36 quai des orfevres

We watched 36 quai des orfevres last night. It worked for about 30 minutes w A when he got too scared and asked to go watch Spongebob Squarepants. It's definitely not a kid movie. It was a good police movie, though, quic-paced and well-acted. Not a masterpiece, but makes you remember that Gerard Depardieu has his career because he can be really good (although he's often not).

MR 73

E came home from a trip having watched a TV miniseries done here in France that he really liked. Apparently it was some hours-long complex police drama, and he really wanted to see more by the directors.

This film, MR 73, is the first of those (the other being 36 quai des orfevres). It was a dark but interesting and well-paced film, with great acting. We both really liked it.

The Almost Moon - Alice Sebold

I picked up The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold last weekend in London and I kept it around for reading instead of Cat's Cradle that I had traveled with, because Cat's Cradle didn't grab me, and the first sentence of Almost Moon did ("When all is said an done, killing my mother came easily").

It was no literary masterpiece, and the central characters lack anything positive to make you really care about them. The story was actually well-told despite that, and the suspense well built (even if you didn't really care about the outcome). I felt parts were expecting people to be idiots. The big reveal that the father had been in a mental institution was so obvious I couldn't fathom who wouldn't have already figured it out based on the highly manipulative way it was presented - so it makes the main character look like a dope.

The next book will be an award winner, I don't want more disappointments...

Elizabeth - DVD

I watched Elizabeth, a 1998 movie that I had somehow missed at the theater when in London as it seemed the best choice of the films available, and the least likely to be something my husband would regret.

Cate Blanchett was phenomenal, the rest of the cast pales next to her.

A well-made movie that was enjoyable.

Mark Rothko at the Tate Modern

We saw Mark Rothko at the Tate Modern - the main driver of me wanting to schedule a return visit to London this Fall, in fact. The gray series of paintings were really great, but otherwise there was not much I had not already seen, since the Seagram paintings are on permanent display at the Tate and I've been many times. E didn't appreciate it much, but he was a good sport about coming.

British Museum

We went to the British Museum, where E could easily have spent all day. It was enjoyable, in particular the cataloging room which has these incredible display cases. Some of which were taken over by Damien Hirst's brightly painted skulls, Cornucopia.

Francis Bacon at Tate Britain

We went to see Francis Bacon at the Tate Britain, an exhibit I probably would have skipped had it not been for E, and I'm very glad we went. I didn't know Bacon's work very well, but enjoyed it and the intensity of emotion he communicates.

Therapy, by David Lodge

I could not say I loved this book, in fact, at times I really struggled to get through it, but in the end travel boredom won out and I did keep plodding along. The book was a suggestion from my husband who must have read it at a point in his life where therapy seemed a good answer.

I found the main character not very sympathetic, and a lot of the plot devices over-worked.

I'm looking forward to picking up award winners again - and plotting my final Rabbit book for not too long from now...

No Country for Old Men

We were set to watch a lot of Coen brothers this weekend (except we both disliked O Brother and turned it off after 40 minutes) but we did watch all of No Country for Old Men.

I'd read the book early this year and it was probably the only reason I thought the violence was tolerable - because I knew it was coming and knew the story.

I think the movie was well-done and well-acted, and like the book it was rather subtle and psychological.

Tommy Lee Jones was awesome, as was Javier Barden.