Reading: 2004 Small Press Expo showcase
Music: Flogging Molly
TV/Movie: Lost season 1 DVD set
Link o' the Day: Hiding Harper Lee

Why do I have the feeling that the last day of 2008 is going to be a real pain in the ass?

Big snowstorm a'comin' and threatening to make the roads a right and awful mess. Will we be able to do up New Years with friends as we had hoped? Hope so. I've got a decent amount of shoveling to do today.

And I'm untangling sudden snarls in certain freelance projects. And slept poorly and in an off mood. I'll get over it.

Plus there's something I know I need to do today--but I can't remember what. I have a list of other things to do. Loads of things. But I know I'm forgetting something. That's annoying.

Okay, enough of that. I had originally planned this morning's (late) journal entry to feature some capsule movie reviews. First up...

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The Kingdom starring Jamie Foxx, Jeniifer Garner, Jason Bateman, and others. This was okay. The best part occurs during the last forty minutes or so, but overall I thought a lot of the story was based on wish fulfillment. We wish we could get hands-on investigative powers in places like Saudi Arabia where there's a grassroots support for terrorism. We wish we understood the language and culture well enough. We wish that Saudi Arabia (and by extension, the rest of the Middle East) wasn't such an alien experience to most westerners. We wish we weren't out of our depth with understanding and dealing with the Middle East and the sources of terrorism.

And the Big Shootout scene, while entertaining from a pure adrenaline standpoint, seemed more like fantasy to me. Like how we, as Americans, want to react when threatened by terrorists if only we weren't constrained by things like...you know...civilization and law. You know...noble and superhumanly capable rather than what we really are....you know...human.

Worthy of note, though, was the parallel drawn between the different "sides" in the conflict. How we are different, and how we are sadly the same.

Recommendation? Yeah, sure. I think overall it's a thoughtful movie. And by that, I mean it's deserving of thought. On the surface it seems kind of jingo-istic, but we're supposed to look a little deeper and think about it.

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Infamous starring Toby James, Sandra Bullock, Daniel Craig, and more. This came out close around the time that Capote (which I reviewed a bit while back) came out and I think most who viewed both movies felt they were pretty equal in quality. Different in places, but equal. They are essentially the same story, but both had their own strengths. I felt Capote focused more on the killers who inspired Capote's In True Blood (which was probably why the movie version of the book was included with my copy of the Capote DVD). Infamous focuses more on Capote. Of the two, I'd give the laurel wreath to Toby James. Yes, the amazing Philip Seymour Hoffman did an outstanding job in his portrayal of Capote, but I think Toby James's version came off as more authentic. Script-wise.... they're pretty even. Capote was deeper, but Infamous had more flair.

Bullock's Harper Lee was good, but not outstanding. I felt more from Catherine Keener's version--fully acknowledging that I know less about her than I do about Capote. A real star in Infamous was Daniel Craig's Perry. Very intense sort of actor and I hear he's been making a name for himself these days in (ho hum) action flicks. (Oh lordie...no....I was just kidding. I loved Casino Royale! I was just joking! put the axe down....no! noooooo!)

ahem.

In short, regarding Infamous and Capote: Both good. Both very good. Both damn good. Put a gun to my head and make me choose? Tough one, but I think I'm going to go with Infamous.

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And speaking of Harper Lee, I came across an interesting piece from the website storySouth: a journal of literature from the New South by one W.A. Bilen called Hiding Harper Lee.

Here's a tidbit:

Harper Lee’s biggest secret? She’s not a recluse at all. She simply wants to live a regular life, to be allowed an existence outside the bounds of a couple hundred pages written decades ago.

And there's more--but you'll have to read it yourself.

Cheers!