TV Review: Sex and the City

Reader #62 wrote: I was disappointed in Sex & The City tonight. They aired an episode called "Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl" which at outset promised to be quite edgy. It started off in Charlotte's art gallery with a drag king exhibit. After initial doubts the girls generally agree that the exhibit is cool, and Charlotte even winds up posing for a new painting and embracing her inner male. So far, so good.

While Samantha's storyline was rather small, and Miranda's struggle with letting Steve move in with her was touching, Carrie's plotline was the one that's bugging me. She had recently started dating a guy who, while younger, was fun and quite sexy. Carrie balks, however, when she finds out that Sean is bisexual. When chatting about her "problem" with the girls early on in the episode, each one responds in a stereotypical way. Samantha approves, claiming she herself is "trysexual" and willing to do anything once. Carrie expresses doubts that bisexuality even exists, stating that it's really just a stop on the way to "Gaytown". Charlotte agrees, saying people should just make up their minds, and Miranda hauls out the good old standby that bisexuals are "just being greedy [and] 'double dipping'".

Now, these are all things that I've heard before a million times, so I was hoping that the writers were doing a setup to break down the conventional discussion on bisexuality. If the girls could accept drag kings so easily, why not this? Alas, it was not to be. While Carrie winds up being kissed by a playful Alanis Morrisette in a game of spin the bottle, she decides that she's too "old fashioned" to accept Sean's sexuality. Ok, to each their own. What's not so innocent was the depiction of bisexuals as solely younger, promiscuous, confused and drunken individuals who just hadn't grown up yet. For a show that generally tries to push the envelope about embracing female sexuality, this was a disappointment. I know that later on Samantha actually has a relationship with a woman, and as I recall it was more realistic, but this episode still put a significant damper on the enjoyment of my late night TV. Grade: C+

Book Review: The End Of The Alphabet by C. S. Richardson

Reader #82 wrote: THE END OF THE ALPHABET by C. S. Richardson was recommended to me somewhere. The premise is that Ambrose Zephyr has been told that he has a month to live, and hence decides that he and his wife Zappora Ashkenazi should travel to cities he has always wanted to visit, working his way through the alphabet. Unfortunately, not much comes of this other than that which would have happened with the alphabetical conceit. There is the occasional bon mot (e.g., "He was cinematically familiar with a few biblical stories."). This is also another example of a book that has done away with quotation marks are being an unnecessary expense of ink. Grade: C

Book Review: People Of The Book by Geraldine Brooks

Reader #82 wrote: PEOPLE OF THE BOOK by Geraldine Brooks is a novel about the Sarajevo Haggadah. Brooks uses a style that I identify with James Michener's book THE SOURCE (also about Jewish history). This style involves discovering a lot of objects connected with the central focus of the novel (in Brooks, the Haggadah, in Michener, an archaeological dig), and then giving the history of each one. In both novels, the description the main characters in the framing story give is occasionally incorrect. One difference is that Brooks focuses on the women in the history, at times to the detriment of verisimilitude. I had a particular interest in this, since we have been to Sarajevo and have a facsimile copy of the Haggadah, but neither of these are pre-requisites. (Looking at a copy of the illustrations on-line might be helpful, though.) Grade: B.

Movie review: In the Name of the King

Reader # 444 wrote: This movie was extremely disappointing to me. It seemed to be a rip off of The Lord of the Rings. For a movie with such an all-star cast the dialogue was poorly written and the special effects left much to be desired. I would recommend this if you had not seen the better budgeted movies and were looking for a way to waste 90 minutes. Grade: D

Movie review: The Other Boleyn Girl

Reader #: 444 wrote: This movie was a complete surprise. I thought that I would be bored by just another historical period movie. Well, I could not believe waht a great movie it was. Natalie Portman as Ann Boleyn was a bit of a disappointment but Scarlet Johanson was very talented. This movie even has me so curious that I went online and checked out how historically accurate it was; and it was! I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves this type of movie. Grade: A

Movie review: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Reader #444 wrote: I saw this movie and was so impressed. The imagery was stunning and the special effects were amazing. Reading the book afterwards made me not feel cheated (unlike the Harry Potter movies). The actors that were chosen did the characters justice. My only disappointment was that it could not compare to the first movie. It could be that I was spoiled with how it flowed. I hope there will be more movies though. Grade: B

Audiobook review: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Reader # 444 wrote: I have recently finished the audiobook for Prince Caspian. Having read it after seeing the movie (review for that next) I felt that it gave me a lot more detail. The battles are amazing and it is amazing how the political arena mirrors the arena today (thank goodness we are remotely more civilized). The themes throughout the book such as sorcery, legends, honor interweaved throughout make for an interesting read. Even if you have seen the movie, I would suggest you give this book a try. Grade: A

Double Review

Reader #411 wrote: Atonement by Ian McEwan book and movie review

I first attempted to read the book. I had heard they made a movie out of it, and I always try to read the books BEFORE watching the movie, so this is how I started. When I had read about 50 pages of the book, I put it down and decided to try the movie.

The book is written in intricate detail. Now there is descriptive-paint me a picture kind of detail, and then there is mind-numbingly excruciatingly-throw the book across the room detail. Atonement is the latter. After the first 4 chapters and the plot was not going anywhere I gave up. It was so annoying, I will never pick up another book by this author ever again!

The movie was acceptable. The storyline itself was pretty good, but it was a bit confusing at times and overall it didn't keep me interested through the entire thing. Sorry, but I have to say this was one I would not recommend. Grade Book-F, Movie C+

Movie review: Juno

Reader # 411 wrote: An unrealistic view of a teenage pregnancy. Bizarre and slow are the best description I can use. This did win for best screenplay last year, but as usual, I don't know where they come to these conclusions. I did make it through to watch the entire thing and managed to chuckle a few times, but I wouldn't rush out to see it any time soon. Grade: B-

Multiple Reviews

Reader #411 wrote about Children's books:

McDuff and the Baby by Rosemary Wells and Susan Jeffers--Grade B
My 3 year old daughter likes this book, this is the second time we have borrowed it. It's about a dog adjusting to his new family life now that there is a baby involved. The illustrations are clear and easy to see with simple colors.

Chester the Out-of-Work Dog by Marilyn Singer, Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith--Grade A
My 3 year old daughter and I both liked this book. It's about a family who live on a farm and then move to the big city. Their dog, Chester, feels out of place without his farm noises and sheep to take care of. In the end, he finds a new job in the city and loves his new home. Illustrations are action-packed and easy to see.

The Parrot Tico Tango by Anna White--Grade A+++
We have read this book over and over since bringing it home--my 3 y/o daughter LOVES this book. It's about a parrot who takes all his friend's food and in the end looses it all and realizes he needs to share it. The bright, colorful pictures, repetitive, rhyming phrases and various descriptive words makes this a home run at our house! I would consider purchasing this book to keep in our home.

Wolf Watch by Kay Winters, Illustrated by Laura Regan--Grade C
This is a poetic-style story, about an Eagle watching for wolf pups to be born and emerge from their den so he can take one. The father wolf scares it away, but for my 3 year old, she didn't understand the prose and it was more of a book where we look at the pictures and talk about it rather than reading it. The illustrations, although beautiful, were very dark and difficult to see in the light. We will not be reading or borrowing this one again.