Project NIM

As it turns out, I already saw this movie earlier this year. Of course they had a different title for it then: Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

The similarities of the fictional account of a chimp that was taken into a human's home to learn sign, and the true to life version of Project NIM are uncanny. Granted, there weren't as many explosions in Project NIM (spoiler alert), but some of the fallout regarding the chimpanzee are quite heart wrenching in both movies.

Basically, Project NIM is the story of a bunch of frigging idiots that decide take an ape into a human household and see what happens. If you asked the researchers of the study, they may say that it was a scientific experiment to see if an ape could learn human language and grammar. But I think my idiot comment stands.

Why? Because not one of the multitude of people who were involved in this study (save one: the drug smoking hippie...no, not that drug smoking hippie, the other one) had any knowledge about chimpanzee behaviour, and what might (would most definitely) happen when you bring a wild animal into a house or academic setting. No one involved in the study thought it might be a good idea to do a bit of reading into chimpanzee behaviour before hand; virtually every one of them admitted in interviews that they knew almost nothing about "monkeys".

Without spoiling the entire movie, lets just say that people were bitten, poop was flung, and a chimpanzee was mistreated.

I thought this movie was outstanding and I encourage anyone reading this (except for that one guy...you know who you are) to go and see this movie.

5/5

Flying Troutmans - Miriam Toews

I've read quite a few Miriam Toews books over the years and she is a good writer.  Her books have a quirky tone and even quirkier characters.

My latest read was the Flying Troutmans and while I liked it, I also found it had a frantic energy that didn't exactly make it a relaxing read.  I read somewhere that it bears similarities to Little Miss Sunshine and that is true to a point.  However, I think the end goal of getting Abigail Breslin to the beauty pageant gave Little Miss Sunshine more focus than that found in the Flying Troutsman, which seemed to go on tangent after tangent.  In this particular road trip, they were looking for someone, but I found that this goal was quite often lost amongst the text.   Worth picking up in a pinch, but if you're looking at Toews for the first time, try A Boy of Good Breeding instead.  

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter - Tom Franklin

After a raft of fairly literary novels, I was in the mood for something more action-oriented.  With that in mind, I picked up Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin.  I was heartened by the fact that David Wroblewski (of the awesome Edgar Sawtelle-fame)  had endorsed it highly.

The book is essentially something of a mystery novel, with the main character (Larry Ott) having been accused of a heinous crime 25 years earlier. However, he was never convicted as the police could never pull together the requisite evidence.  Flash forward and another similar crime has occurred in this small Mississippi town.  Larry is once again a suspect.  The book goes back and forth in time to help readers understand what really happened 25 years ago, as well as in the present day.  Interspersed with Larry's story is that of the local constable (Silas "32" Jones), a former friend of Larry's.  The book describes Silas' criminal investigation during the present day, but also explores the relationship between these two men all those years ago.

I won't go into much more depth as I don't want to spoil the mystery, but I will say this is a well written book that provides some insight into the tensions between blacks and whites in Mississippi, while also providing readers with a compelling story.

Interesting side note: apparently, students in Mississippi learn to spell Mississippi like this: M-I-Crooked Letter-Crooked Letter-I-Humpack-Humpback-I.  An interesting approach to literacy indeed.

The Trip

Picture you and a friend on a one week road trip. Think of the places you'd stop, the food you would eat, the songs you sing, the endless bad impressions you would do in each other's company. Also think about the conversations you may have. The off the wall "What If" conversations, the explanations of topics that you consider yourself an expert in.  Think of how much fun you would have, but also think about how might get on each other's nerves a bit.

Well that, in a nutshell, is what The Trip is all about. You may think that this would  be the most boring movie ever, but luckily, this trip had a well paid editor who took only the best bits and left the rest on the cutting room floor.

The Trip should have you laughing from almost the first moment when Steeve Coogan clumsily invites his friend Rob Brydon along for a road trip tour of high class restaurants through out England. From pretty much then on in, the trip is nothing but their conversations, sing alongs, observances, etc. and it is hilarious!

This movie isn't for everyone as there are no car crashes, explosions, or even plot for that matter, but if you want to watch a good "Day in the life" comedy, I would totally recommend this.

4/5 Stars.

Contagion

Holy Crap, I'm never using another public bathroom, or even opening a door again

We just watched the movie Contagion, and as movies go, this is a true to life horror movie that could actually happen! I don't want to put too many spoilers in this review, but here's the plot: one person gets sick and as a result, the whole world pretty much goes to crap! I don't think I'm giving too much away; it is a story about a contagious disease after all.

Virtually every scenario they presented in this movie could very easily happen in real life: the spread of the disease, the panic among citizens, the crackpots pushing bogus cures, and of course the horrific death toll. What I found really interesting in this movie was how in the theatre, you suddenly became acutely aware of people sneezing or coughing.

The movie stars...people, they act, but that isn't the point of this review. This is a movie that everyone should see simply from a public health perspective. Go see it, and then go drink a bottle of Purell!

5/5

Nemesis - Philip Roth

After a less than stellar run of books, I was pleased to pick up this one.  I'd been a bit intimidated by Philip Roth in the past, but the review of this book by one of my favorite bloggers had been so stellar and the topic was so compelling, that I couldn't resist.

Roth tells the story of the polio outbreak in Newark during the blazing summer of 1944.  His prose evokes the fear felt by children and their parents that they may contract polio.  The novel focuses in particular on one of the children's instructors (a playground coordinator) and his reaction to this epidemic.  It hones in on how polio influences his faith and how this equips him (or not) with the tenacity to cope in such a difficult time.  Roth also flashes forward in his novel to explore the fallout of polio many years later.  He speaks to the fact that polio need not make one a permanent victim and that for some, there is hope.

I found this book interesting in that this was a point in history that I knew little about.  I was fascinated by the fact that polio spread most rampantly during the summer.  I'd had  no idea and this pattern lies in contrast with other communicable diseases, like influenza.  I found myself wanting to read more of the medial literature to find out why.

All in all, I highly recommend this book and it has compelled me to pick up more Phillip Roth novels.

The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemmingway

Nothing much to say other than...ugh (and what a horrible cast of characters)!

Still Point - Amy Sackville & Last Woman - John Benrose

Although the stories are quite different, these two books both suffered a similar flaw and one that can often be quite fatal: the whiny narrator(s) phenomenon.  While the stories themselves were compelling enough, I couldn't engage with the characters.

Still Point sounded so promising on paper.  It told the story of a "great" romance between an arctic explorer and his wife, while also exploring the relationship and ennui of one of the explorer's descendants (it was this woman I found unbearable).  It eventually gets to the point, but by that time I didn't really care.

The Last Woman explores a love triangle in the context of a First Nations land claim in Southern Ontario.  I think that if the book had focused more on the land claim, it would have been a better book.  Instead, I found myself saddled with three characters who lamented the past and all that they'd lost.

I can't fault the writing of either of these books.  Both were filled with lovely prose.  It is unfortunate then that both were undone by the depressing characters.  They did elude to a mental fragility to help explain the female characters' despair, but this still did not help me enjoy the books any further.

Gillespie and I - Jane Harris

This book was a fair bit of fun.  I went into it expecting a bit of a page-turner and on the whole it delivered.  Though it may have taken a little bit longer to get to the point than I expected.  That said, the narrator was engaging and the world she created was an interesting one.  Set across two points in time (the late 1800's and the early 1930's), this book tells the story of the narrator's relationship with an artist's family and the fallout from a heinous crime. Worth a read.