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Journeys

"The Treasury" ~ Petra, Jordan
(Not really a treasury, just it's nickname. Actually a funerary chamber. Most recognised for its use in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.)

Recently Watched

The Last Mimzy

I wanted to watch this because it is based on a science fiction short story by Lewis Padgett titled "Mimsy were the Borogroves". I like the short story quite a bit, and I think the movie managed to capture some of the important themes while at the same time leaving out the parts that wouldn't transfer well to the big screen or a family film. They never made any claims to trying to recreate the short story anyway.

Wall-E

I loved this movie. Probably the best movie I'll see all year. If you're the type of person who prefers to watch it when it comes out on dvd and then do a bunch of stuff in the kitchen while you're "watching" it (*cough cough* mum *cough cough*) that won't work with this movie. There isn't much talking. It is also very deliberately animated, which means that an animator took the time to draw everything that you find on the screen. It's all important. It all tells the story. So actually *look* at it.

Evan Almighty

I like the the fact that God will do your silly joyful dance with you.

Wanted

Ummm... didn't know anything about this movie before going to see it with Nick and a bunch of his friends. Wouldn't really recommend it to anyone. I mean, these assassins get their orders from a *loom* for pete's sake. And I like assassins. And I like James McAvoy (particularly as Tumnus, he was brilliant). I just don't really like Angelina Jolie or plots that don't seem to have a point or excessive amounts of swear words. All things considered, my favorite moments were *spoiler alert* when the main character smashed his friend in the head with his ergonomic keyboard and when Angelina Jolie shot herself and about six other people in the head with one bullet. The cool thing? It was all with one bullet. *end spoiler alert* I would have liked to pick somewhat less violent favorite moments, but it wasn't that kind of movie.

Recently Read

The Tale of Despereaux
Kate DiCamillo

I very much enjoy stories that have a fair bit of tragedy mixed in. I also know that mice can be some of the most chivalrous and daring and kind characters imagined. Go look at Martin the Warrior or Reepicheep. I defy you to find more admirable characters. So Despereaux is continuing a wonderful legacy when he is pulled away from his human princess and he shouts "I honor you!" desperately back to her.

Kate DiCamillo has become a very valuable author. She writes books that do not talk down to children and that deliver some hard truths and amazing promises all at the same time. Also vocabulary lessons. I'm afraid that to say too much more about the book would be to take away the joy of discovering it for yourself. So I'll just include the full title: The Tale of Despereaux, being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread.

Recently Read

Smoke and Mirrors
Neil Gaiman

Smoke and Mirrors is very much like Neil Gaiman's second short story collection Fragile Things, which is to say, somewhat disturbing. But sometimes people need to be disturbed. And where Fragile Things felt like a haunted disturbing, Smoke and Mirrors is a bit more of a twisted disturbing. That's just the tone of the book as a whole though. The first story, entitled "Chivalry" is especially sweet actually. And "The Price", about a stray cat that protects his family is just... neat.

I think I've discovered what draws me to his short story collections though. Gaiman writes as though he were a visual artist instead of an author. If that makes any sense. He approaches his themes and mysteries as if with paint or clay and only gives as much information as someone working in that medium might. The only difference is that he perhaps uses several different paintings or sculptures. And this is probably why he has such a close working relationship with Lisa Snellings-Clark, often writing stories based on her works, and she making sculptures based on his stories.

I also appreciate his blurbs about each individual story in his introductions. It's a nice little peek into the mind of the author.

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