Dose of fashion

Valentino: The Last Emperor was an interesting documentary all about the fashion designer. Particularly interesting for hose who like fashion. Which I do. The man sure as hell can make an evening gown. 5 stars.

Heathen soul

For the longest time, my lil heathen soul had resisted the bestselling novel The Red Tent. Why in the world would I want to read about biblical chicks and their monthlies? The answer it turns out is because its a really gripping story.

I really enjoyed reading about the women's culture and rituals. It didn't strike me at all as a Christian with a capital C book. Just an interesting and almost impossible to put down story. I give it an 8.

Monsters and gore

Thessaly is a graphic novel all about a reluctant witch hired out to deafeat monsters. The cover art definitely grabbed my attention, and I'm a big fan of Bill Willingham. It's an imaginitive story and a quick read. Lots of gore and monsters. I give it a 6.

If I believed in jesus

Amazing.

Resolution Time

I'm a big fan of resolutions. I make them all the time - not just December 31st. Still I'm not gonna miss an opportunity to make some now. And as my 101 listy is expiring in March, I'd best start finishing things on the list and compiling a new list.

Still the big ones for the new year are:
- Take better advantage of the farmers market and do some more preserving this growing season.
- Use my brand spanking new gym membership. (Cliche I know. I was planning on waiting til February to join - after the mad rush. However a new gym just opened near my work and their grand opening rates were insanely cheap and month to month so I had to take advantage).
- Focus on learning some new things (hello nearby rec center!) and flexing my creative muscle a whole bunch more.

Connections

Up in the Air was wonderful. Original and touching and darling. Everyone seemed perfectly cast and the soundtrack was great. We saw it in the theatre on Christmas night. It officially makes for one of my favorites of 2010. (Also I'm currently a bit obsessed with Sad Brad Smith's song Help Yourself at the moment). I'm giving this one a 9 out of 10.

And you think your family is difficult

Sometimes family gatherings can be stressful. (Okay, maybe all the time.) However, I like watching fictional families muck it up even worse. The Forsyte Saga is a wonderful miniseries to get sucked into. The acting and costumes are superb and I kind of loved how they would jump forward by years and years now and then. Very satisfactory watching.

I give it an 8. I will so be picking up the second part of this miniseries early on in 2010.

Always the women

Y: The Last Man sets up an interesting premise. In this graphic novel, all men (and male animals) are suddenly killed off inexplicably - except for Yorick and his monkey.

The story is interesting and has me curious enough to read further into the series. My one big complaint that is pretty typical of the genre is that while the dude is drawn pretty typical, most of the young woman are drawn looking like they painted on their shirts in order to show their super huge racks. (So that's gonna get me some weird searches.) It's annoying.

Anyway, I give this a 4 but its caught my interest enough to reserve book 2.

Mixed bag

Truck: A Love Story is a pretty mixed bag. Michael Perry writes so truthfully about small town country life that I absolutely loved it in parts. He also goes on (and on) about fixing his truck - something that made me flash back to my painful slog through Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I also thought his one descent into complaining about politics was unnecessary and kinda petulant. Still the bits about the fire station and his brothers were really good. I give this one a 5.

Glowy

We watched Avatar in 3D on Sunday night. Two things:

1. The movie is jaw-droppingly seriously gasp-inspiringly gorgeous. All those insane plants and creatures are amazing. The 3D stuff was pretty awesome too.

2. The story is one of the most predictable things I've seen in a long long while. Other than the visuals, there are absolutely no surprises to be had.

You've been warned. I give it a 5 - cause really all those floaty jellyfish things and the glowy plants rocked my world even if the story didn't.

Achingly sad

The Night Watch is the story of several people in London during WWII. The author tells their stories backwards - starting at the end and then slipping back a few years twice. It's an interesting way to tell a story. It makes failed love affairs that much sadder somehow. Even though you know how things end up at the end, the segments that go back in time add further depth to each situation and character.

Plus its got me determined to read more about ambulance drivers in England during the Blitz (any suggestions?). I give it a 6.

Weird

Watched this a while ago. David Lynch is one twisted mind and this is one twisted movie. I had to look up the synopsis online after watching this cause I was so confused. Mulholland Drive only gets a 4 from me.

Gorgeous

Compiling

All that holiday shopping also gives me the chance to come up with a whole list of wants. Possibly things I should gift myself after the holidays. Meet thing number 1:


or
Mary Kate McDevvitt's shop is full of awesomeness.

Adorable

Well now

Mostly Martha is mostly forgettable. The tale of an uptight chef suddenly caring for her niece when her sister is killed. It's cute, but full of fluff and strangely lacking in fantastic food scenes. I must admit to some dissappointment. I give it a 4.

All those colors

This is so lovely. It's making me feel guilty about my unused loom in the basement.

Romance

So prettily done, but I'm not sure if I could dry my hands on romance. Hmmm....

Mastered

Lorrie Moore has frankly mastered the turn of a word. She's clever. And this book will break your heart some. I give it a 7.