Memoirs of a Geisha

This was a lot easier of a read than I anticipated. I thought it might be difficult to get into because it might be similar to the language complexity of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet but Golden’s writing is accessible and flowery. It’s evocative and rich in imagery but a few too many similes and analogies for my taste.

People have also told me that I should name my book Memoirs of a Gaysian, which I think would be a terrible name (but funny!). That’s not why I read this book though. It’s listed on the expanded BBC’s list of 100 classic books so I thought I’d knock off another one. Up to 45 now!

Finally, I wanted to pose with this one wearing sunscreen since my sunscreen is thick and hard to spread so it makes me face look white like a geisha but I didn’t get the chance to do it this time. Just as well.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

I’ve had this book for a while and hadn’t had a chance to read it but it was surprisingly short so I decided to finally knock it off my list.

About the book: it was great. What can I say? Although I was also surprised at the lack of deaths. Modern day adaptations present Mr. Hyde as some sort of serial killer when in fact he murders only one person in the story. I suppose at the time it must’ve come off as more horrifying relative to our standards, but it was interesting to note how this character’s depictions have changed over the years.

And yes, that is a discarded library book I bought at my local library’s book sale, which I always find underrated. Also libraries in general. Or reading. Any sort of literacy, really. (I’m lowering the bar further and further…)

I also realized just now that I did the picture wrong. Oh well. No one looks at the book anyway.

You Made Me Love You

You may have noticed I’ve been posting lots of videos/music links in the past few days.  Mostly, I just don’t know what to say and these videos and songs have been in my mind lately.  Also writing a real post about something substantial is turning into a daunting task because I associate it with taking a long time.  And it does– take a long time, to write something substantial, and I give myself all these excuses like how I have other things to write for my creative writing classes (which is true).  But I should probably stop thinking that.

Anyway, I need to get back into songwriting for my lyrics class and I’ve been wanting to write an older-type classic-sounding song, like this one, “You Made Me Love You”, originally sung by Judy Garland.  This is taken from the gay-themed film Private Romeo, which is a re-telling of Romeo and Juliet in an all-boys cadet school.  I can see why people might not like the film, but I really do, and the ending with Matt Doyle singing this over a ukelele is really cool and lovely.

30 Day Movie Challenge: Day 21: movie with your favourite actor

I can’t remember which movie made me fall in love with this man, but James Stewart… well, what can I say about him?  I’ve seen him as the innocent and charming regular Joe in Harvey; the paranoid neighbour in Rear Window; running around trying to dodge a plane shooting at him in North by Northwest; questioning life and death in the pseudo-Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life; as a determined lawyer in Anatomy of a Murder; the observant, patient impromptu detective in the underrated Hitchcock classic Rope; and James flexing his romantic comedy muscles with Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story.

I think the last Stewart movie I saw was the 1939 film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which is arguably one of the best performances in his career.  Sure, he was still young when he made the film and would have a long career ahead of him, many more years to improve his acting through experience, but he is the reason this film is heralded the way it is today.  Stewart has that dopey, boy next door charm that works perfectly here in the film, as a naive man from a small town in the US who gets recruited to be a senator.  Believing in the true democratic idea that he thought the country was all about, he is slowly shaken by corruption, lies, and betrayal, especially when it comes from a fellow senator and mentor of his.  Eventually, he takes to a filibuster and here in the clip below, Jefferson Smith has one of many speeches he gives to the Senate, allowing Stewart to really take command of the role.  It’s basically an Oscar-nominated role just with those speeches alone.

 

30 Day Movie Challenge: Day 10: Favourite foreign film

I know Federico Fellini’s films can be kind of obscure and confusing(I definitely felt that way watching 8½).  I think La Dolce Vita is the first Fellini film I ever saw (or perhaps second), and I remember getting about halfway into the movie and thinking, “This is so damn good.”

It’s hard to describe why I like this film so much.  It could be because of the fantastic cinematography, the fascinating and colorful characters that Marcello meets, or the commentary of society’s obessession with celebrities and, well, the “sweet life”.  This film and Amarcord are my two favourite Fellini films.

Here’s the Trevi Fountain clip from the film:

30 Day Movie Challenge: Favourite Film

Not knowing what to do after the 30 Day Music Challenge, I decided to take a friend’s advice to do another challenge on facebook.  The first thing I thought of and searched for was a movie challenge of some sort and lo and behold, the 30 Day Movie Challenge popped up.

First up: the favourite film.  Well, as difficult as it is to choose one, I also find that my favourite film changes every now and then, what with my mood and with new movies I watch. Maybe it’s because I wrote about it in a short story I wrote a week or so ago, but I went with the 1960 Billy Wilder classic The Apartment.  Jack Lemmon plays a guy who lends his apartment to his bosses — they get to sleep around and he gets on their approval and promotions.  He likes Shirley MacLaine’s character, an elevator operator working in the same building.  It’s clever, cute, and actually romantic, unlike today’s rom-coms.

As per the rules, here’s a clip from the film.