If anyone is aware of there being discussion questions around evangelism in light of the documentary Hell House can you please shoot me an email, or post a comment. Thanks.
A book turned movie is always an interesting thing, sometimes fairly tragic and yet unashamedly I admit – can be enjoyed in their own right if a certain amount of disassociation is present.
For the sake of an indulgent night at home, it served it’s purpose very well. Just me, tea, hotwater bottle, doona and a girly dvd.
Circle of Friends. Based on the Maeve Binchy book of the same title. I read the book a year or so back and loved it. I like her stuff – not all at once, but now and then.
The movie didn’t have the time/space to explore the characters emotional levels – which is a large bit of the good that adds to the standard romantic/friendship thread of the book, but I remembered a fair chunk of it, and Irish accents and ‘the 50’s’ are always good fun.
Here’s to a night in!
I shouldn’t possibly do 12:15am theories as they can’t be substantiated but here’s my theory on why Harry Potter is so ripping good at worming his way into our imaginations, hearts, bookstores, fan-fiction and movies.
Harry as a character is everything. He’s the nerd, the popular kid, the bullied one, the hero, the kid from the crappy family (and the really fantastic family)…
We all relate.
He also is famous without having done anything – this lends itself to the minor probability of an almost improbability (One we try to pretend isn’t) in today’s world.
If that’s not quite enough, the Harry books have fun things like Bertie Botts Every Flavour Jelly Beans and photographs where the people move around. Who’s imagination doesn’t delight in chasing that!
I am a Harry Potter fan who quite proudly can say owned the books before they got popular. I don’t think I’ve seen the second latest movie (if so I can’t remember it – and they keep changing directors anyway) – I won’t bother with watching the movie or buying the new book until the hype winds down and I haven’t read the books hundreds of times – just twice, maybe three times for some.
As for my thoughts on the new book:
I think Snape has some good in him. I don’t think xyz person is fully dead. I do think that the last book will be spoilt if it is filled with copious amounts of romance between two certain individuals (but might secretly enjoy some of it) and I’m hoping that there is some question or something left unresolved – just to infuriate people.
Thus endeth my random Harry Potter theorizing, ranting, wondering and whatever else’ing.
Don’t be sucked in by the mania, but do visit the books in say thirty years time and enjoy them as a good – fun read for what they are.
…and I haven’t turned evil yet.
It’s an interesting thing watching a familiar face break character.
If you’ve got time within the next few weeks to head out and see a movie, do bother with Driving Lessons. You will have to get in quickly as I don’t think it will last too long.
Rupert Grint (Usually identifiable as Ron Weasley from Harry Potter) cracks extremely well into the new mould of Ben. Alongside some clever acting – from both Grint and Walters – the movie plays tastefully and intelligently with themes of independence, rights of passage, emotional manipulation and fatherhood. It could perhaps follow some of these themes through more completely but generally does a good job.
It is quirky and quaint and consistently engaging – although not altogether unpredictable in parts, but I don’t think that it has deterred from the movie as its intentions lie elsewhere.
I was quite frankly delighted, and intend to get hold of a copy when it makes it onto DVD.
See it or you are missing out.
I am a sucker when it comes to French film. If you can choose to ignore their often slightly lewd slant (or at least moments) their utter absurdity throws you into this trance of… wow.
I love it.
They are creative, they are quirky, they are clever, they are beautiful, they are more real – despite being so weird. Much more real than Hollywood much less annoying than Bollywood. That is not meant to rhyme to sound catchy or tacky – why the ‘wood’ suffix anyway…?
I had the immense pleasure of seeing Paris, je t’aime (Paris, I love you) tonight. Jess, my movie obsessed friend again struck with her taste of brilliance and coerced us into making the trek into Camberwell to the Rivoli. It didn’t take much persuasion. Fortunately my taste of foreign film is shared and appreciated by my fiance (Yes, I was just looking for an excuse to use that). He of course can speak much better French than I can… although he is more fluent in German. I know perhaps one word in French – maybe two. I can say something about the woman and the little girl and I can count but I’m never quite sure if I’m mixing it up with Italian. Neither of us really know French very well. Both of us would like to learn. There’s something you might not know.
Regardless of whether we learn, he will always have the better accent.
As said this evening, whatever you say in French sounds beautiful – even if you swear. Whatever you say in German sounds like swearing – even if it is beautiful.
My severe anti-aural learning abilities haven’t ever been all that assistive (Let’s make up words) in learning languages. I can speak Solomon Islands Pijin – which is more than most could boast but it is obscure and not very helpful. Besides, I’m still not very good.
This movie however – like our German-French comparison, was utterly stunning.
The movie is an anthology – multiple directors. You walk away feeling like you’ve been at a short film festival. I’ve never actually been to one. I steal more lines than you might realise.
It’s not about a set plot with beginning, middle, end. It’s beginning, middle and end the whole way through, although sometimes you’re not sure at quite where you’re at. I like that. It says as much about life as the few engagement-rings of wisdom on love throughout do.