.
- I have read
Unless, by Carol Shields.
- I have watched Fracture, a very
unremarkable and ultimately disappointing thriller about Ted
Crawford (Anthony Hopkins), a man who kills his cheating
wife and finds in the justice system a way to evade prosecution.
But the young attorney who tries to prosecute him (Ryan
Gosling), is intent of finding the weak spot in Crawford's
machination. Average movie relying on the battle of wits between
the two main actors, but the weak spot is pretty easy to guess,
making the ending very predictable.
Rating: 2,5/5
- J'ai vu Fauteuils
d'Orchestre, une comédie de mœurs divertissante avec Cécile
de France, Valérie Lemercier, Claude Brasseur, et Albert
Dupontel (entre autres). Jessica (de France) a été élevée par
une grand-mère fascinée par le monde du spectacle. Elle essaie à
son tour de se rapprocher de ce monde si différent du sien, en
se faisant engager comme serveuse dans une brasserie où viennent
les stars. En côtoyant, de près ou de loin, ce milieu
particulier, elle apprendra comment de tenir près de
l'orchestre, mais pas trop quand même. Un film qui montre des
tranches de vies de ce milieu particulier qu'est celui du
spectacle et des gens riches, avec un pianiste qui n'a plus
envie de se produire (Dupontel), un riche collectionneur malade
qui veut vendre sa collection (Brasseur) et une actrice névrosée
qui n'assume pas de devoir son succès à une sitcom (Valérie
Lemercier, excellente, drôlissime, sur qui l'intérêt du film
repose en grande partie bien qu'elle n'ait pas le rôle
principal). Cécile de France assure le lien entre ces tranches
de vie avec son naturel et sa fraîcheur habituelles.
Fauteuils d'orchestre est ce que j'appellerais une comédie
humaine à la française.
Note: 4/5
- J'ai vu La
Traversée du Temps (Toki
wo kakeru shôjo) un film d'animation japonais dans lequel
une jeune écolière de 14 ans, Makoto, aux prises avec les
problèmes normaux de l'adolescence, découvre qu'elle a acquis le
pouvoir de remonter le temps autant de fois qu'elle veut. Elle
commence alors à revivre les événements qui ne lui ont pas plu
jusqu'au moment où elle réalise que ses actions ont un impact,
pas forcément positif, sur les personnes de son entourage. De
plus, son nouveau pouvoir est-il vraiment illimité? J'ai choisi
de voir ce dessin animé parce que je suis passionnée par
le sujet du voyage dans le temps. Le sujet est traité sous une
nouvelle perspective, celle de la responsabilité engagée dans le
pouvoir de maîtriser le temps, et des limites de ce pouvoir. Une
vraie réussite du film d'animation japonais!
Note: 4,5/5
- I have watched Wild Hogs. A
henpecked husband (Martin Lawrence), a family man who gets bored
in his dentistry practice (Tim Allen), a shy computer geek
(William H. Macy) and a man who lost his job and whose wife just
left him (John Travolta), all long-time friends and wannabe
bikers, express their mid-life crisis by deciding to be "on the
road" for a while. Things turn sour when they clash with a band
of real bikers, led by Jack (Ray Liotta). Hilarious movie, with
laughing-out-loud scenes, that is, if you're not looking for
intellectual entertainment...
Note: 3,5/5
- J'ai vu Swimming
Pool, de François Ozon. Une écrivain anglaise un peu
refoulée (Charlotte Rampling) s'installe pour l'été dans la
résidence secondaire de son éditeur, dans le Sud de la France.
La fille de celui-ci (Ludivine Sagnier), une jeune femme aux
mœurs très libérées, arrive quelques jours plus tard, et met
sens dessus-dessous l'environnement bien contrôlé de l'écrivain.
Un très bon film, très justement interprété par les deux
actrices principales, et dont le retournement de situation final
est excellent.
Note: 4/5
- I have watched Notes on a Scandal,
a psychological story which relies entirely on the acting of the
two main actresses, Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett. Barbara
Covett (Dench), a history teacher in a British school, a lonely
woman on the verge or retirement living with her cat, becomes
obsessed with Sheba Hart, the lively and free-spirited new art
teacher. She befriends Sheba, and when she witnesses a scene
involving her and one of her male students, Covett decides to
tell nothing in order to keep Sheba under her thumb.
Interesting, suspenseful story of manipulation and madness,
impressive acting. Dench is scarily convincing...
Rating: 4/5
- J'ai vu Ratatouille,
un dessin animé sympathique pour toute la famille. Rémy est un
jeune rat doté d'un sens du goût exceptionnel, qui lui vaut le
rôle de détecteur de poison au sein de sa meute. Mais il a un
rêve, celui de devenir chef, car tout le monde peut cuisiner,
c'est Auguste Gusteau, feu le plus grand cuisinier de Paris, qui
l'a dit. Aussi, lorsque, séparé des siens, Rémy se retrouve dans
les égouts de Paris, le fantôme de Gusteau le mène devant le
restaurant de ses rêves. en faisant équipe avec Linguini, un
jeune commis maladroit, il risque bien d'arriver à réaliser ses
rêves. Mais un rat a-t-il sa place dans une cuisine? Un bon
moment de détente signé Disney Pixar, un film d'animation bien
rythmé, amusant, et adapté à tous les âges, exempt de violence
et de vulgarité... Note: 4/5
January 2008
Best book(s) I have read this month:
The Chatham School
Affair, by Thomas H. Cook/ Quartier Lointain,
par Jirô Taniguchi
Best movie/TV series I have watched this
month: Live Free or Die Hard/ Twin Peaks
- I have read
Great Expectations, by
Charles Dickens.
- I have read Calling Out For You
(aka The Indian Bride), by Karin Fossum. In a small
Norwegian town, the body of an Indian woman is found, badly
battered. The woman is Poona Bai, recently married to Gunder
Jomann, a local seller of farm equipment. Poona was coming for
the first time in Norway to live with her husband, who, after
his sister was injured badly in a car accident, didn't manage to
be there to meet her at the airport. What happened between the
airport and Gunder's house? who could wish harm to a lonely and
probably frightened foreigner? Calling Out for You
is a fine novel, the story of Gunder's search for a bride in
India is poignant, and the novel is more about the suspicions
and unease raised by a murder than about the actual finding of a
resolution and an explanation. I liked the writing (the
translator does an excellent job too), the psychological depth
of the characters, the claustrophobic atmosphere of this
seemingly peaceful and uneventful Norwegian small town, but I
was a bit taken aback by the ambiguous ending. Inspector Sejer,
Fossum's recurrent character, is a flawed man, a realistic
character, who has no spectacular intuitions but a strong
compassion.
- I have read
The Chatham School
Affair, by Thomas H. Cook
- J'ai lu une excellente
BD: l'intégrale de Quartier Lointain, de Jirô Taniguchi.
Je ne lis pas souvent de BDs (pour la raison que souvent les
auteurs démarrent des séries dont on ne voit jamais la fin),
mais quand je peux mettre la main sur une intégrale, surtout de
la qualité de Quartier Lointain, je n'hésite pas.
Quartier Lointain est l'histoire d' Hiroshi, une homme de
Tokyo de 48 ans, blasé et un peu trop porté sur l'alcool, qui se
retrouve, sans trop savoir pourquoi, dans un train pour sa ville
natale au lieu de rentrer chez lui, où sa famille l'attend.
Visitant le temple où sa mère est enterrée, Hiroshi ressent une
série d'impressions bizarres et réalise qu'il se retrouve plus
de 30 ans plus tôt, dans le corps de ses 14 ans. Alors qu'il a
gardé la mémoire des années à venir, Hiroshi retrouve sa
mère, morte peu après son mariage, et son père, qui est parti
sans laissé de traces justement l'année des 14 ans d'Hiroshi.
Alors qu'Hiroshi revit sa jeunesse avec le recul de la
maturité, en faisant une expérience beaucoup plus réussie que la
première fois, il se demande comment changer l'avenir, et
empêcher son père de partir. Quartier Lointain raconte
une histoire passionnante et touchante. Les dessins sont
superbes et la proportion texte/image est parfaitement
équilibrée (pas comme dans la série des Blake et Mortimer,
par exemple, que je n'ai jamais eu beaucoup de plaisir à lire,
parce que le texte par image est trop dense). Le thème de la BD
est la deuxième chance, les choix que l'on fait et les regrets.
Taniguchi évite le côté moralisateur qu'un auteur américain
n'aurait pu s'empêcher de rajouter au récit. Il en reste un
récit sobre et émouvant, une très belle réussite littéraire.
- I have read
Engleby, by Sebastian
Faulks
- I have read Hurting Distance, by
Sophie Hannah, a very unusual thriller about a young woman,
Naomi Jenkins, whose lover has disappeared. Since the police (DS
Charlie Zailer and DC Simon Waterhouse, from
Little Face), fail to take her
seriously, she pretends that her lover has assaulted her
sexually. But the lie is based on an awful experience that Naomi
didn't report some years ago. From then on, strange discoveries
are made, coincidences seem to happen, until the whole,
unexpected truth is reveled. A bit contrived and very twisted,
but all in all a gripping story...
- J'ai regardé Quand
J'étais Chanteur, avec Gérard Depardieu et Cécile de France.
Marion, une jeune femme un peu pommée a une histoire d'une nuit
avec Alain Moreau, a homme désabusé et un peu cynique, beaucoup
plus âgé qu'elle, qui gagne sa vie en chantant dans les maisons
de retraites et les boîtes de nuits pour sexagénaires. Ce
rapprochement entre deux personnes qui n'ont à priori aucun
point commun, donne un film sympathique, fort bien interprété,
au ton juste, qui aurait peut-être pu être raccourci d'une
demi-heure. Depardieu chante lui-même les chansons du film et ne
s'en sort pas si mal...
Note: 3,5/5
- I have watched Running With Scissors,
a strange movie about a teenager, Augustine Bourroughs, who is
raised by a depressive mother with poetic ambitions (Annette
Bening) and a busy father (Alec Baldwin), until she leaves him
to be raised by her own psychiatrist, a con man with a daughter
who takes her decisions by asking the bible (Paltrow, who has
little on-screen time) and another one (Evan Rachel Wood) who
becomes Augustine's friend. Augustine, who is gay, has his first
relationship with a 35-year-old schizophrenic patient of Finch.
I spent the whole movie wondering who was this cute actor behind
the huge moustache without recognizing Joseph Fiennes.
Otherwise, I was mildly bored by this strange, unrealistic
movie, and the best part was when I realized it was in fact
based on memoirs, and that a man was able to survive such a
dysfunctional environment and turn out (apparently) pretty sane.
Rating: 3/5
- I have watched 88 minutes, a
thriller featuring Al Pacino as Jack Gramm, a psychiatrist
specialized in serial killers. As murderer Jon Forster (Neal
McDonough from Boomtown) is about to be executed for a
series of particularly gruesome murders of young women, another
victim, one of Gramm's students, whose murder corresponds to the
same M.O., is found. Gramm is still convinced that Forster is
guilty of the previous murders. Soon after, while he gives a
course at university, a phone call informs Gramm that he has 88
minutes left to live, and in this amount of time, he has to find
who wants him dead. Gramm starts suspecting everyone,
particularly his students. The pace of the movie is good, Pacino
is more or less convincing (although he seems out of breath for
most of the movie), but the explanation is a bit unbelievable
and over the top, and Leelee Sobieski is visibly uncomfortable
in her part. An average movie.... Rating:
3/5
- I have watched Sunshine, a good
sci-fi movie about a group of astronauts on a mission to
reignite the dying sun with an atomic bomb. I liked the
claustrophobic atmosphere, this is not a movie with monstrous
aliens: the suspense derives only from the strain put on the
team by the worsening conditions. The movie relies entirely on
the acting, and the cast (Cillian Murphy, Cliff Curtis, Chris
Evans, Michelle Yeoh), without any really famous actors, conveys
the rising anxiety very convincingly. The last part could have
been handled better, in my opinion (less action? more
explanations?) although I don't know: I think the Dr. Searle
character might be explanation enough for what happened to
Pinbacker...) All in all, Sunshine is a good, satisfying
movie. Rating: 4/5
- I have been watching Live Free or Die
Hard, the 4th installment in the Die Hard series. In
this one, America is under cyberterrorist attack, and it rests
upon the shoulder of computer-illiterate John McClane to save
the world... I was afraid that, like Riggs from Lethal Weapon,
Willis was getting "too old for this shit", but no, he's
definitely still got it. I would go as far as saying that he
almost makes a Jack Bauer's day look like a day at the spa.
Live Free of Die Hard is fun and a real roller-coaster ride.
At first I was worried by the absence of another big name on the
screen (after having 2 huge stars in Die Hard with a
Vengeance: Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Irons), but
apparently, Willis is enough of an actor to take the screen by
himself, and his sidekick in the movie, young hacker Matt
Farrell (Justin Long) is doing a good job too. The bad guy
(Timothy Olyphant) does not have the charisma of a Jeremy Irons,
but he is helped by the presence of a Jet Li-female counterpart
(Maggie Q). With good dialogues and action-packed scenes,
Live Free or Die Hard is a very good moment of adrenaline
and humor! Rating: 4,5/5
- After having watched the excellent series
Twin Peaks, I have been very disappointed by the movie
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. My favorite characters are
either absent (The Hornes, father and daughter) or reduced to a
small part (Coop), and so are my favorite locations (The Double
R Diner, the Great Northern Hotel). The remaining locations and
characters are not even the same (Harold Smith's house for
instance, and of course, Moira Kelly doing a terribly bad job
replacing Lara Flynn Boyle as Donna) The humor is completely
gone, and this is maybe what I missed the most. There were good
parts in the movie (it wasn't all bad): I liked the Theresa
Banks investigation, led by FBI agents played by Chris Isaak and
Kiefer Sutherland, and how the hostile people from the town it
takes place in contrast with friendly inhabitants from Twin
Peaks. I also liked all the Black Lodge scenes, mostly the new
role given to Mrs. Chalfont and her grand-son, as gatekeepers to
the Lodge. I would like to have had even more insight into the
Black Lodge, but I suppose that with Kyle MacLachlan wanting to
limit his screen appearance, it was a hard thing to realize. A
dark movie, precursor in its lynchean symbolism to Mulholland
Drive and Lost Highway, but disappointing as a
follow-up to the series... Rating: 3/5
- I have been watching one of the best TV
series of all times, one which gave a whole new twist to the
concept of TV series and which opened the way to many others,
from the X-files to Desperate Housewives: I am
talking about Twin Peaks. I had good memories of this
series, which I discovered when I was 17, but I remembered that
I didn't get all of it, and that the movie, Fire Walk With Me,
made in 1992, answered a lot of questions for me. Watching it
now, I realized that in fact I had seen few episodes, most of
season 1, probably, but indeed very few from season 2. And of
course I hadn't seen any David Lynch movies then, while I am
quite a big fan now... Boy am I happy to have taken this trip
down Memory Lane! What an exceptional series, and how daring
and surprising for 1989! I don't remember exactly what I thought
back in 89: I remember being mesmerized by the whole Laura
Palmer mystery, but thinking that it took a very weird turn
afterwards, but as I said, I can tell now that I hadn't been
watching regularly. It is true that the series loses momentum
for 3 or 4 episodes after the disclosure of Laura Palmer's
killer. Some storylines are completely useless and
uninteresting, and fortunately, they are quickly dropped (I am
thinking about James leaving Twin Peaks and meeting the woman
with the abusive husband, or the whole Josie Packard's "mystery"
which becomes a bit too complicated and tedious to follow after
a while). But towards the end of season 2, silly storylines are
dropped and the series finds a new focus with the story of
Windom Earle, the Black Lodge, and the Miss Twin Peaks Contest.
The finale is simply amazing and the ending really shocking...
The characters in Twin Peaks, all of them nuts to a
degree, are a big part of what makes this series so addictive
(for me, the opening credit with the music and images of
waterfall and trees in the mist contributed to this effect too).
The Dale Cooper character (wonderfully played by Kyle MacLachlan),
a man of simple tastes and almost childish enthusiasm, who
believes in unorthodox approaches to investigation methods, is
of course an early model for Fox Mulder (I remember that when I
heard, before The X-Files first aired, that an actor from
TP was going to play the main part, I thought it would be
MacLachlan, and I was disappointed it wasn't. But of course
David Duchovny was a great choice for Mulder, I just didn't know
it, then). To sum up, if you haven't seen Twin Peaks, do
yourself a favor and do so now! Rating:
5/5
The Best
Of 2007:
The best books I read and the best movies/ TV
series I watched during year 2007...
Books in English (Top 10)
1- David Lodge, Author,
Author
2- Margaret Atwood,
Oryx and Crake
3- Margaret Atwood, The
Robber Bride
4- J. K. Rowling,
Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows
5- Haruki Murakami,
Kafka on the Shore
6- Kate Morton, The
House at Riverton
7- Carol Shields, Jane
Austen / Jane Austen,
Persuasion
8- Paul Auster,
Travels in the
Scriptorium
with two thrillers making it to the top 10:
9- Mo Hayder, Pig Island
10- Joanne Harris,
Gentlemen and Players
also with special mentions to Magda Szabò's
The Door, and Carol Shields's
Mary Swann, which didn't
quite make it to the top 10.
Books in French (Top 10)
1- Emile Zola,
Le Ventre de Paris
2- Henri Troyat,
Les Semailles et les
moissons
3- David Servan Schreiber,
Anticancer
4- Amélie Nothomb,
Ni d'Ève ni d'Adam
5- Nancy Huston,
Instrument des
ténèbres
6- Blandine Le Callet,
Une Pièce montée
7- Nancy Huston,
Lignes de faille
8- José Carlos Somoza,
La Caverne des Idées
9- Françoise Sagan,
Les faux-fuyants
10- Muriel Barbery,
L'Elégance du hérisson
Movies (Top 5)
1- The Prestige
2- Cold Mountain
3- Music and Lyrics
4- Match Point
5- The Shadow Dancer
TV series (Top 5)
1- House, M.D. 1&2
2- The Office, 1&2
3- Life on Mars, 1&2
4- Heroes, 1
5- Grey's Anatomy, 2
Have a merry Christmas season, a happy new year and don't forget
to make time to read! My own new year resolution: read at least one
classic or (even better "and") non-fiction book every month (you can
check easily on this web site if I stick to it or not!)
December 2007
Best book(s) I have read this month:
Persuasion by Jane
Austen, Jane Austen
by Carol Shields
Best movie/TV series I have watched this
month: Miss Potter
- I have read Innocent Graves, an
Inspector Banks mystery, by Peter Robinson. A sixteen-year-old
girl is discovered in a graveyard. Despite the murder scene
which points to a sex crime, Banks is convinced that the girl
has been killed for something she knew or discovered. But soon,
a teacher, Owen Pierce, is arrested, confirming the hypothesis
of a sex crime. There is strong evidence for his culpability,
and even events in his past bear strong coincidences with the
present case. But is he really guilty? Innocent Graves is
original in the sense that some chapters are from the point of
view of Pierce. A good Peter Robinson, but not one if his
bests...
- I have read The Moment You Were Gone,
by Nicci Gerrard. I had read many books by the couple Nicci
Gerrard/ Sean French before, but Gerrard's novels are of a
completely different kind. While the Nicci French novels are
thrillers, The Moment you Were Gone is the story of Gaby,
a woman at a turning point in her life: her only son has left
home for university, and, while she is happily married and has a
close relationship with her son, she lives with one regret:
about twenty years before, she lost her best friend, Nancy, who
used to date Gaby's brother brother and left one day without an
explanation. She feels angry and wronged, and at the same time
unable to forget Nancy. Some weeks before, Gaby saw her on TV,
by chance, on a news report about a flood, and now, distraught
by her son's departure, she decides, on an impulse, to go and
find Nancy. But sometimes, the past had better been left buried,
and the truth Gaby discovers wreaks havoc in her own life... I
was very surprised to find how well written this novel was
(certainly better than the Nicci French novels, although their
writing has improved a lot in the more recent novels, like
Catch Me When I Fall). Nicci Gerrard writing about an
ordinary woman living an ordinary life reminded me of such
writers as Anne Tyler, Alice Munro or Carol Shields. Gerrard is
very gifted for describing the little things of everyday's life,
she conveys the feelings of a woman suffering empty nest
syndrome very convincingly and Gaby, her heroine, is an engaging
and lively character. I will be looking for other novels by
Nicci Gerrard...
- J'ai lu Gone Baby
Gone, de Denis Lehane. J'avais déjà lu deux bouquins du même
auteur, le très bon Mystic River et l'excellent
Shutter Island. Je m'en serais tenue à ces deux, n'étant
nullement tentée par la série des Kenzie/Gennaro, un couple de
privés qui résout des enquêtes dans la banlieue de Boston. Si
j'aime le roman policier, en revanche, je n'ai aucune attirance
pour le roman noir (privés évoluant dans des quartiers sombres
où la pègre règne). Je suis plutôt "cozy", ou roman
psychologique. Mes auteurs favoris, ce sont Rendell et Peter
Robinson. Mais bon, on m'a prêté ce livre et j'était curieuse, à
l'heure où l'on parle beaucoup du film (avec Casey Affleck,
frère de Ben), de connaître cette histoire. Une enfant de 4 ans,
Angela, disparaît de chez elle sans laisser de trace. Sa mère,
une paumée, ne semble pas tellement affectée par sa perte. Son
univers se résume à la drogue, l'alcool, et la TV. Gennaro et
Kenzie sont tout d'abord orientés sur la piste de trafiquants de
drogue, puis sur celle de dangereux pédophile, pour découvrir
une vérité toute autre, qui aboutira sur un cas de conscience
pour les deux détectives. Un bon thriller, bien rythmé, mais le
milieu de la pègre, ce n'est pas franchement ma tasse de thé. Un
vrai roman noir en tout cas...
- I have read
Persuasion, by Jane
Austen, starting with my new year resolutions (see above) a
little bit early!
- J'ai lu J'ai épousé
un inconnu de Patricia MacDonald. C'est l'histoire d'une
psychologue, Emma, qui se fait agresser lors de sa nuit de noces
dans une cabane dans les bois. Le suspect numéro 1: son nouvel
époux, David, qui, en cas de décès de sa moitié, se
retrouverait héritier d'une importante fortune. Distrayant, sans
plus, comme peut l'être un Mary Higgins Clark. À lire quand on n'a pas
envie de fournir d'effort intellectuel. MacDonald est à la
littérature ce que son homonyme est à la gastronomie, et ça veut
tout dire... C'est pas pour autant qu'on n'a pas parfois envie
d'un MacDo...
- I have read
A Gathering Light, by
Jennifer Donnely.
- J'ai relu La Vie
simple mode d'emploi, d'Elaine St James. Ce petit bouquin
catégorie "vie pratique" (ou "self help", comme on dit en
anglais, terme que je trouve mieux adapté), est une source de
bonnes idées pour, comme le titre l'indique, se simplifier la
vie. je l'avais déjà trouvé très utile il y a 7 ou 8 ans, quand
je l'ai lu pour la première fois, et je me suis rendu compte que
depuis, j'avais perdu de vue pas mal de règles bien utiles
pour gagner du temps. St James explique dans une première partie
comment elle et son mari en sont venus à la conclusion qu'ils
devaient prendre des mesures radicales pour vivre une vie plus
simple, moins stressante et de meilleure qualité. Elle explique
ensuite comment s'organiser pour y arriver, comment revoir ses
priorités de manière réaliste, comment faire de la place dans sa
maison pour ne pas retrouver envahi par ce que l'on accumule
inutilement, comment savoir résister à la pression de la société
de consommation, comment apprendre à dire non ou encore comment
se simplifier la vie de famille, avec les enfants. Bien entendu,
tous les conseils ne conviendront pas à tout le monde (certains
sont un peu extrêmes), mais ce qui compte est la prise de
conscience que fait prendre ce petit bouquin, et il est facile
d'adapter ensuite les conseils à sa propre situation. Il n'est
actuellement plus disponible chez amazon.fr (sauf marketplace),
je pense qu'il n'est plus édité car il a été écrit en 1996, et
il est vrai que les chapitres concernant internet ou les
ordinateurs sont parfois un peu obsolètes (mais l'idée de base est
toujours valable). Je l'ai néanmoins trouvé d'un grand intérêt
et d'une aide précieuse.
- J'ai lu
L'Elégance du hérisson, de Muriel Barbery.
- I have read Sanctum, by Denise
Mina. This is my first Denise Mina (and probably not my last).
The story consists in the diary of Lanchlan Harriot, a Scottish
man whose wife, a psychiatrist, has been convinced of the murder
of Andrew Gow, a serial killer released from prison on appeal.
The originality of the story is that it is presented through a
first-person narrator, whose personality is very puzzling. We
see him evolve from a devoted husband who wants to prove his
wife innocent at all costs into... someone else entirely. As
Lachlan discover bits of information in his wife's study, he
begins to understand a truth he was far from suspecting. Mostly
trusting in the beginning, Lachlan begins to be contaminated by
doubts and suspicion, but the truth is quite different from all
he could imagine. Mina's writing style is nothing out of the
ordinary, but she certainly can spin a good story with
unexpected twists, and present us with complex and satisfying
characters. In a way, Lachlan reminded me of Nabokov's Humbert
Humbert, justifying himself and presenting facts in a flattering
light.
- I have read
Jane Austen, a
biography by Carol Shields.
- I have watched The Painted Veil,
adapted from a novel by Somerset Maugham. A spoilt young woman
(Naomi Watts), who marries a young doctor (Edward Norton) to
prove her mother wrong, soon gets bored living with him in
Shanghai and takes a lover (Liev Schreiber). When her husband
discovers their affair, in order to punish her, he takes her to
a remote place where people are dying of the cholera. In this
desolate place, this estranged couple will learn to know each
other for the first time, and evolve toward true intimacy.
Interesting movie, the two main actors are playing their roles
perfectly and Diana Rigg, 40 years later, has changed her
avengers boots and miniskirts against the robe of a Mother
Superior. The story lacks a little substance, in my opinion...
Rating: 3,5/5
- I have watched 300. King Leonidas
(Gerard Butler) takes 300 Spartans with him to stop the conquest
of the Greek empire by the threatening Persian army, led by
Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro). At Thermopylae, the 300 are
surrounded, and fight like heroes. 300 is adapted from a
graphic novel. 300 is a riveting epic, the battle scenes
are very well done, the superb landscape and the general
atmosphere remind a little bit of Lord of the Rings.
Rating: 3,5/5
- I have watched The Reaping, a
below-average movie about a scientist (Hilary Swank),
investigating "miracles" and other strange happenings. When a
river turns into blood in Louisiana, everybody thinks of the Ten
Biblical Plagues, and a little girl (AnnaSophia Robb, a Dakota
Fanning clone) is suspected of being the cause of the
happenings... This movie is a compilation of the clichés of the
genre, with little surprise and no real suspense.
Rating: 2/5
- I have watched Miss Potter, a
delightful movie reminiscent of Finding Neverland.
Beatrix Potter (Renee Zellweger), author of illustrated children books, managed to
get published at 32. A proud spinster, closely chaperoned at
all times, she has refused every young man her parents
introduced her. When she falls in love with her publisher (Ewan
McGregor), her parents oppose her decision and ask her at least
to postpone what they judge a mismatch... A good story of a
woman striving to be independent and finding the courage to
overcome a heartbreaking drama in her life... I enjoyed this
movie, even though, being French, I was never read Potter's
stories at bedtime as a kid (though I had heard of them since).
I suppose that for someone whose childhood has been enchanted by
her stories, the movie is even more enjoyable... The closing
song When You Taught Me How to Dance is beautifully sung
by Katie Melua, whom I discovered recently.
Rating: 4/5
- I have watched Angel, a movie by
François Ozon, and an adaptation from a book by author Elizabeth
Taylor. Angel Deverell (Romola Garai), the daughter of a
shopkeeper, has big dreams. She writes romances which resemble
the life she would like to live and imagines living in a mansion
named Paradise, where her aunt works as a maid. At first all of
Angel's dreams come true: she finds a publisher (Sam Neill),
becomes rich and famous, buys Paradise and meets (buys) the man
of her life: Esmé, a tormented artist (Michael Fassbender).
Angel has the capacity to ignore what isn't going according to
the plan: nasty letters from increasingly unsatisfied readers,
accumulated debts, etc. She is also good at rewriting her own
life, at least the parts that bother her, like her modest
origins. But when the discrepancies between her dreams and the
truth are to large to ignore, Angel's world comes crashing down.
As her secretary and confidante asks Theo (Neill), when he
suggests she writes a book about Angel's life: "Which life? the
one she lived or the one she dreamed?". I really loved this
story, and will be reading the book in the future, since I
suspect that the novel must be even better than the movie...
Rating: 4/5
- I have watched Zodiac, a very good
movie about the real story of the Zodiac murderer, a serial
killer responsible for murdering couples and puzzling the police
with coded letters. I didn't know much about this killer (who
didn't achieve quite the same fame as Jack the Ripper) but I
thought the movie did a good job presenting us with the facts
and the different hypotheses). In fact, when the man in charge
of the investigation (played by Mark Ruffalo, reminding me,
intentionally or not, of a young inspector Colombo) just
couldn't spend time pursuing an unknown killer who hadn't killed
in years, a newspaper cartoonist (Robert Graysmith/ Jake
Gyllenhaal), obsessed by the case for years, started to lead an
unofficial investigation, wrote a book, and very likely
discovered the identity of the Zodiac. The movie, although long
(2.30), is never boring, suspenseful throughout and supported by
a great cast of actors (Robert Downey Jr. is also great as
alcoholic journalist Paul Avery). Rating:
4/5
-
 Last month, I discovered Pictures,
and at the same time Katie Melua's bewitching voice. This month
I am listening to Piece by Piece, her previous album,
more jazzy and bluesy... This was not obvious after a first
listening, but I think I like this one even more than
Pictures. I like all songs, including the remakes (On the
Road Again, and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds). My favorites:
Spider's Web, Nine Million Bicycles, Piece by Piece,
Thank You
Stars, Sometimes When I'm Dreaming, and the rest of them too I guess... buy it
November 2007
Best book(s) I have read this month:
Oryx and Crake, by
Margaret Atwood.
Best movie/TV series I have watched this
month: Perfect Stranger
- I have read
Nineteen Minutes, by
Jody Picoult.
- I have read
Runaway, by Alice Munro.
- I have read Dry Bones that dream,
by Peter Robinson. In this one, Chief Inspector Banks
investigates the murder of an accountant who has been shot in
his own barn, almost in front of his wife and daughter.
According to the description of the daughter, two hit men seem
to be the suspects. But with each clue that emerges, the matter
seems to become more complex. First of all, the victim doesn't
seem to fit the dull accountant image completely, and DS
Burgess, Banks's nightmare, brings a completely new light on the
whole affair. If the story did not grab me completely in places
(I am not particularly fond of the kind of detective stories
dealing with hit men or money-laundering schemes), I have to
admit that I was surprised by the ending. My first Inspector
Banks experience was a later novel, Aftermath, followed
by The Summer that never was. I am now reading them in
order and enjoying them all (except Wednesday's Child,
which I found weaker), but I am still waiting to find the
turning-point: the novel where Robinson grew up into the writer
of such page-turners as Aftermath... Also, I recently
watched the TV series Life on Mars, and I am wondering if
the creator of the series was inspired by Banks characters
("guv" Hunt certainly reminds me of a mix between DS Richard
Burgess and Sergeant Hatchley, and DS Susan Gay, as a woman
struggling to prove herself in a macho world, could be a model
for Annie Cartwright)
- J'ai lu Dans les
Bois, par Harlan Coben. C'est un auteur que j'ai l'habitude
de lire en anglais, mais cette fois-ci, on me l'avait prêté en
français... L'intrigue est la suivante: Paul Copeland est
procureur, il n'a pas eu une vie facile: après la mort de sa
femme, il se retrouve seul à élever sa fille, et est toujours
hanté par la disparition de sa sœur adolescente dans les bois,
20 ans plus tôt. Elle passait l'été dans une colonie de vacances
dans laquelle lui même travaillait. La culpabilité, ainsi que
l'incertitude sur le sort de sa sœur, ne cessent de le ronger.
Quand il se retrouve devant le cadavre d'un homme qu'il
reconnaît comme l'un des autres adolescents ayant disparu avec
sa sœur, il est décidé à apprendre la vérité, quel qu'en soit
son prix. Ceci n'est pas le meilleur des Harlan Coben que j'ai
lus (le meilleur à mon avis est Juste un regard), les
retournements de situation sont un peu décevants et pas tout à
fait inattendus pour certains, mais il faut rendre justice à
Harlan Coben: cet auteur de thrillers est l'un des maîtres dans
l'art du suspense. On ne s'ennuie pas une seule seconde, et
surtout, on veille plus tard que de raison pour lire un chapitre
de plus, suivi d'un chapitre de plus, etc. et ceci jusqu'à la
toute dernière page.
- J'ai lu
Lignes de
Faille, de Nancy Huston
- J'ai lu
Mal de pierres de
Milena Agus
- I have read
Oryx and Crake, by
Margaret Atwood
- I have watched The Kovak Box,
which I ultimately found very disappointing. The premises of the
movie are intriguing: A famous writer David Norton (Timothy
Hutton) is invited to a conference in Mallorca. When his fiancé
unexpectedly commits suicide, his trip becomes a nightmare.
Another young woman (Lucia Jimenez), who also tried to commit
suicide and has no memory of it, turns to Norton for help. A
strange man named Frank Kovak seems to be behind it all. This
movie, which could have been good, is very straightforward,
unsurprising, and very forgettable.
Rating: 2/5
- I have watched Next, another
adaptation from a Philip K. Dick novel. Cris Johnson, a
magician, has the ability to know what will happen for him the
next to minutes. FBI agent Ferris (Julianne Moore), wants to
enroll his help to find terrorist who have smuggled an atomic
bomb in the United States. Johnson escapes with Liz (Jessica
Biel), a young woman he has been seeing in his visions. Good,
fast paced movie, which subject remind a little bit of
Minority Report. However, Next is not as good as
Minority Report, more straightforward, less complex, and the
reflection about the implications of foreknowledge are not
pushed as far. Rating: 3,5/5
- I have watched Perfect Stranger.
This movie attracted many bad reviews, but I was pleasantly
surprised by the steady pace and the originality of the
conclusion. Rowena Price (Halle Berry), an ambitious journalist,
is looking for a scoop. After a friend who confides in her about
stalking renowned and married businessman Harrison Hill (Bruce
Willis) turns up dead, Rowena gets hired in his society and,
helped by her friend Miles (Giovanni Ribisi, excellent) does
everything to get to know him. Good acting, great suspense,
great ending... Rating: 4/5
- I have watched Crank. A
professional assassin (Jason Statham), has been poisoned and
must keep his heart rate up to survive. This is an exhausting,
but also fun and action-packed movie. Not my favorite kind of
movie but original. Rating: 3/5
- I have watched Spiderman 3,
definitely not the best of the trilogy. In the beginning, Peter
Parker and M.J. have a good relationship and Peter thinks of
proposing, but his ego seems to inflate at the same speed as his
fame. To complicate things, a dark matter settles on his costume
and makes him feel powerful and vengeful... Some funny scenes,
involving Parker (Tobey McGuire), experimenting the effect of
his new black suit-induced personality on women. There are 3
apparently unrelated villains, but the theme of this movie is to
show that everybody has a potential to be good or bad (even
Peter Parker), and the everybody has a free will to decide where
to stand.. However, because of these three villains, the plot
jumps in many different directions, and the characters are
insufficiently developed... Rating: 3,5/5
- I am listening to Pictures, a
beautiful album by Katie Melua, whom I hadn't heard of before.
All songs are jewels, that I don't get fed up listening to. My
favorites right now are It's all in my Head, Scary
Films and Perfect Circle (after a first listening it
was If the lights go out). I will be looking for Melua's
former CDs.
October 2007
Best book(s) I have read this month:
Mary Swann, by Carol Shields/ Anticancer par
David Servan-Schreiber
Best movie/TV series I have watched this
month: House M.D., season 2, Life on Mars, season
1 & 2
- I have read
Affinity, by Sarah
Waters
- J'ai lu Personne
n'y échappera de Romain Sardou. Je m'attendais à un roman à
suspense mal écrit mais à l'intrigue pas trop mal ficelée, et
c'est plus ou moins ce que j'ai eu. Dans le New Hampshire, 24
personnes sont retrouvées assassinées sur un chantier
d'autoroute. La police soupçonne un suicide de secte ou de gens
qui se sont rencontrés via un site Internet. Ils sont bientôt
dessaisis de l'affaire par le FBI. Parallèlement, Frank
Franklin, jeune professeur d'écriture créative prend son poste
dans une université select du New Hampshire, et se retrouve
bientôt mêlé à toute l'affaire. L'idée est assez originale et
pas trop mal développée, mais il est dommage que l'un des
rebondissements repose sur une révélation de dernière minute.
L'effet est assez maladroit et révèle un certain amateurisme...
- J'ai lu
Au Pays
de Dieu, récit de voyage de Douglas Kennedy.
- J'ai lu La
Mémoire du Sang, thriller de Greg Iles. Cat Ferry, l'héroïne
de cette histoire, est spécialiste en médecine légiste
orthodentaire, et souffre depuis peu de crises d'angoisses quand
elle examine les corps mutilés et mordus laissés par un serial
killer qui hante la Nouvelle Orléans. Parallèlement, elle se
pose beaucoup de questions autour de la tragédie qui a marqué
son enfance: la mort par balles de son père, à Natchez. Revenue
dans la demeure de son enfance, elle découvre la présence, dans
sa chambre d'enfant, de traces de pas ensanglantées. Bientôt,
elle est persuadée que la vague de crimes à la Nouvelle-Orléans
est liée aux mystères de son passé. La vérité réside quelque
part dans sa mémoire, une mémoire perdue qui lui revient peu à
peu. Roman à suspense, bien documenté, sur le thèmes des
traumatismes d'enfance dont le rythme s'enlise et s'embourbe
parfois dans les marais du Bayou. Si les thèmes de la répression
et de la mémoire sont généralement porteurs en littérature, le
dénouement de cette histoire manque un peu d'originalité...
- J'ai lu
Anticancer, de David Servan-Schreiber.
- I am have read
Mary Swann, by Carol
Shields.
- J'ai lu
Une Odeur de gingembre,
d'Oswald Wynd, l'histoire d'une jeune écossaise, Mary Mackenzie,
qui rejoint son fiancé à Pékin. Elle s'ennuie dans sa cage
dorée, et finit par avoir un enfant avec un officier japonais.
Chassée par son mari, elle doit alors vivre seule et apprendre à
se débrouiller dans le Japon du début du XXe siècle. On suit au
travers de son journal et de lettres à sa mère la transformation
d'une jeune fille naïve en une businesswoman redoutable. Roman
intéressant qui révèle la Chine et le Japon de l'époque vus par
les yeux d'une européenne, mais qui reste très superficiel. Il
manque une émotion, une finesse dans la narration des relations
interpersonnelles (l'émotion est complètement absente de la
description des relations de Mary avec les hommes qui ont
traversé sa vie, par exemple...)
- I have watched
Life on Mars season
2. Despite the fact that he found the truth about his father,
Sam is still stuck in the seventies and wonders how to come back
to his real life. Meanwhile, he has things he needs to learn
about his girlfriend, and also, he must find out who is the
mysterious man calling him from Hyde... A great series with a
perfect ending... Rating: 5/5
- I have watched The Number 23, a
decent thriller featuring Jim Carrey and Virginia Madsen. Walter
Sparrow (Carrey) has a normal life with his wife and teenage son
until she offers him a book he is soon convinced is about
himself. The book makes him see the relevance of the number 23
in his life. He grows increasingly obsessed, while his family
worries. Carrey is really a good actor when he is not playing
"funny" movies, as he already proved with The Truman Show
or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind...
Rating: 3,5/5
- I have watched Life on Mars, season 1,
the BBC series about a DCI, Sam Tyler, who wakes up in 1973
after an accident. Is he mad, in a coma, or back in the past? He
has to find out why he is there and how to come back... Tyler
has difficulties to adapt to the 70's (he was only 4 in 73), and
fights the archaic methods of his team, and its corruption,
while at the same time, he hopes to wake up in the present. Life on Mars is fun, and very addictive, the dynamics
between Tyler (John Simm) and his "guv", Hunt (Philip Glenister)
reminds of the best police duets (Starsky & Hutch, Riggs and
Murtaugh, etc.). I am not particularly interested by the
seventies (I was 1 in 73...), and I probably wouldn't have
chosen Life on Mars if it wasn't for the time travel
element (I am a fan of time travel stories), and I am very glad
I did! Rating: 4/5
- I have watched Babel, by Alejandro
Inarritu. In three distant places on earth (Morocco, Mexico, and
Japan), people with difficulties to communicate encounter random
tragic situations, and have to rise to the challenge.
Progressively, we realize that these people are connected. This
movie is about relationships, tested in time of crisis. Good
acting, good direction and filming, but depressing movie (Not
quite as depressing as 21 grams, though...)
Rating: 3,5/5
- I have watched House M.D., season
two, and my need for another shot of the show equals House's
need for Vicodine: it is official, I am an addict! Season 2 is
even better than season 1, and our infamous doctor's unorthodox
methods are even more unorthodox, while his skills and his ego
remain huge! Season 3 on DVD, quick!
Rating: 5/5
- I have watched The Illusionist,
about Eisenheim (Edward Norton), a magician performing in late
nineteenth century Vienna. Since childhood, Eisenheim has been
in love with a duchess (Jessica Biel), now promised to Crown
Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), and plans to escape with her.
Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti), who has to watch Eisenheim
closely, becomes obsessed with discovering his tricks... The
Illusionist is a good movie, but way too predictable, and
which I certainly would have enjoyed much more if I had seen it
before The Prestige.
Rating:
3,5/5
September 2007
Best book(s) I have read this month:
Travels in the
Scriptorium, by Paul Auster/
Ni d'Eve,
ni d'Adam, d'Amélie Nothomb
Best movie/TV series I have watched this
month: Music and Lyrics/ House M.D., season 1/ Heroes,
season 1
- I have read Blindsighted, by Karin
Slaughter. Sara is both the pediatrician and coroner of a small
town in Georgia. When she finds a local woman murdered in the
restroom of the pub, she knows that a dangerous killer is on the
loose. She has to work with her former husband, police chief
Jeffrey Tolliver, and she soon understands that a terrible
episode from her past is about to catch up with her... I liked
this fast-paced, quite unpredictable and suspenseful thriller,
and I will be reading more novels by Karin Slaughter...
- I have read One Good Turn, by
Kate Atkinson, a sequel to Case Histories, featuring now
ex-detective Jackson Brodie. During the Edinburgh festival, a
banal road rage incident involves many unconnected people, who
as we will progressively find out, are all connected after all.
Like in Case Histories, chance and coincidences lead
people's lives, for better or for worse, and Brodie, who is in
Edinburgh to support his girlfriend Julia who performs in a
play, will find itself involved in these interconnected stories
despite himself. One Good Turn is a satisfying,
entertaining and original psychological suspense novel,
involving Russian dolls and women at the heart of its mystery,
but I found it less ingenious and slightly less interesting,
maybe because the novelty has worn of, than Case Histories...
- I have given up reading Birds of America, by
Lorrie Moore. I didn't particularly like any of the short
stories I have read (and I read 5 of them). The themes of the
stories: loneliness, bad relationships, estrangement or loss,
are common enough, but for me Lorrie Moore is not much of a
storyteller, I wasn't drawn into the stories, nor particularly
interested in the characters. Granted, short stories are not my
favorite narrative forms, I tend to have a big preference for
novels (I used to be a big fan of Guy de Maupassant's short
stories, though, in my teenage years). However, there are some
excellent short story writers today, like Alice Munro, whom I
discovered recently, and who is a real storyteller and manages
to put an entire life into a short story, or Raymond Carver, who
is more a "straight-to-the-point" kind of author. Moore's
writing is more like Carver's than Munro's, but she certainly
lacks his intensity and spark. I bought Birds of America
because David Lodge writes about the short story "Agnes of Iowa"
in appreciative terms in The Year of Henry James, but
except for traces of humor (like "oh dear, here we say O-hi-o),
I didn't find much in it to hold my interest...
- J'ai lu Première
Ligne de Jean-Marie Laclavetine, un roman amusant sur un
petit éditeur de romans peu commerciaux, Cyril Cordouan, qui,
après le suicide, dans son bureau, d'un "écriveron" refusé,
décide de fonder un club d'Auteurs Anonymes, pour que ceux que
la plume démange se soignent de leur compulsion avant de sombrer
dans l'enfer des longues attentes et des espoirs déçus. Cocasse,
distrayant et original, même si, au niveau du style, on est très
loin de la grande littérature!
- I have read
Travels in the
Scriptorium, by Paul Auster
- J'ai lu
Ni d'Eve,
ni d'Adam, d'Amélie Nothomb
- J'ai lu
La
Caverne des Idées, de José Carlos Somoza
- I have watched Music and Lyrics, a
delightful romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Drew
Barrymore. Alex Fletcher (Grant) is a has-been singer from a
Wham-like band successful during the eighties, Pop. He still
perform in front of publics of nostalgic female fans, now
middle-aged. When he is asked by an Aguilera-like singer to
write a song that they will sing together, Fletcher, who is good
for melodies but is unable to write lyrics, enrolls Sophie
Fisher (Barrymore), who waters the plants for him and has a way
with words and rhymes. The dialogs are witty, Grant is perfect
when he plays charming and superficial guys, and the opening
video clip (as if straight from the 80's) is hilarious.
Recommended! Rating:
4,5/5
- I have watched The Butterfly Effect 2,
an embarrassingly bad sequel. With such interesting premises as
someone who has the ability to go back into the past and change
what went wrong, I really wonder how they managed to come up
with such lame and pathetic ideas. Do yourself a favor: don't
bother! and watch the first one instead, which is really good. Rating:
1/5
- I have been watching House M.D.,
season 1, and I have found my favorite TV character beside Monk,
the defective detective: the grumpy, misanthropic and
politically incorrect doctor! I love this series, about a
brilliant diagnostician and his team conducting each disease
search like an investigation Sherlock Holmes style... Rating:
5/5
- I have watched Rocky Balboa, a
fitting conclusion to the Rocky saga. Most of the movie is about
Rocky reminiscing, about the loss of his wife and his difficult
relationship with his son (played by Milo Ventimiglia, from
Heroes), and about how he comes to the decision to go back
on the ring. The training and fighting scenes are comparatively
short, the message is inspirational, and the violence is toned
down. Loved the closing credits... Rating:
4/5
- I have been watching Heroes season
1. I love this series. At first I was afraid it would be too
much like The 4400, but it is not, and it's much better.
Instead of introducing more characters with powers and losing
track of the main plot (like what they are supposed to use their powers
for), as it happened in the 4400, in Heroes, even
though more characters are added almost with each episode,
we never lose track of the whole. Each new character is a piece
of a puzzle which becomes more an more coherent. The plotting is
tight, the comics influence visible (both in structure and
contents, I am reminded of Watchmen by Alan Moore, for
instance), most of the characters are interesting (Hiro's my
favorite of course). The final episode of the first season is
satisfying, it opens on a new storyline, but it doesn't leave
you on a cliffhanger, like other series do (Lost, for
instance). Rating: 4,5/5
- I am listening to Daughtry's eponymous
first album, a proof that American Idol (like its French
equivalent La Nouvelle Star) can produce the worst and
also the best. Here is what the best sounds like. Chris
Daughtry's voice recalls the voices of the singers of Nickelback
and Creed. After a couple of times listening to the CD, my
favorite songs are It's Not Over, Home, Over You, Crashed,
What I Want and What About Now...
August 2007
Best book(s) I have read this month:
The House at Riverton,
by Kate Morton.
Best movie/TV series I have watched this
month: The Office, season 2
- I have read
The Various Haunts of Men,
by Susan Hill.
- J'ai lu Un
Miracle en équilibre, par Lucia Etxebarria. Dans ce roman,
la narratrice, Eva, adresse une lettre à sa fille pour lui
raconter les circonstances de sa venue au monde, mais aussi son
histoire à elle, sa mère, sa difficulté à jongler entre écriture
et maternité, ses problèmes avec l'alcool, ses relation avec des
hommes néfastes. Bien que je me sois reconnue dans certaines des
préoccupations d'Eva, j'ai trouvé ce roman très pénible à lire,
tant il est mal écrit. Je ne sais pas quel est la part de
responsabilité du traducteur et quelle est celle de l'auteur,
mais j'ai failli à plusieurs reprises laisser tomber la lecture
de ce roman. Etxebarria semble souffrir de diarrhée verbale, son
style manque de finesse et de nuances. Il ne faut pas confondre
énergie et talent... À mon avis, Etxebarria est dénuée du
second. Mon conseil: si le sujet de la maternité sans tabou vous
intéresse, lisez plutôt
Un Heureux Evénement
d'Eliette Abécassis...
- I have read
The House at Riverton,
by Kate Morton.
- I have read
Light a Penny Candle,
by Maeve Binchy.
- I have read The Treatment, by Mo
Hayder. Recently, I had read
Pig Island, which I
really liked a lot, but The Treatment didn't work as well
for me. It evokes the difficult subject of pedophilia: hard to
stomach at times, it is not for the faint of heart. It is
however a fast-paced page turner, with a secondary plot
paralleling the main one, and the ending brings both redemption
and irony to the main protagonist. The Treatment is a
follow-up to Birdman, a novel also featuring DI Jack
Caffery. A lot of the background refers to Birdman (which
I haven't read), therefore I think it is advisable to read it
before. A bit reminiscent of Patricia Cornwell.
- I have read Red leaves, by Thomas
H. Cook. In a small town, an eight-year-old girl disappears and
everyone suspects Keith, the teenager who was babysitting her.
Eric Moore, the father of the teenage boy, who also has unsolved
issues about his own past, begins to wonder about his son's
culpability. Eric's growing suspicions threaten to destroy the
whole family... A good thriller which shows how the facade of an
ordinary American family is frail and how little it takes to
bring it down. I have read many reviews recommending this book,
and although it is well written and reasonably fast paced, I
wasn't blown away by it.
- I have watched The Office, season
two. Season 2 was even better that season 1, in my opinion, with
more characters, come from the fusion of the Swindon branch and
another branch. David Brent now has a boss, present on the
premises, and of course, his managing style is promptly
questioned. Gareth is creepier and more obnoxious that ever, and
covets Tim's new love interest. Dawn seems more and more
appalled by her boss's blunders, and he in turns manages to make
more of an embarrassment of himself than before. The Office
is really difficult to categorize. A parody of life in the
office is the closest thing to the truth, although the
similarity of the parody with the truth is often too close for
comfort. A comedy then? the same applies, sometimes we laugh,
but sometimes we genuinely share the embarrassment of Brent's
coworkers. Anyway, The Office is really a stroke of
genius, the actors are amazingly convincing, mostly Ricky
Gervais (David Brent), playing stupidity made man with an
incredible talent... Too bad there were only two seasons made of
this outstanding series... Rating: 5/5
- I have watched River Queen, the
story of Sarah O'Brian (Samantha Morton), a young Irish woman
who had a son with a Maori. Boy (her son) is kidnapped by his
Maori grandfather, and Sarah spends years searching him.
River Queen is the struggle of a woman torn between her love
for an estranged son raised by the Maori, her growing attraction
to a Maori man, and loyalty to her country and roots. Beautiful
movie, reminiscent of The Piano and very convincing cast.
The alchemy between Sarah and Wiremu (Cliff Curtis) is
excellent. Rating: 4/5
- I have watched The Labyrinth of the
Faun, about a little girl drawn into a magical world by a
faun who sets her on a quest with three tasks of increasing
difficulty while around her, in 1944 Spain, a cruel fascist
officer spreads terror and violence to all who disagree. Very
good movie, the two storylines (realistic and fantasy) parallel
each other nicely and come together in a tragic and fitting
ending. Good acting and special effects. Despite the fairytale
elements, this is NOT a movie for kids, some scenes are very
violent... Rating: 4/5
- I have watched Scoop, a movie by
and with Woody Allen. A dead journalist learns a scoop and comes
back as a ghost to inform Sondra Pranski (Scarlett Johansson), a
student in journalism, who enrolls magician Sid Waterman (Woody
Allen), during whose show the ghost appeared to her, in order to
investigate with her the alleged culpability of Peter
Lyman (Hugh Jackman) the son of a Lord. Both murder mystery and
comedy, Scoop is a delightful, light, movie with witty
dialogs and a good pace. Rating: 4/5
- I have watched Riding the Bullet,
a terrible adaptation of a story by Stephen King which I haven't
read. The dialogues taking place inside the mind of the
characters (which is one of King's specialty) were very badly
handled and the movie was neither scary not interesting, it was
just plain boring. I'll give myself some time to forget this
awful movie before reading the novel...
Rating: 1,5/5
July 2007
Best book(s) I have read this month:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling/
Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris
Best movie/TV series I have watched this
month: Nothing outstanding this month...
- I have read
Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows, by J. K. Rowling.
- I have read
The Water's Lovely,
by Ruth Rendell.
- I have read
The Ghost Orchid,
by Carol Goodman.
- J'ai lu
Le Diable
et Daniel Silverman, de Theodore Roszak.
- I have read
We Need to Talk About
Kevin, by Lionel Shriver.
- I have given up reading The Master,
by Colm Toibin after about 80 pages. For me the best novel I
have read this year so far is another novel about Henry James
published in 2004, like The Master: Author, author,
by David Lodge. I though that David Lodge was able to make Henry
James truly alive, as an outstanding writer, but also a man with
foibles. Granted, I started Toibin's novel without much hope
that it could be as good as Lodge's. And indeed, in Colm
Toibin's novel, I could find no spark, nothing but a lifeless
character artificially caught in uninteresting sketches of his
own life. There is no unity in The Master, no direction, and I
couldn't help but feel that all Toibin was aiming for was to
impress with his style. As a result, the novel is pedantic,
verbose, and boring, boring, boring... I stopped reading it for
this reason, but also because I didn't want to spoil the
impression the other Henry James novel made on me (when you read
two books about the same subject, you tend to confuse them a
little). Don't trust rewards and dithyrambic reviews: read the
underrated novel
Author, author by David Lodge instead, you'll be doing
yourself a favor!
- J'ai lu
La Femme
du Ve, le dernier roman de Douglas Kennedy.
- I have read
Gentlemen and Players,
by Joanne Harris.
- I have watched Half Light: Rachel
Carlson (Demi Moore), moves to a remote cottage in Scotland
after the accidental drowning of her son. Soon, she starts to
have visions of her son and she meets and falls in love with the
lighthouse keeper to whom she confides her visions. Half
Light is a good suspense movie with a not completely
unexpected twist,
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