Bad Behaviour

Bad Behaviour is a book for short stories that I first hear about in flavorwire.com. Later when I saw it at a second hand bookstore in Lamai, Koh Samui I decided to give it a go. I like stories about damaged, not so normal people. And this book is full of them. Actually all of us are damaged one way or another no?

Anyway this one is a keeper and highly recommended. 

The Son's Room (La Stanza Del Figlio)

The Son's Room was a film I have heard of here and there. Everyone seem to like it. The thing is I'm not really fond of Italian films and as opposed to Ms.Gilbert, hearing the language gets on my nerves (the reverse is true for French and I do like French films, especially the talky ones). So this dvd was cheap and it is an exception as far as film purchases go.

In the end it may just be my favorite Italian film and it is the only film on the list (Ok I have not seen many Italian films but I have seen La Vita e Bella, Il Postino and probably half of La Dolce Vita that's about it). It is a quiet film that packed an emotional punch I didn't see coming. Without even realising it, I was in tears and I didn't even really liked any of these people. I loved their family dynamic though and the way it was broken probably caused all the hurt in me.

Anyway I highly recommend this one if you feel like you can stand a bit of a heartache. 

Hide and Seek

(Spoilers)

Hide and Seek did smashing box office in S.Korea (as can be understood by looking at the dvd cover) and for good reason too I think. My God this film ended up being a strong one that actually unsettled me and scared me too.

Two of the three main leads I'm familiar with from dramas. And they did such a great job and the third one is the villain of the piece and she was so so good that I was actually scared for her adversaries.

The main reason that I was so unsettled is probably the class divide depicted so dominantly. I wanted to hate the villain but she was so obviously mad and this madness was probably caused by her poor economic condition that it was hard to watch her get her due.

There were some details I loved, such as how the poor girl rubbed her face in the doll and later when the rich girl started to rub her eyes the way I automatically wondered - and worried - that a disease may catch from the doll (especially so since the poor girl had a patch above her eye).

The other story was how our main lead was suffering from guilty conscience. What he did was indeed bad but he was just a kid and probably didn't think rationally. And he suffered all this life (well he ended up being rich but with severe OCD that kept on going even when the story ended - another great little touch was how he straightened the mat when he was putting it in the trunk). and he understood what he did wrong and had nightmares. And I felt for him and wanted him to be redeemed somehow.

The kids were great actors, the way the Korean kids usually are and I liked the sets and camera.

By the time the film ended I felt so bad and scared (home invasion is scary) that I even cut my prayers short and found peace in the oblivion of sleep.

Oh there are some mistakes in logic etc. but I didn't care. The film did what it was supposed to do and I highly recommend it for lovers of the genre.

Please Look After Mom

Please Look After Mom was an impulse buy at Bangkok Kinokuniya. I have heard about it but for some reason it never appealed to me. But I'm a glutton when it comes to buying books and decided to go for it. And I'm so glad that I did. It turned out to be a wonderful novel. I liked how the story is told, the prose translated well to English and since I know a little bit about S.Korean culture and history, nothing in it was alien to me. But it is not really that important since a mother's love and the regrets of causing her pain is a universal theme. Highly recommended. 

Kangchi The Beginning (or Gu Family Book)

Kangchi, The Beginning (or Gu Family Book) was a drama I wanted to watch because I really like Lee Seung Gi and am willing to watch everything because he is in them. I didn't expect to find a drama to enjoy (to be honest I was kind of tired of Korean Dramas, maybe showing symptoms of overdose, not touching one for about a month) but I did, oh how I did!

First off the lead character Kang Chi is a type I love, simply love. The all around good guy who acts good no matter what.

Then there is the lead female character Yo Ul who is strong, independent and a great fighter too. She is also very good and tries to do the right thing very often (but not all the time :) ).

The baddie was the weakest link in the story but he is acted by one of my favorite actors Lee Seung Jae and he was all over the top in turns funny and disgusting (all the time better looking then everyone else). One thing I liked about the main trio of actors is that neither seemed to have plastic surgery. They looked all natural which I can't say for the other hottie in the show; Daddy Gumiho Wolyong who is indeed excellent looking but seemed sort of plastic (or am I being paranoid).

Anyway, I laughed, I cried (oh how I cried, seriously cried) and had a great time with this one. Of course one shouldn't expect logic or even sense but the story is good and lots happen in each episode.

Ok here are some shots of hot daddy Wolyong (doesn't he look plastic?)

Photo credit to https://media.zenfs.com/ko_KR/

Lee Seung Gi is not really a good looking guy but he has amazing on screen presence and somewhere sometime around Episode 2 of Brilliant Inheritence I fell for him and so far he has not dissapointed me.

Bae Suzy, the female lead actor, is critised for not having much acting talent but I liked her. She looked natural and everything about her went well with the part.
I liked their chemistry as well but so far Lee Seung Gi had great chemistry with everyone he starred with. 

Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World

Photo from thatfilmguy.net

Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World was chosen because it seemed a romance film and I felt like a romance film. Keira Knightley is an actress I can't decide I like or dislike. There is something about her face that makes mine ache when I looked at her. I feel as if she constantly tenses her facial muscles to keep it in shape (even typing this I have same sensation) but I think she is cute and a decent actor. Steve Carell is someone I can't seem to like and for no particular reason. His face looks like a rodent but that is not it. Anyway enough meaness about the physicality of the actors and on to the film.
It is one of the end of the world films where people are informed that a meteor will collide with earth and everything will be space dust after that. A mission to divert the meteor was unsuccessful. So people react differently (and not as artsy as in Melancholia) to this and our protagonists wife leaves him for her lover. He valiantly went to work for a couple of days (now this is something I would have done, some misplaced sense of responsibility I suppose) but it is futile. Then he meets her quirky English neighbour who is devasted because she has missed all the planes to UK and now has no way to unite with her family. He provides her shelter from her despair and she sleeps at his flat. She is a very heavy sleeper, like me, nothing wakes her up until she is ready to. When the riots inevitably start for some stupid reason they decide to leave their home (maybe they thought people will break in or something) and one thing leads to another and they end up in the same truck first going to meet his first love then to somewhere where they may be able to find a plane.

It was not a bad film but it was not very good either. What suprised me was the ending which is the best part.  

Omen 666

Photo credit movies.about.com

Omen 666 is nowhere as good as the original. In fact it is a rather bad film but not in a good way. Now it was pretty loyal to the original but really it didn't work well at all. And this is coming from someone who almost always enjoys close up shots (especially on the faces of the actors) and clean cinematography both which this film had.

But it was so long and boring. Scenes were drawn out to really lame conclusions and even if a couple of the deaths were gory, they still remained inside the film's miasma of boredom.  I was not even scared once. And I kept watching only because I kept dosing off and waking up and rewinding and I kind of enjoyed doing that. So stay away from this one. 

Last Vegas

Yesterday was a bank holiday so I made the most of it and managed to watch three films among Digiturk's dvd selection.

First of these was

Last Vegas chosen because I have been to and liked Las Vegas and sometimes I like films where people have first world problems and they are neatly resolved in the end. Last Vegas also gained attention due to its cast I suppose. Well I don't really care for Michael Douglas (although I think he is a very good actor) and I definitely don't care for Kevin Kline (I know he is universally loved but sadly I don't even think he is a good actor, obviously I'm wrong but alas, I don't like him) on the other hand  I love Robert De Niro (great actor) and Morgan Freeman (great actor). So the film didn't dissapoint. Self depreciating humour is one of the things this type of film always has and it is put to good use here.

Our cast enjoyed great times at Aria hotel in Vegas (and yes, it is a great hotel although if I had money I would have stayed in Bellagio) and enjoy their old age and friendship. One of them even found an age appropriate partner.

Photo from collider.com

These granpas were entertaining but not substantial .

American Gods

Photo credit venturegalleries.com

American Gods is the second novel I have read by Neil Gaiman and it is a great novel. Perfect in everyway. I have listened to the 10th Anniversary Edition and it was so good that I have got blisters on my feet from walking too much (yeah the best time for me to listen a book is while walking).

This novel has everything in it but just at the right doses. There is a tender romance (finally a man who can think about the betrayal of a spouse without actually judging her), a murder mystery (well admitedly not much of a one for me but it was still very interesting to read), a fantasy with characters from different mythologies and science fiction, plus horror. Yeah it doesn't look good on paper but it is one of the finest novels I have read.

And of course now I want to get Audible. I hope that there are not any zone restrictions since if there are, then I won't be able to purchase it. 

Wolf Hall

Wolf Hall  by Hillary Mantel is one of my failures as a reader. It is a historical fiction (a genre I sometimes dip my toes in) and got he Man Booker prize and everything. Also lauded by everyone and spawned a sequel (Bringing out the Dead) which I purchased blind at one point since I like The Tudor era and the story of Henry and his wifes never gets old for me. Now this one is also about someone that is very very interesting. Thomas Cromwell is gets an expert treatment from an obviously very talented writer.

The problem was that the style or prose or storytelling did not appeal to me as a reader. I fully acknowledge and appreciate the mastery, and even confess to actually liking some parts of it so much that I forgot where I was which reading it. However it is not a book I couldn't wait to get back to, everytime I left it, I didn't want to return and I kept feeling bad about that.

At last it is finished (with the execution of Thomas More) and it is probably safe to say that I won't be picking up the sequel any time soon. 

9 to 5

9 to 5 is one I have always wanted to watch (and I like the song, and Dolly Parton).
First off I work at a 9 to 5 job and I like it. And even though I'm very lucky not to have a horrible boss, I do find it entertaining to see one get his/her comeuppance. Here the boss is a terrible man, treating the people under him like slaves and worse, he takes credit for others' work. And he sexually harrases his secretary and without her knowing told everyone in the office that she is his mistress. DoraLee, the secretary (acted by the adorable Dolly Parton) is smart and knows how to avoid his advances but she has no idea why the other women in the office are cold towards her.

The other two are one new comer (started working after a divorce where her husband left her for his secretary) and the competent old timer who can't get a promotion.

I liked these ladies and the film's whimsical tone. Nice job Mr.Colin Higgins and the three leads who all gave good performances.

A Room With A View

A Room With A View is one of the films I have watched this weekend and despite the fact that some parts of it made me laugh out loud, I'm going to go ahead and say it - Merchant/Ivory films are not really to my taste.

Photo from http://www.movie-film-review.com/

Despite the fact that Helena Bohnam - Carter was adorable and I love Daniel Day Lewis and the story seemed totally to my taste with great locations and costumes, the visual sensibilities of Mr.James Ivory are not to my taste at all. The film is full of mid range shots (such as the one above) while I really prefer close up shots. There is a certain visual untidiness which is an artistic choice that often applies to a lot of directors (and the only director I can accept it from is my all time favore Wong Kar Wai) and my viewer sensibilities do not agree with it.

Anyway I didn't like it enough to run to read the book. 

Pieta

Pieta Kim Ki-Duk was such a favorite director of mine. I loved every single one of his films, his silent leads, fish hooks and fishes and all the imagery etc. Well as it happens I still like Mr. Kim a lot. This film is not a fave of mine (I can't decide between The Island or Bad Guy right now) but it is a very good film none the less. He kind of lost me with Dream though, that one was kind of boring.

Firstly I had to check what Pieta meant. Now that I know it means "depiction of Virgin mourning for her son" the dvd cover makes more sense.

The story is a good and a painful one (as per almost all of Mr.Kim's films). The lead characters were chattier than usual and this was not an unwelcome change.  I aso like the critique of capitalism's effect on the lives of the poor. There is some sexual perversion, some violence but overall this ended up being a revenge film. I considerably perked up at this. And it was a good revenge too. Very effective.

The two leads are excellent but then again Mr.Kim is almost always good with actors (well except Jang Dong Gun that is, man that guy was overacting so much even my muscles ached while watching The Coast Guard - that is a good example when a star and an auteur do not cooperate well on screen) even though he does absolutely nothing to make them look even remotely presentable on screen.

Well my main problem with the film was a visual one. The male lead Lee Jung Jin and as you can clearly see below

 Photo credit NY Times

He had visible plastic surgery. Now I wouldn't have minded that much if the character was not a debt collector who actually maims the debtors unable to pay what they owe (it is an insurance scam of sorts). He really is not a man vain enough to spend much time in front of a mirror etc. So despite the fact that the performance was top notch, I just couldn't leave the plastic enhancements behind.

Oh the plot: Kang Do has an empty life where he turns people into cripples during the day, buys live chickens, kille them in the bath room and boil them for dinner in the evening, weirdly masturbates in his sleep at night.
One day a strange women starts to stalk him claiming that she is his mother who is now regrets that she left him as soon as he was born. She asks for forgiveness and pesters him silently day and night. Well Kang do is actually not really a monster but a lonely man with not much sympathy for anything but he is not immune to motherly love (his "mother" loves him so much that she lets him have sex with her). So begins a tale of an elaborate revenge (not only scale of Old Boy revenge - which is the best revenge I have seen anywhere- but much better than most).

So all in all I liked the film but not really in love with it.

Captain America

Captain America is not a particularly favorite super hero of mine (apparently I like the angry guys, Wolverine and Hulk) but this one was recommended by two colleagues (at different times) and I'm glad I saw it.

Although the action was not really that visible I enjoyed the story.

I'll recommend, however it is not a must see as far as I'm concerned.

Bazıları Siyah Sever

Bazıları Siyah Sever Bu kitap geçen seneden beri elimde ama derleme olduğu için ara ara okudum. Barbaros Altuğ'un gerek tweetleri, gerek röportajlarında söyledikleri aklıma yatan şeyler ve her zaman aynı fikirde olmasak ta gazetelerde yazarken hiç kaçırmazdım. 

Ayrıca birinci bölüm kitap tavsiyeleri, ikinci bölüm neler olmuş neler bitmiş hatırlamak açısından elde bulunması faydalı. 

Yazı dili akıcı ve esprileri şahane olan Sayın Altuğ keşke bir roman yazsa. 

The Quick and The Dead

The Quick and The Dead I remember loving this one when I first watched it. And I still liked it a lot the second time.

Now it is a revenge film which is one of my favorite themes in fiction (probably because I do not get it at all), and I liked everyone that was in it.

The lead is a female gun fighter and I liked it that she is very independent. She has balls enough not only to pick Russel Crowe up for a one night stand but not to live happily ever after with him but choosing to ride alone in the sunset. Kudos Ellen!

The villain is acted by Gene Hackman who is a great Western villain (he was also wonderful in Unforgiven). This is a cartoonish film where we get to see the bullet holes etc. and the actors all went along with it. There were some over explanation (a fault I usually detect in USA films) but it didn't really hurt.

It is highly recommended.

And look how everyone was so young:

Leo (adorable)

 Photo Credit: cineme.be


Badass Ellen

Photo credit: myreviewer.com

and Russel Crowe

Photo credit: ahashare.com


All in all, it was a good viewing and very entertaining.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Ok I went in to this one without any prior information. Audible had it and I just didn't have a particular preference at the time. And I like Jim Broadbent (who did a fine job). 

This one ended up being something similar but also different to British chick lit novels (and I like many of them). I loved it despite the small flaws (I'd have edited some repetitive description of scenery, and some of those were really good and inventive but too much). There is a twist in the novel which I started to see coming probably when the author wanted me to. But knowing it wouldn't lessen the reading experience.

This one is very English (you know the type of novel I'm talking about), uplifting and well written. I recommend if you are into this kind of book. 

But it is not a must read if you are into the genre(?).

The Gauntlet

The Gauntlet is a bargain bin purchase and only because Clint Eastwood directed and starred in it. I do love Clint Eastwood both as actor and as director. So I was pretty sure that I'll end up liking this film.

The surprise was that I saw it ages ago when I was a teenager and was in boarding school. We "the boarders" were invited to watch films at a "day" friend of ours and the film selected was that one (usually it was Footloose or, Paradise or that island film starring Brooke Shields etc.) and I don't think The Gauntlet was something my parents would have let me watch if they knew I was going to. Well I remembered many of the scenes (most probably because some were shockingly explicit) and I remember liking it a lot.

With the adult eye this film doesn't hold up as well. Even though it is filmed very well and Clint is great as usual the flaws are very conspicuous.

The story is about a drunk cop who is given the task to escort a witness from Las Vegas to Phoenix. His chief tells him that the witness is not very important. When he goes there he sees that the witness is not only a woman but also a prostitute and that everyone in Vegas wants to kill them both. He is determined to carry this task (mostly I think because he was so surprised and pissed off that the only reason he was chosen is that because he was expendable and thought a lousy cop) rather than ethics and beliefs.

The flaws start with lead actress (Sandra Locke) who I think was Clint's girlfriend or something. She is a very good looking lady and she really tries but acting talent is not something one acquires by effort. She doesn't have it.

One scene involves Clint trying to get away from a sharp shooter on a helicopter. Clint and Sandra are on a bike (I think a Harley) and driving in the desert. And they were not shot. Despite the fact that they are out in the open with nothing obscuring the vision of the guy at the helicopter with the rifle. Now what was that all about? I'm a gullible viewer and do not mind some silliness but really that was just insulting.

Also our hero Shockley hits Gus (our heroine) more than once. I didn't like it at all and she falls in love with him despite it. Ok he comes to respect her intelligence and bravery and is better than the stupid cop they kidnapped but still. I understand being macho and all but it is not OK to hit a woman just because she is there and she is not in a position to fight back.

But Clint is Clint and she is the more clever one who actually saves his life on more than one occasion so I decided not to dwell on that.

All in all this one is only and only for people who love Clint (both as actor and director). 

Noah

Noah  Yesterday a friend from work has sang praises to this one so I decided to check it out. The subtitled versions were either at 19:00 or at 21:45 and since I didn't want to miss the evening prayer, I have decided to go to the 21:45 one. And of course I have missed the morning prayer :(

The film was a big surprise to me since I was completely ready and prepared for a religious epic (a modern Ten Commandments or Prince of Egypt or something like that) and I have found a psycological drama.

There are some religious messages but the biggest cause seems to be environmentalist and the story is more a study of family dynamics and one man's inner turmoils. It has minimal similarities to Noah's story in the holy books. Yes there is an ark, yes there are animals in couples, yes there is a flood caused as a punishment for people. But that is about it. Noah's family and how the decisions he takes affect them and himself are the central points of the film I suppose.

The villain is a king descendent from Cain and an industrialist, caring nothing about the nature, environment and the obvious consequences of his actions. His people are a sorry bunch, having to live in a dog eat dog world and hooked on meat (yeah meat eating is considered very very bad). Also I think eating meat makes one stupid since these people fight over a scrap of meat when there are lots of other things to eat around them. So if the point is not dying from hunger they certainly had other options but they seemed to be unaware of them.

And Noah doesn't take any of these people on his ark even though they are desparate to get on it. No one questions the coming disaster, everyone wants to live. Noah even leaves an innocent girl caught in an animal trap (his son Hem befriended the girl and was trying get her on board). So unlike holy books, Noah here is very anthipatic.

I liked the film a lot. First of all there were a lot of close up shots, the acting was very good all around (highlights were Russel Crowe, Jennifer Connely and Emma Watson - Ray Winstone is a fave of mine but this sort of role he can do sleeping, it was not as challenging), the cinematography was excellent.

All in all I had a great time and shed tears over the melodrama.


There are some negatives of course the first and foremost being Russel Crowe's hair (yes, it is rather silly but it was so distracting especially at the last two scenes - it made me realise how important hair and make up in a film is). 

Kocan Kadar Konuş

Kocan Kadar Konuş bana türünün İngiliz versiyonlarını hatırlattı. Hatta en çok Brigitte Jones'un Günlüğü'nü. Bu kitaba da en az onun kadar güldüm. Hatta serviste ve spor odasında engel olamadığım kahkahalarım yüzünden garip bakışlarda almış olabilirim. 'Türk Kızı' olarak gayet güzel adlandırılan belli tip bir kesimi çok başarılı bir şekilde ti'ye alan ve romantik dokusunu da koruyabilen, çok eğlenceli bir roman(ya da novella). Tavsiye ederim.

The Age of Innocence

The Age of Innocence, the novel has hit me like a storm. And also made me appreciate this adaptation a lot more. It is a hard novel to adapt and Mr.Scorsese did a great job with it. After watching this film again, my only complaint remains of the casting. Unrelated to their performances, since both did a good job, Ms.Pfeiffer and Ms.Ryder are both very different the way their characters were described in the novel. Again other than that, I think this is as good as an adaptation could get.

Sinek Isırıklarının Müellifi

Sinek Isırıklarının Müellifi Bu kitabı idefix'ten yaptığım bir alışveriş sırasında hakkında çok sattığı ve sevildiği dışında bir bilgim olmadan almıştım (yeni Türk yazarları tanıma çabası kapsamında). Bazı yerleri çok güzel olsa da karakterlerle pek bağdaşamadım. Cemil ve Nazlı'nın sevgileri çok güzeldi ama 'bir an önce bitse de ben de rahat etsem' duygusu içinde okudum. Bu arada Müellif "yazar" demekmiş onu öğrendim bu sayede.

Kitap, eğer aynı dalga boyunu tutturabilirseniz gayet güzel olacak, ancak o dalga boyunda değilseniz çok ta keyif vermeyebilecek bir roman. Risk sizin. 

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

Do not bother with The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. I don't even know what I have watched it till the end (except maybe because I like Charlize Theron (small part in the film) ). 

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

G.I. Joe:Retaliation was dropped at my lap by our Turkish equivalent of Tivo. And since I like action films, do not particularly mind campy ones and like Bruce Willis and The Rock and I LOVE Lee Byung Hun so I have decided not to throw it away and watch it.

Well it was entertaining LBH was perfect and all in all I do not regret, although I won't go as far as recommend.

Ilo Ilo

Ilo Ilo is a festival darling of a film directed and written by Anthony Chen. I was able to watch it this weekend on festival channel and loved it. It is a slice of life story of a family in Singapore and their Filipino maid. The actors, the sets and the story all merged into one delicious mound of drama that says what it wants to say but without hammering it into our heads. Everyone's flaws are on display but these make them only human and not villains.

Highly recommended.

The visual is from the film's imdb page

Kara Para Ask - Bölüm 4

Kara Para Aşk  son zamanlarda izlediğim tek Türk dizisi oldu. Ne zamandır ne G.Kore, ne Japon ne de Türk dizisi izliyorum. Aslında galiba izleme alışkanlığımı yitirdim ben Koh Samui'de. Ha bire kitap okumak istiyorum.

Neyse dizimize dönelim. Başrol oyuncuları daha önce pek sevdiklerim olmamasına rağmen, kaliteli çekimler, daha önce pek rastlamadığım ilginç ve epey potansiyeli olan bir konu ve erkek ve kadın oyuncu arasındaki ekran uyumu beni bu diziye bağladı. Kaydedip izliyorum her hafta.

Kızımızın ismi benimle aynı "Elif". Kendisi zengin bir ailenin ayrıcalıklı evladı, mücevher tasarımı yapıyor ve Babasının kontrolünde olan bir Şirket'i var İtalya'da.

Oğlumuzun adı "Ömer" fakir bir genç ama kendisi polis ve Van gibi karışık bir yerde görevini icra etmekte. Kendisi iyi kalpli, becerikli ve çay tiryakisi. Tek ağabeyi İstanbul'da ailesi (eşi ve bir oğlan bir kız çocukları) ve Anne'si ile yaşıyor. Ağabeyde Polis ancak maddi sıkıntıda.

Şimdi bir gün Elif'in Babası ve Ömer'in nişanlısı aynı araba beraberken cinayete kurban gidiyorlar. Buna rağmen kahramanlarımız karşılaşmayabilir ve ayrı dünyalarında yaşamaya devam edebilirdi. Ancak Ömer nişanlısının böyle bir adam ile ne gibi bir ilgisi olduğunu (Allah'tan hiç bir zaman çıkarılacak en sıradan sonuç olan metres'liği yakıştırmadı merhuma) araştırırken, Elif'in kardeşi Nilüfer kaçırılıyor. Ve Anne'sinin tabiriyle Nilüş üzerinden Elif'e tehdit ile kara para aklatmaya çalışıyorlar (ve üçüncü bölümde başarıyorlar). Meğerse bu çete Elif'in merhum babası ile ortak çalışarak her iki taraf için de güzel işleyen bir kara para aklama düzeneği kurmuş ve hiçbir şeyden habersiz Elif'in adına kayıtlı mücevher firması üzerinden yıllardır kara para aklıyorlarmış.

Ana kötü adam Tayyar ailenin yakın dostu görünümünde ve kimsesin bu kara para/Nilüfer'in kaçırılması işinin arkasında onun olduğundan haberi yok. Zira kirli işlerini Metin adındaki adamına yaptırıyor. Bu arada Elif'in Annesi daha önce kalp krizi geçirdiğinden Nilüfer'in kaçırıldığını kendisinden saklıyor Elif ve diğer başka bir kişiye söylerse Nilüfer'e zarar vereceklerini söylediklerinden kimseye anlatamıyor.

Tabii Ömer (ve iki çok yakın arkadaşı) işin içinde bit yeniği olduğunu anlıyorlar ve üçüncü bölümde olanları gayet doğru şekilde tahmin ediyorlar.

Bu arada kaybolan milyon dolarlık elmaslar, ailenin yardımlarıyla yetişen ve için için onları kıskanan Elif'in en yakın arkadaşı Bahar (ve çalıntı elmasları herkesten önce bulup yırtma planları - hatta bu bölümde kendi sevgilisini Elif'e yamama kararı bile aldı - Wings of Dove ve The Master of The Game'den sonra bu plot aynı tadı bir daha verir mi bilemiyorum), Nilüfer'r aşık ve heryerde onu arayan Tayyar'ın oğlu, Elif'in tuhaf ve sorunlu Ablası ve ona Tayyar'ın metresi ile ihanet eden kocası vs. derken dizi gayet heyecanlı devam ediyor.

Elif (Tuba Büyüküstün)

Elif ve Ömer (Sevgili taklidi yaparken)

Görselleri harika Türkçe dizi sitesi

ekranella

Portal of The Wind

Portal of The Wind is one of the books I have got in second hand bookstores in Berkeley since not only I like murder mysteries, I like English translations of Japanese novels (there is not one so far that I have not enjoyed for a degree). Well I liked the translation but this one is not a murder mystery. It actually is sort of a discussion about the consequences of two medical operations where healthy heads are attached to healthy bodies of people who end up being brain dead. And writing like that one thinks that it is going to be exciting, gory or something more than a dry narration of the events. But it was not. There is murder and a small mystery but it is perhaps 15 % of the story. It occured to me as I write this that the mystery was how the relations of the people who were operated on found out about the whole thing. So there is a mystery but it just was not very exciting to me. I won't recommend this one.

The Age of Innocence

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton was a classic that I somehow stayed away from. Usually I immediately want to read the book if I see a film adaptation but for this one I was strangely reluctant. And after all these years, this novel came into my life in the form of an audiobook. And I liked it so very much that I actually stayed until 01:30 to finish it (only less than an hour left and I simply was not able to wait for tomorrow). I love the prose, the structure of sentences and descriptions such as "the dangerous easiness of safety". The reader was also very good.

So far I have only seen two film from Edith Wharton adaptations (The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth) and again while I liked both very much, I never felt the need to seek the novels - maybe because of all the general gloominess and incomprehensible helplessness of the main characters - but my eyes are opened to a prose very suitable to my reading tendencies and I hope that I'll read more novels of Mr.Wharton.

Now a bit about the adaptation. I think it ended up being an excellent one. Daniel Day Lewis is an amazing actor and now I can appreciate his performance even more (of course I want to go and watch the film again right away, right now while still under the spell of the story).
But the thing strike me as odd regarding casting -not that there is anything wrong with it since both Pfeiffer and Rider are really good - is the physical types. In the novel May is a golden, blue haired beaty and Madam Olenska is dark haired and eyed and not as physically pretty as may.  I find the contrast interesting in the novel. Usually brunettes are cast as the villains and this role reversal pleased me in the novel. And I liked the fact that Newland liked Ellen as a whole, and liked her character and self better than her appereance (of course in real life this would not be very likely no?) In the film Ms.Pfeiffer is very good looking,  a lot better looking than Ms.Rider. So I wondered whether actors physically more suited to present this juxtaposition would have been more interesting to watch.  If I cast this now, I'd go for Scarlett Johanson for May and Natalie Portman as Ellen (and in my dream casting Mr.Lewis would be still the same age and stay as Newland). 

The Girl Next Door

The Girl Next Door turned out to be a story I actually new (from the film An American Crime). In mid 60s a woman her children (some of them teens) torture and kill a 16 year old girl with some of the neighbourhood kids participating.

The novel sets the story in the end of 50s and change the facts a bit but the gist of the story remains. I liked Mr.Ketchum's Offspring and this novel was just as good. I was duly horrified and wanted to actually get in the novel and prevent what was going to happen. The story teller is a 12,5 year old boy who is the next door neighbour. And he -at the beginning- condones what was happening (which is torturing the poor girl). Here the writer tries to shine a light on the phsyche of the participants. There is Ruth, an adult they like and trust not just allowing but instructing them to punish the girl they all desire and envy. But he soon realises that what is happening is not only wrong but also dangerous. First he worries about being considered an accomplice -which he was since although he didn't do anything, he sure liked to watch- and doesn't tell about it. On the other hand another kid in the neighbourhood does tell and the parents don't take him seriously (which is the most chilling part for me, people not reacting to child abuse - one of the neighbours beat his wife and kids and everyone knows but they don't do anything). But I think if David told, his parents would take him seriously and looked into the matter.

Then he tries to help her escape (and came up with a good plan but it doesn't work since she wants to take her sister too - the sister who is hurt at a previous accident cannot walk without steel braces (had polio in real story) is the tool Ruth uses on our poor heroine to get her do what she wants. And not only that she sexually abuses the sister a well.

So in the end David joins the captives and is locked up with them. Which is how they are found out since his parents started to look for him. Well what David did was inexcusable but I believe in redemption and he tried to do the right thing in the end.

I really recommend this novel but one has to have a strong stomach (it is not that gory - hah especially in comparison to Offspring- but evil is more scary than gore).

The Howling

The Howling is one of the three dvds I got from the bargain bin at the supermarket (I thought I'd just glance over and spend about 20 minutes going through the dvds which were haphazardly thrown in). I has aged and not in a good way but I really enjoyed it. Not really recommended unless you feel nostalgic about this type of film. 

The Snowman

The Snowman as I finish each Jo Nesbo novel with Harry Hole, they get better. But sadly as a side effect I begun to recognise his tells and in the end inadvertantly spared the twist. Still, I love them and I really like Harry Hole as a character.