Media Review

In the past few weeks I've read a lot of books, seen a lot of movies, and listened to some great music, and every time I think to myself, I really should blog about that, but I just haven't had the time to actually get on here and blog anything lately, so here is review of everything that I've thought that about in the past few weeks:

BOOKS
Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty - This book is the last installment of the Jessica Darling series. It begins three years after the last book left off (after Jessica refused Marcus' proposal of marraige and they broke up), when Jessica and Marcus run into each other at the airport. Well, more like when Jessica runs over Marcus in the airport.

Perfect Fifths is the only book in the series to actually offer any insight into what the hell Marcus Flutie is thinking, as it's told partially from his perspective. The book also strays from the traditional journal entry style to a narrative style, with random bursts of other stylistic experiments. For instance, there is an entire chapter told in Haiku. Unfortunately, I felt like that chapter, style aside, brought nothing to the story. We already knew everything that was expressed in the poems, and I felt like McCafferty just included it in there because she thought, hey, cool. Haiku narrative. And ran with it.

The story, which took place over the course of one day, was sometimes painfully yawn-worthy. I mean, I didn't really need to know every second of the day from each of the character's perspectives. I even found myself wondering what it was about the series that I enjoyed so much in the past. Not to make it sound like it was all bad - it wasn't. I really enjoyed the ending of the story, and I liked hearing things from Marcus' side for the most part (even though it sometimes gave away a huge part of the mystique that made me love him in the first place).

If you've read the series, I would recommend finishing it, of course. But maybe it's just me, or maybe it's the fact that I graduated from high school five years ago, or maybe the fact that I've moved past my Marcus Flutie obsession, but if you haven't started this series and you're looking for a good read, I wouldn't recommend this series anymore. Sorry if I burst anyone's Flutie balloons.

See Jane Write: A Girl's Guide to Writing Chick Lit by Sarah Mlynowski and Farrin Jacobs - So sue me. I'm writing a chick lit book. Actually, I already wrote a story a while back and I'm editing it and changing it when needbe to make it more chick lit-y. Don't roll your eyes and pretend like I'm beneath you for writing chick lit, because we all know that you've read at least one chick lit before. And you know you wish you could write a book (unless your Char whose already written one! Yay Char!)

But yeah, if you're thinking about writing a chick lit or really any kind of book, this guide gives some great things to think about. And as an added bonus, Sarah Mlynowski is my favorite chick lit writer and she's hilarious, so this book is actually really entertaining and fun to read.

The J.A.P. Chronicles by Isabelle Rose - I'm reading this because it was in my sister's book shelf and I randomly picked it up the other night, and also because in the other book I'm reading (aforementioned) they say to read other chick lit books (although not strictly chick lit) to get more of a sense of what constitutes as a chick lit. Admittedly, I'm not really a huge expert on the genre. I've read my share of chick lits, but I usually only indulge sparingly. And even when I do read them, I stay away from the ones that involve excess shopping and label whoring. However, the J.A.P. Chronicles, while it has it's moments of mani-pedi's and spending thousands of dollars on clothes at Borgdorfs, actually has a pretty substancial storyline. Basically it's about a thirty-something girl named Ali who attends a reunion at her childhood camp and sees all the antagonists of her past who used to torture her for being ugly, fat, and unathletic. Now that she's an established film maker, she wants to get back at all the bitchy girls, by being an even bigger bitch and filming a memior about each of their lives since camp and their "defining moment".

Unfortunately, the author writes Ali as a punk/alternative style girl.... and she doesn't know anything about punk style, and instead relies on outdated stereotypes. That's a huge pet peeve of mine, when writers try to write their main character as something that they are not and don't know anything about. And it's sooooooo painstakingly obvious.

MOVIES

Vicky Cristina Barcelona - This movie was so much better then I thought it was going to be. It takes place in Barcelone, when two friends decide to spend the summer there before Cristina gets married, and Vicky moves on with her life. They meet a really hot Spaniard, share a steamy weekend with him, and both become attached and intrigued. What I enjoyed most about this movie was how it outlined the differences in relationships under different types of stress. How does a friendship hold up when both friends like the same guy? How does a relationship hold up when the guy's slept with your best friend? How does a relationship hold up when the guy's ex-wife comes and lives in the same house and you and your guy for a few months? How does a relationship with a fiance change once one of them has screwed around? Etc. It was weird, funny, sexy, and basically a psychologist's wet dream.

Burn After Reading - This was completely different then what I thought it was going to be. In fact, I can't even tell you what I thought this movie was going to be like when I sat down to start watching it. It's by the same guys who did The Big Lebowski, which is hilarious, but for some reason, I didn't realize that Burn After Reading was a comedy. Well, at least it was sort of a comedy. It starts off with John Malkovich's (sp???) character being fired from the CIA, and progresses into how he's going to write a memoir about his time there, resulting in two crazy personal trainers (Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand) stealing the skeleton of his novel and holding it for ransom. Some parts, usually the ones involving Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Frances McDormand, were hilarious, while others were somewhat sad and disturbing. I'm still undecided on this movie, and I'm not sure if I would watch it again.

Salem's Lot - I watched the Rob Lowe, made for TV version of Salem's Lot, that was made in the early 2000's. I read the Stephen King book years ago and really only remembered that it was about vampires invading a place called Jerusalem's Lot. Although the beginning was a little bit slow moving (as many made for TV movies tend to be), once it got moving the movie was freakin awesome. I mean, what's better then evil vampires taking over a town and gorgeous Rob Lowe coming to the rescue? James Cromwell (cute old man in Babe) and Donald Sutherland (father of Jack Bauer) co-star. But seriously, who cares about them when Rob Lowe is in the movie?

I'm going to update about music and stuff later. I don't have time to do it justice right now. But just know that it'll be about The Downtown Fiction and Razia's Shadow (by Forgive Durden).