typhoid mary

After months (bordering on years) of being illness-free, I am struck down.  I blame it on the unholy coupling of "Spring Forward" and unseasonably (unreasonably!) warm weather.  Within three days, I went from a slight tickle to coughing fits that induce sharp pains in my left arm.  A very supportive DK assumed point at work and took care of all my duty manager commitments; half my department is either currently ill or recuperating.  I suggested a full decontamination of the department.  I wish we had windows at work: it can't be healthy to have all these semi-sick people (who have taken flu shots so they don't feel ill enough to stay home, thereby infecting the rest of us) breathing in recycled air.  Long story short: am sick at home.

I ordered a BUNCH of spicy food from the local Thai place; it's the only thing I can taste.  And then, it happened.  I ran out of cough syrup.  NOOOOOoooOoOoOooO!

How To Score Boyfriend Points:

Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden

I was supposed to have read Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden for January's Book Club.  I confess to have taken almost three months to finish it.  Now that I'm done, I have mixed feelings.  TBS is the 2008 Giller Prize winner, a prize that has given me such gems as A Fine Balance, Late Nights on Air and The In-Between World of Vikram Lall.  Excellent - and intimidating - company indeed.

As per usual, spoilers abound and I can't help it.  A more cogent reviewer will be able to talk about this book, its high and lows, without ruining plot, but I make no such promises.

Should you read it?  Yes.  Should it be the very next book you pick up?  Probably not - especially if you haven't read those listed above.

Now Playing: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

As a break from the esoteric, we decided to catch Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.  In a word? Bad.  And before you go blaming my hate-on for Mr. Cage, I'm going to admit to all two of my readers that I actually quite enjoyed the first Ghost Rider, even given its vacuous nature.  So it wasn't that.  It's just, well... it was a waste of time, good actors, decent special effects.  Honestly, I was bored enough to think about napping a little.  And there wasn't a a single cool new thing it did that could redeem it.  Not one moment where i said, "ooh, neat!" It was Ugh.  Don't go see it, don't rent it...hell, don't even watch it in the background on TV at a party.  1 out of 5 stars.

84th annual Oscars

Having just squeaked in the ninth film on the Best Picture list, I will say poppets, I dropped the ball.  I normally would have shared my predictions with you prior to the red carpet, but alas; Sunday snuck up on and and I just had so much to do.  I had printed out a ballot for all of us to fill in, and we even put our five bucks into the kitty.  I did not fare well, overall, only getting twelve categories right.  I did not anticipate the love-fest for Hugo in the technical department, who walked away with five statues, tying with The Artist, which I thought was a much more... creative film.  I did bat 1.000 on the Big Six, correctly predicting Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress.  I was also very happy to see that Tree of Life was shunned.

Now Playing: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

The final entry on the 2012 Oscars list: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.  Starring a multitude of famous people, this a story centered around a boy named Oscar trying to cope with the loss of his father during 9/11. While the acting etc. was passable, I actually found the story the most compelling part of this movie.  Because I don't want to spoil it for you poppets, this will (by necessity) be a short review.  I just want to say that the unfolding of the six messages is probably some of the best tension you'll find in the top nine this year and the "reveal" at the end involving two of the main characters demonstrates quality plot development.  This is definitely the movie that surprised me most, in the best possible way: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

For Rent: 2012 Oscars

Normally, I don't do DVD movie reviews (I'd have to do this full-time if I did that) but since I watched so many Oscar nominees on video this year, I thought, what the heck.  So, here are my short thoughts.

Now Playing: War Horse / The Artist

Catching up quickly on the top nine, yesterday we went to see two more Oscar noms.

War Horse: okay, I'll admit that I didn't take this nomination very seriously.  I mean, a horse movie?  Best pic?  Come on.  But I put prejudice aside and settled in for the longest film on the list.  This is a movie about a boy who falls in love with a horse that isn't his, which fate conspires to become his and which a war takes from him.  The horse, Finders Key, is actually an amazingly trained animal, with many scenes relying on just him to carry it through; I would have never thought I'd be so moved by an animal, and yet...

The plot itself is quite epic, spanning many fronts of WWI, with the horse changing hands from English to German to French back to German and back again to English.  And while the horse-and-boy story is compelling, it's the side stories of Emilie and Gunther and Peter that really stick out. 

Well-acted, -directed and -paced, I can't find too many faults with this family-friendly drama.  It was a bit long and, paradoxically, I found it didn't spend enough time on certain vignettes (Gunther, especially).  And, relative to its running mates, War Horse is a good solid entry in the Best Picture category. 3.5 out of 5 stars.