Ol' Hulia's Mostly Reliable Recommendations for Recently Acquired Media

Now that I have an English degree, I know how to read, and since I don't go to school anymore, I have time to do so. Also, Clark is in a film class, so his homework = watch movies. Here are the fruits of my labor, book-like and movie-like, and some other things I've been spending time with.

The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins


No, I haven't stopped reading young adult literature yet, and yes, I'm sure you've already heard about this series, but I just thought I should I should emphasize that they are GOD. DAMN. AWESOME. Everyone knows I love post-apocalyptic stories; Collin's version is no exception. It is vivid and empowering, and includes sentiments of both the power of the individual as well as the power of of a group of downtrodden citizens coming together for a cause. The characters are mesmerizing, the setting stark and severe, and the story positively ruthless. An absolute page-turner, as they say.

My three beefs with these books are as follows: Books 2 and 3 aren't out on paperback yet, they're already making a movie of Book 1, and Book 2 (Catching Fire) really feels like a middle child - forgotten, quiet, maybe a little bit of a people-pleaser. It seemed like, at times, its only purpose was to act as a vehicle to move from Book 1 to 3, and didn't have as much of a story in itself as Book 1 did. It was exciting nonetheless, and I'm getting my panties in a twist waiting for Book 3, Mockingjay, to appear at the library.


Brick, directed by Rian Johnson


This was something Clark had to watch for class, and I'm thankful that was the case, because him taking notes prompted more discussion and understanding that wouldn't have arisen if we'd just happened upon the movie. This is because Brick is a wonderful twist on the essentials of film noir, and knowing these essentials makes the movie much more delightful; you can see both where Johnson gives a nod to the classics and where modernity takes hold.

Instead of being set in gritty L.A., for example, the movie takes place in sunny California suburbia. And instead of a hardboiled detective leading the cast, the main man is a loner high schooler, played by one of my longest-time celebrity crushes Joseph Gordon-Levitt (I know, right?). The movie follows many of the other markers for the genre, however, not the least of which being the heavy reliance on slang in the dialogue. The language itself, immediate and succinct and hilarious, was probably my favorite element of this movie. It can be found on Netflix. Go there now.


Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow


I read this book for some extra nerdy reasons, which I will tell you now: I was in an extra nerdy conversation the other day with my friend and Clark's bandmate Ben, who is one of the few people I know who's read more books than I have. We were talking about Salman Rushdie, who you all know is one of the only people in the world who can claim both to have had married a former supermodel and have a fatwa declared on them, at the same time. The man is insane. Anyway I mentioned how when I saw Rushdie speak at CWU a few years ago, his jokes didn't go over well because they were too "literary" (i.e. extra nerdy) and referenced things like obscure Whitman pieces and the writer Saul Bellow, which I'm convinced nobody in my generation but the extra nerdy ones have ever even heard of. So, to recap, Ben is nerdy, I'm nerdy, and Rushdie is extra nerdy, but he has enough badass feathers in his living-in-hiding cap that it's okay. And then Ben lent me this book (actually he lent it to Clark but Clark doesn't know how to read so I just read it and told him he should learn to read so he can read it).

This book is awesome, and not even that nerdy.

The main character is a guy named Gene Henderson, who's like this grouchy fat old guy in Connecticut. He kind of hates his life, but wants to keep living (driven by an undying, unidentified voice pleading I want I want), so he keeps trying new shit to get his motor really going again. He remarries, raises pigs, tries to learn violin, but nothing seems to work, so he third-wheels-it on his buddy's honeymoon to Africa. After helping his friend film or something, he says see ya and bounces with a guide and his jeep into the rocky, mostly uninhabited desert. The following things happen, not necessarily in this order:
1. Walks a total of 30 some-odd days in the sun with no food.
2. Blows up a frog pond.
3. Carries a dead body from his hut to a ravine, only to return to find it in his hut again.
4. Cries on an old lady with a cataract.
5. Saves a village from drought.
6. Becomes pseudo-royalty of the Wairiri people.
7. Consoles a lonely Persian orphan with his pet lion cub.

The story is vaguely picaresque, told in almost a stream-of-consciousness style. Henderson tends to ramble and digress, but he is an endearing character, and is easy to root for, despite his many flaws. The book prompted much pondering and laughter alike.


All the Pretty Horses, directed by Billy Bob Thornton (I know, right?)


I am a longtime fan of this book and a longtime fan of freaking Matt Damon, but somehow never got around to watching the movie until now. But it is good. I loved the sparseness of the scenery and the language, the almost palpable brotherhood between the main characters, and little Jimmy Blevins was just cute as a button and dumb as a rock, but lovable. It wasn't the most stunning film adaptation of a book I've ever seen, and "Some passions can never be tamed" on the movie poster makes it look pretty... "romantic," but it'll do. Also on Netflix.


Ashes & Fire by Ryan Adams


The old boy's done it again. It's been a while, to be sure, since anything Ryan Adams has put out has really wowed me. The most recent Cardinals album I listened to, Cardinology (2008), was fairly forgettable, I didn't even know he'd put out two albums since (Orion and III/IV, both 2010). Ashes & Fire, however, is a real doozy. He's back where the melodies suit him, his acoustic guitar playing is more refined, and the lyrics are as haunting and heartbreaking as ever. Folks of note who join him on this album include Norah Jones, Cardinals guitarist Neal Casal, and wife Mandy Moore (I know, right?).

The man still has some tour dates ahead of him, so catch him if you can. Once I saw him and it was terrible, but then I saw him again and it was amazing. So, it's a mixed bag, I guess, but that's to be expected from this guy, I think. Aren't we used to that from him by now?