Serendipity

Photo credit: http://www.boxofficeprophets.com


Serendipity was not a film I wanted to watch bad. First off I don't like John Cusack and seriously don't get his appeal (here I need to say that I'm able to change my mind from time to time - cases in point Christian Bale and Scarlett Johanson- but with this guy I never did) and I don't like Kate Beckinsale. She is pretty and she made a great Emma but she is not an actress based on whom I'd choose a film to watch.

But I love a rom com and since it was on TV I felt I could enjoy it on some level. I didn't. In my opinion this is how one should not film a rom com. Yes rom com leads always act silly and nonsensical but there is a method to the madness. Not in the case of these two. It just didn't make sense on any level. I actually fell asleep towards the end.

Strange Weather in Tokyo

Strange Weather in Tokyo was suggested to me by amazon. This is one of those times I was glad that they did. Normally any English translation of a Japanese novel gives me a lot of pleasure but this time I seriously fell in love with it. This is a love story a May December romance that progresses slowly but surely and I was in tears at the end. I need to find more novels of Hiromi Kawakami.  

The Girl With All The Gifts

The Girl With All The Gifts was lauded by a book web site that I frequent and spoiler phobe that I'm, I never checked the plot etc. That was a mistake on my part. This book is one of those killer virus turning people into hungry predator hunting their -former- kind, a handful of humans trying to survive etc. It was so not my thing. The girl with all the gifts of the title is a hybrid that carries the virus but not as affected as the others. It is probably a good novel but I'm simply not interested in this genre and it took me a longer time to finish it than it usually would (note to self, at least check whether the book is a killer virus kind of book or not before buying it).

The Terminal

Picture credit: http://pointofview.bluehighways.com

The Terminal was not a film I had been keen on viewing. Despite the fact(s) that I love Tom Hanks (such an excellent actor), I love Steven Spielberg (despite his misplaced whimsies from time to time) and I love airports and flying.

Anyway at a time when I was suffering from severe toothache (root canal renewal and I can't take painkillers and didn't think of alcohol) I saw this one at Dvdigi and gave it a try. It is not surprise that I loved it. This is best viewed as one of those fairy tale films where one does not need to get stuck up with the facts. I love the cast (Diego Luna was a welcome surprise) and the airport (JFK) that still had more bookstores than it now has. Tears flowed (though I'm not sure whether those were due to the film or the toothache) and a good time was had despite the odds. 

Phantom

Phantom waited until I had free points in my credit card. And it turned out to be one of the best of Harry Hole books. Poor Harry is put to lots of emotional and physical difficulties.

SPOILER

And the novel end with Harry being shot by Oleg, the son of the love of his life with whom he can now release all the hopes of being together in the future since not only Oleg is the killer but also Harry tried to arrest him. A mother is not going to forgive or forget that. Children usually trumps husbands. As Harry lies at a junkie den with three bullets inside him (one in the head) I felt terribly sorry for the guy. And this one had excellent twists (one I saw coming and the other I didn't see).

Of course I know Harry is going to live (the poor guy has a finger cut off, has a large, nasty scar on his face and now is on the brink of death, this is on top of  being an alcoholic, causing a colleagues death due to drunk driving, having a girl friend getting killed by a serial killer, having the love of his life almost get killed by another serial killer - this is when he lost his finger- and falling on and off the vagon various times (at least once in each book including this one).

I'll wait a bit until reading the one after this (Policeman) but I still like Harry and was saved from dropping him by this good book. 

Exodus: Gods and Kings

Exodus: Gods and Kings is the rare film that gets me to theater. Christian Bale and Ridley Scott are two names I like in cinema and I'm not anti Joel Edgerton either. However the main reason is that I like (and believe in) the story of Moses and Aaron and how they saved the Jewish people from Pharoah's cruelties.

However, as Noah, this one was dissapointing in the fact that religious aspects were kind of dimmed by choice. In this day and age where cinema can better show God's miracles, the directors are after making action or pschological thrillers. And this one is the former. There are the miracles of course (it is hard to avoid them in the story) but they are kind of explained by scientific terms and there is even a suggestion that the God's messages were Moses' hallucinations (after hitting his head on the way to the mountain).

I'm a religious person but of the live and let live kind and I don't mind the interpretations or the choices of the director but I wanted to watch a bona fide religious miracle film where Moses and Aaron beats Pharoah with God's miracles and the Red Sea opening up and swallowing the bad guys. Well the Red Sea here has receded as a tide and then risen again. But I was hoping more like the animations in The Prince of Egypt where the sea is divided into two etc. And also I wanted to see Moses' staff eating the magicians tricks up and his hand becoming all white and luminous. Anyway I didn't fall asleep or anything and the acting was fine but all in all I was not satisfied. It just was not a good film you know. Not like, say, Gladiator where one roots for Maximus and gets caught up in the story. I think Moses and Aaron deserved better.

Fever Pitch

Fever Pitch  I like Farrely Brothers' films except Dumb and Dumber and Say It Ain't So. There is Something About Mary is probably my all time favorite comedy and I kind of enjoy Heartbreak Kid and usually don't change the channel when it is on. But Fever Pitch has a different place. For some reason I like it a lot as a rom com and a nice fan film. As the years pass, it is now clear to me that I'm not a fan. I'm fickle and prone to get sick of things quickly (in Turkish we call this Monkey Apetite).
This one gave me an idea of how someone can be a dedicated sports team fan and be rational at all the rest of other parts of his life. Also this film is kind of special since it is about Red Sox and they became champions after decades during the filming of it. Good coincidence.