7 posts tagged “review”
A Book Review by abcdefg81:
Um, this wasn't the cover on the edition I read, but whatever.
Since I know one of my two loyal readers owns, and is probably planning on reading, this book, I won't spoil anything.
Overall, pretty good. Got you kind of down and depressed at times, with all the references to porn and how the whole world revolves around sex. Which you know all too well when you're female and in your 20s, particularly if you've ever lived in LA.
Other than that, a pretty good read. It's basically about a girl in her mid-twenties, who graduated from a prestigious college back east, and can't get a "REAL" job. She's pretty stressed about what she's going to do with her career and how she's gonna get started. Of course, I can totally relate to that, and it was that basic storyline that got me to check the book out.
Like The Nanny Diaries, also written by the authors, the book got kinda whiny at times, and as I mentioned, kinda got my spirits down. And I don't think I laughed once reading this book. But, it was definitely entertaining enough!
MY RATING: Three Stars
A Movie Review/Reflection by abcdefg81:
Saw this movie over the weekend. I totally expected something brilliant... from what I gathered from the trailers and the ciritcs, it was supposed to be like "Crash," where there's a bunch of stories being told simultaneously and there's supposed to be some connection between all of them and a profound theme. I thought "Crash" was the best movie made in a loooong time, so I expected this one to be at least somewhat brilliant. Don't get me wrong; it wasn't a terrible movie, but it was kind of disappointing. Definitely an attempt at a copy of "Crash," and you know how copies are never as good as the original... And some editing would have been nice.
Yes, there were a bunch of stories being told. One story in Japan, one story about an American couple in Morocco, one story about some kids and their Nanny in San Diego, and one story about the Nanny and her family in Mexico. But I just didn't get any thought-provoking or moving theme out of it. Which is why I'm a bit disappointed.
If you haven't seen the movie yet, and don't want the story to be ruined, stop reading now! But if you've seen it, and can maybe shed some light on it for me, please keep reading.
One thing I didn't like was that the connection between everyone seemed so linear. The Japanese dude gave his rifle to a Moroccan hunting guide, who sold it to a family, whose kids shot the American tourists, whose own kids are left in San Diego with their Nanny, who takes the kids to Mexico to see her son's wedding. I hate to keep comparing it to Crash, but in Crash, the characters were interrelated kind of in a more "web-like" manner; that made the characters seem much more alive, because you got to see all these parts of them.
One of the things I did like about the movie was that it tried to bring you into worlds that aren't your own. Much of the movie takes place outside of America, and you can see the different cultures and hear different languages. And the movie does a good job bringing you into other people's worlds; probably the best example is when you see things from the deaf-mute Japanese girl's point of view. The film just goes silent and you kinda feel like you're in her shoes. It doesn't sound like a very impressive or insightful technique, but it's quite effective, and it really makes everything feel chaotic and confusing.
I think that one of the themes of the movie was that no matter how different we are as people, we're essentially all the same. Like the Japanese girl mentioned above... her mother had died and she feels like she's being ignored by her father, so she throws herself at every male character she comes into contact with. It just goes to show that it's natural for a teenage girl (or immature woman) to go slutty when she's craving attention and approval, even if they're disabled and from another part of the world.
Another point I got from the movie was that "everything you do has a consequence, and in these times of global communication, what you do can have a global impact." Which was part of the message in "Crash," except it focused on LA, and had more to say about our own society's racism. "Babel" didn't really seem to have much more to say than just "we're all connected and we're all the same."
But I think that some of the other points of the movie didn't really seem to fit.... Like the integrity and selflessness of the guy that wouldn't take Brad Pitt's money after saving Cate Blanchett's life. And the courage and sudden "growing up" of the kid that admits to having had shot Cate Blanchett. So maybe you could say that "everything we do has a consequence, and those consequences can bring out the best in people." Okay, but what about the Nanny who treats her American employers' kids like her own, but gets caught working in the country illegally the one time she does something for her own kid? What are we supposed to get out of that?
And what about Brad and Cate? So Cate had a miscarriage, which threatened her relationship with her husband, and now that she's gotten shot, she realizes that life is important and she's gonna go and be a good mom to her kids and they're all gonna live happily ever after? Oh, and as far as we can tell, she's not gonna do a damn thing to save her kids' deported nanny, other than to not press kidnapping charges?
I just don't get it. There didn't seem to be a unifying theme to the whole extremely long, two and a half hour movie. And it didn't really make me look inside myself and see something that I hadn't seen before, which I think all great movies need to do.
Overall, not a bad movie. But I definitely didn't get any moving message from it... Am I missing something... thoughts anyone?
My Rating: Three Stars
A Book Review by abcdefg81:
A very enjoyable read. The main character "Nanny" kinda drives you nuts sometimes, because her bosses treat her like crap, and she totally lets them. But the authors do a good job portraying her dilemma: she could leave her horrible employers and maintain some sense of dignity, but if she did, she'd be ditching the poor kid she takes care of, which would really suck for the kid because she's all he has.
The authors also did a really good job showing that Nanny loved the kid... And they did that without explicitly telling you page after page, Jane Austen-style, that "Nanny loved little Grayer." There's a way to convey emotion without being totally obvious, and the authors nailed it.
On the downside, the ending was disappointing. SPOILER ALERT: Sure, Nanny's course of action is graceful and classy, but I think her alternative course of action would have been more effective. The kid's parents are so clueless, they really needed someone to explicitly, and even profanely, tell them off. While that isn't a sure-fire way to change their minds, the way Nanny chose didn't make any difference at all. At least I didn't think so. The "Xes" were so profane with each other, I think they're the kind of people that won't take you seriously unless you sink to their level, and yell and swear at them too. They won't respond to kindess, empathy, and class. So it was just kind of frustrating that in the end, you know that Nanny didn't really make a difference, and poor Grayer's gonna end up going through nanny after nanny, and never being a priority in his parents' lives. And the Xes aren't ever going to stop seeing people -- both their employees and their own children -- as being disposable. AND, Nanny didn't even get paid in full! I totally would have stolen something or sued them!
All in all, though, this book was very enjoyable. Light and fluffy, just like I like my books :) I'd recommend it.
RATING: Four Stars.
A Book Review by abcdefg81:
HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE!!!! I couldn't even get past the first chapter of this book. It's about a chick that gets invited to 17 weddings set to take place over six months, or some obscene number of weddings set to take place in a short period of time. Sounds like the typical kind of fluff fiction I would want to read right? Well, I wanted to like it, but just couldn't!
A blurb on the back cover describes it as "Jane Austen meets Candace Bushnell." I should have inspected the cover more carefully and considered myself warned. I hate both Jane Austen and Candace Bushnell. And the description, unfortunately, couldn't be more accurate.
I think Jane Austen is just way too descriptive and too emotional... too much text devoted to how the characters feel; I think that the reader can tell how the character feels by reading about what they DO and what they SAY. I really don't need the author telling me "Mary felt so overwhelmed with joy she thought she had died and gone to heaven." I mean, seriously. Plus, Jane Austen's style of writing is so old-school and so crammed with words that it just sounds so pretentious. Which is exactly how I would describe the style of "Wedding Season." Reading it reminded me of talking to English or Philosophy majors, the type who think they're a lot smarter than they really are; I mean, so you can read, b.f.d., so can this math major. At least Jane Austen had as an excuse the fact that she WAS writing back in the day when everyone was stuffy and pretentious and had nothing better to do but ponder their feelings. Whoever wrote "Wedding Season" doesn't have that excuse.
So, take that and mix it with Candace Bushnell... I couldn't get through "Sex and the City" either. Just too much negativity (and I'm a negative, cynical person, so that should tell ya something), and too many people taking themselves way too seriously. So, the combination gives you a pretentious, negative piece of crap that tries to be smart, but fails miserably.
Fluff fiction (which, btw, is what you're writing, when you're writing about 17 weddings in six weeks) should be just that, fluffy and light. And yes, fluff fiction can be cynical... but I think it needs to be done in a way that's more satirical and less obvious and explicit.
Rating: ZERO STARS. If I could give it negative stars, I certainly would. Now I'm going to post this scathing review on Amazon :)
A DVD Review by abcdefg81:
I LOVE this series!! I was busy doing something I couldn't get out of the night they aired the series finale (and three other NEW episodes... damn fox), so I missed the last few episodes. After a long wait, I finally had a chance to see the DVD. It was nice to see how it ended, and I have to say as far as series finales go (aren't they all generally pretty cheesy, predictable, or just disappointing?), this one wasn't bad. It wasn't great either; it was like they tried to throw in too many story lines and fast forward through those new story lines, because they had to wrap it up all of a sudden. Which kinda sucked because what I thought was so great about the show was that it had all these subtle, running jokes, and the storyline was kind of secondary. So the last few episodes were less about hilarious jokes and more about story.... But overall, the series did provide some sense of closure, to me at least.
Book Review by abcdefg81:
Here's one that wasn't from my local library! I read this over the summer, as part of my Bar Exam Rehab. Anyway, this was GREAT! Highly recommended. I don't want to give too much away, but it's about New York socialites and the scandalous lives they lead. It reads like a tabloid; it's full of scandal, easy to read, and so entertaining. And it managed to tell a pretty good story. Here's a sample of the writing style:
"...she revealed her interpretation of an appropriate flower arranging outfit: fire-engine red glittery pants with black stiletto boots, a gauzy low-cut black bluse, and a huge eighteen-carat gold chain. It was as if Miami threw up on her."
Tell me that isn't hilarious! A lot of the narration and dialogue isn't exactly politically correct (so if you're particularly sensitive, you might wanna think twice before reading), but you can pretty much expect that from anything I like this much :)
A Book Review by abcdefg81:
Greetings from Michigan! I read this on my loooong trip out here, which apparently included two stops. If you've read the Shopaholic books, then you recognize this author. The style of writing is pretty much the same, which makes it perfect for a long-ass plane trip. The main character here isn't nearly as psychotic as Becky from the Shopaholic series, but it's still hilarious and very light. A good, light read. If you like the Shopaholic books, I think you'd like this one too. And if you are (or ever were) clueless about cooking and doing all that domestic stuff, or were pushed into being career-driven, or have ever worked at a law firm, then you'll relate to the main character. But even if you don't relate to her in any way, it's still a good, light, girly read.
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