Top Chef's block party,American Idol says it's your birthday and South Park goes Heavy Metal

The Quickfire challenge on Top Chef this week was to create a fine dining version of a taco,to be judged by Rick Bayless(who would also add that dish to the menu of his high end Mexican restaurant,Topolobambo). Most of the chefs wound up making the usual "street food" type of taco,including Spike and Erik,who snorted off camera that he didn't give a *bleep* about what Bayless thought. Not a good sign of things to come there,buddy!



Richard won the QF(which gave him immunity)for making a taco with jicama slices as the wrap instead of the usual tortilla. I must confess that I've never eaten a taco before or even any real Mexican food(spicy is not my thing)but that does sound like a pretty smart way to blend fine dining with such a hearty cuisine to me.



For the Elimination challenge,the chefs split up into two teams(Red & Blue)and each one had to make enough food for a block party,using only those ingredients that the neighbor residents were willing to "donate" to them. Richard lead the Blue team halfheartedly and they went for more of a fancy menu,with paella and a "sexy" drink(I don't see how adding lavender makes it sexy. Lavender is more associated with calm and soothing,from what I understand).



Since there were to be expected a large number of kids,Nikki whipped up some mac and cheese,using a huge hunk of Velveeta. She not only wondered if she could get the Velveeta to melt into a sauce(are you kidding me? Does McDonalds have fries on the menu?)but if her dish would dry out during transit to the party,which ,of course,it did!

I don't understand these chefs,sometimes-hey,Nikki,didn't it ever occur to you that you should bake the mac & cheese instead of the regular mix with the boiled method? That way,it would hold up better during travel,perhaps you could even make a nice crust on top for your dish?

I know that most of these chefs work in big time restaurants but unless the lot of them grew up living like the Rockefeller's,it stands to reason that a basic American meal like macaroni and cheese is something they would've been exposed to at some point and could handle without too much difficulty.



The Red Team decided to "cook for the neighborhood" and some of their ideas looked very good,such as setting up a dipping bar,serving sliders and having s'mores on a stick(the mini torch used to make the marshmellows melty was cool).

However,they also had their fair share of screw-ups,like the Waldorf salad made mayonnaise less that turned watery and a pathetic pasta salad that Zoi didn't want to make in the first place and it clearly showed. Hon,no one was forcing you at gun point here,okay?



What really did the Red Team in was Erik's corn dogs that were served up despite being soggy from the transport(again,with the not figuring out how to handle the transit problem! I don't get it,guys,I really don't.) The attitude that Team Red gave to the judges was amazing,they acted like punky kids who expected to be praised just for making an appearance to this event. Spike was the worst,with his"You'd had to have security guards drag me out of here...I'm not ready to leave,this is MY house!"

Earth to Spike,this is NOT YOUR HOUSE,BUDDY BOY! It's Judge Tom,Padma,Gail and Ted Allen's house(not to mention Bravo)and you are lucky enough to be a guest here. Granted,the judges get way too picky at times(Judge Tom gripping over whether the paella was more of a pilaf didn't sit well with me)but that's to be expected! I would love to see you try that crap with Gordon Ramsey just once(he'd chew you up and spit you out before you could blink). Spike,watch some Hell's Kitchen and be thankful for being where you are.



As Erik packed his knives to go,Stephanie was able to celebrate her second win for making a dessert good enough to earn Team Blue a win(just barely,according to Judge Tom).

She created a nice fruit crumble that everyone enjoyed and could agree on. Congrats,Stephanie! Two for two there,way to go!



This is for the American Idol judges;what have you guys got against Carly? This is mainly directed at Randy and Simon,(since Paula's critical analysis is about as cogent as a five year old's after eating a jar of glitter paste)due to nearly every week,you find some fault with her. Occasionally,you toss her a compliment but very begrudgingly.

Is it that you don't want her to win? Fellas,if Carly was not hitting the right notes or picked a song that was all wrong for her,I would give you the benefit of the doubt but she's been the most savvy singer here. I'm sick of you guys always telling her that she "chose the wrong song" when she clearly hasn't. And Simon,saying that Carly was "too intense" during Total Eclipse of the Heart is ridiculous! That song is intense to the tenth power,have you heard it lately?

KEEP HEART,CARLY-PLENTY OF US APPRECIATE YOU






Speaking of Heart,the Sanjaya award this week goes to Ramiele,for her lackluster attempt to sing "Alone" which Carly had knocked out of the ball park during Hollywood Week. I'm not buying the "she was sick" excuse either. Ramiele does not have the vocal range to sing any tune from the Heart catalog with that reedy little voice of hers.

Ramiele was spared from being in the bottom three this week(so long,Chikezie!)but with sorry numbers like this,she'll definitely have a very short shelf life on this show,hopefully sooner rather than later:

LEAVE HEART SONGS ALONE,RAMIELE!




YOU HOPE IT WON'T END,THO,FOR THIS SONG






While I was mistaken about Andrew Lloyd Webber being up this week,Dolly Parton was announced as the mentor for the next round and should mean that country is the theme. Before I wrap Idol up here,I have to talk about David Cook's rendition of "Billie Jean",which is a cover of a cover(Chris Cornell redid it recently,I believe, for the anniversary tribute to Thriller). At first,I admit that my reaction was "What the..what?!" I didn't even recognize the song until he started singing it.

After giving it another listen to,I have to say that it's not as bad as I originally thought it was. The arrangement is not to my taste but he did deliver it with emotion and sincere passion and that does go a long way:





The first two South Park episodes of the season didn't click with me but after last night's tribute to the movie Heavy Metal,with Kenny having "cheesed out" visions inspired by that film,I'm back in happy mode here:



Those guys must've watched that movie a lot,since they got so many of the best details from it right(even if their focus was on the boobage). I also liked the little Eliot Spitzer riff as Gerald confessed his cheesing past in a press conference. Thank you,South Park,for making me laugh comfortably again and giving tribute to my favorite character in Heavy Metal,Taarna:



Random Notes:

Smallville: Tonight,Clark gets some flying lessons from Kara(like he has no clue how to do that by now!)in order to get ready to face off on Brainiac. Should be fun:

Hanging out at Hulu

I've been hearing a lot of buzz about this new website called Hulu,which is sponsored by several broadcast networks(NBC,FOX and some of their sublets like Bravo and F/X)and studios such as MGM and Universal,that has clips and/or full movies and episodes of a good number of TV shows,past and present. After reading about Hulu in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly,I thought that I should give it a whirl.



Well,first off,good news for Buffy fans-if you're in the mood to watch one of your favorite episodes online or want a good clip to share with friends,Hulu is your one stop shopping center,gang. Only the first two seasons of BTVS are available right now(and alas,no cool clips with Spike & Dru just yet)but you can embed such fun moments as Principal Flutie getting devoured by the Sunnydale Hyena Possessed Posse:





In addition to whole seasons and assorted clips,the TV section also has an offering of "Minisodes"(five minute versions of half hour sitcoms and hour long programs)of well loved chunks of video cheddar like Married With Children,Ricki Lake and The Facts of Life. Full length episodes can be had for some of Minisode listings,but not for The Facts of Life. I don't know why,because I'm sure that I am not the only one out there who wouldn't mind sitting thru plenty of entire episodes of TFOL:





In the interest of seeing just how many commercial breaks you'd have to endure while watching a full length version of a TV show on Hulu,I forced myself to see the pilot episode of The Return of Jezebel James(since the show has already been canceled,I figured "Oh,why not? Maybe it isn't so bad."). Hulu allows it's members to leave comments and this was mine:

"As a Gilmore Girls fan,I am deeply disappointed here. No wonder that this show was just canceled. Note to Hollywood: DO NOT put Parker Posey in a sitcom,ever,again!!! She comes across as twitchy and irritating to the tenth power. Also,that laugh track must have been conceived by Foley artists from hell;it was as useless as a lace on a barbell. What a waste of time and talent."

Oh,and there are about three 30 second ad spots you have to watch during a half hour program(all for one product,which was more entertaining than watching Parker Posey acting like a loon)and I believe about four or five for hour long ones. Not too bad.



I haven't watched a movie in it's entirety on Hulu yet,but the choices given to you are rather odd. Some movies are only available in small clips,like Waitress or the original Psycho,and others in full such as The Big Lebowski and the terrible remake of Psycho(why,Gus Van Sant,why?). Lionsgate seems to be the most generous studio, with all of it's movie listings being available in full(then again,those listings include Boat Trip and Hercules in New York).

While it may appear to be a bit of a tease to only have certain films up as clips(some I can understand,like Juno which is due out on DVD soon),they do at least put up some pretty good ones. For example,my all time personal pick for Best Moment of Sequential Action On Film comes from Raising Arizona. The whole chain of events that result from H.I.'s robbery attempt is both funny and exciting,no matter how many times you see it and nicely anchored by that pack of Huggies:



So,is Hulu here to stay? Maybe,for now. It certainly won't replace YouTube,due to music videos(real and fan made)not being available,along with other random bits of internet lore for the amusement of the public. I think that it will be a nice sidekick instead,giving folks another chance to catch up on things they didn't get the chance to see earlier and making it easier for bloggers like me to post clips from certain shows like the new season of Hell's Kitchen. Thanks,Hulu:

Elizabeth Strout and Olive Kitteridge,your tour guides to life in Crosby,Maine

Olive Kitteridge is a former math teacher who is many things to many people in the small town of Crosby,Maine. To her husband,Henry,an easy going pharmacist who once developed a bit of a crush on his clerk Denise(who was also married to a man named Henry),Olive can be an angry,unpredictable woman at times.

To her son Christopher,a man that grows up to marry a know-it-all type of woman who leaves him after one year of marriage and then hooks up with a more laid back lady with two kids years later,Olive is to blame for all of his emotional problems,according to his therapist Arthur.



To Kevin Coulson,one of Olive's former students,her presence is a welcome one as he sits in his car,considering his options for ending his life. These folks and others each hold their own chapter in Elizabeth Strout's new book,Olive Kitteridge,a novel made up of thirteen interconnected stories,all of which share Olive as a common thread.



In some of these stories,Olive has only a cameo appearance,such as Winter Concert,where elderly couple Bob and Jane go over a few of the finer points and touch on a couple of old wounds in their marriage,or is just a brief mention like in Criminal,where nervous talker Rebecca Brown starts to find comfort in kleptomania. In a good number of these tales,Olive takes center stage and while she is a hard woman to like,let alone love,you do see the more vulnerable side of her.



Yes,Olive is a blunt talking gal,the kind of person who tells people to shut up when they have hysterics(even during a brief hostage situation,like the one she and Henry went thru in A Different Road) and finds the world to be a rather bizarre place these days,but she's not that distant from life in her heart.

Bonding with others openly and emotionally doesn't come naturally to her. She just has a harder time than most keeping connected to things,especially when Henry is left incapacitated after a stroke and Christopher barely tries to communicate with her at all.



As in her previous novels(Amy & Isabelle,Abide With Me),Strout deftly paints a portrait of life in New England,warts and all,that showcases her strengths as a writer. She dazzles the reader with her keen sense of perspective and a real knack for displaying the joys and despairs of humanity in all of their splendor and glory.

Olive Kitteridge has just been released for sale today,and I urge you to get yourself a copy and when you're done,spread the good word about it far and wide. Book clubs and reading groups,get ready to meet Olive. She's got a lot to say and will have you and your friends talking and thinking about her for a long while.

Spending Easter Sunday with Jane Austen's Emma

The Complete Jane Austen series started up again this past Sunday,with one of my favorite adaptations of Emma. I must confess that Emma(charmingly brought to life by Kate Beckinsale) is the only Austen novel that I don't truly adore. Yes,I do find many of the characters amusing,such as the talkative Miss Bates,the supercilious Mrs. Elton and of course, the endearing hypochondriac Mr. Woodhouse and the mysterious goings on between Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill make for an intriguing plot twist and some good character development as well.



No,it is Miss Woodhouse herself that keeps me at bay-as Austen once said about her,she a heroine"whom no-one but myself will much like." Emma is a hard girl to love at times,as Mr. Knightley(Mark Strong) can attest to;she considers herself to be very clever about the world around(as small and limited as it is)and thinks nothing of manipulating people into doing what she prefers them to do,or at least believing that she can.

Part of the reason that Emma seeks out the companionship of Harriet Smith(well played by Samantha Morton-as much as I love Toni Collette,Morton does a much better job in this role than Toni does in the Paltrow version,sorry!)is that Harriet is more than willing to be lead down the garden path leashed by Emma's influence. The only one who seems to be on the lookout for what is best for both girls is Mr. Knightley,who may seem like he's scolding Emma most of the time but he is the most mature person in Highbury who steps up to the plate and calls it like he sees it:





However,after rereading and watching a couple of film versions of the story,you do gain a better understanding of what makes Emma Woodhouse tick.

After all,she is raised practically as an only child(her sister was married and out of the house before Emma reached puberty)with few opportunities to venture beyond Highbury due to her father's health concerns(real and imaged)and her closest adult mentor,Miss Taylor,treated her more like a friend than a child.

However,her former governess is correct when she says about Emma's character,"with all her faults,she is an excellent creature." Emma's cleverness does get the best of her at times,especially under the influence of Frank Churchill(who is in many ways like the naughty by nature brother she never had)but fortunately,Knightley is there to keep her grounded:





Andrew Davies wrote the screenplay here,which makes this version of Emma that much more enjoyable,along with a cast that has several regular Austen adaptation players in it(Bernard Hepton and Samantha Bond were father and daughter in the mid-1980s miniseries of Mansfield Park and are father and governess here. Mrs. Elton,Lucy Robinson,was one of the Bingley sisters in P&P and Olivia Williams,who is Jane Fairfax,was most recently seen as Jane Austen herself in Miss Austen Regrets).

Davies not only balances the focus between the Harriet Smith/Mr. Elton botched romance and the Fairfax/Churchill mystery(which the Paltrow version shortchanges,in my opinion),he slips in bits of visual social commentary on the class struggles of the time period,showing some of the poverty that co-exists near the well to do lives of Emma and her neighbors with humor.

Showing the difficulties of servants having to cart enough furniture and food to make a picnic at Box Hill agreeable and the rattling on of Mrs. Elton about how "natural" it is to pick one's own strawberries while a footman stands by to move a cushion for her to kneel on as she does so,adds some real perspective onto the story and highlights the satirical tone Austen takes with the narrative:



One of Davies' original notions to the plot is the harvest dance ending,which he uses to tie up the loose ends of the story together. The only real criticism that I feel bold enough to make about Austen's writing is that it takes her too long to get to the end of the book with Emma. The harvest dance works well to settle all scores and bring things to a happy close. If you haven't seen this version of Emma,please do so-it is available on video and the harvest dance is the cherry on top of this sweetly sharp sundae:





Another Andrew Davies adaptation will end PBS' Jane Austen run,with a miniseries version of Sense and Sensibility that begins next Sunday and ends on April 6. Davies has mentioned in some of the promos for the new S&S that this will be quite steamy in certain parts. Before anyone gets into a major uproar over this,let's give it a chance here. There is a lot of passionate behavior in the novel,both expressed and withheld:

One thing that certainly does blossom in the spring is a romantic comedy

The first official day of spring arrived yesterday,with some fierce March winds announcing it's arrival in my area. This time of year usually brings about a couple of romantic comedies to the theaters but in looking over a list of coming attractions lately,I'm hard pressed to find some.

The closest I've come to one is Leatherheads,a period film about football with Renee Zellweger's heart being tossed between George Clooney and John Krasinski and Forgetting Sarah Marshall,a Judd Apatow produced movie about a guy trying to get away from his recent ex-girlfriend only to wind up vacationing at the very place she's staying with her new guy. They might be good movies but the emphasis seems to be more on the comedy than the romance.



I tend to like my romcoms in the same way that I enjoy a Reese's peanut butter cup,as two great tastes that taste great together. With that in mind,here's a look at some of my favorite films in this genre that best fit the bill.

Notting Hill is a good place to begin;there are so many reasons that I love this movie. It's directed by Roger Michell(who also made one of my favorite Jane Austen adaptations,Persuasion),Hugh Grant playing a travel bookstore owner,Julia Roberts blending into a very British cast with the greatest of ease,Rhys Ifans as Spike,the insanely wise roommate.

One of the best scenes in the film frames an emotional mourning period,as Grant's character moves thru the marketplace to his bookstore and feeling the loss of his relationship with Anna Scott over time. It's beautifully done,with the perfect song as the background narrative to his heartbreak:





I know that I've talked about You've Got Mail before,but I can't help it,folks. It's the only Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan pairup on film that I really like. It has so many charming scenes,like those voice over readings of Kathleen Kelly's and Joe Fox's e-mails to each other about the everydayness of their lives.

Another little gem of a scene is the Thanksgiving food shopping jam that Kathleen gets herself into by standing on the wrong line and Joe smoothly coming to her rescue. As a former cashier myself,I do have to admit that I probably would've given in after the knock-knock joke,too:





John Cusack is pretty much considered the king of romantic comedies by some and proof of just how far his charisma can stretch is nicely showcased in Point Grosse Blank,about a hitman who returns to his hometown for his high school reunion and to check out what happened to the girl he left behind(smashingly played by Minnie Driver).

The movie is a weird little mix of dark humor,kickass violence and a tale of lost love revived. When I first heard about this film,I thought it was going to be a pretentious piece of wannabe hipster film making but everything in it clicks together in near perfect harmony:





Educating Rita is a rather unorthodox selection here,given that the two seemingly meant to be together leads don't ultimately hook up but it's still a happy ending regardless of that. It's really a platonic love story of two people who learn to love themselves by teaching each other about what's really worthwhile in life.

The movie also celebrates a love of books and literature(a major drawing point for me)and the drive to change but to be careful of falling for superficial makeovers. Michael Caine and Julie Walters have a strong chemistry together that lights up the screen,even with very talkative moments(of which they are plenty)such as their first meeting on campus:



Well,whatever tickles your romantic comedy fancy,I hope that you can find it this spring,if not at a theater near you,then on video somewhere out there.

Top Chef becomes a cooking zoo,Beatles week on Idol,part two and The Riches return

The Quickfire on Top Chef this week was to create an entree using five and only five
ingredients purchased at a farmer's market and/or found in the TC pantry(exceptions to this rule being salt,pepper,sugar and oil)to be judged by Wylie Dufresne,who also stayed around for the Elimination Challenge as well. I like that concept;usually there's one special judge for the QF and another for the Elim,which made no sense to me.



Mark was a little jumpy during the farmer's market shopping(also,a tad pushy while waiting his turn;you need to mellow out,dude,seriously!)and forgot one of the ingredients that he had bought. However,his steak with turnips,mushrooms and peaches came out well and earned him not only a win but immunity for the Elim.



A patented TC knife pull divided the chefs into teams of three to cater a reception at the Lincoln Park Zoo and their menus were to be based on the diet of the animal each team was named for(Bear,Lion,Vulture,Penguin and Gorilla). A pretty cool conception,altho for some reason,Team Gorilla added lamb to their mix. Uh,guys,it's a vegetarian menu and even without the whole "true to the animal" diet thing,most folks would frown upon throwing meat in. The judges didn't call them on it but still,I don't think that's a good thing for a chef to do.



Team Gorilla had other probelms,like Stephanie's crab salad that was mixed too early and was all watery by serving time(fortunately,her banana bread saved her from going home)and Valerie's blinis,which were also made way too soon and dried out. Team Bear was also on the chopping block,for their disasterous mushroom stuffed with blueberries that they tried to salvage by covering it with cheese(none of them tasted it with cheese before serving it-not smart,folks!). As Judge Gail rightly put it,"it looked more like something a bear would produce rather than eat."



The big winner here was Andrew,for his squid ceviche and a "glacier" made with yuzu and mint. He was on Team Penguin,who did very well over all. Mark whipped up an anchovy croquette that had the judges raving about it's goodness and the team also had a nice flow on their table with a black and white theme that suited their animal namesake. Good job,Team Penguin!



Valerie packed her knives after her botched blinis were chosen as the worst of the bunch. From the clips they showed for next week,looks like there's going to some major fighting going on in the kitchen. I just hope it spices things up a little and doesn't overpower the whole show,as it's been wont to do in the past.



I'm very disappointed with American Idol voters this week;first you put Carly Smithson in the Bottom Three(I don't care what Simon said,she sang "Blackbird" beautifully!)and then you take away my Rock N' Roll Nurse! What gives?

"Well,why don't you vote then,Lady T?" I would,but the last time someone in my house voted in this season's AI,we lost Danny Noriega to the Text of Doom. I'm trying not to jinx things,okay?!

Kristy Lee Cook has been stinking up the joint for the past two weeks(her version of "You've Got to hide your love away" hid the melody away. She tied cement blocks to that tune and dragged it around the stage like roadkill)and should've been sent home by now. Instead,Amanda Overmeyer gets the boot. What a world!:

COME BACK, AMANDA,COME BACK!





A person who deserved to be in the Bottom Three this week was Michael Johns,for that Cliff Notes version of A Day in the Life. It was not just a complete mess of music but those lighting choices for the background made it look like he was performing live from the Ninth Circle of Hell!

His Sanjaya award winning performance should be taken as a warning to those who would attempt to shorten long songs. Sometimes,it can be done and sometimes,it can not. There is no try. Just say no,people!

I HEARD A BAD BEATLES SONG TONIGHT,OH BOY!



THE COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED VERSION



Oh,well,at least Carly is still here. She gave the best performance of the night,in my humble opinion,and the only thing she did wrong was agree to wear that awful red top with the wreath neckline. Next week,the theme is Andrew Lloyd Webber. Any takers on which singer is going to mangle "Memory"? My money's on Kristy:

FLY,CARLY,FLY





Season two of The Riches premiered this week,and it's picking off where they left off from,with Wayne staying behind in Eden Falls to see what he can salvage(not to mention keeping Dale from going to the cops about his secret and figuring out what to do about Pete).

I'm glad that Nina decided to run away with the Malloys;I like her and Dahlia's going to need all the help she can get. Her being in charge of the kids and "Grandma" is bound to lead to trouble,even more than that cliffhanger with the driver of the van they were stealing having a big old hand cannon aimed at them(stealing transportation in Texas is a very risky venture there!). So far,so good.

Random Notes



SOUTH PARK: Is it just me or is South Park starting to resemble outtakes from the Brothers Grimm? Look,I like risk taking humor and the bold social statements that Matt and Trey make from time to time but this new season is really freaking me out.

The Britney Spears as a human sacrifice metaphor,I totally get and while I do agree that the media overkill on her is pretty nasty,it was hard to laugh after Britney blew her head off and yet still lived. The horror movie references were well done(like the bit about Miley Cyrus at the end)but the whole thing was starting to feel more like a heavy handed message than satire. Between this and last week's "Cartman curing AIDS with money" routine,South Park is really getting preachy here.

ROOT OF ALL EVIL: Lewis Black's new Comedy Central show(which comes on right after South Park) has been rather funny,with it's debates about which is worse,Oprah or the Catholic Church and Donald Trump vs. Viagra. That's the kind of topical humor I like to see,something smart and snappy,not off putting:

OPRAH VS. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH



TRUMP VS. VIAGRA

Catching up with the Camel Bookmobile and Then We Came To The End

I had the chance recently to read a couple of books that were big last year but I wasn't able to get around to them then. Paperback releases are becoming very similar to DVDs;it gives you another shot at checking out what everyone's buzzing about.

At face value,you might not think that Masha Hamilton's The Camel Bookmobile and Joshua Ferris' Then We Came To The End have anything in common but it turns out that both titles bookend each other rather nicely.



"Okay,what does a book about bringing books to a remote African village and a novel about disgruntled office workers have in common?" Well,both are stories of small,isolated communities(unofficially recognized ones,but communities nonetheless)dealing with changes to their world that they can't truly control but must find a way to deal with them together.

And Then We Came To The End is not so much about disgruntled office workers as it is about cliques. The group "we" that narrates most of the book is made up of people who spend most of their ad agency work time gossiping and channeling their worries about being laid off by focusing on mundane details like who has whose chair and does the office coordinator really keep track of them via serial numbers or speculating on if one of their former co-workers would really come back to the office and get postal on everyone.



One of the folks in the office who becomes a major bone of contention with the group is Joe Pope,who quietly refuses to conform to the set norm. He doesn't keep knickknacks at his workspace,he doesn't hang out and waste time at the usual spots and occasionally is in a position to put a halt to some of the more previous antics of the group like gawking at Janine,one of their co-workers who is mourning for her lost daughter by going to the play area at the local McDonalds every day at lunchtime. The group we seems to be as mature as the cast of Heathers at times.

Most folks have compared And Then We Came To The End to shows like The Office or the movie Office Space,and while there is a lot of humor here,the story is much more darker and emotionally developed as it goes along. It really puts me in mind of the AMC series,Mad Men,which looks at the lives of ad agency men and the women in their world during the early sixties. Then We Came To The End takes place in the late 1990s,but the fears and insecurities that these ad folk are faced with is not that much different:





Masha Hamilton'sThe Camel Bookmobile is also told thru a number of different characters in this story based upon an actual literacy program to bring books out to those living in far flung regions of Africa via camels as a form of lending library to encourage reading and interest in the outside world.



The novel gives each of the major and minor characters a chapter at a time to tell their part of the story,like Fiona Sweeney,an American woman who wants to not only help the nomadic village of Mididima get the books they need but expand her own horizons in life.

Many of the village elders feel threatened by the growing influence of the Camel library but some,like the grandmother of Kanika,a young woman determined to become a teacher in what is known as the Distant City,are open to the changes,particularly for the young people to seek a chance at a more stable life.

Things come to a head when one of the young men of Mididima,an outsider called Scar Boy,refuses to return the two books he has borrowed,which could revoke the village's library privileges and bring shame to their reputation. This turn of events brings Fiona to stay in Mididima to try and retrieve the missing books as well as cause other brewing beneath the surface tensions to rise up and be forced to be dealt with.

The novel's round robin style is very compelling and each chapter clicks into place perfectly to set the ultimate pattern to it's conclusion,which may feel abrupt but you have to admit that it's realistic. It's also good to know that the power of reading and it's impact upon people's lives is truly universal,no matter where they are:



So,while I didn't grab these two titles when they were first out and about,I am glad that I finally did get to them. Slow and steady wins the race,as they say and even tho,I don't intend to be too far behind with my reading,sometimes it's good to not pressure yourself into following the herd at the moment they charge towards or from something. All the best things to those who wait.

Anthony Minghella,a legend in his own time

Some very sad news to report,folks-Academy Award winning director Anthony Minghella has passed away at the age of 54. He had just finished work on an adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's "The Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" that is due to air on the BBC this week.


Minghella was best known for his successful book to film translations and no doubt his take on the foibles and follies of Mma Precious Ramotswe(portrayed by singer Jill Scott)would've done the books justice. He was also a writer and a producer of films that he did not direct such as Michael Clayton and the upcoming The Reader.

Anthony Minghella's directorial style always seemed to be similar to Ang Lee's;both men were and are drawn to elegant emotional dramas that have beautiful,glossy exteriors and visuals but the true artistry is in the minute details of each character's development over the course of the film. To honor his memory,as well as recommend a few good rentals for those wanting to know more about his work,here is a handful of the best of Minghella on film:



TRULY,MADLY,DEEPLY

One of Minghella's earlier movies,which was written by him and first meant as a BBC TV production. It stars Juliet Stevenson as Nina,a woman in such deep mourning for her recently deceased boyfriend,Jamie(Alan Rickman) that his ghost just shows up one day and moves in with her.

At first,things are great but after awhile,Jamie gets as annoying as living with a live person can be,with bringing his ghost buddies over at odd hours to hang out or move the furniture around. Eventually,Nina does meet another man that she falls for,but she is reluctant to give up her connection to Jamie:





THE ENGLISH PATIENT

This is the film that made Minghella a major player in Hollywood and a prominent person in the literary adaptation circles with this film based on Michael Ondaatje's novel. It won several Oscars that year,including Best Picture,Best Director and Best Supporting Actress for Juliette Binoche,who played Hana,the nurse who tends a mysterious burn victim in WWII ravaged Italian countryside. Her reluctance to get romantically involved with Kip,a bomb defuser is balanced by the slow unraveling of her "english" patient's past.

The patient is actually Hungarian and is named Almasy(Ralph Finnes). Almasy was working on a map of the Sahara desert and along the way,fell in love with Katherine Clifton,(Kristen Scott Thomas)the wife of one of his sponsors. His tragic physical condition is nothing compared to what happened as a result of their forbidden love:





COLD MOUNTAIN

Another Minghella adaptation,this time using Charles Frazier's popular Civil War novel as the platform for Jude Law and Nicole Kidman to strut their stuff on,as lovers parted by the war who struggle to reunite with one another. There were high expectations for this film,due to the success of The English Patient,but while it did receive some praise and box office revenue,many still found it lacking.

I didn't read Cold Mountain but this movie certainly tempted me to do so,at one time. One thing that the movie did have in common with The English Patient was that it gave another actress her first Oscar;Renee Zellweger won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Ruby,a tough country woman who teams up with Kidman's Ada to survive the harshness of civilian life in their war torn neck of the woods:






THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY

This is my favorite Anthony Minghella film,and one of the best adaptations of Patricia Highsmith's cannon,right up there with Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train. Thomas Ripley isn't as vicious as Bruno Anthony but they both share a talent for ingrating themselves into the lives of men who seem to be more important and glamorous than they are(in their own minds)and people pleasing skills that venture down some rather dark paths.

As Ripley's desire to become Dickie Greenleaf gets more and more twisted,leading to a goodly number of murders and lies,you can't help but root for him to get away with it. Matt Damon brings a strong sympathy to the character(boosted by Minghella's screenplay,which takes a few liberties with the plot as did Hitchcock with SOAT)that makes Ripley less of a sinister sociopath and more of a lost soul in search of acceptance and love.

If you only want to see one Minghella movie,I wholeheartedly recommend this as his best work. The Talented Mr. Ripley did get a few Oscar nominations but didn't win any Academy awards(the movie did get a couple of British awards and Minghella received the Writers Guild award that year),which is a crying shame to me. The Talented Mr. Ripley showcases the many talents of Anthony Minghella as a filmmaker to a T:

The Top Ten things I learned from Becoming Jane

I was finally able to watch Becoming Jane this weekend,the much talked about mainstream movie about Jane Austen's younger days and her possibly meaningful romance with Tom Lefroy. While the film plays about with many of the known facts about Jane Austen(such as having her meet up with Gothic author Ann Radcliffe),it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Part of the reason for that is the chemistry generated by Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy as the feisty lovers(I so get the whole swoon-a-thon about McAvoy now)and even when they're not together onscreen,both actors do a very credible job in making their characters compelling and as real as the script allows them to be.


It also helps to have such a strong supporting cast of top notch English actors surrounding them,like Julie Walters,James Cromwell and Maggie Smith(who is clearly meant to be a fictional Lady Catherine stand in). Plenty of Pride & Prejudice hints are strewn about,which is fine but Jane did write other books just as memorable as that one,folks.

Personally,I always thought that Tom LeFroy was the man in mind when Jane wrote Persuasion,about being given a second chance at love. In actuality,Austen and LeFroy's relationship was discouraged from going too far,due to his family wanting him to marry someone with more money and better connections(which the movie does show)and I don't know if the two of them ever ran into each other again(most unlikely,since Lefroy went home to Ireland and Jane never left England)but I do know that the attempted elopement in the film was more Lydia Bennet than Jane Austen.



Despite all of that,Becoming Jane is an entertaining look at the romantic legend of Jane Austen,the key word here being "legend". For die hard Austenites,it is best to keep that thought in mind. As for those wholly unfamiliar with the real story,my advice is to watch Miss Austen Regrets,which was shown recently as part of PBS' Complete Jane Austen series,for a more authentic take on Austen's later life and to also check out a couple of good biographies as well(a recommended short one is Carol Shields' Penguin Lives bio and a nice lengthy one would be Claire Tomalin's). In the meanwhile,let us look at some of the lessons that Becoming Jane does teach us:

10) Piano playing in the early morning hours is not considered the best way to wake up your family on a Sunday morning.

9) Of what value is an introduction,when you can not even remember the lady's name afterwards?:



8) A good book recommendation can come from the most unlikely and seemingly unlikable sources:





7) Flirting is a woman's trade that is best to keep practice in.

6) Independent thought is not the proper response to an offer of marriage:





5) To have a wife with a literary reputation is considered a scandal.

4) It is just as hard to dispose of yourself with affection as it is without it:





3) Affection in marriage is desirable but money is absolutely indispensable,particularly if you don't want to end up having to dig your own potatoes!

2)Yes,there are other women in Hampshire and yet,the proposals keep on coming!:





1) When it comes to fortune, a young woman may depend on herself: