lifeofreilley.com

Anita Shreve

This quick, easy read was enjoyable and engaging, just like The Pilot’s Wife.  Shreve starts this novel with Robert Dillon and his daughter, Nicky, finding an abandoned baby in the snow near their house. Dillon and Nicky have their own painful past that they are running from, and the baby brings up old memories that the two struggle to deal with.

David Rakoff

I didn’t find Fraud as funny as Don’t Get Too Comfortable.  Maybe part of the problem was that I missed some of Rakoff’s obscure references and jokes.  Rakoff is very self-deprecating, which can sometimes be funny, but his writing style is so complex that I found it hard to follow, especially on audiobook.

I like Jason Segel in “How I Met Your Mother”, so I was looking forward to his movie.  It was funny, but with just a tad too much full-frontal nudity.  Segel must be very comfortable in front of the camera.  The star of the show, though, was Russell Brand who plays Sarah Marshall’s British boyfriend.  Some of the funniest scenes were the ones that included Brand and Segel.

Rating: ***

Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book is about success and why some people find it more easily than others.  Gladwell makes the point that it’s rarely the case that someone rises to great heights without a little help, advantage, or opportunity.  He covers topics on why the best ice hockey players are born in January, why descendants of Jewish garment workers became great lawyers in New York City, and why certain countries have a much higher rate of plane crashes.  As usual, the stories and examples he chose for his book all neatly fit his theory, and his theory does make sense.  But, like Publishers Weekly’s review of the book, I’m “left wondering about the data he evaluated and rejected because it did not support his argument”.  Still, the reason I like Gladwell’s books is that I always learn something I didn’t know before starting the book.

Twilight is based on the first book in a series I read last year.  I thought the books were great and was looking forward to the film.  For all of the negative press it got, it really wasn’t that bad.  Kristen Stewart did a decent job of playing Bella.  I wasn’t impressed with Robert Pattinson’s portrayal of Edward, though.  He wore this bizarre pained look on his face for most of the movie and it irritated me.  Plus, I pictured an Edward who was more handsome and mysterious.  In the book, Bella describes Edward as being “impossibly beautiful”.  I think someone more like Henry Cavill would’ve been a better pick, but I digress.  Overall, I enjoyed the film and will probably watch it again soon.

Rating: ***

Bill Maher’s interesting documentary examines faith and politics, presenting a large amount of statistics and arguments against organized religion.  While I don’t know the accuracy of those stats, there was an interesting one: 93% of scientists in the American National Academy of Sciences are atheist or agnostic.  I didn’t expect that number to be so high.

Bill Maher knows his stuff.  He’s well read, and although opinionated and an athiest, he is knowledgeable about religion and he makes some of the priests/ministers/religious leaders look foolish.  Some of that is probably film editing, but in general, he didn’t come across anyone that was able to really come up with any valid arguments to Maher’s questions.

Rating: ***+

Anne Hathaway plays an interesting role as a recovering addict leaving a rehab home and returning to her family’s home, where her sister, Rachel, is getting married.  While Rachel feels a deep love for her sister, Kym’s return brings out a lot of issues from the past and fills the wedding weekend with tension.

Rating: ***+

Curtis Sittenfeld

While this book is a work of fiction, and “loosely inspired” by the life of Laura Bush, I found myself asking the question, “Did that really happen to Laura?” throughout the entire novel.  After reading an interview with the author, where Sittenfeld states that she feels about 85% of the book is made up, I had to let go of the idea that Sittenfeld had some secret, unique knowledge of the former First Lady’s life.  In her novel, Sittenfeld’s main character is Alice Lindgren.  Alice meets and falls in love with Charlie Blackwell, who is a goofy, immature, boyish character that [not surprisingly] resembles George W. Bush.  The book follows Alice from her childhood home in Wisconsin to the White House where she struggles with her values and the choices her husband makes during his time as president.

This 11-minute movie won the Academy Award for best animated short film.  For only 11 minutes, it was a really moving film.  An old man lives in a town submerged in water.  He must continually add bricks to the top of his house to keep up with the rising water.  When he swims down to a lower, submerged level of his house to retrieve his pipe, the memories associated with each level of house come back to him.  There’s no narration or dialogue in this film, but the piano music conveys a sense of sadness and longing as the old man relives his life.

Rating: ****

I saw this movie the day before it won an Academy Award for best documentary.  It was good - especially the old footage from Philippe’s early days.  And the build-up as Philippe and his friends plan to sneak into the World Trade Center to set up a high wire for Philippe to cross is suspenseful, even though I knew the outcome.  The enthusiasm of Philippe and his friends, especially during their interviews, is exciting and even though this event occurred more than 30 years ago, they talk as if it happened just last week.

Rating: ***+