Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Arts & Culture
Did I mention that I finally saw Michael Clayton? I thought it was pretty good. I was a little disappointed that Tilda Swinton didn't wear that Glad Bag ensemble she rocked at the Oscars, but I found her sweating and trembling amusing. Clooney seemed like pretty standard Clooney, all conflicted and world weary and dreamy eyed. But I thought the script was pretty tight and in some ways -- not the ones involving murder, greed, and nefarious deeds, thank you very much -- it reminded me of my own workplace. Maybe that's not a good thing.
I also saw The 39 Steps with my parents. It's an old Hitchcock movie from like 1939 or something. Generally I am not in favor of things being in black and white, but it managed to hold my attention at a tight 90 minutes. It also helped that I tried to view it through the lens of something my grandmother would find entertaining. Of course, acting from that period pretty much seems like every line has quotation marks around it, but I'll take that for cultural learning.
And finally, I am reading Cousin Bette by Balzac, as I think I mentioned. It's pretty good. There's a lot of French stuff in there that I don't care about at all, but it's well plotted and the prose is pretty delectable. I also enjoy that there's a good deal of casual racism and class bias that the editors just decided not to take out. We're not exactly talking the Value Tales Series here, if you know what I mean.
Did I mention that I finally saw Michael Clayton? I thought it was pretty good. I was a little disappointed that Tilda Swinton didn't wear that Glad Bag ensemble she rocked at the Oscars, but I found her sweating and trembling amusing. Clooney seemed like pretty standard Clooney, all conflicted and world weary and dreamy eyed. But I thought the script was pretty tight and in some ways -- not the ones involving murder, greed, and nefarious deeds, thank you very much -- it reminded me of my own workplace. Maybe that's not a good thing.
I also saw The 39 Steps with my parents. It's an old Hitchcock movie from like 1939 or something. Generally I am not in favor of things being in black and white, but it managed to hold my attention at a tight 90 minutes. It also helped that I tried to view it through the lens of something my grandmother would find entertaining. Of course, acting from that period pretty much seems like every line has quotation marks around it, but I'll take that for cultural learning.
And finally, I am reading Cousin Bette by Balzac, as I think I mentioned. It's pretty good. There's a lot of French stuff in there that I don't care about at all, but it's well plotted and the prose is pretty delectable. I also enjoy that there's a good deal of casual racism and class bias that the editors just decided not to take out. We're not exactly talking the Value Tales Series here, if you know what I mean.
