Molly O'Keefe's Blog, page 30
September 24, 2012
Beer and Books
I've told this story here before, but since it is one of my superpowers to remind people of humiliating and embarrassing things that I have done, I will tell it again.
The night that Molly won the Rita (do you remember that, Molly? the whole golden statue thing?), she bought a round. Now, I don't drink beer that often, but the lobby wine was giving me a headache so I asked Molly for some kind of girly beer. She came back and handed me a bottle wrapped in a napkin. I took one sip and said, "Why, that's a delightful beverage!" I removed the napkin and saw that it was a Bud Light.
I was so embarrassed. Molly tried so hard not to snort and chose not to mock me, sweet girl that she is.
Anyway, here's the thing. I know it's not good beer. Yet, it's what I like. I really did (and do) find it delightful. Would it be better to drink something I don't like as much? Or do I go ahead and indulge my love of something that I know is sort of bad.
So where do books come in? I think you can guess. I have, on occasion, gotten frustrated with smart friends who like bad books. I'll ask them what they liked about them and they'll shrug and say things like, "I just wanted something mindless." Didn't the overuse of adverbs bother them? What about the clunky dialogue? Nonsensical plot?
Nope. No more than the lack of hops or malt or whatever else I'm supposed to be liking in beer bother me about Bud Light.
I always think that people respond on a subconscious level to good writing, but I'm beginning to think that's not any more true than me responding subconsciously to good beer.
Is there something you know is kinda bad that you like anyway?
The night that Molly won the Rita (do you remember that, Molly? the whole golden statue thing?), she bought a round. Now, I don't drink beer that often, but the lobby wine was giving me a headache so I asked Molly for some kind of girly beer. She came back and handed me a bottle wrapped in a napkin. I took one sip and said, "Why, that's a delightful beverage!" I removed the napkin and saw that it was a Bud Light.
I was so embarrassed. Molly tried so hard not to snort and chose not to mock me, sweet girl that she is.
Anyway, here's the thing. I know it's not good beer. Yet, it's what I like. I really did (and do) find it delightful. Would it be better to drink something I don't like as much? Or do I go ahead and indulge my love of something that I know is sort of bad.
So where do books come in? I think you can guess. I have, on occasion, gotten frustrated with smart friends who like bad books. I'll ask them what they liked about them and they'll shrug and say things like, "I just wanted something mindless." Didn't the overuse of adverbs bother them? What about the clunky dialogue? Nonsensical plot?
Nope. No more than the lack of hops or malt or whatever else I'm supposed to be liking in beer bother me about Bud Light.
I always think that people respond on a subconscious level to good writing, but I'm beginning to think that's not any more true than me responding subconsciously to good beer.
Is there something you know is kinda bad that you like anyway?
The Romance Cover Rut
Sinead's post on Friday and Smitten Kitten's comment on how bad the titles are on some romance novels made me think about titles in general and also covers and how deep the romance packaging rut is.
Now, it works. Right? To some extent is works. Art teams comes up with covers that attract the eye of The Romance Reader - I don't think the mandate for the art department is to gather new readers. there have been so GORGEOUS covers out there lately - I'm thinking of Meredith Duran's Your Scandalous Ways and Carrie Lofty had some total stunners - but they're romance covers.
You look at the covers of Meljean Brooks absolutely fantastic Iron Seas series, and they make me scratch my head. Trade paperback - which is usually the siren call for non romance readers, or at least the indicator that the publisher is going after that demographic - with naked man chest.
The success of Fifty Shades and Bared to You has unleashed it's own tidal wave of masculine covers that still somehow create the impression of intimacy. I loved the cover for Bared to You - but we've seen a lot of similar ones.
The last cover that really really worked for me in romance was that second Courtney Milan book with the hero staring off the page right into my eyes - can't remember the title, but that cover MADE ME BUY THE BOOK.
Now, I understand, I'm no longer the reader that buys according to cover, or back cover blurb. I buy strictly on author name and recommendations. So this isn't a fair assessment. But what about you? What was the last book you bought because of the cover? Romance or otherwise?
Now, it works. Right? To some extent is works. Art teams comes up with covers that attract the eye of The Romance Reader - I don't think the mandate for the art department is to gather new readers. there have been so GORGEOUS covers out there lately - I'm thinking of Meredith Duran's Your Scandalous Ways and Carrie Lofty had some total stunners - but they're romance covers.
You look at the covers of Meljean Brooks absolutely fantastic Iron Seas series, and they make me scratch my head. Trade paperback - which is usually the siren call for non romance readers, or at least the indicator that the publisher is going after that demographic - with naked man chest.
The success of Fifty Shades and Bared to You has unleashed it's own tidal wave of masculine covers that still somehow create the impression of intimacy. I loved the cover for Bared to You - but we've seen a lot of similar ones.
The last cover that really really worked for me in romance was that second Courtney Milan book with the hero staring off the page right into my eyes - can't remember the title, but that cover MADE ME BUY THE BOOK.
Now, I understand, I'm no longer the reader that buys according to cover, or back cover blurb. I buy strictly on author name and recommendations. So this isn't a fair assessment. But what about you? What was the last book you bought because of the cover? Romance or otherwise?
September 21, 2012
I like my historical romance peopled by adults
Which is a long winded way of complementing Sherry Thomas. I've read the first two in her new series, which are Beguiling the Beauty and Ravishing the Heiress, and first, let me state, they are really wonderful.
But I hate the titles. The titles sound over the top and her books are anything but, they are subtle and remarkably written and they read so differently from anything else in the genre right now. They are the books I would hand to someone to convince them to respect romance.
I am a total fangirl. Her characters are adults. They don't always behave perfectly, but they come across to me as fully formed people who behave like adults and I love how she subverts the genre in subtle ways.
The first book takes the classic beauty and makes her beauty both a blessing, but also a terrible curse, where normally heroines are beautiful, but unaware of it, this heroine is keenly aware of it and uses it when necessary. Her beauty was an impediment to her and the hero falling in love.
The second book is about a forced marriage, where the one doing the forcing is (sort of) the heroine and what happens afterwards, and how friendship and compromise bring about love.
I loved both books, maybe the second one more, but more I love how she can bring about fresh takes on the genre so subtly and they are written so wonderfully.
Yep, total fangirl here, but so far in this series, she has absolutely lived up to my expectations. And now I'm eagerly awaiting the third, because I absolutely trust her to take that character somewhere special.
Anyone else read them? (I know Molly has) Anyone else loved them the way I did?
But I hate the titles. The titles sound over the top and her books are anything but, they are subtle and remarkably written and they read so differently from anything else in the genre right now. They are the books I would hand to someone to convince them to respect romance.
I am a total fangirl. Her characters are adults. They don't always behave perfectly, but they come across to me as fully formed people who behave like adults and I love how she subverts the genre in subtle ways.
The first book takes the classic beauty and makes her beauty both a blessing, but also a terrible curse, where normally heroines are beautiful, but unaware of it, this heroine is keenly aware of it and uses it when necessary. Her beauty was an impediment to her and the hero falling in love.
The second book is about a forced marriage, where the one doing the forcing is (sort of) the heroine and what happens afterwards, and how friendship and compromise bring about love.
I loved both books, maybe the second one more, but more I love how she can bring about fresh takes on the genre so subtly and they are written so wonderfully.
Yep, total fangirl here, but so far in this series, she has absolutely lived up to my expectations. And now I'm eagerly awaiting the third, because I absolutely trust her to take that character somewhere special.
Anyone else read them? (I know Molly has) Anyone else loved them the way I did?
September 20, 2012
LIfe can suck for writing...
So I’m going through some things, the way you do when “hard” life interferes with well… “normal” life. And for the first time in a long time I’m find writing incredibly difficult. I’m trying to make some edits to an already completed manuscript and things like “fix word choice” can have me stumped for minutes on end. Like it’s the hardest thing in the world to come up with a synonym.
Granted my editor’s revision notes can be trickier than that, but you can imagine how hard “take his POV deeper” is when I can’t fix a freaking word choice.
But I’ve got no choice. I’ve got a hard deadline that simply can’t be missed and only four days left to fix everything. It’s a good reminder especially for writers maybe who are contemplating between traditional publishing and self-publishing some of the other things that come into play.
Self-publishing – your deadlines are your own. If life gets in the way of writing you simply don’t do it and get back to it when you can.
Traditional publishing – your work is holding up the work of a lot of other people involved in the process of publishing your book.
Now if you’re self motivated self-publishing may be okay, but if you’re a person who needs those hard deadlines to get the work done then that should all factor into your decision about what makes sense for you as a professional writer.
Right now I wish I didn’t have the pressure of a deadline. But conversly the pressure of that deadline is going to push me past my writing fog and force me to make the changes that need to be made.
I hope…
Granted my editor’s revision notes can be trickier than that, but you can imagine how hard “take his POV deeper” is when I can’t fix a freaking word choice.
But I’ve got no choice. I’ve got a hard deadline that simply can’t be missed and only four days left to fix everything. It’s a good reminder especially for writers maybe who are contemplating between traditional publishing and self-publishing some of the other things that come into play.
Self-publishing – your deadlines are your own. If life gets in the way of writing you simply don’t do it and get back to it when you can.
Traditional publishing – your work is holding up the work of a lot of other people involved in the process of publishing your book.
Now if you’re self motivated self-publishing may be okay, but if you’re a person who needs those hard deadlines to get the work done then that should all factor into your decision about what makes sense for you as a professional writer.
Right now I wish I didn’t have the pressure of a deadline. But conversly the pressure of that deadline is going to push me past my writing fog and force me to make the changes that need to be made.
I hope…
September 19, 2012
Bromance and Vampire Romance
That sums up my day one of the Toronto International Film Festival last week.
First the bromance.
The first film I saw was End of Watch, which actually opens this Friday.
For me, this was a really good film if a difficult one. It becomes clear, not that far in, that there's no chance this movie is going to end well... and I kept thinking, D'uh, you dummy, of course it's not going to end well, it's called END of Watch.
The performances were really strong and ultimately it's a story about two men in a working relationship who really care about each other and about their jobs.
Sadly, it's also about how sometimes it doesn't pay to do the right thing. It was kind of depressing to see this demonstrated so clearly--why some police officers would choose to look the other way at times. Almost like the worse the criminals the more the police have to lose by pursuing them.
But it's also about the real (friendship) love between two men and a glance into the lives of police officers in one of the most dangerous parts of LA.
I was at the second screening for this film, so the actors weren't there :( but the director was :) and he did a brief Q&A.
Interesting things learned:
- that part of LA is as dangerous as was depicted. Police officers there see more action in a typical day than most others do in their entire careers
- an AK 47 is a highly inaccurate gun. I can't remember the exact stats he gave on accuracy, but basically it made sense of all the scenes I've seen in movies where the hero is being fired upon by multiple automatic weapons, yet manages not to get hit...
- Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña did not get along well (according to the director). This made me more impressed with their acting performances.
Now the Vampire Romance
The same day, I also saw the world premiere of Byzantium, which is basically a YA vampire story--a well-told and interesting one.
It doesn't have a release date listed on imdb, and I'm not sure whether or not it has a distributor yet.... But compared to the other YA vampire movie franchise, this one is way better. And has the potential to spawn an ongoing series. But alas, the better movies aren't always the ones that get released or do well... Just like books.
The film reinvents the vampire myth yet again (apparently one has to go to Ireland to become a vampire) and in this world, being a vampire is a brotherhood--no girls allowed. So the two main characters--posing as sisters--are on the run from their own kind.
It was just gory enough, IMO and tense and I have to admit, in hindsight, a few of the images seem kind of laughable... and/or easy to mock (blood waterfalls) but I wasn't laughing at the time, nor was anyone in the audience.
The romance interest for the teen character was kind of a weak character and ruined the movie for the people I went to the screening with... but while I wouldn't want to date the dude, I thought he was an interesting and unique character (he was dying of cancer) and it worked for me. I completely understood why they were drawn to each other.
In the theatre, we ended up sitting across from the actors. And I was directly across the aisle from Colin Farrell, who's not in the movie, but was there to see the film and support Neil Jordan and Saoirse Ronan.
Here are some snaps taken after the movie.
My new pal Colin sitting across the aisle from me
Colin congratulating Saoirse at the end of the movie
Colin telling Saoirse about the lovely woman with a pink fringe who was sitting across the aisle from him
First the bromance.
The first film I saw was End of Watch, which actually opens this Friday.
For me, this was a really good film if a difficult one. It becomes clear, not that far in, that there's no chance this movie is going to end well... and I kept thinking, D'uh, you dummy, of course it's not going to end well, it's called END of Watch.The performances were really strong and ultimately it's a story about two men in a working relationship who really care about each other and about their jobs.
Sadly, it's also about how sometimes it doesn't pay to do the right thing. It was kind of depressing to see this demonstrated so clearly--why some police officers would choose to look the other way at times. Almost like the worse the criminals the more the police have to lose by pursuing them.
But it's also about the real (friendship) love between two men and a glance into the lives of police officers in one of the most dangerous parts of LA.
I was at the second screening for this film, so the actors weren't there :( but the director was :) and he did a brief Q&A.
Interesting things learned:
- that part of LA is as dangerous as was depicted. Police officers there see more action in a typical day than most others do in their entire careers
- an AK 47 is a highly inaccurate gun. I can't remember the exact stats he gave on accuracy, but basically it made sense of all the scenes I've seen in movies where the hero is being fired upon by multiple automatic weapons, yet manages not to get hit...
- Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña did not get along well (according to the director). This made me more impressed with their acting performances.
Now the Vampire RomanceThe same day, I also saw the world premiere of Byzantium, which is basically a YA vampire story--a well-told and interesting one.
It doesn't have a release date listed on imdb, and I'm not sure whether or not it has a distributor yet.... But compared to the other YA vampire movie franchise, this one is way better. And has the potential to spawn an ongoing series. But alas, the better movies aren't always the ones that get released or do well... Just like books.
The film reinvents the vampire myth yet again (apparently one has to go to Ireland to become a vampire) and in this world, being a vampire is a brotherhood--no girls allowed. So the two main characters--posing as sisters--are on the run from their own kind.
It was just gory enough, IMO and tense and I have to admit, in hindsight, a few of the images seem kind of laughable... and/or easy to mock (blood waterfalls) but I wasn't laughing at the time, nor was anyone in the audience.The romance interest for the teen character was kind of a weak character and ruined the movie for the people I went to the screening with... but while I wouldn't want to date the dude, I thought he was an interesting and unique character (he was dying of cancer) and it worked for me. I completely understood why they were drawn to each other.
In the theatre, we ended up sitting across from the actors. And I was directly across the aisle from Colin Farrell, who's not in the movie, but was there to see the film and support Neil Jordan and Saoirse Ronan.
Here are some snaps taken after the movie.
My new pal Colin sitting across the aisle from me
Colin congratulating Saoirse at the end of the movie
Colin telling Saoirse about the lovely woman with a pink fringe who was sitting across the aisle from him
September 17, 2012
Rediscovering My Love of Sit-Coms or How I'm a Moody Bitch
I used to love sit-coms. Cheers. The Cosby Show. M*A*S*H*. Friends. Seinfeld. I adored them. I love quippy comebacks and funny set ups.
Then suddenly I stopped watching them. I'm pretty sure it was tied to events in my own life. I stopped being an easy audience and suddenly they weren't that funny to me anymore. I was also really sick of the schlubby guy with the impossibly hot wife thing. I turned my nose up at the lot of them. I was a one-hour drama girl (although not medical dramas because they ALWAYS have a brain tumor episode and I can't abide them).
Maybe it's a sign of mental health on my part (although I doubt it), but I'm starting to groove on sit-coms again. It started with Modern Family. Then I decided to branch out to Parks and Rec. I still can't do The Office because, frankly, it's like spending an extra half hour at my day job and who needs that? Then I discovered reruns of The Big Bang Theory and now I'm burning through Suburgatory. I had a brief flirtation with Two Broke Girls which might get more serious if episodes show up on On Demand. I'm not so sure about New Girl, but it's starting to win me over.
I do this with genres of books, too. I'll go through a phase where I only want to read mysteries or romances or chick lit or sci-fi, but it's usually a genre and not a format. Although I supposed "novel" is a format. Someone told me the other day that she never reads short stories. She doesn't like them.
Do you do this at all? Just stop reading or watching something based on its format and not its content?
Then suddenly I stopped watching them. I'm pretty sure it was tied to events in my own life. I stopped being an easy audience and suddenly they weren't that funny to me anymore. I was also really sick of the schlubby guy with the impossibly hot wife thing. I turned my nose up at the lot of them. I was a one-hour drama girl (although not medical dramas because they ALWAYS have a brain tumor episode and I can't abide them).
Maybe it's a sign of mental health on my part (although I doubt it), but I'm starting to groove on sit-coms again. It started with Modern Family. Then I decided to branch out to Parks and Rec. I still can't do The Office because, frankly, it's like spending an extra half hour at my day job and who needs that? Then I discovered reruns of The Big Bang Theory and now I'm burning through Suburgatory. I had a brief flirtation with Two Broke Girls which might get more serious if episodes show up on On Demand. I'm not so sure about New Girl, but it's starting to win me over.
I do this with genres of books, too. I'll go through a phase where I only want to read mysteries or romances or chick lit or sci-fi, but it's usually a genre and not a format. Although I supposed "novel" is a format. Someone told me the other day that she never reads short stories. She doesn't like them.
Do you do this at all? Just stop reading or watching something based on its format and not its content?
September 14, 2012
I'm stuck
I've never found the beginning of books hard. For me it's always been the middle part, but right now, the beginning is where I'm stuck.
Stuck at the part where I'm establishing character and relationships, where it's all about dialogue and introducing characters seamlessly and I'm finding it so hard. I get a sentence done and get distracted and this is the part where discipline takes over. I need to find some to help me work through the parts I find difficult.
It might suck, and I'll probably have to go back and fix it, but I'm lacking right now the 'sit my butt in chair and write through the pain' focus to get me to the parts that are action and adventure and really, really fun to write.
And really all I'm missing is discipline. There are so many other fun things to do when the writing is hard. I could surf the web, have a chat with my cat, do some laundry and then surf the web again and at the end of a couple of hours have a whopping 200 words written...
So today, I'm writing through the pain. Putting words on the page is enough for now, even if those words aren't great, they will do, at least for now.
Because I think it's the only way I'm going to get through this section. And then at the end, I get to watch some TV. Right now it's season 4 of Breaking Bad and it's great... my frustrations with previous seasons are a thing of the past because I'm back in and loving Walt and Jesse and the most interesting character arcs on TV right now and of course counting the days until the return of Vampire Diaries.
Anyone else frustrated with their writing progress? Is it just I'm out of practice after a lazy, lazy summer?
Stuck at the part where I'm establishing character and relationships, where it's all about dialogue and introducing characters seamlessly and I'm finding it so hard. I get a sentence done and get distracted and this is the part where discipline takes over. I need to find some to help me work through the parts I find difficult.
It might suck, and I'll probably have to go back and fix it, but I'm lacking right now the 'sit my butt in chair and write through the pain' focus to get me to the parts that are action and adventure and really, really fun to write.
And really all I'm missing is discipline. There are so many other fun things to do when the writing is hard. I could surf the web, have a chat with my cat, do some laundry and then surf the web again and at the end of a couple of hours have a whopping 200 words written...
So today, I'm writing through the pain. Putting words on the page is enough for now, even if those words aren't great, they will do, at least for now.
Because I think it's the only way I'm going to get through this section. And then at the end, I get to watch some TV. Right now it's season 4 of Breaking Bad and it's great... my frustrations with previous seasons are a thing of the past because I'm back in and loving Walt and Jesse and the most interesting character arcs on TV right now and of course counting the days until the return of Vampire Diaries.
Anyone else frustrated with their writing progress? Is it just I'm out of practice after a lazy, lazy summer?
September 13, 2012
Battleship... How can you not like it?
Okay so I know I’m late to the party but I just watched Battleship this past weekend. I was looking for something completely mindless that would just not let me think about anything.Was this the movie for that! I loved Taylor. I loved my boyfriend Eric. I loved Landis from FNL and I thought Rianna was funny too. The silly stuff – well it was silly. I mean the alien ship that flew from space can’t see at night? I really don’t think I got that. But when it was the people interacting with the people it was glorious and fun.
Probably because as I think Molly said it was basically FNL goes to sea…. With aliens.
I’ve been telling people that I enjoyed it and they look at me with two heads. And then I explain it this way – at least to the guys I know – you know how you liked Transformers really because Megan Fox bent over a car? Well I liked Battleship because I got to see Taylor and Eric (I know his name is really Alexander – but to me he will always be Eric) in white Navel dress.
Does that make me someone who objectifies men based on their looks? …. Ah who cares. Eric and Taylor in Navel Uniforms! Yummm.
September 12, 2012
No Vamp Eric :(
So Eric/Alexander was a no show. :( And I'm pretty sure he was still in town earlier today, so I don't know what to think that he didn't come to the screening. Maybe he had to leave but it's annoying when stars come to Toronto just to do the press junket and then skip the public screenings.
The good news is that the film, Disconnect, was good. Got a standing ovation. (The first one I've seen this year. Actually, I don't remember any last year, either.)
Disconnect is about how technology is affecting the way we interact with each other and I really enjoyed it. There were four main story lines and they all intersect to some extent, but not quite as unexpectedly or as interestingly as in films like Crash or Babel or 21 Grams. Did I think it was the best movie I've ever seen? No... But it's good. And Justin Bateman does well in a dramatic role. It made me cry.
So far, my favorite movie would be between Writers and Byzantium. I'll blog about all of them. But not tonight. I'm bagged.
Tonight I also saw Arthur Newman, which was interesting and different, but something about it was a bit off... The audience in general did not seem to like it -- barely any applause at the end. The only thing I can put my finger on right now is that Colin Firth does not do American accents well. I remember thinking that in another (very bad) movie I saw him in too... Maybe with J Lo?
On the other hand, Emily Blunt can do any kind of accent she chooses to--and she does at least three or four different ones in this movie, all convincingly. Thinking about it now, she was pretty spectacularly good in the movie.
Movies I haven't seen that I'm hearing great buzz about:
Argo
The Master
Cloud Atlas
Rust and Bone
The Hunt
Those are the ones I can think of right now, anyway. :)
The good news is that the film, Disconnect, was good. Got a standing ovation. (The first one I've seen this year. Actually, I don't remember any last year, either.)
Disconnect is about how technology is affecting the way we interact with each other and I really enjoyed it. There were four main story lines and they all intersect to some extent, but not quite as unexpectedly or as interestingly as in films like Crash or Babel or 21 Grams. Did I think it was the best movie I've ever seen? No... But it's good. And Justin Bateman does well in a dramatic role. It made me cry.
So far, my favorite movie would be between Writers and Byzantium. I'll blog about all of them. But not tonight. I'm bagged.
Tonight I also saw Arthur Newman, which was interesting and different, but something about it was a bit off... The audience in general did not seem to like it -- barely any applause at the end. The only thing I can put my finger on right now is that Colin Firth does not do American accents well. I remember thinking that in another (very bad) movie I saw him in too... Maybe with J Lo?
On the other hand, Emily Blunt can do any kind of accent she chooses to--and she does at least three or four different ones in this movie, all convincingly. Thinking about it now, she was pretty spectacularly good in the movie.
Movies I haven't seen that I'm hearing great buzz about:
Argo
The Master
Cloud Atlas
Rust and Bone
The Hunt
Those are the ones I can think of right now, anyway. :)
September 11, 2012
Not Sticking the Landing
Please be aware that there are going to be heavy duty SPOILERS in here. If you don't want to know about the ending of Age of Miracles or Friends with Kids, click away now. I mean it. Right now.
Okay. Endings are hard. I know that. I've struggled with them. It's not easy to get all the ponies back into the barn in a way that's pleasing. I've had two big disappointments recently. One book and one movie.
First, the book. Age of Miracles. It's truly an awesome book. Great fascinating premise. Great narrator. Great complexities. She makes the big picture of what would happen if the world slowed on its axis so vivid by showing how it affects these very three-dimensional and wonderful and flawed characters. I loved it. Then it kind of just stopped. There wasn't really any end to the book. She just stopped telling the story. Maybe she was going for some sort of arty ambiguous ending, but if so, it didn't work for me. I suppose it's possible that I just loved the characters and the premise so much that I didn't want it to end, but I don't think so. It felt like she'd reached her word count and just stopped writing. With a book where everything else in it was so darn stellar, it really stuck out.
Second, the movie. Friends with Kids. I know we've seen the male/female BFFs before. When Harry Met Sally anyone? I didn't care. The writing was so fun. The dialogue was so great. The acting was so terrific. The NYC apartments so completely unrealistic. I suppose I knew that in the end the two of them would have to be together. It just seemed like a movie that smart could have somehow made the inevitable more interesting than having the guy tell the girl, "I want to f*ck the sh*t out of you." Again, maybe if I hadn't liked the characters so much or been so charmed by so much of the rest of the movie, I might not have cared as much.
Anybody else read Age of Miracles or seen Friends with Kids? Am I being too harsh? Am I missing something? Help me out.
Okay. Endings are hard. I know that. I've struggled with them. It's not easy to get all the ponies back into the barn in a way that's pleasing. I've had two big disappointments recently. One book and one movie.
First, the book. Age of Miracles. It's truly an awesome book. Great fascinating premise. Great narrator. Great complexities. She makes the big picture of what would happen if the world slowed on its axis so vivid by showing how it affects these very three-dimensional and wonderful and flawed characters. I loved it. Then it kind of just stopped. There wasn't really any end to the book. She just stopped telling the story. Maybe she was going for some sort of arty ambiguous ending, but if so, it didn't work for me. I suppose it's possible that I just loved the characters and the premise so much that I didn't want it to end, but I don't think so. It felt like she'd reached her word count and just stopped writing. With a book where everything else in it was so darn stellar, it really stuck out.
Second, the movie. Friends with Kids. I know we've seen the male/female BFFs before. When Harry Met Sally anyone? I didn't care. The writing was so fun. The dialogue was so great. The acting was so terrific. The NYC apartments so completely unrealistic. I suppose I knew that in the end the two of them would have to be together. It just seemed like a movie that smart could have somehow made the inevitable more interesting than having the guy tell the girl, "I want to f*ck the sh*t out of you." Again, maybe if I hadn't liked the characters so much or been so charmed by so much of the rest of the movie, I might not have cared as much.
Anybody else read Age of Miracles or seen Friends with Kids? Am I being too harsh? Am I missing something? Help me out.
