Just One

You guys, I watched '12 Angry Men' last night. It was SO GOOD. It appealed to the parts of me that drive you all the most crazy-- I really identified with Henry Fonda. Everyone is all, "OK this seems pretty straightforward," and he's like "But let me just harp on 10 million details really quick,' and everyone is like "Why can you not just let anything go dude??" It pays to be nitpicky sometimes people, that is all I am saying.

ANYWAY. What is probably best about this movie, and what creates a lot of its tension, is that it all takes place in one room. I was trying to think of other movies (or books, or plays) that take place in one room, or one space. Beckett came to mind. But I am sure there are others, more pop-cultury things, that I am not thinking of. Anyone?

Re: Commercially Viable, Comment 4

abandoned love

reading recommendations for fast readers with long attention spans

Dear friends,

I really love to read books that other people have read, but you might not know that my partner reads a lot of non-fiction books that require fairly careful reading if you really want to get into the subject matter. I'm not really that kind of reader. I read really really fast (because I skim anything that starts to bore me), and I like the story to move along (this is why I skim), but I also like the story to last forever. I like to get really invested in the story.

Obviously, this is why I love the Twilight saga. So skimmable, so compelling, so long.

I also got pretty into Harry Potter and The Golden Compass, but those books didn't have the same sexual tension thing going for them. Annnnnd, maybe that's the real reason I love Twilight.

But I also loved reading The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, because of the over-arching narrative of an entire generation of one family, from all of their perspectives. The plot was full of suspense and pain and yearning - and, ok, not that much sex. But it lasted forever, and when the end came it was really the END, and that was so satisfying.

Do you also like to read long books or series? Do you have any recommendations for me? (Vampires would be a huge plus)

And what kind of reading really does it for you? Do you love short fiction, or graphic novels, or sonnet sequences? Give us some really good examples!

yours in frenzied reading,
Emily L

Commercially Viable.

When I was little, I was obsessed with the idea that there were other, more beautiful children in the world who wore brightly colored clothing, smiled all the time, smelled like laundry, and were more loved by their parents than I was. The real kicker for me? I would never be one of those children. There probably were/are kids in the world that fit the above description, but it seems like a ridiculous thing for a little girl to spend time thinking about.

I'm pretty sure that this belief system was founded upon the following things:

1) The Clorox 2 commercial that ran in the early '90s that featured such children skipping around in Converse high tops, wearing various blinding colors (which had very very clearly been washed 1 million times without fading), while someone with a Jamaican accent sang a song that went "Jackie's whites are whiter, Bucky's blues are brighter, and Nikki is pretty as a rainbow!"

2) The Cotton Commercials. They still make me weepy.

3) Hanna Andersson pajamas. I have no idea how this line of clothing even entered my consciousness, since I never had any of them (they're just a little pricey), and it's not like there were commercials for them (I obviously watched a lot of TV when I was a kid).

C'mon though. How could you be a bad person when you're wearing these?


What were your totally unfounded beliefs when you were little?

YA

To get the ball rolling I am posting two times.

I thought that this question might generate some interest:

What are your favorite YA books? Also, what qualifies as YA as opposed to a long kids' book? Is there a difference? What I really want to know is if Brian Jacques' Redwall books count, because if so, those are definitely my favorite.

Girl, Don't Do It

And by "it" I mean see "Changeling"-- it was so bad, you guys. Emily and I were truly shocked and devastated by its awfulness. There were many things wrong with this movie, but I think the single thing that bothered us the most was a long, gratuitous death scene. It verged on emotional pornography. It didn't do anything for the movie, and it was really upsetting. Ugh. So this made me think-- what movies have I seen that depict death (as in, an actual scene of someone/something dying) in a thoughtful, compelling way? What movies make watching the death feel necessary, if not completely pleasant?

Laugh if you will, but I think my #1 favorite death scene of all time is in "Terms of Endearment". I cry my life away every single time I watch it, but it isn't sappy or pat. It's abrupt and pedestrian, just like most people's deaths, and I love it. I'm sorry if I just ruined that movie for anyone. This post could lead to a lot of movie ruining.