what Dave thinks about movies, books and everything
With all the listening to soundtracks I do, I can only name one female soundtrack composer: Rachel Portman. She composed the music for Benny & Joon, Chocolat, The Lake House, Never Let Me Go, and One Day — among other things. I don’t have a whole lot to say on this topic, except the obvious: […]
Here’s my best soundtrack list, updated with soundtracks I heard in 2014. Of the soundtracks I heard first in the past year, my favourite is Saving Mr. Banks by Thomas Newman. On the other end, I found The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug by Howard Shore quite disappointing. How to Train Your Dragon 2 by […]
I read a fair number of books by authors I’d read before in 2014, but I managed to squeeze in a few new ones. The winner of the big prize is Douglas Preston, for his wonderful book Blasphemy. Runner ups are Peter F. Hamilton for The Reality Dysfunction, Carrie Vaughn for After the Golden Age, […]
{4/5} “I know that dwarves can be obstinate and pigheaded and difficult. They’re suspicious and secretive, with the worst manners you can possibly imagine. But they are also brave and kind, and loyal to a fault. I’ve grown very fond of them, and I would save them if I can.” The Hobbit: The Battle of […]
{4/5} “I did not come to steal from you, O Smaug the Unassessably Wealthy. I merely wanted to gaze upon your magnificence, to see if you really were as great as the old tales say. I did not believe them.” The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, released in 2013 Gandalf heads off on his own […]
{4/5} “Mother always taught me: ‘Never eat singing food.’” The Muppet Christmas Carol, released in 1992 Ebeneezer Scrooge gets visited by ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future and he vows to change his miserly ways. I’ve seen several versions of this story and if this were another straight adaptation I wouldn’t be that interested. […]
{4.5/5} “However much I do change, I’m left with me.” A Long Way Down, released in 2014 Four people separately decide to kill themselves by jumping off the top of a certain building on New Year’s Eve. But when they meet each other, they decide not to do it. Later they make a pact to […]
{4.5/5} No Reservations, released in 2007 Kate works as a chef at a fancy restaurant, and it’s her life. But then her sister dies in an accident, leaving her to care for her young niece Zoe. While this is going on the restaurant hires a new sous-chef Nick, whose style of working is quite different […]
{4.5/5} “Yeah, you’re going to have to take off. I’m getting complaints. You’re having way too much fun. It’s making everyone uncomfortable.” The Way Way Back, released in 2013 Duncan goes with his family to a beach house for the summer, but he doesn’t like his mom’s boyfriend. As one character puts it, summer at […]
{4.5/5} “If you need something to worship, then worship life — all life, every last crawling bit of it! We’re all in this beauty together!” Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert, published in 1969 Paul Maud’dib has been Emperor for 12 years. Many are happy with his reign, and a few are conspiring against him. Some think […]