An Extraordinarily Good Tale about An Ordinary Boy

I suppose I should make a confession from early on about a shameful omission in my reading list past. Let's not have any dark secrets. Let's bring it out in the open: I have not read a lot of books by Caribbean authors! There I said it.

In recent years I've promised myself that I would try and change that, but I can't say I have made much progress. However life seems to have been putting more opportunities in my lap to make a move for change. I have a bit more free time these days for one. Our next book club discussion* will be on the infamous V.S. Naipaul. I keep hearing mention of various books by Caribbean authors at meetings for the Writer's Union of Trinidad and Tobago ** as well. (If anyone has recommendations of good Caribbean authors, let us know.) On top of that at a recent meeting Mrs Marsha Gomes, Director/Founder of the Caribbean Books Foundation handed me a copy of a free copy of the YA novel All Over Again by Jamaican author A-dziko Simba Gegele and asked me to write a review. I could never say no to a free book of course, and the description on the back of the slim volume caught my eye, so I was happy to take a look. 


While I've read so few books by Caribbean authors, I can guarantee you that I've read even fewer YA books by Caribbean authors. If this is a sample of the type of YA book which comes out of the region, I think we are progressing nicely in the genre. All Over Again is a fun coming of age story about a young boy growing up in Jamaica with his mother, father, grandfather and troublesome younger sister Mary Janga. He is the most ordinary of ordinary boys preoccupied with his television shows, football, his friends and the unfairness of life where you have to deal with your annoying little sister. It is this simple landscape which makes the narrator so relatable. The magic is added with the lyrical language which makes you feel as if you're reading a poem with the use of imagery and word repetition which invokes perfect mental pictures like this passage where the narrator frets about having to attend his grandfather's birthday party. 

"So what kind of party will this be?A old party. A old, old party for old, old peopleA old people party with old, old people sitting on chairs in their good clothes listening to your father's old, old 45s"

Who among us can claim to not know exactly what he is talking about? It is Gegele's ability to draw the reader into the feelings of the main character which brings the our complete sympathy to this narrative about an ordinary boy. We are right there with him through his hilarious adventures (like when his scary opponent in an arm wrestling competition seems to have grown to monstrous proportions in a few hours) and his poignant ones (when his favourite cousin moves away). 

The resulting tale is one that can appeal to adults and young people alike, and one which I highly recommend as an enjoyable and satisfying read. 

(Now I'm on a roll of discovering Caribbean authors, I want to keep going. If anyone has any recommendations of good ones, please let me know in the comments.)

Disclaimer: I was given this book by Caribbean Books Foundation in exchange for an honest review. 

*I've helped start a book club! I hope to incorporate it in my blog posts sometime soon.
** I've started attending Writers Union of Trinidad and Tobago meetings as well! I hope they will help motivate my writing

My Thoughts On The Movies I've Seen So Far This Year.....

(WARNING: Beware of many, many spoilers ahead. I don't do a recap of the plot, but I talk a lot about major plot points in detail. Each section for each movie has a title, so I suggest you skip a write up if you don't want to be spoiled.)

Can you imagine the first quarter of 2015 has almost ended!Can you believe it? It doesn't seem that long ago that 2015 was lurking around the corner, but looks it's already been time enough for New Year's resolutions to have drifted out of recent memory. I do recall though that once again I resolved to keep track of all of the movies I see this year. I've neglected that resolution as I have done in year's past, but I am giving it another try. I want to be able to give an overview of everything I've read and seen in 2015. So here's a run down of what I've seen so far.

So much care on the shoulders of one humble hobbit. 

The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

From early on in this movie series, I quickly realized that The Hobbit movies would not leave me with the same sense of awe as the Lord of the Rings movies. I don't want to be unfair to Peter Jackson here. He did such an amazing job with those three movies that it seems too much to ask him to top that astonishing experience. I know....but we couldn't help it though! "In Peter We Trust" and I still do to a certain extent. I expect a love of the source material, a commitment to majestic, sprawling battles and moments when I hold my breath, and these films did feature those aspects. Where production went wrong I think is when the decision was made to spread the book over three films. My main problem was that I could feel scenes being unnecessarily drawn out. Amazing things were happening, but sometimes I didn't need them as much as I needed the story to move on. I suppose that this was not Peter Jackson's decision, but it took it's toll out on the story.

All that said, Battle of the Five Armies had less of a long winded feel than the other movies. I didn't feel that all of the battles were dragged out except of course for Thorin's battle at the end which received only a few lines in the book and which took up quite a lot of time in the same style.

However I felt invested in the characters despite their overly lengthy adventure, partly because most of them are old favourites from the book and partly because they are all played so well. Martin Freeman is vulnerable and sturdy and practical, an excellent Bilbo Baggins. The characters of Gandalf and Thranduil are perfect. We see more of Thranduil than we do in the books, and this is one welcome extension for me. The dwarves are each, one and all, wonderful and enough attention is paid to the most interesting ones. A great deal of fuss has been made on the internet because of the addition of the elf Tauriel who is not a Tolkien character, and though I don't find her absolutely necessary, I like her contribution to the tale well enough. Her love story may be tacked on, but I felt for her despite myself. As Thorin Oakenshield, Richard Armitage is excellent as usual, adding to and enhancing our impressions of Thorin from the book, and the emphasis on his relationship with his nephews is the sort or of interaction which is carefully structured to destroy me emotionally.

I will add that the comic relief in this movie is the best in the series, but not overdone, so I think I will continue to trust in Peter Jackson. Still contemplating whether to buy the inevitable extended editions. I don't need longer battles, but more good character interactions would be much appreciated. I'm tempted.....

The Wedding Ringer

I think Kevin Hart's stand up is funny. I've watched a few minutes of his show "The Real Husbands of Hollywood" and thought it was okay, but that somehow did not fill me with anticipation of seeing his new film The Wedding Ringer, but I found myself watching it nonetheless with the BFFF. As usual the company was excellent, the film though was only ok.

When I described it afterward to anyone, I kept talking about Kevin Hart's wigs which were amusing enough but understandably are a flimsy foundation for comedy. The plot is similarly shaky. The lead character realizes that he does not have many male friends and has no one willing to be his best man, and for some reason, he becomes incredibly stressed and cannot bear to let his new family know. While this can be a bit embarrassing, what follows is so much more stressful, embarrassing and expensive, I'd imagine it would cure anyone of wanting to pretend he has a best man. Somehow Kevin Hart's character makes a lucrative living off of pretending to be the best man of anyone in similar situations. The insane (sometimes gross) scenarios follow one after the other and somehow the two bond over them and of course the plot has to throw in one of the tropes which isstarting to tire me out the most. How many times will we see a guy with a woman who he liked for some reason before the story began, but later realizes is crazy? There were no signs of this before? Come on!

I can say that the movie I Love You Man has a similar plot minus some of the most ridiculous contrivances AND has the beautiful Paul Rudd in it too. Watch that movie instead citizens! Hie thee to that . You won't be disappointed.

Kingsman: The Secret Service

I think it's impossible to keep up with all of the books and comic books which have been turned into movies. Kingsman: The Secret Service turned out to be loosely based on a comic book. I can't fault filmmakers for mining this resource. The ideas that arise from these books bring a freshness to the screen. The result is that Kingsman is a SO much fun though I had some problems with it which I will touch on shortly but first:

The FUN Stuff

You really can't lose by having Colin Firth being suave and cool and a little edgy in a perfectly tailored suit.  I loved the attention to clothes and sophisticated gentlemanly manners in the film and newcomer Taron Egerton is adorable as a cheeky, rough around the edges type. Colin Firth transforms him into a very dapper looking gent by the end, but it's lovely to see the adorable rougher side showing through the polish. I have no issues with Taron at all. He needs to be in more movies. Or rather I need to see him in more movies. Apparently he will be in Legend with Tom Hardy soon, so I will probably be getting my wish.

Definitely part of the FUN stuff

The other standout character in this is Samuel L. Jackson who plays a Bill Gates - like visionary named Valentine with endless quantities of money at his disposal and big, brilliant ideas. Too bad these ideas are also psychotic! Kingsman pays homage to James Bond movies a lot as you may have guessed, so Valentine is a villain with odd quirks. What's delightful is that the quirks are very uncool, so he has a speech impediment, has an embarrassing taste in clothes, and he gets nauseated at the sight of blood - even though his plan promises that there will be copious amounts of it spilling everywhere before he's done.

His hench woman Gazelle is quite unique in that she's an amazing, intimidating, graceful physical weapon, but she isn't sexualized. She has an important part to play and watching her at work is a treat. As henchmen go, Valentine shows his smarts in choosing her.

The action in this movie is thrilling and over the top as suits this type of film. It starts to get too gory for me at some points though and this leads me to

The BITTER Stuff i.e. the things that left a bad taste in my mouth

I'm not always the best person to review an action film because I don't have a deep love for extreme violence. Sometimes this film crossed the line for me, but I think it went past my usual tolerance. It ended up being too gross to be fun, and at one point crossed a moral line which I couldn't tolerate. The scene in the church is highly memorable, and I thought pretty unnecessary. I found it interesting that director Matthew Vaughn made a point of making the church goers the vilest people he could imagine, made sure there were no children in the scene, then felt it was safe to allow Colin Firth's character Galahad go to town on them all in graphic and lengthy detail. That didn't work for me. I didn't think that loathsomeness of the church goers erased the fact that Galahad basically killed a place full of civilians - unpleasant civilians yes - but that's not usually allowed as an excuse for mass murder. I won't say that the scene wasn't important to the plot, but the movie could have easily continued without us having to see the whole massacre, but that was supposed to be part of all the fun I think.

I am not sure it was a cop out or not to avoid allowing Galahad the opportunity to process what happened. As a man of honour would he have been able to live with what he had done? But in a film like this, there doesn't seem to be any room for that kind of deep thought, so perhaps Vaughn did us a favour by not trying to deal with the aftermath as it could only have done in a superficial manner. I suspect most action fans would argue that I'm thinking too much about a film that's not to be taken seriously, but that's what a review is for and I assume why you're reading this, so you can think a little more about the movie than merely saying, "That was cool" or "That sucked".

The movie's treatment of women was not spectacular though there were some high points. Lancelot was the only important girl character, and she was given an important part, but I felt that she was removed from the main action. I would have liked to see her with more to do. The infamous last scene with the Duchess character bothered me rather (was she a Duchess? I can't remember, and I'm having trouble searching in the right places to find out). She was a surprisingly strong character who was suddenly reduced to the sexual reward of the main character. I had actually thought she was going to have a more interesting part of play, and the whole thing felt rather jarring and unnecessary. I've seen people compare it to how women throw themselves at James Bond in Bond movies, but I still thought it didn't work well. If you can come up with a scene like this that is actually less subtle than the "un-subtle" Bond movies, you've accomplished quite a feat, but I didn't appreciate it.

And did anyone else keep cringing a bit when Eggsy keeps finding his mother in a disturbing domestic violence scenario but keeps walking off and leaving her alone with the abuser for weeks at a time? We know he's really concerned about her, but it doesn't seem to fit with his reactions.

Despite all this I'd love to watch more about this unlikely secret service. As of now, I don't know if the movie sparked enough interest for this. We shall have to see.

Jupiter Ascending

Everything is beautiful. 

I got the impression that this movie received a lot of snarky comments from critics when it came out. I saw a title for a review on it which basically said that it was very bad, but you should go see it anyway to laugh at it. I have an odd quirk in me: I am quite capable of being snarky myself, but when I feel a kindly inclination toward something, I start to feel defensive when I feel people are punching it when it's down, and I felt very kindly inclined to Jupiter Ascending well before I saw it.

For some reason, the moment I heard about this movie, I had been dying to see it. Maybe there's something in fantasy movies about women coming into their own which appeals to me. I don't know. Something deep inside of me was stirred, and I knew I'd see this movie no matter what. So I guess that means that I was prejudiced in its favour before I even saw it, so keep that in mind as you read on.

There's a lot that is not perfect about this movie, but it didn't overshadow my interest in it. Mila Kunis could have done a better job, but I didn't expect a lot from her, so what I saw was sufficient. I cannot dislike Channing Tatum in anything, and in the more intimate scenes, I felt the pathos of his character. I could have done with more of that. The only character I thought bordered on the annoying was Eddie Redmayne who we can all agree was demented and strange,

Besides this, I found myself interested in this beautiful movie, and make no mistake, this movie is truly beautiful! I was just enthralled by the images of ships coasting through fantastic landscapes of stars. I loved Jupiter's costumes. I loved the unexpected beauty of scenes on earth: a garden, a chase scene over a brightly lit city. I couldn't stop looking at everything.

And I was pulled into a world of military angels, of warring intergalactic families, of hybrids, of an immigrant family, of insane, funny and familiar bureaucracy, of flying over earthly cities and of a child of immigrants born under the stars with country to call her own, and I wanted to know more. I wanted to explore this mythos more thoroughly, and despite the difficulties which critics have pinpointed and which I saw myself, I was drawn in.

I wish the movie was greater, so the film makers would feel moved to do something more with it, to tell us more stories about it. I thought there was so much more that needed to be explored. I wanted to know more about the bounty hunters, about the history of this strange and deadly family, about what will become of earth and the other planets under their control and what will become of Jupiter and her beautiful, scarred body guard. Maybe someone will write a graphic novel about it. I would have to have it. I know at least it would be gorgeous.

Cinderella

Cinderella is another appealing looking movie though not as unforgettable in this sense as Jupiter Ascending. If I have to tell you the story at this point, I would be even more saddened than I am at present at people's lack of literary IQ. I'll just assume you have an inkling of the tale and move on.

This movie was directed by Kenneth Branagh, who I have raved about in previous posts, so once more you know where my prejudices lie. I would rather that he spend his time directing more Shakespeare adaptations, but he and I have the sort of relationship where if he wants to do something I trust in him and let him do what he likes whether it's film noir or Thor.

Instead of disowning the worldview of their previous creations, Disney continues to embrace them but they seem to be using their live action tales to put a more modern spin on their stories. At least that's what I heard they did with Maleficent though I admit I didn't see that movie. I think that's a great idea and could work really well if they wish to continue, and I have no doubt they will: Cinderella made a lot of money

The Cinderella character here is a good girl but a bit more defiant and outspoken than her previous Disney version. She meets the prince early on, so that problematic love at first sight angle is dissolved (though if you think about it, she still doesn't know that much about him before the love declarations are made). He asks her if she will have his hand instead of assuming she will have him, though I never had a problem with that before. After all, It seems that marriage is what they both want in the story. What I like though is that the feminist angle is pretty seamless to the story. If you haven't realized from my other writings, I am a feminist, but I sometimes find it distracting when a story seems to hold up certain aspects and try to scream, "Look kids we're all about equality and strong women. Look! Look!" I think I can recognize it without it being awkwardly shown to me, and I think Cinderella did a good job of just letting it be comfortably and organically part of the story.

The villains were good in this as well. Cate Blanchett is perfect as always, and I think she manages to outshine poor Cinderella with her wardrobe. Rather unfair of course because no one wants to buy Cindy anything, so she couldn't show off her rich fabrics and colours and impeccable taste even if she wanted to. Still Blanchett is not only gorgeous to look at but she manages to be deliciously evil without being over the top, and she had her moment when you see that she's not only delighting in degrading her perfect step daughter, but she truly feels for her own two despite their faults that grate on her. We see also that she loved her first husband and was lost when he passed away, leaving her to try to make a life with someone she did not love. Of course we can sympathize with that dear Step Mother, if only you did not have to take it out on Cinderella. I enjoyed the step sisters enough to wish we saw even more of their awfulness, but they were very good in their scenes.  Lily James is also sweet and likeable as Cinderella herself and does a good job of portraying Cinderella's own mother's advice of being brave and being kind which I think is going to be the official motto of the Disney princess club from now on, and I don't think anyone could complain about that.

However, despite all the good things about this, I can't help but think that this movie doesn't have a lot of surprises to it. Of course plot twists in this type of story is unlikely and not really wanted, but other versions have managed to enrich the story in various ways. For example, I don't love Ever After -sacrilegious I know - but it manages that quite well, and though I have not seen the version of Cinderella with Brandy and Whitney Houston for a long time, and I don't remember all the details, I am left with the impression that it was the more enjoyable movie with richer characters. If I get a chance to watch it, and I find that time has changed my mind about it, I'll be sure to recant.


So that's what I've seen so far. And there's lots more to come. Movie season has begun! Feel free to comment below with your thoughts about these movies or let me know which ones you've seen so far and enjoyed.....

I Love My Growing Nerd-Family

The other day on Facebook I was half jokingly lamenting that I had no one to join me in ranting/raving/obsessing about my current nerdy interest. A Facebook friend took it upon herself to explain to me that there were few people of colour with interests in that area, and I was briefly smothered because I really don't have a lot of people in my everyday life who are interested in the same topics which interest me. By that I mean people who I have met in person at one time or the other and who I talk to regularly. The one guy who talked to me about the latest Marvel movies left my office. If I mentioned literary vlogs to most close friends, I can imagine the confused looks. For awhile I was reading a book and discussing it with a friend- who is hundreds of miles away in England. There's no easy way for me to find a live physical reading group anywhere near me.

So my lively ranting was smothered a bit from this well meaning commenter who was trying to teach me a valuable lesson, but as usually happens, upon reflecting upon her chastening words, I realized later on that I had the perfect come back for her because she is completely wrong about the idea that people of colour have no interest in nerdy things. 

Don't love the word, but I love the concept. 

Of course defining nerdiness is a difficult and elusive task. (Don't even get me started on the real or imaginary differentiation between the "nerd" and the "geek"). I've done some light research and combined with my own observations, I'd say nerdiness tends to be the type of concept that you know when you see it. However for the purpose of this blog, I'd say a nerd tends to be a person who has an in-depth knowledge on certain topics. Sometimes these topics are intellectual, but they are often not, but a need to learn and to be an expert in the topic is always evident. There are other traits which sometimes go with the nerd though they are not universal of course. One twitter follower who responded to my questions i.e.  what makes someone a "nerd"? What type of person makes that word come to mind? replied  "There's a curiosity/willingness to learn about new things" (Thanks @malgriffin0201 ) Social awkwardness seems to be the trait most stereotypical nerds on televison share. I'll go with my highlighted definition for now. 

I knew that the perception that they were no non-white nerds out there was wrong. It could not be when my own mother read comics when she was younger (though she ended up lending them away). I could not be mistaken because I remembered the fact that my classes in my elite secondary school had quite a few women of colour in the top percentile in the country. We had people excelling in every school subject even the so called STEM subjects which some people do not believe is easy for girls. A couple of also spent a considerable amount of time reading Star Trek novels and debating over who was better Kirk or Spock, and few of us never missed Star Trek: The Next Generation.

At present though I know considerably fewer people who would identify themselves as nerds. For some reason as you become an adult, some people believe it's time to put aside such "childish" pursuits (sometimes replacing them with other interests which are far less clever and more infantile, but I will leave that for another post.) Perhaps this is why I have met less adults who indulge in these sorts of interests and of course much fewer women as well.

Once again though the internet's ability to bring together cliques across miles and boundaries unearths transformative revelations.  Where else would I find female nerds of varying ages and descriptions watching and critiquing "The Big Bang Theory" or putting out amazing efforts of creativity and craft skills to produce eye popping cosplay or just being crafty with crochet, metal work or a myriad of other skills?  Where else would I go to find massive viewing parties of new Sherlock episodes or fan fiction which covers every scenario and pairing almost before I knew I wanted to read about them?

Black nerds with similar interests were not immediately visible. Not because they didn't exist but because of course with the internet you do not necessarily know what faces are behind the comments and artwork and fanvids. I know I fall into the trap in defaulting to white faces when it comes to certain areas especially the internet. Something I try to work on, but a recent discovery has helped me vastly in diversifying the internet community out there in my mind's eye. I cannot remember where I first saw the mention of Black Girl Nerds on Twitter, but how can you help noticing something with a title that succinctly describes you?  I found myself on a website which promptly changed the composition of my internet family. I was looking at a page that had been created by people who thought the way I did, and probably felt at times that they were the only ones. Wading into this whole new hidden ocean has been a joy because the discoveries and sensations that have come with it have been joyful ones. Of course once you find one internet community, it opens you up to so much. I now have new podcasts to listen to, new twitter friends who are feeding my obsession for retweets, and I recently got pulled into a discussion on "blerds". Despite the fact that the sound of the word does not sit well with my inner word cadence, the fact that there are enough blerds out there to give them a community name is delightful and very comforting.

We've all experienced the sensation of feeling alone both literally and figuratively and then suddenly discovering that you are among friends. For other nerds of colour out there, I invite you to stop thinking of yourself as a lonely loner, and check out this side of the world. You may find that the nerd population of the world has grown even bigger and more diverse than you imagined.

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I'm still exploring this more diverse world of nerdiness. If you want to find out more, I suggest you start with Black Girl Nerds as I did. http://blackgirlnerds.com/ Please let me know in the comments
if you have other suggestions of sites I should visit which promote a more diverse nerd culture. 

Why You Should Be Watching Web Series If You Love Books

I admit that a little more than a year ago, web series were a bit of a mystery to me. I saw people tweeting and posting about various ones with names I did not understand, and I only had a vague awareness of their existence.

At some point during my unfocused internet browsing I saw someone mention "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries". I cannot remember who this earthly messenger was, so I cannot give my grateful thanks to them. I only know one day I watched an episode, and I kept watching, delighted that I could keep following the path of this story, familiar yet unfamiliar and then.....well this explains it best:

``I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.''

A web series is basically a set of videos posted on the internet which tell a story. "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries" is  in the form of a vlog (i.e. a video blog or journal which allows people to spout off, rant, chat or communicate in whatever way they like on the internet.) The difference with "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries" (or "The LBD" as it is affectionately called . See I'm hip! Do people still say "hip"?) is that the vlog is not about a real person; it tells the story of a particular literary character who should be familiar to many of you if you've ever read this blog. If you're feeling a bit slow today, think Pride and Prejudice and you should be fine. The result was one hundred videos of roughly four to five minutes in length which gained a record number of fans and recognition and gained the creators an Emmy.

The incredibly creative team behind the series produced an addictive entertaining series which modernized the story of Pride and Prejudice, reproducing most of the characters and themes in an engaging way and making alterations where necessary that enhanced the story instead of diluting it as some modern adaptations have done in the past.  I truly had a eureka experience with them. The series had already been running for some time when I found them. After watching one or two of the videos, I was drawn into a feast of the existing twenty-five episodes which I ploughed through with vigor. Afterward I was reduced to the predicament of the fans who were with the series from the beginning and who had to wait for each of the two short episodes per week to be uploaded. Anticipation is a strange phenomenon: you both enjoy it and hate it. In building suspense and keeping the enthusiasm of the fans flaring, the series' showrunners vastly succeeded.

The whole experience was enhanced by the use of transmedia, another concept I was not very familiar with before. (Really this series has proven to be very educational.)  While the main story played out on the blog, the story was also continuing in other platforms. Most of the characters had twitter accounts. Crazy Lydia decided to do her own vlog. When Darcy was revealed to be the CEO of a thriving company called Pemberley, a professional looking website with a company profile and all the trimmings came into existence. Talk about an all inclusive experience. I loved it.

The quality of the series was also excellent. Despite all the modern media, the art of storytelling really was evident throughout the series. The series' Lizzie (Ashley Clement) can tell a captivating story, enhanced by her ability to do some hilarious impressions, and it astonished me how engrossed I was even when it was just her talking about her Lizzie Bennet life.

 The characters are also a delight. In particular, all the sisters were well done. I have to commend the actress who played Lydia who proved to be very obnoxious and rather overwhelming (as she should be) but yet didn't make me dislike her, and that is a difficult task. Her part in the story is the most altered, and as usual I wasn't overjoyed when her situation encroached on Lizzie's story, but I found myself invested in the changes and more concerned about Lydia than I have ever been. Sister Jane is such a strange creature. Usually characters with unfailing optimism are universally disliked, but from my limited observations, Jane rarely is. A good Jane inspires empathy not dislike and this Jane manages it.

Of course Darcy is a major factor in any Pride and Prejudice adaptation, and here he is portrayed by the impossibly good looking Daniel Vincent Gordh. By the time, the series ended I had decided that he is one of my favourite Darcys in adaptations. I realize that there are not a lot of Darcys out there, but that's still a huge endorsement from me. Trust me. DVG is not perfect in his portrayal, but by the end of the series I was completely invested in him and his many positives overwhelmed his few negatives.

I can't stop to go into how much I liked this series' Charlotte, Mary, Bingley, Georgiana etc. etc, but there's a good chance that your favourite characters from the book will bring you joy.

So yes, if you like Pride and Prejudice , you should feel obligated to look this one up.

One of the other great outcomes of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries are the inevitable "copy cats". After seeing how well "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries" was received, others have started dreaming of what other classical adaptations could appear in short video chunks. From the same team has come an adaptation of Jane Austen's unfinished novel "Sanditon" and I have seen passing mention of an adaptation of "The Great Gatsby" and "Phantom of the Opera". I choose to recommend "The Autobiography of Jane Eyre" which has managed to duplicate my wild anticipation for new video instalments each week. It's terribly compelling and features another great lead actress. As Jane Eyre, Alysson Hall often has to give poignant and sad monologues which are consistently touching and real. The story also plays with the format more than the Lizzie Bennet Diaries which filmed in limited locations. For example, sometimes Jane goes outside. Sometimes she only films what she wants others to see and has little screen time herself. 

This series has not ended yet, and we are currently embroiled somewhere in the middle of the novel, and I cannot wait for the next video after I see the current one. Rochester is also a younger version of the book with funky men's socks and tattoos and who is at present clearly smitten with Jane. Again his portrayal is not perfect, but the overall impression he's left on me is strong. I long to see him again, and if you start to watch, you will too.

  

Because of the success of "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries", one of the most anticipated series out there is The LBD team's official full length follow up to it: "Emma Approved". This modern adaptation of another of Jane Austen's more famous novels looks beautiful and polished and features some great acting by series star Joanna Sotomura who embodies a bossy, rather egotistical Emma.  She is so in control and sure of herself, it will be interesting seeing her begin to lose her edge as Emma's many plans begin to lose their structural integrity. I don't feel as invested in this series as in the other two as yet. Even Mr. Knightley (though tolerant, cheerful, practical and firm as he ought to be) doesn't have a hold on me as yet, but I am willing to keep watching, and I feel safe in recommending it.

Even if any of these ultimately disappoint, it is clear that I have many other options out there to consider. While looking through an article about these web series, I saw comments about series about William Shakespeare and another about fairy tale characters set in universities just to name a few. The possibilities for amusement are endless.

What do you think of this trend?  If you're a fan of any of these series, feel free to express your opinion of them in the comments and please, please recommend any other literary-like web series, so we can explore!

Saving a House of Secrets

I don't think I've ever watched any of the the animated films at the annual European Film Festival here, so when I read the description for "Eleanor's Secret" and saw that it went on at a convenient time, I was happy to go see it. I've often heard that non-American animated films can be very unusual experiences, and those can be hard to come by. (Before anyone mentions it, I've been exposed to quite a lot of anime, but with some exceptions, I don't care for the genre....I know....I know....)

"Eleanor's Secret" or "Kérity, la maison des contes" (Love the English name, but the French one sounds so lovely) begins as a little boy named Nathaniel and his sister Angelica arrive with their parents at the seaside home of their Aunt Eleanor who has died. Nathaniel has fond memories of his aunt and all the stories she would read to him. The little cottage is clearly a much loved place with a friendly neighbour to visit, a quiet beach for flying kites and Eleanor's secret room upstairs, but Nathaniel has his own troubles. As his rather obnoxious sister keeps pointing out, he can't read - not out loud anyway. When confronted with the words, he is filled with a crippling anxiety. In addition, his family is in danger of losing the house which needs very expensive repairs which they cannot afford. Lastly Nathaniel finds himself entrusted to keep his Aunt Eleanor's secret well hidden, and this becomes one of his greatest challenges of all. What follows is a very exciting, magical adventure.

The animation looks lovely with a soft vintage feel to it. The characters have sweet often friendly faces. If you're used to the bolder vibrant look of American animation, you might be lulled into thinking that this will be a slower kind of story. What actually happens however is suspenseful and emotional as Nathaniel struggles against physical and emotional obstacles as he goes on a quest he must finish before it is too late. It doesn't have the darkness and heart tugging pain of "The Last Unicorn" or "Watership Down", but it definitely has feeling to it. It's a film a child could enjoy and relate to, and it was an interesting change from the typical animation which are easily accessible.

If you've seen the movie or don't mind being spoiled for key plot points, read on:

"SPOILERY"                  THOUGHTS!!!!!!

I think the only plot point of the movie that bothered me a bit was that a movie about a love of books should have utilized the attributes of the well known characters more. If you've read "Alice in Wonderland", you know Alice had experience with getting bigger and smaller from drinking and eating magical things during her travels. I really expected her to retrieve one of her bottles and help Nathaniel grow when they needed it.  How about this: on such a dangerous trip, it might have been useful to bring along someone who could fly not so? Someone like maybe.....Peter Pan who we often saw floating about among the anxious book characters. I guess since there were endless characters, you could end up with endless solutions to Nathaniel's problems, but I don't think the story would have been hurt at all by adding some of those elements.

One of the most captivating parts of the film for me was centred on the secret itself. How amazing that Eleanor was entrusted with this amazing library. Did anyone else think that her own story would have made a fascinating movie as well? You can clearly see why she is loved so much in the flashbacks of the film. She was obviously very intelligent and resourceful - a guardian of such precious treasure would have to be both, and she proves it in the gifts she gives to the two children and how they are revealed to them. It makes sense that Nathaniel would have to start developing some of the requisite skills for the job. Just as he had to learn to be a hero, Eleanor was one as well, ensuring that readers and future readers will always have their worlds to escape to and guarding the truth all readers know deep down: 

"Just because they are stories, does not mean they are not real."

(The final movie I will discuss from the film festival is the widely different "2 Days in Paris, so don't forget to come back and join the discussion)

"Cheerful" Visit to the European Film Festival

I look forward to the European Film Festival (EFF) every year here in Trinidad. The European diplomatic missions in this country - France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom - get together to show films from the European Union. For me, it's a time to see lots of movies which would not normally be shown here, and which I am unlikely to see on cable. I have seen some really odd movies, some really unusual ones, and I've come away with amazing experiences and some favourite movies (e.g. "The Secret Life of Words" which is so affecting yet uplifting. SEE IT!) Usually the showcase takes place in my birthday month for October, but the organizers moved it to May this year, and I must say that I was most pleased. We just came through the beginning-of-the-year movie dry spell, and it was such a long wait to the next EFF, this was a sudden and nice surprise. I don't even mind that because May is our local movie theatre's busy month, loyal patrons of the EFF have to pay TT$30 instead of the usual TT$15 for admission. That's still far cheaper than a regular movie around these parts, so it's not stopping me. 

The first movie I've seen for the festival was a British one called Cheerful Weather for the Wedding.  If you read this blog long enough, you'll see I am naturally drawn to British things - I can't control it. It's a weakness. It just happens. Other selling points was that it was billed as a comedy and had the pixie-like Felicity Jones who I found mesmerizing in Northanger Abbey. She seems so childlike and otherworldly; she is fascinating to look at. The story is set in England in the 1930's - a setting featuring slender women languidly smoking, rowing, picnics on the river and sudden bursts of rain. The sort of era and place where someone would name their daughters Dolly and Kitty. Felicity Jones plays Dolly who wakes up on the morning of her wedding and dawdles upstairs an obscenely long time while her family waits for her and wonders what's keeping her. You can feel the potential for drama building as her mother tries to act like nothing seems amiss and that it's not strange at all that Dolly has also invited a former boyfriend to celebrate the big day. Joseph looks like a thinner Dan Stevens (from Downton Abbey - which I haven't seen and Sense and Sensibility - which I have and loved), and he is very uncertain and confused about why he is there in the first place. 

If you're expecting a subtle British comedy with witty dialogue with some darker emotion worked into it for this movie, you're right. You get drawn into watching the characters dance around each other,and all the time you're waiting for something to spark and cause the drama brewing to surge to the fore. The humour is good too. I grinned at the clever remarks and the quirky characters which are inevitable in all weddings - especially in weddings in British comedies. Some of my favourites were Elizabeth McGovern as Dolly's mother who tries so hard to make sure everything goes well that she seems blind to everything that is wrong. As Dolly's sister Kitty, Ellie Kendrick feels left out and awkward and devoid of romance in her life. She even looks as if she doesn't quite fit beside her assured, elegant sister.

If you're interested you should watched the trailer and head out and take a look at it.

If you've seen the movie or don't mind being spoiled for key plot points, read on:

 HERE                                     THERE                                      BE                             SPOILERS

I admired how the plot moved back and forth to the golden, perfect summer when Kitty and Joseph meet and become closer. There is a scene between them which is shown more than once and which changes subtly every time it was shown. I liked how it built up the anticipation of what had happened and slowly revealed clues of Kitty's situation. I wonder if it's supposed to reflect the different ways each felt about the encounter.

I waited curiously for the ending wondering how it would come to a close and thinking that there was no way the lovers would be separated. Did anyone else hope/expect Kitty to come back at the end - even when she had driven out of sight with her new husband in the car? I thought she would for a long time, probably because I am used to American romantic comedies. I think if the movie had been one of those, there was no way it would have ended in this melancholy way. While Kitty's mother can pretend that everything really was "cheerful", the viewer is more likely to remember the grey landscape and the cold draft of rain as everyone morosely took the wedding photo in front of the camera. 

I recommend this film, and suggest fans of this type of movie should go see it. If for some incomprehensible reason, you don't like this type of movie, the EFF features a variety of genres: thrillers, drama, documentaries. Check out their schedule to find out more: http://www.ttfilmfestival.com/eff/

My next film on my "To See List" is "Eleanor's Secret", a French animated film. The synopsis states:

Seven-year-old Nathaniel goes with his parents to spend the summer in the villa that belonged to his aunt Eleanor. Nathaniel has inherited his aunt’s library of old books, but he has no interest in them. That is until he discovers the books are alive with characters from classic fairy tales!

This is clearly a movie which was made especially with me in mind.....or I hope it is. I shall post my thoughts next week, so be sure and visit the Crossroads again.

Post below and let me know what movies you've seen for the film festival, and share what you think about "Cheerful Weather for the Wedding" if you saw it.

Goodbye Roger Ebert

Iconic film reviewer and journalist Roger Ebert passed away today. Hurrying around my office on an errand today, I glanced at my phone and saw that someone had tweeted, "Roger Ebert R.I.P." and I had to pause for a second to register my shock and sadness. I had only heard yesterday that he was taking a "leave of presence" to deal with a reoccurence of the cancer which has afflicted him for many years. I admire his volume of work and the intelligence and clarity of his reviews. He's the type of person I would like to emulate in my own writing. I am not sure if I ever shall. He and reviewer Gene Siskel added a new dimension to movie viewing for me in a way that no trite 3D treatment ever could. For better or worse, after watching their views and considering their viewpoints, I could not think of movies in the same way again. It prompted me to write a blog post about them a few years ago.

http://crossroadsofimagination.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-roger-ebert-and-gene-siskel-made-me.html

I am very grateful to Roger Ebert for expanding my ideas about my movie viewing. I don't consider myself a real cinephile, but he definitely taught me to consider movies from a different angle and think a bit differently. He was a true teacher.

Goodbye sir......

Read more about Mr. Ebert from the paper where he got his start in his long and prolific career:

The Sun-Times on Roger Ebert