Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark - Leia?

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Director: Steven Spielberg

The Ark. If it is there, at Tanis, then it is something that man was not meant to disturb. Death has always surrounded it. It is not of this earth. –Sallah

You know what a cautious fellow I am.
–Indiana Jones

You wanna talk to God? Let's go see him together; I've got nothing better to do.
–Indiana Jones

Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?
–Indiana Jones

I've got a feeling I'm not the first woman to travel with these pirates. –Marion Ravenwood

Netflix DVD description:

When Dr. Indiana Jones – the tweed-suited professor who just happens to be a celebrated archaeologist – is hired by the government to locate the legendary Ark of the Covenant, he finds himself up against the entire Nazi regime. Creative minds Steven Spielberg and George Lucas created a classic with this all-time favorite, which spawned a series of commercially successful sequels and a short-lived TV show.

I'm really glad this one was on my list. I've always been scoffed at for never having seen any of the Indiana Jones movies. Now not only can I say I've seen one, I can go so far as to say I've enjoyed one. I really liked this movie and look forward to watching the others in the series.

I never realized, before reading the description that this movie had Nazis in the plot. It actually surprises me how little I know about movies this iconic. I mean, I know a movie is popular, I know maybe one or two themes, but then I find out that I'm missing a big chunk of premise and I'm always surprised. Just look back in my blogs and you’ll find a lot of "before I read the description, I didn't know…" and "until this project I never realized…" I'm beginning to wonder how I've missed so much about pop culture! But I digress…

Let's talk about Indiana and Marion. I want to like her, and I get close. But how is it that she's captured twice in one movie? She seems like a tough, self-sufficient woman, yet she needs Indy to rescue her multiple times. She actually reminds me a bit of Leia (which seriously begs a college paper to be written about it; just Googled it and found at least one other reference to a comparison of the two). Both women appear to be strong and independent; both end up needing help but struggle with admitting it; and both are in love with Harrison Ford. I don't know if that means Ford has a "type" or George Lucas does.

As closely as I watched this movie, I think I'd like to revisit it before watching the others. It's one of those movies I know I enjoyed, but can't fully piece together what happened… Perhaps next time around I'll like Marion. After all, Princess Leia grew on me eventually…

My takeaway: My knowledge of pop culture is not as strong as I once thought it was. And never travel without a whip; that thing comes in so handy!

The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear - 13 1/2 Lives Weren't Enough!

The 13 ½ Lives of Captain Bluebear

Author: Walter Moers

When bad habits become a habit, you have to turn over a new leaf. –Narrator

Eternal night. Eternal life. Eternal intelligence. –Professor Abdullah Nightingale.

Life is too precious to be left to chance, my boy. –Deus X. Machina

Wednesdays were the best thing about Atlantis. The middle of the week was a traditional holiday there. Everyone stopped work and celebrated the fact that half the week was over. –Narrator

Never trust a Troglotroll. –Various

From The Encyclopedia of Marvels, Life Forms and Other Phenomena of Zamonia and its Environs by Professor Abdullah Nightingale… –Bluebear's inner thoughts

The blurb on Audible.com is a bit long but I feel I need to include the whole of it because it does a great job of introducing the book:

"A bluebear has 27 lives. I shall recount thirteen-and-a-half of them in this book but keep quiet about the rest," says the narrator of Walter Moers’s epic adventure. "Mine is a tale of mortal danger and eternal love, of hair's breadth, last-minute escapes...."

Welcome to the fantastic world of Zamonia, populated by all manner of extraordinary characters, including Minipirates, Hobgoblins, Babbling Billows, the Spiderwitch, the Troglotroll, and the Mountain Maggot. It’s a land of imaginative lunacy and supreme adventure, wicked satire and epic fantasy, all mixed together and turned on its head.

Playful enough for young adult readers, yet as intricate and engaging as any work of literary fiction, The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear has the plot of a novel and the spontaneity and humor of a vintage comic book, making it already an instant cult classic.

One thing this blurb fails to mention is the ingenious reading by Bronson Pinchot. He is fantastic! I think this book would be a wonderful read in print, but listening to Pinchot's character voices and the special effects that have been added to the reading only helps to enhance the novel. I can't speak highly enough of this book.

My friend Jan recommended this book long before I thought of doing this project, and the title's been sitting in my "to read" list ever since. But when it came time to ask for suggestions and choose titles, she immediately re-recommended this one. And for that, my dear friend, I say thank you.

This is the fantastical story of a blue bear – aptly named Bluebear – who goes on a series of adventures without really trying to be adventurous at all. To him, it is simply the tale of his first 13 ½ lives, and the creatures he encounters are simply a part of his world. The reader gets to learn facts about each creature, land mass and weather phenomenon he encounters right along with their narrator, as Professor Abdullah Nightingale's Encyclopedia – which has been implanted into Bluebear's mind – spouts them off throughout the telling.

Walter Moers's creativity never faltered, and when the book ended, I missed listening to Bluebear's story. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has children or who is a child at heart. And if you want a real treat, listen to Bronson Pinchot's brilliant recitation.

My takeaway: Life is full of adventures, if only we take a moment, take a look, take a chance. And never, NEVER trust a troglotroll.

Lolita - Shower after Reading

Project update: I reached my deadline on Friday, January 25, at 11:59pm. While I have not completed all the posts -- though I will be continuing to post them until they're completed -- I did meet my 30-book goal, finishing the last of 11,352 pages on Sunday, January 20; and I have watched 31 of my 60 movies. I therefore consider my project a success, having devoured 30 books and 30 movies in my 30th year! I will continue to watch the movies on the list and post the blogs here, just because I like to see a project to completion, even if not quite by the deadline I set for myself in the beginning. :) Thanks for reading! -AJ

Lolita

Author: Vladimir Nabokov

Nowadays you have to be a scientist if you want to be a killer. –Narrator

You see, I loved her. It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight.
–Narrator

I am trying to describe these things not to relive them in my present boundless misery, but to sort out the portion of hell and the portion of heaven in that strange, awful, maddening world – nymphet love. The beastly and beautiful merged at one point, and it is that borderline I would like to fix, and I feel I fail to do so utterly. –Narrator

[Lolita] groped for words. I supplied them mentally ("He broke my heart. You merely broke my life"). –Narrator

I loved you. I was a pentapod monster. But I loved you. –Narrator

This book is considered controversial and it was on my list because I wanted to see what all the hype was about. Regretting that curiosity now…

According to Barnes & Noble:

Awe and exhilaration—along with heartbreak and mordant wit—abound in Lolita, Nabokov's most famous and controversial novel, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America. Most of all, it is a meditation on love—love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation.

This blurb only vaguely describes the central focus of this book: Humbert Humbert's relationship with the underage daughter of his late wife. And when I say underage, I'm not talking about a 16-year-old; when their relationship starts, Delores is only 12. I don't feel I can lay out my reaction to this book unless I first give a brief detail of its plot.

Our narrator (Humbert Humbert himself) tells us of his obsession with Delores (also referred to as Lo, Lola, Dolly and, of course, Lolita) – an obsession which leads him to drug her in a plan to take advantage of her in her semi-conscious state. As the story unfolds, she gives herself up to him, sometimes very willingly and sometimes less so, as they travel around the country hotel-jumping. She eventually tires of Humbert or of the traveling, and takes a chance to escape with another man. Humbert engages in a relationship with an adult while still looking for his Loilta. He receives a letter from her, now 17, which says she is married, pregnant and in need of money. He tracks her down and offers money in exchange for the name of the man she escaped with. Once Humbert has the name, he pursues and then kills him; Humbert gets away with murder, only to be arrested shortly thereafter for driving erratically. From the foreword, we know that both Humbert and Lolita die (he of a coronary thrombosis; she during childbirth) before the book is published.

This book made me feel extremely… dirty. Reading of the narrator's lustful desires and actions on a child made me cringe again and again. It was uncomfortable peering through the eyes of a fiend at a young woman, though I cannot say she was exactly an innocent player in all of this. She quickly turned her predicament into a lucrative one, demanding money or favors before performing any of his desired acts, making her some sort of captive prostitute.

Humbert's approach to life, love, lust and murder was that of a deranged man, not quite recovered from the mental breakdown that brought him to Lolita's house in the first place. He seemed to be able to focus on only one thing at a time (getting Lolita, then keeping Lolita, then finding Lolita, then killing her "abductor"). And because of that, the story seemed to drag on a bit for me. As Humbert focused on only one thing at a time, each part of the book dragged on until he someone else caused change: Lolita's initiating sex that first time; Lolita and her abductor's running away; Lolita's sending a letter to him; the abductor's taking his last breath.

Honestly, I know the book is praised for the way in which it's written and the bold statements it apparently makes. But for me, the ending couldn't have come soon enough. I was done with this book long before it was done with me… much as how Lolita'd tired of Humbert long before he'd tired of her.

My takeaway: True love knows no age difference, though the law disagrees. And reading the Wikipedia plot description of a controversial book BEFORE you vow to read it is smart… she says in hindsight.

It - Terror Boggart-Style

It

Author: Steven King

We all float down here. –Pennywise

There isn't nobody that can live a natural life without having a few bad dreams.
–Mr. Hanlon

You can't be careful on a skateboard.
–Derry kid

Be true, be brave, stand. All the rest is darkness. –Narrator

Maybe, there aren't any such things as good friends or bad friends – maybe there are just friends. People who stand by you when you're hurt and who help you feel not so lonely. Maybe they're always worth being scared for, and hoping for, and living for. Maybe worth dying for, too, if that's what has to be. No good friends. No bad friends. Only people you want, need to be with; people who build their houses in your heart. –Eddie Kaspbrak

I finished my second Stephen King book about a month and a half ago (I'm behind on writing these posts, clearly). Here's what Audible.com says about It (yes, I listened to the recording of this one rather than read it… so, so glad I did!):

They were just kids when they stumbled upon the horror of their hometown. Now, as adults, none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them all back to Derry, Maine, to face the nightmare without end, and the evil without a name.

I'd been dreading this book ever since someone told me it was about an evil clown. I hate clowns. I debated the best way to approach this one: reading a physical copy from the library or going the audiobook route. I listened to a sample of the reading and knew it was the right way to go (Steven Weber did a fantastic job!). Plus then I wouldn't have to look at Pennywise every time I wanted to read a chapter. *shudder* (Note that I chose a graphic without the clown for this post!)

Evil clowns aside, I loved this book. I liked the way King intertwined the experiences the characters had as children and then as adults. He crafted it beautifully, revealing only what was needed at any given moment. I liked most of the characters (I could have done without Adult Beverly, quite honestly); the lines between the "good" characters and the "bad" were clearly defined and I automatically found myself rooting for the heroes and heroine without feeling pressure to do so.

But I think what I liked best about this book is that the "big bad" was fluid. It took the shape of either what each person feared the most at that very moment or what each person needed the most at that very moment. The evil didn't show up just as a clown, though that was clearly its go-to human form. At times it was a mummy, an old woman, the moon and a spider, among other things. And in each of its states, it was captivatingly creepy.

I'm not going to lie, I mentally compared Pennywise to a boggart (if this word bears no meaning for you, I'm not sure we can be friends anymore). The similarity being that both It and a boggart will take the shape of that which the viewer fears most. It is different for each person, but only the fear of the person on which they are focused will be visible to all. The difference, I found, between them is that It doesn't always take the form of the most feared thing… at times it also takes the shape of that which the person most desires. For Beverly, it became an old woman living in the apartment where her father used to live, just when she needed a friendly face and a connection to her past.

The other reason I preferred this King creation to the other I recently read has to do with the story's climax. The build-up to the final showdown was so big that I feared I would be disappointed when it actually arrived. But I absolutely was not! When the first battle against It – with the heroes as children – and the final battle – with the heroes in adulthood – were interwoven, I was glued to my phone as Steven Weber's voice exploded with excitement and anticipation.

My takeaway: No matter how old we get, we must always hold on to part of the innocence and unquestioning faith we had as children; our lives may one day depend on it. And clowns really are evil.

3 Days of the Condor - The Condor is Redford!

Three Days of the Condor

Director: Sydney Pollack

I work for the CIA but I’m not a spy. I read books. –Joseph Turner

I wish I knew more…  about you… yesterday… today. –Kathy Hale

He's in the suspicion business; he can't trust anybody. –Joseph Turner

Maybe there's another CIA… inside the CIA. –Joseph Turner

No need to believe in either side, or any side. There is no cause; there's only yourself. The belief is in your own precision. –G. Joubert

They'll print it. –Joseph Turner

The Amazon.com instant view (my viewing method of choice for this one) description of the movie:

A mild mannered CIA researcher, paid to read books, returns from lunch to find all of his co-workers assassinated. "Condor" must find out who did this and get in from the cold before the hitmen get him.

This is one of my dad’s favorite movies, and until this project, I had not only never seen it, I'd also never known what it was about. Did you know the title refers to the three days when Robert Redford's character (code name: Condor) was hiding out from the world while simultaneously trying to get to the bottom of the heinous murder that took place in his office? I didn't, but it's true!

Once I was able to get over the "technology" in this movie (they called those things computers?!) and remind myself that it was made in 1975, I could see why my dad likes the flick so much! It’s got the espionage and government conspiracy of a good Grisham and the witty one-liners of well-written and well-acted feature comedy. And there's a bit of a love story.

It also made me realize that I can never work in the CIA (all other reasons – like skill – aside) because I'm far too trusting. If I returned to my super-secret office to find all of my co-workers – including my lover – bullet-riddled and dead as dead can be, I would trust the first cop I ran into to not only NOT blame me but to figure out who did it. If I called my CIA higher-ups, I'd tell them everything and trust every word they say. If I met a handler in an alley, I'd… well, the alley meeting is a bit suspicious. But you get the point.

The fact that the Condor was able to survive three days pitted against the CIA, while digging into the murder motive and find love, is a testament to his intelligence, methodic approach and suspicious nature, all of which were likely characteristics that made him attractive to the CIA in the first place. Imagine what Joseph Turner (the Condor) could have done if he'd had access to the internet, a cell phone and computers that showed more colors than green and black!

My takeaway: Follow your gut and question authority when your gut disagrees with the people in charge. And never let a mailman enter your home unless you know him personally!

Gregory's Girl - Switching Dorothy For Susan

Gregory’s Girl

Director: Bill Forsyth

Look Charlie, we've got to get some girls; we've got to make a move. Even Gregory's at it now. We're falling behind. I don't think there's any advantage of putting it off any longer. Besides, it's making me depressed. –Andy

If you don't take an interest in yourself, how can you expect other people to be interested in you? –Madeline

It's just the way girls work. They help each other. –Susan

Hard work being in love, eh? Especially when you don't know which girl it is.
–Madeline

Netflix description of the movie:

Awkward teenager Gregory, who lives in a small Scottish town, has started to discover girls. He becomes particularly infatuated with Dorothy because she manages to get onto the football team and is a better player than he is. Gregory is so unfamiliar with the opposite sex that he relies on advice from his little sister before he asks Dorothy on a date. Bill Forsyth writes and directs this coming-of-age tale.

I really liked this movie. It was made in 1981, it's set in Scotland, and it's about football (or soccer, in America), so I really wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. The movie follows awkward Gregory as he discovers girls and figures out how to get them to discover him.

My favorite character – aside from Gregory, of course, who was a fantastic underdog – was our hero's young sister Madeline. Her purpose in the movie was twofold: she served as Gregory's confidant and gave him advice on how to attract Dorothy, the girl he's crushing after; and she instructed him on what to wear and how to carry himself in general. Madeline's confidence in him gave him confidence in himself enough to finally approach Dorothy for a date.

She also acts a bit as Greogory's foil. While he struggles to make a move, she tends to be in control of her relationship. When her boyfriend (or what I assume is her boyfriend, though she is only 11 years old so "boyfriend" is subjective) approaches her after school offering to carry her bag, she tells him she can’t hang out with him but he can try to reach out to her later. She shows more maturity in dealing with the opposite sex, including with her brother, who tends to talk to everyone from a place of immaturity. She has confidence, he does not; she knows about clothes, he does not; she knows what to say; he does not.

But ultimately, even though she is the seemingly more mature of the two, Gregory is older and feels quite protective of Madeline. When her young man comes to the door inquiring after her, he grills him and then sends him away without allowing him access to his sister. It was a smart scene to show after Gregory's afternoon with Madeline, which he spent acting like a child seeking the advice of a sage.

Once Gregory finally does get up the nerve to ask Dorothy on a date, he is met instead by another classmate, who more or less passes him off to another girl, who eventually passes him off to his third and final. Unbeknownst to Gregory, Dorothy's friend Susan had been crushing on him and had recruited Dorothy to help her set up a date. Gregory is, of course, confused by the whole situation, but goes along with it.

Possibly my favorite scene in the whole movie happens during their date. While in the park, Gregory and Susan engage in the kind of banter that feels so natural and is typically made glossy in the movies. But it feels real with these two, and kudos probably go to the writer and/or director for letting it happen this way. When the two dance, it doesn't feel hokey, and when they kiss at the end of the date, it doesn't feel forced. From the moment Gregory and Susan meet up on the street at the beginning of their date until the movie's credits, I just had this warm, happy glow inside me – the kind that comes from watching something truly organic and beautiful. Well done!

My takeaway: Good siblings help each other with the important things, like love and protection. And in the words of the Rolling Stones, "You can’t always get what you want" (in this case Dorothy) "but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need" (in this case Susan).

The Man Who Would Be King - Beige in 2 Parts

The Man Who Would Be King

Director: John Huston

I'm the correspondent of The Northern Star! –Kipling

Therefore we are going away to another place, where a man isn't crowded and can come into his own. We're not little men so we're going away to be kings. Kings of Kafristan. –Peachy Carnehan

If a king can't sing, it ain't worth being king. –Daniel Dravot

I wouldn't say the world's a better place for our having lived it int. Nobody's gonna weep their eyes out at our demise. We haven't many good deeds to our credit. But how many men have been where we've been and seen what we've seen?
–Peachy Carnehan

You call it luck; I call it destiny. –Daniel Carnehan

The Netflix envelope, aside from warning me that the disc is double-sided (oh dear), the movie was made in 1975 (umm…) and the presentation is 2hrs and 9min long (oy), describes the show I'm about to watch:

Legendary director John Huston adapts Rudyard Kipling's short story about Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnehan, two bored British soldiers stationed in India who travel to a mountainous Middle Eastern kingdom in search of riches and power. Embarking on the adventure of a lifetime, they con their way into becoming deities in Kafiristan before losing it all. The film earned four Oscar nominations.

I watched this movie in two parts… Disc Side A and Disc Side B in separate sittings. It's not that 2 hours is outlandishly long for a flick, it's just that this movie didn't captivate me the way other equally long or longer films do. It's a good movie, don't get me wrong. But it just didn't grab me the way I'm sure it's grabbed other people. I mean, it DID earn four Oscar noms!

What I liked about the movie:

Rudyard Kipling. I think it's quite grand that he was a character in this movie which was based on a short story he wrote. I don't intimately know any of Kipling's work, and so couldn't tell you if he included himself in his story or merely narrated it as a removed party. But either way, I enjoyed that the author made an appearance as a writer and "brother" of the two main characters.

Michael Caine & Sean Connery. I enjoyed seeing these two fine actors – who I really only know as older gentlemen – as younger versions of themselves. They were delightful! I thought they had great chemistry with each other and they did a good job of balancing the humor with the gravity.

The concept. A man pretends to be a god and achieves great power and wealth from his people… until his very blood reveals his falsehood. Two friends make a pact to rule the far-off land and gain its riches… until one becomes too big for his britches.

So I liked the concept and the characters, yet I wasn't really pulled in to the movie. So what didn't I like, then? I'm actually having a hard time pinpointing it. I think the movie lost me a couple times, between accents and translation and quick-talking. And I think the underlying story was something I’d seen done better: two friends set out on a quest & their friendship crumbles when one of them outshines the other; they eventually make up, a lesson is learned, and they part as equals again. Or perhaps it’s just that there was too much beige in the movie for me, on top of the '70s film quality color. I think I have some sort of aversion to movie monotony, even if on a purely visual level. Never could bring myself to watch Cast Away… just seemed like too much water.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that this was an overall good movie, I know that. It just wasn't really my thing. Perhaps it's yours.

My takeaway: True friendships will survive egotistic episodes, if and only if, the episodes don't last forever. And the best proof of your bff's kingship and death is his severed head, still crowned of course.