published by Jonathan on Wed, 11/21/2007 - 00:34
One of the advantages of a writers' strike is that you get a chance to clean out some of the DVR backlog. Tonight I watched Syriana (2005,R) (ScreenIt! Review). From ScreenIt!:
The complex paths of disparate individuals eventually converge as the U.S. government and a corporate oil giant position themselves in response to an Arab Gulf State seeking to realign its oil ties and business.
The multiple plot lines were a challenge to follow, but I enjoyed it and thought that the treatment of petroleum politics had the ring of truth. I give it 4 out of 5.
published by Jonathan on Sat, 11/03/2007 - 20:44
For movie night this afternoon we watched Happy Feet (2006,PG) (ScreenIt! Review). Since it's PG an the boys were watching, I read the ScreenIt! review ahead of time. While watching the movie it was interesting how I otherwise wouldn't have noticed many of the things the review mentioned. This made me feel better about the boys watching it...and it was pretty tame regardless. From ScreenIt!:
After being tossed out of his colony for expressing himself through tap dancing rather than song like everyone else, a young emperor penguin sets out to prove his worth by solving the mystery of what's happening to their food supply.
We enjoyed it. I give it 4 out of 5.
published by Jonathan on Mon, 10/29/2007 - 21:45
Friday night we went to see Midland play in the first round of the high school football playoffs. The weather wasn't the best, but Midland came back to pull out a victory. On Saturday the boys both finished their soccer seasons with good performances. Saturday afternoon we watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for movie night. The kids seemed to enjoy it. Then we caught the last half of a Northwood volleyball game. It was competitive, but they lost in three straight games.
published by Jonathan on Mon, 10/29/2007 - 19:03
Tonight I finished watching Borat (2006,R) (ScreenIt! Review). From Wikipedia:
[Borat]...is a 2006 Academy Award-nominated mockumentary comedy film directed by Larry Charles. It stars the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in the title role of a fictitious Kazakh journalist, traveling through the United States recording real-life interactions with Americans. It is the second film built around one of Cohen's characters from Da Ali G Show, following Ali G Indahouse, which also featured a cameo by Borat.
It wasn't as enjoyable as I was expecting. I'd probably already seen too much of it ahead of time...knew too much of what to expect. The most entertaining segments came near the end...Borat with the holy rollers and Borat throwing a sack over Pam Anderson to kidnap her and make her his wife.
I give it 4 out of 5.
published by Jonathan on Mon, 10/15/2007 - 10:38
Who has had more of his books optioned by Hollywood than any other living writer? What's your guess?
A recent installment of The Writer's Almanac reveals that it is Elmore Leonard:
...born in New Orleans (1925), who published 22 novels before he had his first best-seller in 1985 with his novel Glitz. His books didn't catch on right away because, unlike most crime novels, they weren't mysteries, they didn't have a recurring detective as a hero, and they were more about the characters than the plot.
More of Elmore Leonard's books have been optioned by Hollywood than those of any other living novelist. Nineteen of them have become movies, but he thinks only three or four of those movies are any good.
A listing of the novels made into films:
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