The Pop Culture Addict’s Blog

Now that I’ve regained my equilibrium, let me tell you about Cloverfield. I liked a lot of things about the movie. First off, it was kind of like what I said the first time I saw the cool, mysterious trailer: it’s like the monster from Lost has invaded Manhattan. Usually, when you see the monster – like some say when we saw it on Lost – there is low pay off. But this time, I thought that monster was pretty scary and vicious. It reminded me a bit of the Korean hit The Host.

I thought the story was interesting. My eyes were blurry and kept tearing from the hand-held movement but I didn’t want to look away because I wanted to know what happened next. But, I heard a lot of people complaining and also there were people rubbing their eyes and heads when it was over. Remember how people were getting nauseous from watching The Blair Witch Project? It’s like that. I got dizzy from Husbands and Wives. And a fellow PCA felt ill watching Rosetta – a more obscure hand held reference but trust me, while it is a great movie, you don’t want to be sitting too close to the screen when watching it.

So what’s the upshot? Well, as a fan of Felicity, Lost and Alias, I appreciated the everyday-ness of the set up. The young 20-somethings had that Scott Speedman, Scott Foley, Keri Russell appeal. Manhattan really looked like a monster was crashing through it. But it was hard on my brain. I guess, take a Dramamine or eat some ginger for the motion sickness first and then see it. I was chewing gum frantically but it didn’t help much. Still, this sucker is going to make all of its $25 million back and more. I think the key was keeping it relatively low budgeted.

One last thing I had to comment on. I miss Roger Ebert. Of course I also miss Gene Siskel. But I mean watching Roeper and Ebert’s sit-ins has been okay but not like the old days of the show. However, today, I heard the coolest thing on that show since the Siskel and Ebert days. Richard Roeper and Michael Phillips were reviewing the new U2 3D concert film. They liked it. Now I paraphrase but Roeper referred to U2 as something like one of the best bands of the 20th and 21st centuries. Then Michael Phillips said, what about The Replacements? I think they are the best band of the century! How cool is that? I’ll just leave on that note.

Oh, one more thing. If you haven’t seen the Iron Man trailer yet, you can catch it at the Apple site here. It played before Cloverfield and totally filled me with anticipation. The JJ Abrams Star Trek trailer also played. You can catch that one here.

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I had heard of the movie Man Push Cart when it came out. I remember reading about it and thinking it looked interesting. It received numerous accolades around that time (2005-06). But I only got around to watching it recently. I was completely engrossed in it when suddenly this very cute female character appeared working at the newsstand near the location of where the main man (of the title) sells from his coffee cart. See, up until that moment, I was under the wrong impression that I was watching a documentary! Clearly I did not read the reviews carefully in 2005. Then again, if I know I’m going to see a movie, I either skip the reviews until afterwards or I only skim the first and last paragraphs to get a sense of yea or nay. Anyway, I re-adjusted my mindframe and watched the latter part of Man Push Cart as a feature film. The narrative coincidences made more sense but I have to say, there was a very naturalistic quality to the acting and story. It was completely believable to me that someone who was established, famous and admired in Pakistan could immigrate to New York and end up a push cart vendor. I guess that was one of the points of the movie! Read an interview with the writer/director Ramin Bahrani in New York Magazine here.

So after finishing the autobiographical works of Ruth Reichl in which she is honest about her personal struggles as she rises to stardom in the food critic world, I felt like more non-fiction. What do I choose? Well, I loved the movie version of Into the Wild. It is one of my favorites of the year. And I was inspired to read the book. (Read the original article here.) I had read Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air awhile back. So I thought I could handle Under the Banner of Heaven, his book about Mormon Fundamentalism. I’m still reading it. Jon Krakauer is a good reporter and writes accessibly and in a way that keeps your attention. But pretty much everything is hard-hitting and requires breaks to take it all in and process. In all honesty, I’m presently awaiting Sue Grafton’s T is for Trespass to come out in paperback. I’m a fan (yes, I’ve read from A to S so far). I just want the perks of a paperback but I’m very tempted to get the hardback. I might have to read something like that after I finish Under the Banner of Heaven.

I’m also awaiting the paperback version of the latest E. L. Konigsburg YA novel. She is my second favorite YA author after M. E. Kerr of course.

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I must say, I found the Great Debaters to be an excellent movie. I recommend it to everyone. I know the story is based on fact and has been fictionalized to an extent but the historical matter is true and the story is well-written. I was riveted and moved.

I had seen Eat Pray Love around, but it didn’t really draw me in. But then I read a convincing review that made me want to take a closer look at it. Don’t be turned off. It is a really interesting book about one woman’s introspective journey over the course of one year. Elizabeth Gilbert writes very accessibly, openly and entertainingly about a trying and then enlightening time in her life. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading her book and want to read the next installment.

Speaking of non-fictional accounts, I am now reading Ruth Reichl’s book Garlic and Sapphires. This continues from the book I just finished by her – Comfort Me With Apples. Reichl writes about her affinity with food and drink as it intertwines with her life in such a fascinating way.

I know I already expounded on how much I loved the movie Darjeeling Limited having seen it several times in the theater but I only just started listening to the soundtrack on its own and have to say it is pure pleasure every time one of the tracks come on. The movies of Satyajit Ray (Pather Panchali and rest of Apu Trilogy) linger in your mind but to hear his music on its own is also memorable. The snippets of music from other Indian movies are just as nice to hear along with the Brit Invasion era songs that Wes Anderson favors.

I also have been listening more to the most current Foo Fighters album and letting it surprise me and wash over me. As always, people seem to dig their videos. The one on everyone’s lips right now is the video for Long Road to Ruin. Let me see if I can find it online for you… it is at MTV Overdrive.

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