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spooky_miss Film 55 – Wall-E
This is a lovely film, although the first time I saw it I wasn’t too keen. It is about Wall-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class), who busily works on what is left of Earth, clearing up the rubbish that the humans have left behind before they flew off in a big spaceship! He has a large collection of recognisable human rubbish which he collects as he goes around his work, like a Rubix cube, a ring box, and a Spork (which he doesn’t know what pot to put in – the spoon one or the fork one!) . One day Eve comes to Earth, looking for signs of plant growth, which is a sign that the planet is repairing itself. Wall-E doesn’t know what to do at first, but then when she notices him he shows her all the items he’s collected – including a plant which he had found the previous day. Eve realises that this is what she has come to get, and locks it away in a little cupboard inside herself! When she is beamed back to the spaceship, Wall-E clings on and comes too. The film then follows how he tries to find Eve, and it shows how the human race has become – fat, lazy, and not able to think for themselves. The captain of the ship is astounded when he sees the plant that Eve has bought back, as no one else has ever bought anything back before. He is then determined to go back to earth, however the robot controller of the ship is determined to stop him. There is a great bit when Wall-E is taken to the robot hospital, as Eve is there, and all the robots in the hospital, who look like they have gone “mad”, escape and start running all over the ship! I think I didn’t really like this before as I felt it was a bit flat and not as funny as the other Pixar films, but I liked it this time. 8 / 10
Book Eighty Eight – Star Struck by Val McDermid
This book followed a private investigator who was hired by a soap star as she has been getting anonymous letters, and a psychic has told her that she can “see a death” or something like that! Theres also a bit of the story about the investigator’s process server who keeps getting arrested, and the computer person who works at the company who has met someone online. I think the story seems a bit cluttered as there are so many strands, some of which aren’t really needed. The investigator has to work out who among the cast of the soap was sending the letters, while at the same time has been asked by the caterers to find out who has been leaking the storylines, as the director was blaming them. Then – the psychic gets murdered. And the rest of the book is basically trying to work out who did it. I didn’t really like this book, it was just very similar to other, better, crime books I’ve read (at the beginning it was almost exactly the same as The Skull Beneath the Skin by PD James), and just got a bit boring, I didn’t really care about any of the characters. Not really recommended! 4 / 10
Book Eighty Nine – Naked Lunch by William Burroughs
I don’t even know where to start with this book. Actually I do – I hated it. It was horrible, disgusting, had no story, had no real kind of point…one thing which I do think was good though was how he managed to write so much, considering there was no story and nothing to advance the book along, I’m impressed how he managed to write so much rubbish for so long. It was basically about…well if it could be described as being “about” anything…drugs and people having sex with each other. With no story. Maybe you had to be on drugs to read it? Its not that I hate books about drugs or sex, I really liked Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, for example, but I think I can safely say I don’t like the “Beat” writers, as I hated On The Road as well. I think I will try Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl”, as that doesn’t seem to long, and then leave it there. Another good thing about this book though is that at least I don’t have to read it ever again…I took it to the charity shop before I’d even written the review :)
Film 56 - The Edukators
This film is in german, and stars the guy who was in Goodbye Lenin. He is the main character, who is a bit of an anarchist (I think?) and is against big corporations and the rich. Him and his friend break into rich people's houses at night, rearrange their furniture, and leave a note "Your Days of Plenty Are Numbered". His friend has a girlfriend who has had to work all hours at a restaurant, and move out of her home, as she had to pay back a debt she owes to a rich businessman whose car she backed into the previous year. She is getting fed up with her life, and so the lead character tells her about what him and her boyfriend do at night. She says they should go to the home of the rich businessman whose debt she is paying, and when they get there she persuades him to go into the house, as they would normally do. He is reluctant as they haven't properly scoped out the area and don't know if he's in or not, but they do go in. While they are there, the businessman comes back, and they end up taking him hostage and taking him to a cabin in the countryside. While they think about what to do with him, the three characters and the businessman talk about why they are like they are, and the businessman says how he used to believe in revolution and free love etc. At the end, they decide to take him back into the town, in return for him cancelling the debt and not getting them into trouble. This is a great film, far surpassing what my description makes it sound like! It really makes you think about how we live our lives and the impact it has on other parts of society. I don't know why, but I really like films which aren't in english. Maybe its because only the very best come out over here, or just that you really have to concentrate on the story as you're reading the subtitles all the time, but all the non-english language films I've seen so far seem great. I definately want to watch some more now.
And in relation to that last point...does anyone have any non-english language films they would like to recommend? :)
Not sure whether I should delete the rant-y post I made earlier - although I shouldn't feel ashamed of my opinions, I don't know whether it reads too strong compared to what I meant! But oh well. If I can't write them here where can I write them!
I think I've got a bit mixed up, again, with my book-numbering, as in the book that I write down all the books I've read I seem to have read one less than in my list of ones I still need to write reviews for...I hope theres a way to search my journal on here as I think maybe I've written one review twice! Apart from sorting that out, I've got three more book reviews, and one film review, and I'm up to date, woo! :) I'm just about to start reading "Room" by Emma Donoghue, which sounds really good, and was nominated for the Booker Prize so hopefully it is :)
This is a lovely film, although the first time I saw it I wasn’t too keen. It is about Wall-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class), who busily works on what is left of Earth, clearing up the rubbish that the humans have left behind before they flew off in a big spaceship! He has a large collection of recognisable human rubbish which he collects as he goes around his work, like a Rubix cube, a ring box, and a Spork (which he doesn’t know what pot to put in – the spoon one or the fork one!) . One day Eve comes to Earth, looking for signs of plant growth, which is a sign that the planet is repairing itself. Wall-E doesn’t know what to do at first, but then when she notices him he shows her all the items he’s collected – including a plant which he had found the previous day. Eve realises that this is what she has come to get, and locks it away in a little cupboard inside herself! When she is beamed back to the spaceship, Wall-E clings on and comes too. The film then follows how he tries to find Eve, and it shows how the human race has become – fat, lazy, and not able to think for themselves. The captain of the ship is astounded when he sees the plant that Eve has bought back, as no one else has ever bought anything back before. He is then determined to go back to earth, however the robot controller of the ship is determined to stop him. There is a great bit when Wall-E is taken to the robot hospital, as Eve is there, and all the robots in the hospital, who look like they have gone “mad”, escape and start running all over the ship! I think I didn’t really like this before as I felt it was a bit flat and not as funny as the other Pixar films, but I liked it this time. 8 / 10
Book Eighty Eight – Star Struck by Val McDermid
This book followed a private investigator who was hired by a soap star as she has been getting anonymous letters, and a psychic has told her that she can “see a death” or something like that! Theres also a bit of the story about the investigator’s process server who keeps getting arrested, and the computer person who works at the company who has met someone online. I think the story seems a bit cluttered as there are so many strands, some of which aren’t really needed. The investigator has to work out who among the cast of the soap was sending the letters, while at the same time has been asked by the caterers to find out who has been leaking the storylines, as the director was blaming them. Then – the psychic gets murdered. And the rest of the book is basically trying to work out who did it. I didn’t really like this book, it was just very similar to other, better, crime books I’ve read (at the beginning it was almost exactly the same as The Skull Beneath the Skin by PD James), and just got a bit boring, I didn’t really care about any of the characters. Not really recommended! 4 / 10
Book Eighty Nine – Naked Lunch by William Burroughs
I don’t even know where to start with this book. Actually I do – I hated it. It was horrible, disgusting, had no story, had no real kind of point…one thing which I do think was good though was how he managed to write so much, considering there was no story and nothing to advance the book along, I’m impressed how he managed to write so much rubbish for so long. It was basically about…well if it could be described as being “about” anything…drugs and people having sex with each other. With no story. Maybe you had to be on drugs to read it? Its not that I hate books about drugs or sex, I really liked Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, for example, but I think I can safely say I don’t like the “Beat” writers, as I hated On The Road as well. I think I will try Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl”, as that doesn’t seem to long, and then leave it there. Another good thing about this book though is that at least I don’t have to read it ever again…I took it to the charity shop before I’d even written the review :)
Film 56 - The Edukators
This film is in german, and stars the guy who was in Goodbye Lenin. He is the main character, who is a bit of an anarchist (I think?) and is against big corporations and the rich. Him and his friend break into rich people's houses at night, rearrange their furniture, and leave a note "Your Days of Plenty Are Numbered". His friend has a girlfriend who has had to work all hours at a restaurant, and move out of her home, as she had to pay back a debt she owes to a rich businessman whose car she backed into the previous year. She is getting fed up with her life, and so the lead character tells her about what him and her boyfriend do at night. She says they should go to the home of the rich businessman whose debt she is paying, and when they get there she persuades him to go into the house, as they would normally do. He is reluctant as they haven't properly scoped out the area and don't know if he's in or not, but they do go in. While they are there, the businessman comes back, and they end up taking him hostage and taking him to a cabin in the countryside. While they think about what to do with him, the three characters and the businessman talk about why they are like they are, and the businessman says how he used to believe in revolution and free love etc. At the end, they decide to take him back into the town, in return for him cancelling the debt and not getting them into trouble. This is a great film, far surpassing what my description makes it sound like! It really makes you think about how we live our lives and the impact it has on other parts of society. I don't know why, but I really like films which aren't in english. Maybe its because only the very best come out over here, or just that you really have to concentrate on the story as you're reading the subtitles all the time, but all the non-english language films I've seen so far seem great. I definately want to watch some more now.
And in relation to that last point...does anyone have any non-english language films they would like to recommend? :)
Not sure whether I should delete the rant-y post I made earlier - although I shouldn't feel ashamed of my opinions, I don't know whether it reads too strong compared to what I meant! But oh well. If I can't write them here where can I write them!
I think I've got a bit mixed up, again, with my book-numbering, as in the book that I write down all the books I've read I seem to have read one less than in my list of ones I still need to write reviews for...I hope theres a way to search my journal on here as I think maybe I've written one review twice! Apart from sorting that out, I've got three more book reviews, and one film review, and I'm up to date, woo! :) I'm just about to start reading "Room" by Emma Donoghue, which sounds really good, and was nominated for the Booker Prize so hopefully it is :)
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