recent media round-up
¶ by Rob Friesel
Brokeback Mountain. Very average. Maybe just hyped to the point where it couldn’t possibly deliver? I must say that I walked away pretty numb. Acting performances were in the “good” to “excellent” range and it certainly started well enough. (The first 30-45 minutes are brilliant.) Unfortunately, it can’t keep its own pace and slows down after about 45-60 minutes, hindered by its at times awkward transitions. That and I didn’t find anything particularly original about the story. New contexts are nice but by the end of the film I found myself numb at Twist’s ambiguous demise and Ennis’ stoic perseverence.
Beggars and Choosers. Nancy Kress’ second book in this trilogy. I recently finished up the first (Beggars In Spain) and having enjoyed it thoroughly on my re-read decided to continue with the series. It moves off in an interesting direction both stylistically and thematically. I was surprised to see Kress move into a multi-narrative 1st person mode but she pulled it off rather well – – I couldn’t see this story being any more successful in an omniscient POV like …Spain had used. She enters into some head-scratcher territory (re: “Choosers”) moves beyond the largely-political ethics broached in the first novel to embrace a more holistic view. And considering that the writing is a little bit sharper … a definite recommendation.
currently playing: KMFDM “R.U.OK?”
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