The Great Gatsby... in 3D?

Subtitle: WHY BAZ LUHRMANN? WHY?
I just read this article and I am appalled. I am a fan of Baz Luhrmann, his decadent, surrealist style usually works quite well and the man is not afraid of a metaphor or two. The idea of him directing the jazz age tragedy that has recently become one of my favorite novels could be an intriguing one. It could really be a great fit.
Then I found out that he is planning to do it in 3-D.
My issue with 3-D movies is that has it become a cheap gimmick to make audiences pay more without really adding to the quality or thematic messages of the film. By breaking that fourth wall it doesn't make the movie more real to the audience, it emphasizes the un-reality of the event. The movie points out its own artificiality (and not in a poignant post modern way). Besides that, those stupid glasses give me a headache.
I just don't see how making The Great Gatsby in 3-D will add anything to the story or characters. Ideally, an audience's investment in the characters, the movement of the plot, and the effect of the theme should be why people watch movies, not just to see when something pops out at them next. For kid's movies and such, sure it can be fun, but ultimately it can dumb down the movie and muddle a fantastic story. Gatsby is compelling enough, it doesn't need flimsy tricks. Fitzgerald would not approve.
In a way, it's ironic because I feel like one of the main messages of Gatsby is how meaningless decadence and cheap modern window dressing are- life, and in my argument, film needs a solid foundation of something other than spectacle to make it worthwhile. I'm sorry if you like 3-D movies, to each their own, but in this case, it feels wildly inappropriate.

Sonnet Sunday: Shakespeare 138

I haven't done a Sonnet Sunday post since May! National Poetry Month in April exhausted my lust for iambic pentameter, but I think it's time again. After all, we only have three months to prepare ourselves for NPM festivities. I'm coercing the literary society into performing "Random Acts of Poetry" on campus. I knew there were benefits to being president, besides my new nickname- "She who must be obeyed."
So, for your reading pleasure, Sonnet 138 by William Shakespeare:

When my love swears that she is made of truth
I do believe her though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutored youth
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue;
On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust,
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told.
Therefore I lie with her, and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flattered be.

A Quick Review: The King's Speech

This was an excellent film. It is perhaps a little more sedate than many of the movies that hit theatres during the holiday season, but well performed and with a great deal of heart.

It chronicles King George VI's ascension to the throne and his struggle with a stammer. With the support of his wife (played by the ever-lovely Helena Bonham Carter), "Bertie" finds a speech therapist, Lionel Logue, that helps him overcome his impediment. Not only does Lionel help him with the mechanical issues of speech, he becomes his friend and helps Bertie tackle some of the emotional struggles that effect his speech. In a country on the verge of war, King George feels the pressure to be able to raise the spirits of the people. He is pitted against Adolf Hitler, a very dynamic speaker. The strained relationship between Bertie and his older brother David (King Edward VIII) who abdicated the throne to marry divorced socialite, Wallace Simpson, is also highlighted. Though the actor playing David, Guy Pearce, looks younger than Colin Firth, there interaction felt realistic- the not quite animosity between them comes out in several scenes.

Firth very believably portrayed Bertie's struggle with verbally expressing himself. For a well spoken actor, it was no doubt a difficult balancing act to portray Bertie's stammer accurately. Still, he succeeds in showing the frustrating experience of his character. Geoffrey Rush is very likable as the speech therapist that isn't afraid to be unconventional or treat Bertie more like a friend than a member of the royal family.

Michael Gambon and Jennifer Ehle also make appearances as George V and Mrs. Logue, respectively.

This film was rated 'R'. I don't generally watch 'R' rated films because they tend to be gratuitous, often movies receive that rating for excessive violence or graphic sexuality or vulgarity. However, this film merely drops the f-word a few times as a part of Bertie's speech exercises. Many PG-13 movies have far more offensive content. The high rating seemed unnecessary and will probably keep many younger audiences from being taken to see it. Though I don't advocate swearing, it doesn't come out of an offensive or degrading context. This would still be an excellent film for a young person with a speech impediment to see. It's inspiring and hopeful- rare qualities for a movie lately.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

In 1915 a recently orphaned Mary Russell is wandering around Sussex reading Virgil when she nearly trips over a middle aged man studying bees. This man is Sherlock Holmes. Retired to the countryside and amusing himself as a beekeeper, he soon forms a friendship with the young woman who shows an aptitude for observation. Soon he is training her in his methods and the two embark on a series of adventures together including one that puts their lives and their partnership in danger.

Although I was skeptical about a Sherlock Holmes spin-off, this was an excellent book. King clearly loves Doyle's Holmes and brings him to life in a way that doesn't attempt to copy the original stories, but shows respect for them none the less. The reason this story works is that it is told through the eyes of Mary and it is her story, Sherlock Holmes isn't the protagonist. Her character is very well drawn. She avoids becoming a Mary-Sue by being so very realistic. She doesn't automatically equal Holmes' skill, she has to go through training and she makes mistakes and misses things at times.

She is also unafraid to stand up to him, in spite of being an avid reader of Watson's stories of his exploits. In fact, she is prepared to hate Watson when she meets him, but the two form a friendship and he becomes "Uncle John" to her. Mycroft also appears and becomes another proxy family member for Mary, as well as Mrs. Hudson. King draws all of these characters into Mary's life in a believable way that stays true to their original spirit. When the major antagonist of the piece shows up it is unexpectedly expected- it makes perfect sense, but it still manages to be a bit surprising.

A few questions that nagged me when I heard the premise were soon smoothed out, such as Holmes' age. This novel starts with him in his early fifties in 1915, according to Doyle's timeline he would have been well into his sixties. Holmes addresses this question of Mary's by telling her he actually went into practice at age 21, but it was reported that he was older because no one trusted such a young detective.

The story does touch on WWI and uses the backdrop of the new era to its advantage. I don't think it would have worked if King had attempted to write such a novel about Holmes during his Baker Street days, especially not with a female apprentice in the late Victorian era.

Due to the memoir style of the book, some passages grow a bit muddled, referencing events out of order, but that is small thing and probably my only criticism of the book

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this book to fans of Sherlock Holmes, I look forward to reading the next book in the series very soon.

Incidentally, apparently today is widely recognized to be the birthday of Sherlock Holmes. I believe ASH and the Baker Street Irregulars have some festivities going on.

David Tennant is Engaged

It's been all over the news, so I'm sure everyone's heard by now, but I can't not post about this. David Tennant is engaged to Georgia Moffett, daughter of fifth Doctor Peter Davison and the actress that played Ten's daughter in "The Doctor's Daughter". I'm going to attempt to coin another new term here: Whocest- because that is how I'll be referring to their relationship.
Moffett is twenty six and has an eight year old son, she and Tennant are apparently planning their wedding for next new year's day.
I was very disappointed in this headline from the Daily Mail:
"Keep it in the Time Lord family: David Tennant to marry Georgia Moffett... daughter of ex-Doctor Who Peter Davison"
Now even I, an American, know that Peter Davison was The Doctor, not 'Doctor Who.' Shame, shame, an all too common mistake. The Daily Mail disappoints me once again.

Wait... do you hear that loud cracking noise? That is the sound of fangirl hearts breaking across the globe. Personally, I hope that they are very happy together and I completely forgive Tennant this folly, after all, he hasn't met me yet.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

I'll be honest, I've not read much Adams, I've never read the Hitchhiker's series (I saw the movie when it came out). Still, when I heard about this book the premise intrigued me. Since I've been on a mystery kick lately a sci-fi mystery seemed like fun.

This time there would be no witnesses.
This time there was just the dead earth, a rumble of thunder, and the onset of that interminable light drizzle from the northeast by which so many of the world's most momentous events seem to be accompanied.

So begins Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Adams begins slowly weaving threads of separate stories that don't connect for quite some time. The title character doesn't appear until about half way through the story, though he is shabbily delightful and haphazard. Somewhat of a con artist, he takes the approach of holism, or the interconnectedness of all things and other abstract scientific theories when looking at mysteries to be solved and he charges handsomely. The main character, however, is Richard, a young software designer, who finds himself in the middle of a complicated web of time travel and murder. He isn't particularly interesting, but the experiences he has are.
Adams uses sharp, insightful humor to build a world very much like our own, but just slightly slanted to make room for science fiction phenomenon. Though not all of his plot threads are sewn up in a completely satisfactory way, it still is amusing and thought-provoking. Random inexplicable things such as a sofa stuck in a hallway, a conjuring trick, the poetry of Coleridge, and the mathematical beauty of music all lay in Adams's landscape and add color to the story.
Ideas such as quantum physics and chaos theory are touched on in the story as apart of the plot and the way the world of the novel functions.
The story also curiously combines genres. It is, of course science fiction, but there is a mystery at the center and also elements of a sort of fantasy ghost story as well. Very peculiar.
It was certainly different than most of the books I read, but enjoyable. Adams was clearly a very creative, witty mind that loved combing scientific theory with fun and complex plots and some social satire as well.

So, it's 2011 now

I only have to be excited about this if I acknowledge that time moves in the entirely linear, measured fashion that we say it does. Which I'm still on the fence about. There, I said it.
It does, however, give me an excuse to look back over the (alleged) year 2010 with my spiffy Blogger Stats.
My most read post in the history of this blog is "Death Masks"- a write up I did on a History Channel program in July. It has has four times the views of any of my other top viewed posts.
My readership is international (I knew that thanks to Neci and Traxy- hi guys!), but I didn't realize how extensive it was. My top country of readership is, of course the US, followed by the UK,then Finland, Germany, South Korea, Canada, India, South Africa, Malta, and Australia.
If you're on Blogger but haven't checked out your stats tab, definitely do. It's fascinating and surprising. Somewhat encouraging too. It's nice to know- and have actual figures to back up- that people are reading what you post.
Thanks to everyone that drops by, even if it's only occasionally. So, onward into 2011(you know, if I believed in that linear sort of thing). And I'm giving you all a mischevious grin right now.