September 7, 2005

Entertainment Report

Rather then dwell on the mind boggling incompetence of Bush's appointed head of FEMA, I will spend time on what you should be watching and reading. At the movies I highly recommend The Constant Gardener. A very smart, well acted thiller. Grand Global conspiracy involving drug companies in Africa. This one will stay with you. I saw it Sunday and it's still in my head which is more than I can say for the movies I've seen this summer.

For you stay at home types I would recommend Layer Cake now out on DVD. British Gang-sta film, funny/violent, not as frantic as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or Snatch, but definitely along those lines. Our hero, who is never named but played by the tastefully named actor Daniel Craig, is trying to stay smart, safe and civilized in a drug business that isn't any of that. He's sure he's got the system beat, but the system is about to beat on him.

For those who prefer to read for their entertainment, might I suggest Dies the Fire, which I read a couple of months back but am now taking a fresh look at in the wake of Katrina. The premise is that a mysterious world-wide phenomenon has cause all electric devises to stop working. The book explores the same issues of lose of technology and lose of civility that we have been seeing play out on our TV's in the wake of the hurricane. Makes you wonder about the slender thread that our humanity hangs on.

So there you go three uplifting entertainment picks to brighten your day.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tips. Le Carre's books haven't been the same since the end of the cold war, but they might still make a good movie. I'm going to catch this one. And I remember reading about Layer Cake when it came out but never got there, so I will put it on my Netflix list.

Speaking of Le Carre, did you ever see Sir Alec Guiness as George Smiley in two six-hour mini-series made from two of Le Carre's best novels? Excellent. They were out on DVD a few years ago, may still be available.