| Updated revew of The Dead, with two reviews in one! |
[Dec. 22nd, 2009|12:36 pm] |
Review of the restored, 83 minute version:
Lionsgate has made good on its promise to supply uncut versions of this film to those who bought the truncated version, and if you were among the latter, I urge you to contact them immediately and get a proper copy of this film. It's that good. Seriously, the beauty of this film cannot be overstated, though if you're of a literal turn of mind, you might not appreciate it since, on the surface, it's a story about a lot of Irish people going to a party, talking about music and some of them drinking too much.
But those with patience will see how this film is about the interior life, and particularly about the lives of women and the things which move them. Down to the smallest detail, this film gives shape and weight to the lives of the women around whom the story revolves; the carefully preserved family mementos, the Bible and rosary, the delicate lace curtains all speak volumes about who they are, and what memories they keep locked away.
The quality of the DVD is quite good now that it's been restored to its proper running time. I was particularly pleased at being able to see so much of the detail of the costumes and sets which were much less clear in tape or broadcast versions, particularly as the details are just wonderful, thought out to the last bit of lace or delicate brooch. To be blunt, I am so very happy to have this (whole) on DVD at long last that I could sing!
The only fudge factor here is the cover, with Anjelica Huston's head superimposed (badly) on someone else's body (Her hed is pastede on, yay) Given that the original release had a lovely cover, I have to wonder what the people at Lionsgate were thinking when they okayed this one. It's a minor quibble, and under the circumstances, not something I'm going to subtract a star for (maybe half a one, if that was possible, which it's not) but it deserved mention.
In short, I think Lionsgate has give us a quality product at last, and thanks to some serious complaining by those of us who love this film dearly. Yes, I recommend it, now that it's been restored.
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One-star review of the truncated, 75 minute travesty:
I have been waiting for a DVD release of "The Dead" almost since the day I first discovered the film at a tiny video rental store. I fell immediately in love with the film and bought a copy for myself because I wanted to be able to watch it whenever I chose.
Time passed. Even more time passed. DVDs which were just appearing on the horizon when I first saw this film eclipsed VHS but there was no sign of a release. I managed to burn the movie to DVD, a hectic and not-terribly satisfactory solution. When I discovered a PAL version was available I ordered it since I had a multi-standard DVD player.
Why am I telling you all this? Because I want you to understand how I felt when I found that Lionsgate was finally releasing "The Dead" to DVD in this country. I was overjoyed, I pre-ordered it, and I waited anxiously for it to arrive.
And then I watched it and nearly wept. It's not bad enough that the beautiful cover of the original film has been replaced by hideous cover art with no real connection to the film, save the image of Anjelica Huston, but to find that an 83-minute film has been chopped down to 75 minutes, and utterly without regard for the continuity was enough to make me furious, and determined to keep anyone else from buying this travesty.
Fortunately Lionsgate has apparently discovered that their truncated version of the real thing was not being well-received (What were they thinking??) and has issued a recall. Information is here: http://www.seanax.com/2009/11/05/total-recall-lionsgate-recalls-the-dead/ They are taking the position that it was an accident. My thinking is that an accident is not sending the DVD out in the case, or sending defective one, or sending ones with the wrong film. Cutting a film to pieces is not an accident, it is a deliberate act. I see from the information on IMDb that in Spain, the release is 79 minutes.
It's not as if this is as long as say, "Fanny and Alexander"'s original version, or another "Lawrence of Arabia." This is 83 minutes we're talking about. If you don't have an attention span that long you won't like this film anyway, no matter how much they cut out of it. This is a film that is short and perfect, and it should not be interfered with in any way.
So if you were one of the unfortunates who bought a copy, please go to the URL I've just posted and get yourself a copy of the real (we hope) film before they say "Oh no, too late!" or do something else boneheaded to it. And pass the word. Lovers of this film have waited far too long to be jerked around like this. |
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| Been readin', writin' reviews and kind of hiding from the world. |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|09:55 pm] |
The house seems very empty sometimes. Not all the time, just when I least expect to notice that he's gone, and then I get blindsided. Losing my folks taught me a lot about how you have to handle grief and loss and so I'm coping pretty well, but I miss that little guy. Not having a cat, but that cat in particular. In general I'd say that I could probably happily go the rest of my life without a new pet.
I've done a lot of reading and writing of reviews as you might've noticed, and Dawn and I spent the weekend baking Christmas cookies. We delivered most of them in the last two days, and hope to have them all given out by the weekend. We've also signed up for AT&T's UVerse which I hope will be as good as they say it is. But frankly, if the TV and internet are reliable, I'll be thrilled since we're getting both plus unlimted phone service for $30 a month less than we've been paying, and with more stations. After the first year it'll go up to what we were paying, which is still pretty darn good. Considering how badly fubar'd the reception was for Dollhouse on Friday, an improvement in TV reliability alone would be worth it.
It's cold here again and I'm tired, but I don't feel like going to bed yet. Think I'll just vege in front of the TV for an hour or two. |
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| Omar Little |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|08:32 pm] |
I made a post about Omar for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) choc_fic’s 100 Days of Colour. It's here if someone would like to take a look. |
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| Review: Homedics SBM-500H Therapist Select Shiatsu One Massaging Cushion with Heat |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|12:26 pm] |
I carry around a lot of tension in my back. Some of it is plain old stress, some is due to physical problems, but the net effect is the same: My back hurts! A lot. Most of the discomfort occurs in my lower and mid-back, and that area is where this unit really shines. The rolling massage is a comfortable and comforting experience, the shiatsu massage is firmer and more emphatic. I'd say that the latter would be best for working out the kinks while the former is more relaxing. In tandem, they work well. However the shoulder massage function has so far not proved to be very useful, and in fact my neck and shoulders hurt more after use than before. Possibly this is because the unit seems to be designed for someone with a longer torso than I have. I'll have to work with the unit to see if there isn't some way to fix this.
There are a few ways to adjust the back rollers. You can choose full, upper or lower back positions on both shiatsu and rolling massage settings. Rolling massage allows you to adjust the width of the rollers and shiatsu allows the user to stop the massage in a specific place for a little extra therapy.
The heat feature is a lovely addition, but I wish it could be used without the massage. Since there does seem to be a time limit on each massage session, I don't see any reason why the same couldn't be done for a simple heat treatment. However I've never had a Homedics massage cushion which doesn't limit heat use to a massage session, so I really wasn't surprised.
Overall I like the product and plan to get a lot of use out of it, but I'll need to find another chair on which to use it (my desk chair is not particularly compatible with it, alas) and work with it to find the best sort of session to loosen up my aching muscles. |
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| Review: The Book of Fires, by Jane Borodale |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|03:52 am] |
Agnes Trussel is a surprisingly innocent young woman for having grown up in the country with parents who produce new offspring nearly every year. She is half seduced, half raped by the village bully, and when she discovers that he has made her pregnant she considers her options and, given heart by an unexpected windfall, chooses to leave home and travel to London rather than be forced into marrying her child's father. She finds herself at the door of a maker of fireworks, begging for the job of housekeeper, but hired on as his assistant instead. And from that moment, a world of new ideas is opened to her.
If I have one quibble with the book it's that Agnes is a bit too wonderful -- she exists on the thin, sharp edge of being a Mary Sue -- a beautiful young woman who doesn't realize she's beautiful, who is smart and resourceful, and who has a mot juste for every occasion. Borodale does manage to balance these qualities with some interesting flaws, including a stunning emotional obtuseness. And yet in spite of both her flaws and her good qualities, Agnes is interesting enough as a character to carry the story. However, for me, the most interesting character of the lot is John Blacklock, who in many ways remains a mystery, even to Agnes. His emotional life becomes clearer and deeper as the story progresses, and yet we can never quite come to know him. He is, like his fireworks, a flame that burns brilliantly but all-too-quickly. And as he says of the pyrotechnics themselves, the silence they carry within them is their true beauty.
Both Agnes and John are working to bring something new into the world. This is the story of how they each go about their work, together and yet always in the end, isolated from the rest of the world and even from each other. In fact, most of the books' characters are complex and interesting, though it's not always immediately apparent. They require patience, too, as does a plot which never quite becomes a romance or mystery, or strays into any other literary genre. It can sometimes be slow, sometimes even difficult, but I found it eminently worth the time, and in fact read the book in two long sittings.
And yes, it made me cry. That doesn't happen often, and I'm not going to say why it did for fear of spoiling the reader. Let me just say that it touched a deep and resonant chord in me with its slow sadness, and ultimate reaffirmation of life. |
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| Trip down the Primeval Memory Lane |
[Dec. 12th, 2009|02:59 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | primeval | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Monster - Lady GaGa | ] |
I rewatched the first episode of Primeval yestarday. *happy sigh* As I've mentioned before, I've got a soft spot for pilot episodes. I love the shiny newness of the characters, as well as watching thinking of all the possible directions the show could have gone in. For me, that first episode is always a fascinating big old "what if" even if I've watched it a hundred times. *g*
LOL, but every time I watch the first ep of Primeval, I always think, poor Ben. I hope later in life he gets to be on the Primeval team, and doesn't end up as some crazy fanatic talking about dinosaurs and whom no one believes! There's so much to love about that first episode. The closeness of Stephen and Nick. The wonder on Ryan and Nick's face when they go through the anomaly. Not to mention all of the Action!Stephen moments. My favorite! :) |
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| Review: The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great, by Benjamin Merkle |
[Dec. 12th, 2009|01:42 pm] |
Honestly I'm not entirely sure what to say about this book because if I was 12 years old I would have loved it. Seriously I'd have eaten it up and looked for more. But Nelson isn't marketing this as a juvenile or even a young adult book and as such I find myself hard pressed to give it more than a middling rating.
It's a book which presupposes that the reader knows virtually nothing, and while I'm the first to bemoan the state of education in this country I find it hard to believe that most people get out of high school without knowing who the Vikings were. Yet Merkle's very first sidebar explains them to the reader. Seriously, he seems to think it necessary to tell his readers that Vikings were "Scandinavian men who traveled on trading and raiding expeditions..." These sidebars, which are fairly annoying -- whatever happened to footnotes? -- litter the beginning of the book, but calm down as the story progresses. They mostly add very little to the narrative and can easily be skipped unless you really don't know anything about history, though I have to confess that some of them are mildly interesting. The one about berserkers was fascinating even if it was intrusive.
For the rest, I have to admit that I didn't find the narrative particularly enthralling. In addition to the sidebars, there are odd asides about things like Viking long boats and King Alfred's piles. I'm not kidding about this last, and frankly I could've gone my whole life not having to read about them. Even some of the sidebars seem weirder than others. The one explaining that the town of Nottingham used to be known as "Snotengaham" after a Chieftain named "Snot." was sort of funny, albeit in the manner of, well, a 12 year old.
While I recognize that all historians have an agenda, or take sides... whatever, one of the less appealing lenses, for me at least, is a blatantly religious one. And Merkle's lens is very, very Christian. I'll let each reader judge for him or herself how reliable that's likely to be in the retelling of historical fact. I tend to find it somewhat suspect when it's this obvious. And in light of all the other issues noted above, it just adds to my feeling that I can't really recommend this as a good popular history for adults. If Nelson was going to market it for juveniles or young adults I'd be more enthusiastic, but for adults to wade through a narrative that seems oddly scattered, parenthetical and burdened with heavy religious overtones? I honestly don't think it has enough to offer to justify that time and effort. |
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| Review: The Fifth Servant, by Kenneth Wishnia |
[Dec. 10th, 2009|03:29 pm] |
On Good Friday of 1592, a Christian child is found murdered in a shop in the Jewish ghetto of Prague. In this city, Christians and Jews observe an uneasy truce, and while many Christians are willing to do business with their Jewish neighbors, ignorance and prejudice run deep in the Christian community. When the murdered girl is found to have been drained of blood, it seems certain to most of the Christian citizens that the Jews are responsible for they believe that Jews use blood in their ceremonies, particularly the blood of children. A young rabbinic scholar from Poland is charged with solving the mystery, but is hampered not only by the three day timetable given to him by the sheriff of Prague, and the arrival of a Bishop intent on rooting out heresy in the city, but also by the fact that it is not only the sabbath, but the beginning of Passover. The central character, Benyamin Ben-Akiva, is a free-thinker and a newcomer to the Jewish community in Prague, and so is not welcomed by all. He does, in fact, meet with a certain amount of hostility from some of the local rabbis and their followers which makes his job all that much more difficult. But he presses on because he must, because a man's life hangs in the balance and because the Talmud teaches that "Whoever saves one life saves the world."
I have to confess that I'm not a big fan of the mystery genre, at least in part because they are largely -- almost by definition -- plot-driven, and I tend to prefer character-driven stories. But Wishnia overcame my resistance almost immediately with his note on language at the beginning of the book. Not only is his use of language brilliant, but his characters are beautifully drawn, giving the book a richness that I find wanting in so many other examples of this genre. Benyamin is a complex man; freethinker, frustrated lover (His wife has left him and his desire to win her back forms an underlying theme of both hope and despair as he's constantly forced to choose between acting on his impulses and acting in accordance with his faith.) scholar and reluctant detective. He's always aware of how short of perfection he falls, and yet has faith that God will understand that he does what he does for the right reasons.
But this is more than a mystery with well-written characters, it's a lesson in history with the interaction of Bohemian Jews and Christians as central focus. Wishnia shows us both Christian and Jewish society in 16th century Bohemia, their differences and their similarities. He shows us how damaging hypocrisy and intolerance have always been, the value of faith, above and beyond any sort of codified belief system, and the dangers of fanaticism particularly when wedded to ignorance.
If I have any complaints, they're not deal breakers. I love the characters so much that I wanted to know what happened to all of them, which of course would make the story much longer and impossibly cumbersome. But at least a couple of the characters who captured my imagination got what I consider to be short shrift. I think Kassy Boheme could have driven a whole book on her own as could Trine or Reyzl or even Anya. In fact, Wishnia's female characters are so delightful, I hope he might go with a female protagonist in a future novel.
It's a good mystery, but "The Fifth Servant" is far more than that. Even if you're not a mystery fan, you might want to give it a try. I think you'll find, as I did, that it's well worth your time. |
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| What on earth have I managed to accomplish today? |
[Dec. 9th, 2009|05:49 pm] |
It feels like nothing, though I really did do a lot. I've been up and down all day. I was up late last night watching "Julie and Julia" which I really enjoyed, and I finished the book I was reading for review (Which will follow when I think about what I want to say.) But then this morning I woke up a bit before six and lay there wondering why I couldn't get back to sleep. Fortunately, just before I was about to say "Oh screw it!" and get up, I dropped off again, and got wakened about 9:30 by someone wanting to get me to donate to a charity.
I couldn't believe that I got two loads of garbage out AND put my wash in before Peapod got here, and was feeling quite smug, but then Charles called and said he wanted to pick up all the stuff I was donating to Felines Inc. (Caddy's old trees and a bunch of toys, a carrier, his litter box, etc.) so I had to find out where they were exactly. Turns out they didn't open until 12:30 so I had to put Charles off for a bit. He got here about quarter to twelve with Wilson who had Dawn's screen and my storm windows -- for which thank goodness as it's freakin' cold out there tonight! -- and I told him that I'd turned off the water in the front, but hadn't yet turned the back one off, so they looked into it and discovered that there was no handle, and the shut off was way to hell and gone inside the ceiling of the basement! In the process they discovered that my boiler was leaking badly, which the HVAC guy told me was okay, except it's gotten worse, I guess. *beats head on keyboard*
Then Peapod came and I carted Dawn's groceries upstairs and Will came along to put the screen back in, then they loaded all the donation items on Charles' truck, then they came back with the right tool to shut off the water, and finally they took off for Felines Inc, so I thought "Okay I can sit down and work now." Uh-huh.
Between the phone ringing all afternoon, having to go out and keep the walks clear, and needing to rush around moving laundry about, I pretty much got nothing else done. I only just had breakfast about an hour ago and it was a sack of Goldfish and some tea. I do have a brisket in the crock pot, but that won't be done for another couple of hours, so I'm thinking of heating up some soup while I run a second load of dishes. (My family curse -- and every family has them -- is to produce more dirty dishes and garbage than any six other families in the neighborhood. None of us ever figured out how we managed it, but that's the way we roll.)
I swear, I'm going to go fold my load of laundry and finish my Xmas cards tonight. I'm not sending out that many, it shouldn't have taken the better part of the week to pull them together. I'm so out of practice! I'm glad I'm starting slowly with just some local people.
This weekend is cookie-bakin' weekend. Should be nice and messy. |
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