Possumblog

Entertainment!

BOOKS--One of the other loose ends of minutiae with which I feel compelled to burden you with is that I did finish up my David McCullough book 1776 while away. Turned out better than I thought the first chapter would indicate. After that brief bit of barely disguised politicking, the rest of the book was relatively straightforward, although the pains to which McCullough goes to collect sources to represent our current addiction to the concept of "diversity" are sometimes distracting.

But overall, it was a breezy and relatively good overview of a crucial year in our history, at least in the pop-culture history genre of books. It lacks breadth in that it does little to address events or persons not directly related to Washington or his adversaries. International events and intrigue, especially between Congress and the French and Dutch are barely even mentioned, nor are strategic events outside of Washington's theater of operation, including the very important naval war. But a more comprehensive look at these would necessarily create a more dense and less easily read (and sold) book.

Although I realize the book's audience is probably intended as more casual readers, I do have a big quibble with the lack of maps. There are a couple of photos of historic maps, but it would be nice to have accurate maps--something large and clear enough to be of some actual use, rather than merely as pretty pictures. This is especially true given some of the detailed descriptions of troop movements in the seige of Boston and of the Long Island campaign. If the audience is not expected to be history buffs, all that talk of how big and long defensive positions are is meaningless without good maps.

Next up is a book I'm reading about secret weapons in World War II. I can't remember the name of it at all.

MOVIES--I took Jonathan and Catherine to go see Cars Monday, and I have to tell you, if you're a car nut, go see it. The kids enjoyed it immensely--even Catherine, who sat through the whole thing without having to hit the restrooms. The scenery is very nearly photographic, and quite clever in incorporating every possible automotive theme, as well as a host of inside jokes and voice-over cameos by various racing and media types.

It's almost crass to talk about the storyline being a bit contrived--I mean, let's face it, it's a cartoon movie with cars who act like PEOPLE--but still, if they were people, the story would be a bit on the predictably hokey side.

Still, there is a moment when Doc Hudson (a '51 Hudson Hornet, voiced by Paul Newman) is alone out on the edge of town at a big dirt path out in the desert, and he's trying to figure out if he still has some of the old spirit of his youth. After a few wheezing stumbles, the sound of a roaring Twin-H Power flathead six comes booming out of his tailpipe, and I swear to goodness it made the hair on my neck stand up and a tear come to my eye. It's even happening as I'm typing this--there is just something alive and visceral about cars that the animators were able to capture. Aside from the whole idea of "movie" and plotline and the peculiar suspensions of disbelief that must be undertaken to enjoy the picture, THAT one moment in that one scene was worth the whole price of admission. Put it on your gotta see list if you're an adult who loves automobiles. If you don't like cars that much, and don't get the whole racing deal, well, you might as well skip it.

The other movie I saw was one we've had on DVD at the house for a while but I hadn't watched. And the odd thing is, until I actually DID unwrap it and watch it, I could have sworn I'd seen it before--Zorba the Greek. I don't know if I've just seen so many different pieces of it over the years or what, but I truly thought I had seen it before. Well, I hadn't, but now I have, and what an interesting and offbeat movie. Seeing as how I haven't looked, I don't know quite what audiences must have thought about it in 1964, but I can't begin to imagine that anything similar could ever be made in today's movie industry, unless Zorba is played by Johnny Depp, and Alan Bates' part is played by Adam Sandler, and the widow is Reece Witherspoon, and it all happens in SoHo, and the hotel where Sandler stays is owned by a highly flamboyant gay man played by someone who's not really gay, but can gay up the place with great gayness, and Adam Sandler is writing a book about farting, and needs Zorba to help him test out recipes, so they use the hotel's kitchen, which Zorba (Depp) was able to swing by romancing the gay owner, and in a wacky series of events, widow Witherspoon comes into the restaurant, orders something, and gets terrible gas and meets Adam Sandler on the way to the ladies room and they fall over each other and there's a food fight as well as a sudden outbreak of flatulence amongst everyone in the restaurant, and he realizes he loves her but before he can ask her to marry him, she dies, or so he thinks, but she's only doing that to keep from breaking his heart because she's actually in love with a poor Long Island shepherd boy (played by Orlando Bloom), and by faking her death she's only trying to spare herself from deciding between them, until the day of the funeral, when the poor shepherd boy and the author meet, and in an increasingly noisy confrontation begin hurling insults and farts at each other, until Reece Witherspoon has had enough and declares her love for Zorba. Then there's a big wedding on a cruise ship to Greece, and someone falls in a fountain, and everyone laughs genially.

Well, this movie was nothing at all like that, which is why I was so intrigued by it.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at July 7, 2006 01:57 PM