Books • From L to R:
All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder, vol. 1 - Total car crash curiosity here, folks. I just want to see how mangled the bodies are because I'm a sick sick sick human being. Reading anything Frank Miller wrote after the first volume of Sin City is like eating a Double Whopper: I know I'll regret it, but still I must ingest it.
Tales From the Farm - Eddie Argos of Art Brut wrote a very favorable piece about this in his Pow! To the People column a while back, so that's good enough for me.
Have You Seen... - I had no idea this book was going to be this gigantic when I put it on hold. It's flippin' massive, innit? you could kill an intruder with it, if you can lift it over your head, that is. And if you can, you'll get a certificate signed by President Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger because you passed the Presidential Physical Fitness exam. Also, I think you get to be the next King Of England. Lucky!
Bone, Vol. 8: Treasure Hunters - The latest Scholastic Graphix reprint of the classic indie comics series. In color! It's sort of like Lord Of the Rings, only cuter. Recommended, especially if you have kids.
Limits Of Power - Saw the author talking about this book on Bill Moyer's Now on PBS. Yeah, I just name-dropped PBS on all y'all. I'm like all cultured and whatnot.
Phoenix, vol. 2: the Future - I just read the first volume of this series and, well, it's manga. And I'm not a huge manga guy. I've read and enjoyed like three manga series: Yousuba&!, Planetes and Akira. But this is a multi-generational tale about life and mortality and all that stuff, told by a guy who just knows how to work the medium of the comic book like a champion (Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka). It's a little weird, but still, the scope and playfulness of the series have me sticking with it at least through this volume. We'll see how it goes from there.
Movies • From L to R:
Paycheck - I just really loved this Philip K. Dick story when I read it and thought it would make a pretty excellent movie. I'm sure this is not a pretty excellent movie, but it's worth a look, right? John Woo, Uma, B.Aff and Aaron Eckhart in a sci-fi action film? Yeah, I'll watch it.
Solaris - Soderberg and Clooney doing brainy sci-fi. I'll bite.
Melinda & Melinda - So I can cross it off my list of "Woody Allen Movies I Have Yet To See." I'm sure it's a travesty, but I don't care. I love Woody Allen. Even bad Woody Allen is better than 90% of anything else.
Straw Dogs - Which I thought was Marathon Man when I picked it up, but this is 70's Dustin Hoffman being directed by king of violence, Sam Peckinpah, so no worries.
Masked & Anonymous - Written and directed by Bob Dylan. Starring Jeff Bridges, Luke Wilson and John Goodman. Um, written and directed by Bob Dylan? So yeah, I'm pretty much curious at the very least.
1408 - Any movie is made better by the inclusion of a Cusack. That's just a law of the universe, people.
There Will Be Blood - Any movie with Daniel Day Lewis is bound to be a good time. The guy is just flat-out hilarious.
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So, what did you get the last time you were at the library? Do share...
7 comments:
lately, all i ever get are kids books. i always take anna with me, and by the time i'm done in that section, i never have any time for myself.
but i love the library. i really should have been a librarian.
Don't do it! Don't watch Solaris! It's an hour and a half of George Clooney brooding and mooning (in more ways than one - I've seen far more bare Clooney flank than I care too). We have the original Tarkovsky version which is much better, Clooney butt free and 70 minutes longer. You can't go wrong.
Also, Paycheck is so bad it may as well have had Ben Affleck and Aaron Eckhart in it. Oh, they're in it? That explains it. Remember The Core? Remember anything Affleck has been in? Sci-fi + those two = steaming pile. Watch Primer instead.
Holy Crap. I've seen them all.
Watch for the Christ references in Paycheck (it's Woo, whatdya expect).
I did not finish Melinda. I'm sure it just went over my head (not). That's the only Woody Allen movie I've turned off.
Solaris. No, Dylan, No. Please, think of the children, consider the lillies.
I agree with Christopher about Primer. It's the headiest, best sci-fi movie I may have ever seen. I couldn't talk for a day and 2/3 hours.
Yay Masked and Anonymous!
There Will Be Blood.. Classic P.T.A. man. Classic Daniel Day Lewis. He's the only actor I really like that overacts everything but doesn't come off like Pacino from Scarface on.
1408? Cusak makes a King movie better than anyone else. Watching this one won't kill you. Plus I think Sammy Jackson's in it.
Straw Dogs = eyemuffs, earmuffs, possibly not suitable for anyone who isn't watching it for pure critical reasons.
don't have a library card because as a lad i never returned a copy of garfiled volume whatever so i've never been back since.
luckily my wife has a library card and i mooch off of her.
last book i read from there was titled AWESOME by Jack Pendarvis.
you might like it. a critic quote on the back cover calls it a quirky combo of Philip K. Dick and Charles Bukowski!
it's about a brilliant derby wearing giant named Mr. Awesome and his robot ward Jimmy. and that's all you need to know. the rest needs to be read to be believed...
Ooookay, so it's a "no" on Solaris and Straw Dogs. Crowdsourcing, FTW!
And sorry, Chris, I sort of like B.Aff. It's totally and completely illogical, but there it is. And I think Primer is in my queue. If it isn't, it will be shortly.
Jason, I looked that book up on Amazon and it definitely seems like my cuppa. Unfortunately, it's not available at either of my normal librarious haunts. I will keep my eyeballs peeled, though.
You can borrow by copy of Primer next time you're over or vice versa.
I can sympathize with your Affleck thing. I had a period of watching every Freddie Prinze, Jr. movie I could get my grubby hands on. She's All That is all that and more.
are there more than 24 hours in your days???????
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