Jane's comments
(member since Sep 02, 2007)
Jane's comments from the Constant Reader group.
(showing 1-20 of 668)
This is a most interesting book that starts in 1947 in part I. Instead of going forward, section II takes place during 1944 and section III starts in 1940. The book follows the lives of several women who happen to be lesbians and of a brother and sister. When I read the 1947 section, I was quite confused. Waters told what had happened to these people but I had a lot of questions. By going backward the puzzles are solved and we find out why the characters are in certain situations. For example, we know that Duncan, the brother, was in prison, but we don't know why. In the 1947 section, he is out of prison. In the 1944 section, he is in prison, and in the 1940 section, we find out why he was sent to prison. I liked it very much, and I look forward to reading THE LITTLE STRANGER with the other Constant Readers.
Burgendya,How about a review of New Moon here and of Middle of the Night on the "Movies at Home" thread.
Ruth,If you had seen the show, you would know who he was by the time he opened the microphone for questions. He gave us his background and showed clips from his TV shows and movies. He made some funny jabs at his hometown and at San Diego and El Cajon. People love that when an artist takes the time to say something about the local area.
PIRATE RADIOI agree with your review, Cathy, and I also love Bill Nighy. Just the way he looks at the camera can make me laugh. The music was great and the story was fun. January Jones has a cameo as an air-headed groupie.
PRECIOUS
This is one fabulous movie. My husband thought that they should just give the Academy Award to the actress who plays the mother in this film, Mo'Nique. It is the story of a sixteen-year old girl who is pregnant with her second child. Both of her parents abuse her, and her mother has some powerful scenes. I know this is a grim topic, but there are some very funny and touching moments in the film as well. It is one of the best films that I have seen this year.
I prefer the humor in MONTY PYTHON. I thought there was too much slapstick in Fawlty Towers.When Cleese started the Q & A, he said, "Please do start your question by telling me how wonderful I am and that you have seen everything I have done." So the first few people got up and said, "Hi, Mr. Cleese, my name is ...., and I am from ....." Finally, Cleese said, "Don't tell me your name! I don't care what your name is. Just ask the question!" I loved it.
Ruth,I really liked DO THE RIGHT THING when we saw it years ago, but I don't remember much about it.
Jonathan,It sounds like Dutch grammar is similar to German grammar. Germans also like to put words together to make them very long!
Gabrielle,Does she really need 20 million?? He had a good time making fun of her and her lawyer. I would not want to get into a verbal duel with him. He is so quick.
Wallace Stegner, Ivan Doig
Last night Tom and I went to see John Cleese do his one man show that he is calling the Alimony Tour, part I. He recently got a divorce from his third wife whom he married in 1992, and she was awarded 13 million dollars plus a million a year for the next seven years. He told us that even though he is 70 years old, he will have to work until he is 76 in order to pay this money. He was very funny and he used a few clips from his various shows and movies to make some points. He was at his funniest when he was just standing there talking, and he had us rolling in the aisles at the end when he took some questions from the audience. If you are a fan of his type of humor, you will enjoy this show.
CHINAMAN (KINAMAND in Danish - 2005)This wonderful Danish film is the kind that Tom and I like to discover. We didn't know much about it, but we ended up loving it. It is the story of a bored and boring plumber whose wife asks him to go on vacation and to do a couple of things. When he says he doesn't want to, she leaves him. He is at a loss until he starts eating across the street at a Chinese restaurant and becomes a friend of the Chinese family that runs the restaurant. I hope some of you watch it!
Sara,I also gave a rave review to AN EDUCATION back in post 436. It probably got lost in the shuffle.
I am a Sam Neill fan, too. You don't see him often these days.
Mina,I haven't been posting much for the past week, but I have been reading your posts. I wish the best with your battle of this disease.
Jane
Jonathan,I had read this book earlier and was ready for the discussion, and then I got so busy that I was unable to join until today.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found Han vM to be a fascinating if unsavory person. I notice in the bibliography that you had to read many books in Dutch. How did you happen to learn Dutch and did you do so just for this book?
The painting of Christ in the Supper at Emmaus made Jesus look dead. All of the real Vermeers are so beautiful, I can't believe that anyone was fooled by that painting or the others. The girls in some of the fake Vermeers seem to be leering at us.
I also wish you could come out here (California) and speak at a university or library.
I am sure we have all been in an airplane when one of the flight attendants comes on to tell us that the flight is "extremely full". I always have visions of passengers sitting on the wings or being stuffed into the overhead compartments. Then there is "very pregnant". I know that the person means that the woman looks nine-months pregnant, but still...
Here is the thread for discussing older films.
As one of the moderators, I would like to suggest that you post about any older movies on the "Movies at Home" thread. This thread is supposed to be about movies that you see in the theater. I have enjoyed reading your suggestions, but I don't want anyone to be confused.
Two FilmsWHIP IT
This one is just fun. Ellen Page plays a high school girl who joins the roller derby in Austin, TX. I liked it, but Tom thought it was really dumb. He said that Ellen Page wouldn't last a minute in a real roller derby contest. What does she weigh? 90 lbs.??
SKIN
This is a wonderful film based on a true story. It takes place beginning in 1965 in South Africa when apartheid was still in effect. It is about a black girl who is born to seemingly white parents. The parents insist that she is white and the authorities insist that she is black. The poor little girl is caught in the middle. The beautiful actress Sophie Okonedo plays the girl as she gets older. Two thumbs way up!
Theresa,The Landmark Theaters here run several ads before the previews: 1) HD Net 2) Stella Artois 3) Cadillac. We have them memorized.
Even though we have a home theater, we love going to the theater to see recent films. There is nothing like seeing a film on a gigantic screen. At home, we see movies that got by us at the theater and also TV series.
Jonathan,I enjoyed your review of the book. Even though I read this three months ago, the book has stayed with me. It is a sign that it was a good book. Sometimes I read a book that fades away as soon as I get immersed in another book. Ono is an unforgettable character.
Constant Reader
