May 14, 2008

books and movies and music....




MOVIES:

we watched "the mist" this weekend and it was decent. i got all wound up remembering how i read the "novella" when i was about 11 years old. it was one of the first adult books i read, part of a stephen kind anthology. my teacher called my mother to complain that i was reading it! (i think my mom responded by telling her, "i think it's good my kid is 11 years old and reading an adult book & understanding it!")


i loved the story, and trying to imagine what exactly was in "the mist". i wanted to see it as a movie, and have waited a long time. apparently i am not the only person who read this as a kid, loved it, and have been waiting for the movie adaptation. read an interesting review here that references all that.


stephen king was my favorite author as a kid. i think i sort of gave up or "outgrew" his work by high school. i got all fancy-pants and high falutin', and discovered hunter s. thompson, albert camus, flannery o'conner, and other highbrow stuff.


the movie was good for a modern day, CGI-effects horror film. the acting didn't suck and it was interesting to see how they stuck to the original story and how they didn't (the end is WAY different then the book.) it was just fun to watch and remember how much i loved reading it as a kid.


another movie i am excited to see is harmony korine's "mister lonely". see the clip here.




MUSIC:


i'm getting into steve earle's music these days. he's been one of those artists i'm "supposed to like" for years, but i only recently gave him a shot. it was hearing "valentine's day" in "talledaga nights". he also does a duet with allison moorer that's quite lovely. check it out here.




new john hiatt is out soon. i think he's one of those under-appreciated musicians like nanci griffith or lyle lovett, who is hard to categorize. he's sort of country, bluesy, with some elvis costello thrown in. (i'm too busy to keep addin' links, so go wiki or google this stuff!)




also- i am loving the new portishead, especially the song "deep waters" with ukulele. just bought the new elvis costello and haven't listened yet. got fiona apple 'extrodinary machine" used for $4 and am intrigued.


ok, lunch break is over. let me add some photos and say ciao.

4 comments:

copaX said...

I recommend you watch Juno. It's a very good flick.

Primordial Dork said...

I love, love, love the Mist novella. Love it.

Primordial Dork said...

Hey, I wanted to tell you- today there was a long line at Kroger- I was paying my electric bill, because Tom Waits tickets go on sale today. And this old yuppie guy was getting mad because he was in a hurry, and yelling, "Tom Waits, who's that? It can't be that great if I've never heard of him! I just want my refund!" And I was trying to calm him down. He goes, "I'll have to ask my daughter who the hell Tomm Waits is and why he's making me wait!" I told him his daughter probably wouldn't know who Tom Waits is, because, "He's old, like you and me." He got quiet. Guess he didn't know he was old...

Primordial Dork said...

Have I commented enough?

My seceret baseball homie and I agree that if you listen to Extraordinary Machine all the way through it means you are now married to Fiona Apple.