Sunday, December 28, 2008

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Movie Review)

This isn't exactly a feel-good holiday movie. If you are in need of a post-holiday pick-me-up, you might want to avoid this one.

However, if you want to see a quality movie with some depth, this is a good choice, though the overall message is a little unclear. It's based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but in reading some other reviews, it sounds as though the only thing the movie has in common with the story is a man who is born old and ages backwards. Having never read the story, I have to take their word for it. It's also been noted that the story was much more humorous than the movie. The movie had some humorous moments, but mostly it was a drama rather than a comedy.

At the beginning of the movie, an old woman dying in her hospital bed has her daughter read aloud from a diary. The diary was written by Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), and the story is told through flashbacks. It is the story of Benjamin's life, as well as the love story between Benjamin and Daisy (Cate Blanchett).

Benjamin was born at the end of the first World War. His mother died in childbirth, and his father was horrified by Benajmin's appearance--he was the size of a baby, but looked like an old man. He took the baby away and left him on the doorstep of a retirement home. The retirement home was run by a woman named Queenie (Taraji P. Henson), who ended up raising him.

Benjamin actually fit in quite well at the retirement home, not understanding that he was actually a child. He looked like another old man in a wheelchair, albeit a short one who was not in complete possession of his mental faculties. He eventually grew taller and didn't need to use the wheelchair anymore. He was still an old man, physically when he met Daisy, the love of his life, who was a child at the time.

Of course, he and Daisy didn't get together for years, until the point when they sort of met in the middle in age. But of course, any romance with Benjamin was doomed in the long term, and that was the tragedy of his life in general. It would have to be very lonely to be moving in the opposite direction from everyone else.

The movie is very interesting in that Benjamin had a fascinating life, and visually stunning with great special effects. But the overall themes--time is cruel, we all die in the end no matter how we get there--aren't exactly uplifting. Adding to the ominous tone is the fact that the old woman in the hospital (who turns out to be Daisy) and her daughter who is reading Benjamin's diary are in a hospital in New Orleans right before and then right as Hurricane Katrina is hitting. If there is some more uplifting message embedded in the storyline, I'm not getting it. I guess one could argue that despite a serious obstacle, Benjamin made the best of things and led the best life he could, but even considering this, I still don't consider the movie very uplifting.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Time of My Life, by Allison Winn Scotch (Book Review)

What an awesome book! I love stories that involve manipulating time or involve some sort of road-not-taken scenario. In this book, protagonist Jillian Westfield is living the perfect suburban housewife and mother of an adorable 18-month-old in 2007. She loves her daughter, but she's bored to tears by her life and her marriage has definitely lost its luster.

Then one day she wakes up and it's seven years earlier. (Now, my first thought was, there's no way I could relive the Bush years, but since it was July 2000, I would have wanted alert the media that BUSH IS GOING TO STEAL FLORIDA! And beware of that stupid butterfly ballot!).

But I digress. Other than a brief mention of the Bush-Gore race, there is almost no mention of politics. In 2000, Jill's life was at a crossroads. She was about ready to break up with her exciting but rather unambitious and noncommittal boyfriend, Jackson, and about ready to get together with the man she would eventually marry, Henry. She is now intent on trying to make things work with Jack, and not getting together with Henry. She now has the advantage of 20/20 hindsight; often things work out well because of this. For example, when her friend Meg has a miscarriage, Jill knows it is going to happen, and this time she thinks to call 911 in advance instead of going to Meg first and then calling 911. This is crucial since Meg lost so much blood the first time that she required a transfusion and sustained much more internal damage. Also, Jill is able to anticipate trouble spots in her relationship with Jack and deal with problems more effectively.

Occasionally things don't work out quite as well, because each new action has unintended consequences. For example, her boss Josie's marriage appears to be going south, even though as far as Jill knows, Josie and her husband were perfectly happy in 2007. Jill is upset by the possibility that her interfering in the past, trying to change things, has caused problems for Josie. Also, even though Jill doesn't want to get together with her husband, she misses her daughter, who will never be if she stays with Jack.

But things are going great with Jack, now that she knows he's the one she wants. Or are they?

Is the problem that Jill chose the wrong person? Or is the problem that she has stifled too much of herself and failed to confront her own demons?

This is a book that will resonate with anyone who has ever wished they could have gne back and made a different choice in life. How many of us have wished we could have made a relationship work (or left a bad one sooner), not dropped out of college, taken a risk instead of playing it safe, or done any number of things we felt would have made our lives better? It is a book that invites self-reflection. The book is also a real page turner. I was fascinated by the concept and couldn't wait to see what would happen next. I look forward to reading more from this author.



Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Is Bush Going to Set the White House Drapes on Fire as He Leaves Too?

I adore Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC. I enjoy all segments of the show, but am going to speak to the "Lame Duck Watch" portion here for a moment. This is where Rachel highlights some (disastrous) new proposal or regulation that the Bush administration is trying to push through before he (finally) leaves office, probably all of which are in direct opposition to what Obama wants to do. Here are some highlights:

* a new rule that would allow health care workers to refuse procedures due to moral objections, including, unsurprisingly, abortions, and possibly dispensing birth control. (Imagine not being able to get your birth control prescription filled because some jerk in the pharmacy had a problem with it).

* Offering parts of the Utah wilderness for oil and gas drilling.

* Negotiating a deal that would keep the troops in Iraq for three more years (if approved by the IRAQ parliament, NOT our Congress)

* relaxing regulations covering endangered species and changing how pollution levels are measured

* giving state and local agencies more spying power

* many more nefarious things

JANUARY 20 CANNOT COME SOON ENOUGH.

When his administration isn't working to bring down this country further in the time they have left, what exactly are W and company doing? Are they trying to address the economic crisis, maybe? Not so much, from the sound of it. Mostly, they are trying to recast Bush's image in a more positive light.

They should probably wait a few years for that. Like maybe 50, or 100.

I think the Obamas should do some kind of cleansing ritual when they move into the White House. The toxic energy W is leaving in his wake isn't healthy for anyone else to be around.

Monday, December 01, 2008

Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State--Yay!

I'm so excited that Hillary Clinton will be our next Secretary of State! I actually wanted Hillary to get the nomination for president, though I always liked Obama as well. Part of the reason I initially chose Hillary over Obama was that I simply didn't know as much about him (and, okay, I wanted a woman president, though breaking the color barrier is equally important). Now that I'm as familiar with him as any political junkie can be, I'm really happy about him being president (especially considering the alternative, but I would be excited anyway). Still, I really like Hillary, and it's awesome that she will have such a prominent role in Obama's administration. She'll do a great job, and the Clintons are well thought of overseas.

Instead of counting the days until Christmas, I am counting the days until January 20.