April

Oops. April came and went and I'm still adding onto this list.

1. No Country for Old Men (2007)
• Well that was unexpected.
2. Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
• The novel felt infinitely more sad than the movie, but each complements the other well, so that I wouldn't say either to watch the movie or read the book, but not do the other. I'm interested to see where the sequel to the movie is going to take this, though. There's not too much ground more to cover past Oliver leaving. (Well actually, there's a lot, but it's not a lot of pages, and I'm not sure that it would work if you showed them living their lives outside of what they had and then finally had them meet back up. We'll see, whenever the sequel comes out.)
• Elio's incessant thinking about his thoughts and trying to be calculated - and then being seen through by the very object of his affections - should strike a chord with many readers, I think. It's both the older Elio looking back on his teenage self and seeing exactly what he was doing, remembering how he knew even then exactly what he was doing and thinking in layers, and also the obsessive record-keeping to ensure nothing is forgotten, nothing escapes. Of course, memories inevitably do.
3. Lady Bird (2017)
• Not nearly as good as I expected given the rave reviews about it (or at least the feeling that people LOVED it). I do like the ending, but most of that high school experience was not experienced by me in any way similar to how Lady Bird did, which made it all less complex for me to watch than for maybe others? I'm not sure. There were definitely gems in the movie, including the complexity of the relationship between mother and daughter, especially when they're at the Value Village (or whatever thrift store it is) and Lady Bird says, "I wish you liked me" to her mom.
4. The Stoning of Soraya M. (2008)
• The end killed me: What was the point? What was it all for?
5. The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan Watts
• Ugh.
• It's been a while since a book has made me feel this upset about it, and it's in part because of what's written, but it's definitely the way it's written that irritates me more. A few pages in past the introduction, I think, and I already ran into something that sounded a lot like string theory, but I wasn't sure whether Watts was referring to that or describing something from a more mystical standpoint - and the thing is, in a later chapter, he talks about quantum theory, besides which this is the 60s and I'm pretty sure that's when string theory kind of blew up, so it's not like he's describing something entirely new (not that he's suggesting that directly, but by not making any reference to existing frameworks, I can't help but feel like that's what he's sort of trying to come across as doing). I read this on recommendation, and I definitely see where that person's coming from and how this influenced their perspective because I see the ideas Watts presents in how they speak about the way they see the world, but personally Watts came across as being a bit too much for me.
6. Io sono l'amore/I Am Love (2009)
• That opening was actually so incredibly reminiscent of Call Me By Your Name that it surprised me - I know the director's the same, but are all of Guadagnino's films like this?
• It's interesting that we don't really hear Antonio's side of the story, in that we have no idea how serious he is, and what he feels about the consequences of his actions.
7. I Smile Back (2015)
• "It's bigger than that."
8. Frantz (2016)
• It was pretty predictable almost all throughout, but it was still an enjoyable film. I think the father's change of heart regarding Adrien was well done, as well as the portrayal of more generally what happens when the generalized "other"/enemy is separated into the individual that you must confront - I doubt Adrien was much bothered by the other faceless people he surely must have killed throughout the war.
9. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach
• Going by the three I've read, it's actually pretty easy to place Roach's books in order of publication just based on how they're written. Bonk was enjoyable, with a bit less of the tiresome asides found in Stiff, but Gulp is still a smoother read yet.
• Funny thing is, I don't think I learned much that was new to me in this book, which is enlightening in and of itself. It didn't really feel like the last chapter was supposed to be the last chapter - almost as though Roach didn't plan it out well enough and realized she had run out of things to say, so might as well end it here! - and I was left a little disappointed. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but probably something a bit more in depth, where Roach actually shares more of her obviously deep research into the literature into sex.
10. Une Nouvelle Amie (2014)
• What happened to Gilles at the end? Did Claire end up accepting Virginia as she is and leave Gilles for her??
11. Getting Off: One Woman's Journey Through Porn and Sex Addiction by Erica Garza
12. mother! (2017)
• The reviews have been pretty polarized one way or the other about this movie, but I actually quite enjoyed it! While I'm not too sure whether the allegory was regarding mother earth or more speaking to religion, and overall I felt like it was being shoved down my throat somewhat, I still enjoyed the buildup to what was a somewhat predictable end - predictable, but fitting.
13. Melissa P. (2005)
• When she went all "I'm different now, I wonder how Marco would draw me" etc., I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT. How is she different now? She knows how to swim. Damn, girl.
• Otherwise... I'm really not feeling this much at all.
14. Brief Encounter (1945)
• Wow does that movie poster on IMDb ever look creepy!
• I'm reminded of Romeo and Juliet, except grown up, with much more reserve, and no helping hands.