The Two Towers

The Two Towers the film is even worse adaptation than The Fellowship of the Ring. It is not a bad film but it just does not compare to the novel and I didn't like the liberties the director took. For instance Faramir is one of the few people who seems immune to the lure of the ring and doesn't even bat an eye lash when he was in a position to get it. He simply lets our little travellers go their course (only worried that they took the most perilious path imaginable). In the film Faramir struggles with himself and only lets them go their way in Osgiliard.

I had a bit of a crush on Faramir the first time I read the novel but now it is all about Frodo as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway the film and its liberties and also unnecessary whimsies (as Legolas skateboarding in Helm's Deep) and them turning Gimli into comic relief are all turn offs.  

The Two Towers

The Two Towers only cemented my love of Lord of the Rings. It is as if I'm reading the books for the first time and I'm so entertained and into it that I simply don't want it to end but keep reading because it is so good. I'm pretty much used to this reader and we are just fine.  

Liar Game

Liar Game interested me only because S.Korea remade it and there was a good buzz around it. Then my sister also recommended it so I bought it to give it a try. Well I need to remember my sister and my tastes are different. This drama is all about battle of wits after battle of wits staged as a game where you can win or lose money based on how smart you are. We have the "angel" female who is pretty, very honest and well intentioned. And we have the mysterious hero a moody ex-con with a golden heart but intent on revenge. Will our heroine's angelic light be able to save our hero from the darkness that revenge inevitably will bring? On the paper it sounds like my thing but despite loving "the angel" type this one just annoyed me. I do not care for the male lead either and all the convoluted calculations on how to win each stupid game left me with boredom rather than suspense. Anyway I think I fell asleep for about 10 minutes towards the end but still managed to see that ( SPOILER) angel conquered the stony heart of game master and his side kick, managed to save everyone from being bad people, turned hero to the right path and still ran after him like a little puppy.

Anyway I can see how it entertained lots of people but this definitely is not my thing and I don't even want to watch Korean remake now. 

The Ocean At The End of The Lake

The Ocean at The End of The Lake It seems very odd that I was introduced to Neil Gaiman's work through James McAvoy. I had a heavy crush for him and when I saw that he starred in a radio play audibook version of Neverwhere, I immediately went for it. However the colleague who lets me use his audiobook account downloaded another version, unabridged and read by the Author. Well nothing to do but give it a try and I LOVED it. Fortunately my colleauge loved it too and actually purchased American Gods which I too loved. So I when I saw this at JFK airport I had to get it.

And it is a wonderful novel. Too short for me but just enough for the story. A child who had a traumatic - and really scary - experience but received good help and gained kind friends. Highly recommended.



And I'm very happy that I had a crush on Mr.McAvoy :) since even though my film crushes are usually temporary (it seems only Edward Norton and Leonardo DiCaprio remain constant so far) my literary crushes usually last a long time (in fact I don't think I have ever dropped one) 

Rio 2

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

Rio 2 is a very good follow up to the first film. Some parts of it reminded me of Meet The Parents but that didn't bother me and I had a ball with the characters I knew and liked. Recommended 

American Woman

American Woman is one of the novels I have picked up at a secondhand book store in San Francisco. The bullet holes are part of the cover art (heh).
I liked it. Despite the seemingly mysterious and action filled plot, the novel is dreamy and introspective with sentences flowing among the characters' psyches and descriptions of the environment. It is not the type of novel that one feels unwilling to leave but it is gripping while reading it. Recommended and I will be on the lookout for the author's previous novel The Foreign Student. 

The Fellowship of the Ring (The Novel)

The Fellowship of The Ring I liked the novel even better the second time. I didn't really like the audiobook narrator though. He did a great job and he even sings the songs but the voices he makes mix with eachother very often (like Gandalf's speech is so similar to Aragorn's) Anyway this is a pet peeve, I'm having a great time with the trilogy.