Life of Pi Review

It's understandable that it has taken this long to make Yann Martel's 2001 novel "Life of Pi"  into a film. However  the philosophical story which revolves around a teenage boy and a adult Bengal tiger trapped in a lifeboat for 227 days is brought beautifully to life by director Ang Lee. The film beings in Montreal where Pi, who was named after a French swimming pool is recanting his story, a story that will make you believe in God (s it is claimed),  to a writer who heard about Pi from someone he met in India.  Pi begins with his childhood in India where his parents owned a zoo. Pi was enchanted by the animals but learned at an early age that animals are violent and instinctive. It's a great strength of the film that it never attempts to make the animals anything other than animals. Pi also begins to pursue religion, all religions, eventually becoming a Christian, a Hindu and a Muslim. When his parents decide to move to Winnipeg (of all places!) Pi's whole family and all their animals board a Japanese ship headed for Canada. However during a storm the ship sinks and Pi loses his whole family and ends up stranded on a lifeboat with a hyena, orangutan, a zebra and of course, the tiger. The hyena quickly kills the zebra and the orangutan and then is killed himself by the tiger. Pi and the tiger are then left to survive together. Despite the fact that Pi begins to be thankful for Richard Parker, the tiger and even begins to think of him as a friend, Richard Parker is first and foremost a tiger, and a hungry one at that. Eventually the two of them establish a precarious balance, with Pi finally training the tiger. What ensues is a cinematic masterpiece filled with the kind of dazzling effects that will leave you in awe as the two experience many wonders and Pi's faith in God is challenged. When they are near death, Pi and Richard Parker  wash up on a carnivorous island, something Pi takes to be a sign from God. They continue on and finally end up on the coast of Mexico where Pi recants this incredible story to Japanese officials. When they tell him that this story is unbelievable he tells them another story, one so horrible that they choose to believe the first story. Many have discussed the fact that the film doesn't show this alternate story, you only hear it in Pi's words, however I feel this is a strength and not a weakness. Both the film and the book leave the ending open to the audiences interpretation, and while it's easy to believe Pi's second story, and I believe we are meant to, the final image in your mind is that of a boy crossing the ocean with a tiger. All religions use parables to tell their stories and this is a story which is a lot about religion. If I had one complaint with the book it was that I didn't know if it was trying to say a lot or a little and it felt like it was spread to thin. Nonetheless, the film is beautiful, poignant and more than worthy of your time. 

Book Review: The Heights-Peter Hedges

The setting for "The Heights" is the everyday life of a young couple with two small children, who live in  the trendy Brooklyn Heights neighberhood. Unlike their well heeled neighbours though, Kate and Tim struggle with money and live in a tiny apartment  Tim is a history teacher who is working on his long over due dissertation and Kate is a stay at home mom. However when Kate is offered a lucrative job helping charitable organizations, things start to change. Tim's decision to stay home has him filling Kate's shoes with the local moms, complete with pet names. Things change further when they meet the charming, beautiful and extremely wealthy Anna. Both partners are instantly drawn to her, but a mutual attraction develops between Tim and Anna. Meanwhile, an ex-boyfriend of Kate's re-enters the picture, declaring that he never stopped loving her.  There's nothing particularly new or thrilling about a tale of marital discord in the suburbs, but perhaps that is where "The Heights" is different--there is no marital discord, Kate and Tim seem to genuinely love each other and are both incredibly likable characters. Whether that's a strength of the book or not, I am not sure. Hedges alternates between telling the story from Kate's perspective and telling it from Tim's perspective, with minor characters checking in once in a while. It's an interesting technique but at times it is difficult to differentiate between the two voices and some character development is lacking. By the same token, there is little threat to the couples marriage. Although both are tempted by others,  and it's not hard to imagine them going astray, there is also little doubt about the ending. The characters are well crafted though and it's easy to get drawn into their world and to consider the complexity of their situation.

Hedges is indeed a master at creating magic out of day to day affairs and this is the strongest point of "The Heights", whether they are getting coffee or at dramatic crossroads in their lives the characters' lives are genuinely interesting and a reader is easily drawn in. The downside, though, is that the occasional plot point is brought up and then completely abandoned with no hint to it's significance. You could argue that that is how real life is, and you would be right, but whether or not it works within the context of the novel (and this novel in particular) I am not sure.

At the end of the day this is an enjoyable novel with likable characters and an involving story but it is not life changing nor groundbreaking.  Infidelity is an interesting topic but there is nothing new said about it in this novel.

Song of the Week: Robyn "Dancing on my Own"

The Song:

Why it's the Song of the Week:Well, let's just be honest, there are just so many things to love about this song and the video from the overly dramatic bridge to the high-waisted skirt (and jeans!) that Robyn dons for the video. The video looks like a combination of an 80's music video and an 80's work out video. Seriously, Robyn's dancing looks like it should be in a karate inspired exercise video and well, the club arts are basically Robyn looking depressed while people do some hilarious dancing around her. Robyn is just so pretty and her voice is so sweet, and at least 90 percent of her songs are about rejection and yet, you don't get the impression that she's the kind of woman to whine and cry and be pushed around, maybe because the majority of the video is her punching the air. Still,  since it's appearance on Girls last season  Dancing on my Own has solidified it's place as an anthem for girls who are occasionally (or frequently) a hot mess both on the dance floor and when it comes to love. The song itself has the kind of brutal honesty you don't really want in a pop song, but Robyn also makes it clear that while she may be dancing on her own she's also laughing at herself.

Best lyrics: "there's a big black sky over my town/ I know where you at I bet she's around"

Bottom Line: Robyn says it herself when she says "yeah, I know it's stupid", and certainly there are some stupid things about this song but it's also ridiculously catchy and so well produced  that honestly, if loving Robyn is wrong...I don't want to be right!

Taylor Swift-I Knew You Were Trouble

Well guys, I am about to write something I thought I'd never write--I really like a Taylor Swift song and I even like the video. She looks great as this white trash character, or, at least it's a huge relief to see her as something else than her normal, twee persona, right? And the song is a catchy pop song, and if we forget everything we know about Taylor Swift's extremely irritating personal life the protagonist is likable. Here's the video:

The only bad thing I have to say about this video is-WHY IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS GOOD DID SHE ADD THAT SPOKEN WORD PART IN THE BEGININNG? WHY? It's totally unneccessary and honestly, it makes her look a bit like an idiot. I say this begrudgingly, but I actually think Taylor Swift has the capacity to be a great artist but she has to stop undermining herself and insulting her audience with things like the introduction to this song. The lyrics are pop lyrics but they really say everythinng they need to say. They don't need to be explained.

Friday Review-Martha Marcy May Marlene

Martha Marcy May Marlene is an indie film with leanings towards melodrama and B-movie horror; nonetheless, it’s a disturbing study of a mind destroyed by an abusive cult. Elizabeth Olsen gives a wide eyed performance as Martha, a cult member who flees and is taken in by her sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson) and her husband, Ted (Hugh Dancy). Lucy doesn’t know where her younger sister has been and Martha doesn’t tell her. Instead her whereabouts are revealed through flashbacks that depict her time in a deeply misogynistic cult that glorified rape and group sex, and as all cults, was led by a charismatic, if not evil leader . As her actions become increasingly weird, Ted and Lucy’s frustration with Martha is palpable and it’s not hard to identify with their frustration, even anger. Still the innocence and naiveté with which Olsen portrays Martha make her actions seem, if not understandable at least understandable given the hardships which we know Martha has suffered.  Like a good melodrama the setting is Ted and Lucy’s lakeside cabin, it’s secluded and other characters rarely make an appearance and when they do the results are never good. As the film goes on we sense a violent ending is coming, and we become more convinced the more we learn about the cult and it’s troubling, although well played, leader Patrick (John Hawkes). Indeed violence escalates both in Martha’s past and perhaps in her present too as she becomes increasingly concerned that the cult is coming after her. Are they? We don’t know, which makes the final scene of the film all the more troubling and inconclusive. We never find out if the cult reclaims Martha but is this a credit or discredit to the film? On one hand, as the title suggests, this is a film about a fragmented personality, and as such is successful, however, I would argue that whether the cult is coming after Martha, and whether she is killed or forced to rejoin the cult is important and valuable information for the film and for the viewer’s interpretation of the film . Furthermore, Martha Marcy May, Marlene is arguably not a statement film. That is, it doesn’t say much about the kind of people drawn to the cult nor what the social implications of this are.  Nonetheless, it is a thought provoking and troubling film, one filled with great performances and certainly worth a watch.

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Friday Film Review-The Hunger Games(2012)

Those of you who read my review of the book know that I am not a fan of The Hunger Games. What irked me most about the book was the feeling I had that the author, Suzanne Collins, was under the impression that she had created something new, when, in reality books  stories of dystopia  and stories about children being cruel abound. Secondly, if Collins was making a point I'm not sure what it was. Character development, inner turmoil, drama- these were things that were all absent from the book. Furthermore, I didn't like what the book had to say about feminism. Prim and her mother are both presented as weak, fragile characters while Katniss is only strong because she is 'like a man'. But, I digress.  Perhaps because it is a story about television and what we are willing to watch on television I thought that the book translated well to the big screen. In The Hunger Games what was once North America is now divided into 12 Districts, collectively called Panem. Each year, one teenage boy and one teenage girl from each district are sent to an arena where they must fight to the death, all on live television. This is to meant to keep the population under control, meanwhile in the Capitol the bigwigs live the high life. There are, for this reviewer, some issues with this plot in general. The logic of having children fight to the death is a bit convoluted. Nonetheless, this is a review of the film and in that sense the film was well done. The idea that we are desensitized by the images we are bombarded with came across nicely in scenes where the contestants were dressed up and paraded around days before they will be brutally killed. Jennifer Lawrence delivered a solid performance as Katniss and the rest of the cast was equally strong, or at least no one stood out as significantly better or worse.  The music and costuming were well done,although same as in the book, I'm not sure what the idea behind the absolutely ridiculous costumes was. The relationship between Katniss and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) was well done, and, in fact,made more painful by the fact that we could see the exression on Gale's (Liam Hemsworth). In the end it was details like this that made it a good watch. Some will argue that there were things from the book that were left out but I would not necessarily say, in this case, that that was a bad thing.

Bottom Line:  Not a masterpiece but certainly a good watch.
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The River Review

I think the time has come for television writers/producers to give up trying to mimic Lost, and I say that as a Lost fan. For years writers have been trying to create something as successful and chaotic as Lost, to no avail. The fact is that times have changed and perhaps a show like Lost simply isn't viable in this day and age. Nevertheless, even if it was, the attempts have failed and one of those attempts was the 8 hour scare-fest The River.



To be honest, The River isn't terrible, in fact it even has some good moments, just not enough to make it a rival for any of the numerous other shows on TV. Today the best television shows are driven by strong character developments and personal drama, something sorely lacking in The River. The show centres around Emmet Cole, a sort of less-entertaining Crocodile Hunter who dragged his wife and son and television crew all over the world in search of exotic locales. For his latest expedition he went to the Amazon in search of real magic when he suddenly went missing. Now, six months later his wife, estranged son and a television crew of their own head out to find him and along the way encounter various ghosts, spirits, demons and other magical beings. The problem is that  each episode wraps up so nicely there's never any real danger. Furthermore everything gets a neat explanation from the Jahel,daughter of the ships mechanic, a teenager who only seaks Spanish and seemingly knows everything there is to know about the magical Boíuna and though she was terrified of it, wasn't too terrified to come along on the trek anyway. Her ominous expository scenes, translated by Lincoln (Emmet's son) are a bit ridiculous. Certainly a part of horror films is the fact that the characters are doubtful of the existence of spirits, demons and general other-worldly beings and that's why they rush headlong into scenarios that eventually lead to their demise. However The River's cast seems to have no trouble believing all the things they are confronted with which makes the fact that they march right into various death traps all the more appalling. Never mind the fact that Emmet himself seems like such a pain-in-the-arse, it's a wonder all these characters willingly risk their lives to save him. Emmet barely bats and eye when a camera man is skinned alive and hung up from a tree, "it's the demon's test' he claims jauntily. Yet when another character, unfortunately named "Rabbit", decides to save herself rather than continue on  Emmet's ridiculous demon filled hike of death, she is berated by  Tess (Emmet's wife) who claims she 'deserves what she gets' just minutes before being brutally dismembered. Emmet isn't a great man, he'll gladly throw any of his crew to the, metaphorical, wolves yet we're meant to forgive him for all this because he doesn't kill his dog. Then there's a halfhearted love triangle between Lincoln, Lena, the daughter of the previous camera man, and another camera man called Jonas. They all don't seem to like each other very much at all.

Nonetheless there are some chills, even though each hour feels like a condensed horror movie -ghost ships, angry demons, irritated tribesmen, even zombies make an guest appearance. In the finale Lincoln is killed, then brought back to life by Jahel. Unfortunately a demon hitched a ride and soon is enacting his revenge by killing Jonas, making out with Lena and roughing up Kurt, the German muscle, it turns out Kurt knows a lot about the Boíuna and had his own mission to kill Emmet (I kind of don't blame him).  Since the show has been canceled we won't get to find out many of the show's secrets, like who the heck is Kurt. After the demon has been successfully removed everyone is glad to be headed home when....the river changes, blocking the exit to the amazon. It's quite a frightening cliff hanger which would have been great if this show had been renewed, which it has not. However, I can understand why it hasn't been. The overall mystery wasn't intriguing enough to  grab the viewers attention and the characters seemed more like tools for shock and gore rather than people we should care about.

Breaking Bad-Season 5 Review

Sunday night saw the conclusion of the first half of Breaking Bad's season 5 (the rest will air next summer). This season has certainly been the darkest and most violent, but is it the best season so far? Walt has completed his downward spiral in these past eight episodes and become a power hungry villain so evil it's hard to remember that he started out as a man trying merely to save his family. Sklyer, his long suffering wife,  has finally taken action, getting their two children out of the house with a perfectly timed "mental break" and telling Walt she is waiting for his cancer to return. Hank Schrader is as obsessed as ever with discovering who Heisenberg is and has gone from a character we didn't really like to one we're rooting for. Perhaps the most disappointing feature of the season has been that Jessie has been, relatively, sidelined. While it could be clever writing, since Jessie is literally detaching himself from Walt and metaphorically removing himself from the show, it is still disappointing. Jessie's character always had an emotional range that Walt's doesn't. But even he is becoming jaded. Although he is visibly outraged when Todd kills the little boy in the episode with the train heist, his response lacks the sorrow, for example, of Jane's death or the near death of Brock.  Although Season 5 had a slew of great episodes, I don't think I was the only one let down by the finale.The episode begins with Walt enlisting Todd to clean up the mess from the previous episode where Walt killed Mike. Next Walt takes care of the ten guys that Mike was protecting, enlisting the help of Todd's neo-Nazi uncle to coordinate their murders. The scene is a great musical montage, as we've come to expect from Breaking Bad, and shows just how villainous Walt has become. With the help of Lydia, Walt and his new second-in-command, Todd they expand their business to the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, Skyler shows Walt the great amount of money that he has accumulated, asking him when it will be enough. Surprisingly, he tells her that he is out of the business. Whether he is really out or not we will have to wait till next season to find out but there was something rushed and confusing about this episode. While the rest of the season, and indeed the show, has moved along at a methodical pace, this episode seemed like it had a lot crammed into it. We are already aware that Walt is a super villain so the killing of Mike's men was not necessary and the sudden expansion of his business to the Czech Republic seemed to come out of nowhere. Certainly so did his confession that he is no longer in the meth business. If Walt has secretly been wanting out of the business, he hasn't shown any signs of it, so I guess we can only wait and see what happens. Finally the big cliff-hanger felt like a bit of a letdown. Hank discovers Walt's book from Gale in the bathroom and we know he's putting two and two together. It seems that Hank has suspected Walt, or at least been suspicious of him, for a long time so this didn't seem that shocking to me. Furthermore, would Walt leave that book around on purpose? Perhaps he wants to be caught but again, he hasn't shown any signs of that this season. Whatever the case is we'll have to wait till next summer to find out and hopefully the writers will have something great in store. I, for one, can't wait to see how the show ends.

"Girls" Review

Has everyone seen Girls already? In case you haven't, it's HBO's attempt at Sex and the City for the younger generation, ie: four twenty-something girls try to navigate life in the big city. I really wanted to like this show because, I'm a twenty something trying to navigate life and a show that speaks to me would be great. But oh my word was this show ever NOT it . As someone who has paid for University (or at least, has student loans in my name) and has been working for the past 10 years, I have no pity for these lazy, entitled girls. The main character, Hannah (Lena Durham), is a poorly dressed 'writer' whose parents bankrolled her through college and now support her financially. I mean, what is she even writing about? As far as I can tell she hasn't experienced anything that every other twenty-something hasn't also experienced, and who wants to read about that?! In the opening episode her parents, painted as some sort of bad guys, tell her it's time to get a job. She's been working at her unpaid internship for long enough, it's time to get real work. There's nothing likable about Hannah, she's spoiled, obnoxious and her dialogue made me cringe. I know that these characters are supposed to talk like 'real' girls but, thankfully, I don't know anyone who talks like this. Her friends are a mish-mash of stereotypes, there's the carefree, promiscuous Brit (Jemima Kirke), the pretty virgin (Zosia Mamet), and the glamorous best friend (Allison Williams) who's boyfriend just loves her too much. Ah yes, I have so much sympathy for all of these characters..or,no, wait, no  I don't.  The problem is that these girls completely lack the ability to do anything about their problems, or, should I say "problems". Look, I know from experience that people for the most part, don't necessarily try to fix the problems they're confronted with, but I also know that  I don't want to watch four girls complain for 45 minutes, get to the next episode and nothing has changed. Something else that I'm definitely not a fan of is explicit material for the sake of being explicit and Girls goes overboard on this front. Was there any real reason to show us Hannah's dad's junk? I can't think of one. And the awkward sex scenes are just..awkward. When Hannah apologises to her quasi-boyfriend Adam for not letting him...er, well, for the sake of being PG, do something she doesn't appreciate sexually, I wanted to hide under my blanket and never come out again. Later Hannah claims that she doesn't want a boyfriend, just someone who is faithful to her and wants to spend all his time with her. Bitch please, can we all agree that only girls who want to justify staying with a crap boyfriend say shit like this? And don't even get me started on the fact that Hannah claims that Marnie's boyfriend has a vagina because he loves her so much. One review I read said that it was an interesting role reversal. Role reversal? No, I think that's just sexism by another name; Hannah implies that he is womanly and therefore, weak. Although I suppose that the show has hit on one of the problems of today, guys who aren't held accountable for their actions while the nice ones are criticised for being nice. Perhaps the bottom line here is that, even if some of their problems are legitimate    these girls are no fun, where are the scenes of them having a cocktail, or heck, having a few vodka shots, getting drunk and making fun of themselves? Would it hurt for at least one of them to be well dressed? Who travels with their clothes in a garbage bag? Is this even legal? I hope that one day someone makes a show that depicts girls like my friends and I, who are insecure in someways and confident in others, who can eat a tray of bacon,who drink too much, cry, love their families (even though they AREN'T supporting them financially) and who actually seem to like each other. 


Basically, my annoyance towards this show culminated in one scene where Hannah and her roommate Marnie are eating breakfast and Hannah loudly slurps her cereal and chews with her mouth open. There is nothing that disgusts me more than someone slurping their cereal, except possibly this utterly pretentious show that claims to be 'a voice of a generation' but is fact just the voice of the annoying, unrealistic "girls" who have been fed with a silver spoon their whole life and have the nerve to complain about it.