Dark harbor

A new book about the New York City waterfront was reviewed in the Times. I was reminded of a book in the recent past treating the same topic: turns out it appeared a year ago (On the Irish Waterfront), and I blogged about it then.

To the end of the land

Colm Toibin gives David Grossman's new book a glowing review. To say this is an antiwar book is to put it too mildly, and in any case such labels do an injustice to its great sweep, the levels of its sympathy. There is a plenitude of felt life in the book. There is a novelist’s notice taken of the sheer complexity not only of the characters but of the legacy of pain and conflict written into the gnarled and beautiful landscape through which Ora and Avram walk. And there is the story itself, unfolded with care and truth, wit and tenderness and rare understanding. This is one of those few novels that feel as though they have made a difference to the world.

As in other novels of love and loyalty in a time of conflict — Nadine Gordimer’s “Burger’s Daughter,” Michael Ondaatje’s “English Patient” or Shirley Hazzard’s “Great Fire” — there is a palpable urgency here about the carnal and the sexual. The portrait of Ora as a woman alive in her body is one of the triumphs of Grossman’s book.

Dominoes around the world

Cute. I wanted a refresher on the game, and this fit the bill.

Things we lost in the fire

Having started to read Judah P. Benjamin, the Jewish Confederate, wherein I read that Benjamin's family goes back to Portuguese Jews by the name of Mendes, I remembered the director Sam Mendes. Searching his name led me to this film, which he produced. I know both Berry and del Toro as actors, so I took the film home. Plus, Roger Ebert gave it a positive review.

Berry's character is married to Brian, a flawless man, successful, kind, great father, great husband, and loyal friend to del Toro, a heroin addict and his long-time friend. Splicing action in time, we see how it was that Brian came to be murdered, and how his family and friends reacted.

Whilst it gets a bit melodramatic, the film is powerful drama. Del Toro is magnificently understated, restraining himself from becoming too

3 films

The Darjeeling Limited - mediocre, at best. Waste of time. Three brothers are on a train in India in some sort of quest, that, inexplicably, involves consuming cough syrup and pills, as well as smoking an endless stream of cigarettes. This nonsense exemplifies Hollywood in one of its ceaseless impulses, and it is not a pretty sight. Owen Wilson plays the eldest of the three brothers, wearing head bandages and a domineering streak that is baffling. Adrien Brody is stuck in a time warp, it seems, and wearing oversized glasses he keeps flipping onto his forehead. Jason Schwartzman plays the third brother, who lusts after the waitress/stewardess that serves them lime drinks. The film meanders, and then flops.

Manchurian Candidate - very good. Denzel turns in a stellar performance as a Desert Storm veteran, rather than a Korean War vet, played by Frank Sinatra in the original film version (1960). Meryl Streep plays the bitchy mother to perfection. The film veers on the melodramatic or absurd, but the action and the acting, especially the acting, pull it back, and make it work.

Adaptation - too much Cage. Way too much. Even Streep and Chris Cooper, in the end,, can not overcome that hurdle, good as they are.