(slightly early) media update: February
I'm posting this early because G, C, and I are heading to Vegas for a long weekend. G2 is going to be there with his family, so we're all getting together. I'm especially looking forward to introducing G to Spock, my oldest friend.
I didn't get a whole lot of reading done this month (excluding manga/graphic novels; depending on the ratio of art to words, those usually only take about 30 minutes to read) because I couldn't FIND anything to read! Hopefully March will be a better month for books.
Asterisks denote something I particularly enjoyed or found especially worthy of my time; your mileage may vary.
FICTION
1. Precious Blood by Jonathan Hayes: After a crucified woman is discovered in her apartment, a former forensic pathologist becomes involved with her traumatized roommate while trying to track down the killer. Meh.
2. Chalktown* by Melinda Haynes: Intensely weird but engrossing Southern gothic about a teenage boy who sets out on a journey with Yellababy, his mentally challenged brother, in a sling on his back. He's heading for Chalktown, where the residents solely communicate by using chalkboards on their porches. It reads like it was written by the autistic savant child of William Faulkner.
3. Driving Sideways* by Jess Riley: Chick lit about a woman who goes on a road trip to meet the family of her kidney donor. Along the way, she meets a teenage runaway who cons her into giving her a ride to California. Funny and occasionally poignant, it's a perfect vacation read.
NONFICTION
1. Red Carpet Suicide by Perez Hilton: Even though I don't visit his site anymore, preferring to patronize DListed and ONTD for all my gossip needs, I decided to pick this up when I saw it at the library. Reading it reminded me why I stopped going to his site in the first place.
MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS
1. Love Com* vol. 6-9 by Aya Nakahara
2. The Gentlemen's Alliance by Arina Tanemura
3. High School Debut* vols. 1-3 by Kazune Kawahara
4. Otomen* by Aya Kanno
5. Wanted by Matsuri Hino
6. Token* by Alisa Kwitney and Joelle Jones
7. After School Nightmare vol. 10 by Setona Mizushiro
8. V.B. Rose by Banri Hidaka
9. The Big Skinny by Carol Lay
10. We Were There by Yuki Obata
11. Kaze Hikaru vol. 11 by Taeko Watanabe
MOVIES
1. Zack and Miri Make a Porno*: Two desperately poor friends decide to make a porno in order to pay their bills, but things get complicated when they develop feelings for each other. Raunchy and hilarious, but with a surprisingly tender heart. Seriously awesome soundtrack, too.
2. RocknRolla: A "dick flick" starring my future husband Gerard Butler as a crook who gets tangled up in a bunch of different schemes. Chock full of style and studded with some great lines.
3. Hancock: Will Smith plays a surly superhero who tries to undergo an image change. Considering what a huge budget this movie must have had, the special effects are lousy, and the script is a groaner.
4. Coraline*: A breathtakingly gorgeous stop-motion animated film about a girl who finds a doorway to another world in her new house. In the other world, the parents who ordinarily ignore her are attentive and loving, and it's filled with magical gardens and tasty treats. But if she wants to stay there, she has to let her "Other Mother" sew buttons over her eyes. Deliciously creepy.
5. Black Sheep: Not the Chris Farley/David Spade movie, but a New Zealand film about genetically engineered sheep who turn bloodthirsty. Filled with some great black humor and a ton of gore.
6. Persepolis*: Based on one of my favorite graphic novels, this is about a headstrong young girl growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. The art is generally simple, but the story is compelling.
7. November: After her fiance's murder, a photographer (Courteney Cox) begins to lose her shit. It starts out with a really eerie, almost Silent Hill feel, but it falls apart pretty quickly.
8. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People: A funny flick about a British reporter who starts working at a magazine in New York City, where he clashes with just about everyone. Simon Pegg is, as always, drenched in awesome.
9. Bubble: In this experimental Steven Soderbergh film, Martha is a lonely overweight woman who works at a doll factory. When a cute new employee catches the eye of her friend Kyle, Martha isn't too happy about it. The dialogue and acting are so natural that it's like watching the situation unfold in real life, rather than watching a movie. I wouldn't recommend it, but it sure is different.
ADDED TO MY IPOD
1. "Up in Here" by DMX: Yes, I was compelled to download this after it was featured prominently in Zack and Miri. And yes, I like to dance around my living room while listening to it. And yes, I am terminally white.
posted by ~C @ 9:42 AM
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