Saturday, October 8, 2016

Recommendations for October 2016

Please drop in at the WACC to borrow these movies and books.
(WACC is open on Thursday 6-8PM, Sat 10-12 and Sunday 2-4PM)

Movies: 


Brigitte’s Suggestions: 

The Life of Others
Directed by Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck
in German with English subtitles
This movie won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film 2006. It is a dramatic, spell binding movie. Before the collapse of the Berlin wall, the secret police of East Germany, the Stasi, was monitoring suspected opponents and intellectuals. A secret police agent ordered to bug and monitor a famous and charismatic playwright, witnesses a drama of love and betrayal and makes a life-changing decision. 
Take the time to slowly get into the charged atmosphere of this film, and you will be caught in this spell-binding and thought-provoking story.

In Bruges
Written and directed by Martin McDonagh
in English and French
As stated in the back of the DVD: “Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes star in this edgy, action-packed comedy, filled with thrilling chases, spectacular shoot outs and an explosive ending you won’t want to miss”. 
All I can say is that, although I dislike violent movies, this one is smart and funny with talented actors who play the sarcastic tone to the hilt. I loved it!

Bill and Ted’s excellent adventures
Directed by Stephen Herek
A classic silly teen movie where a young Keanu Reeves (Ted) plays a “ditzy dude” from San Simas, California, who ends up travelling through time with his buddy Bill to meet historical figures for their high school history presentation.

Zoolander (directed by Ben Stiller) and Dodgeball (directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber): 
Two big successes with Ben Stiller who plays a narcissic and ridiculous male model in Zoolander and an enthusiastic and ridiculous dodgeball player in Dodgeball. Both are somewhat crude but hilarious and have reached cult status.


Patricia’s Pick: 

Seducing Doctors Lewis  
This comedy is a Canadian Tale of a small village along the Quebec coast suffering the economic and social decline due to the vanishing fish stocks. A company looking for a suitable workforce to operate a new fish canning factory, informs the village that they need a permanent doctor in order to qualify.  The local residents work together to transform the village in order  to entice a doctor and so the movie goes along its way with wit and an ounce or two of innovation.  There are parallels here to Whitevale and the movie is reminiscent of Waking Ned Devine.  English Subtitles.

Books


Brigitte’s Suggestions:

Disgrace  by J. M. Coetzee
A dark story, harsh but compelling, (and short) written by Nobel prize winner J.M. Coetzee, which forces the readers to reflect and examine their assumptions on racism and on family relationships. Set in the violent and complex context of South Africa, the novel is centered around Professor David Lurie, who at 52, has to leave his job after an affair with one of his student. and subsequently reconnects with his daughter, Lucy. The violent incident they then experience brings the tension and sense of disgrace to a new level. I found their instinct to survive and resilience in front of their desperate situation fascinating and the skill of the author kept me wanting to read this dark and realistic tale to its last word.
Recommended by Brigitte 

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
This book, made up of short stories linked together to form a coherent narrative, is a delight to read. It describes the intricate daily events in the  newsroom of an English language newspaper in Rome. Through the years, and through quirky slices of life snippets, we follow the fate of the journalists, editors and owner and the eventual demise of the newspaper, in the era of technology. The various characters are eccentric, but real at the same time. A fun and witty book!
Recommended by Brigitte

Betty’s Recommendation:

Beautiful Mystery  by Louise Penny (and any book by this author)
Louise Penny is a Canadian author of a series of mystery novels entered on the work of Chief Inspector Armand Ganache of the Sûreté du Québec. Her books are well-written, entertaining and thought provoking at the same time. This particular novel is set in a monastery, known for its world famous singing monk community. The choir director is murdered and Ganache and his colleague Beauvoir discover that the harmony of the place was just an appearance. A satisfying read and , according to the Globe and Mail, “a powerful literary novel in its own right”.


Don’s Disappointment:

On The Road   by Jack Kerouac

Over the 3 years from 1948 to 1951, Kerouac travelled with Neal Cassidy and a few  other friends. From the journals documenting this period, he wrote “On the Road” in 1951. The version of the book found on the WACC’s Shelf is based on the original scroll of tracing paper where he wrote his first draft. There is a long preface and the “novel” starts only on page 108.  Don found it a bit disappointing compared to his expectations from a previous reading a long time ago. But this is undoubtedly a must read, written by an iconoclast who has left his mark on Western Beat culture with his style of “spontaneous prose” and is thought to be the precursor of the hippie movement.