"Bittersweet should go in the contemporary hall of fame."
347805
Bittersweet is the perfect book to curl up with on a dreary winter day.

I adored everything about Bittersweet from the characters to the cupcakes.
Let's start with Hudson. I could completely relate to her need to escape the small town. I really appreciated her determination to do it too, even if it caused her some problems along the way. I think the thing I adored the most about her was how normal she was, though. When the mini-love triangle popped up she didn't just sit there and wiffle-waffle about it, she did something. I also kind of wish I was as talented as her in the cupcake/business department :P
Will. I'm not sure if I was supposed to like him or not, but I just didn't. He was way too cocky despite his attempts at sweetness sometimes.
Oh,  Josh. He was so sweet and adorable; I wish there had been more of him in the story! Don't get me wrong, I really like how the romance played out, I just would have liked to see him a little more.
Bug was adorable. I loved the way Hudson cared for him. I liked his crazy little personality and his love for Mr. Napkins.

I really like Hudson's friendship with Dani. It's not often you see a friendship playing an integral part in the story these days. It was such a normal friendship, too! It had its ups and downs, of course, but Dani wasn't a backstabbing jerk. She was just regular friend who acted like most would in that situation.

The setting was great too. I liked the wintery town, the crazy diner, and all the ice time. Winter is my favorite season so it was cool to see a town completely covered in snow for the entire story. The diner was kind of like how you'd expect an old-school diner to be, but this time you get to see behind-the-scenes to all the craziness that happens. Though I know absolutely nothing about hockey or ice skating, I still really liked reading about them. The way Ockler writes about made me feel like I did understand it.

The Nutshell: Bittersweet should go in the contemporary hall of fame. It has absolutely fantastic characters ranging from crazy younger brothers to best friends to boys to a surly hockey team. It also doesn't follow the typical love interest formula of find the guy, get the guy, have problems, get the guy again. If you like contemporary or are simply looking for a good place to start, this is definitely your book. You need it in your life, like two days ago.
122467
I found the collection of poems entitled 'When Afternoons taper to Mortality', to be lyrical and bitter sweet. Richard Walne was clearly a very talented poet. Favourite poems include: 'I danced with you', 'How is it?',  'I have told lies', and 'When I was younger'.  Love poems? Perhaps. Deeply emotional, and intense in their imagery, I'm very pleased I downloaded them.  I believe that this is a poet that will be remembered in years to come.
2519313
As a selena fan and of music in general this is essential. The book is a bittersweet journey through the wonderful legacy and life of an icon that can never be replaced
2750218
This film is so beautifully crafted that it deserves to be recognized as one of the most inspiring and uplifting films ever made.  You cannot watch THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN and possibly feel sorry for yourself.  The film demands the viewer to find his or her own strength within no matter what his circumstances are.  THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN was a surprise hit for Universal back in 1975.  With no advanced publicity,  the studio hurried  it into movie theaters after a private screening at Universal that left all it's top executives in tears.  I remember it as "the film that would not go away".  Word of mouth spread about how effective and moving it was keeping The Other Side of the Mountain playing in various movie houses off and on  for years.  This new DVD transfer under the VAULT SERIES collection is GORGEOUS.  The sound crisp and the widescreen colors intact.  I think the film holds up better today than it did in 1975.  It may not be a critics picture but The Other Side of the Mountain works in the way THE SOUND OF MUSIC works or TITANIC or even Douglas Sirk's IMITATION OF LIFE.  Yes, it's glossy, but the story touches on all the elements that a person going through this experience would face in reality.  Only the hardest of heart will not be moved.  Without giving too much of the plot away, the main character is forced to deal with a new reality.  There's the ineffective parents who can only give her love and little else.  The best friend that reminds her of how bad everything is.  The boyfriend who dumps her because he cannot come to terms with her "new reality" and then the man who re-enters her life to reconnect her with the spirit she thought she had lost.  THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN is a movie about the individual, a loner on her own path and the struggles she must endure and overcome in order to find her true spirit.  This film contains Beau Bridges best performance.  The entire film rests on the shoulders of Marilyn Hassett who holds the film together triumphantly.  It's a stirring performance that inspires hope, not pity.  Alot of top notch supporting work her also, Dabney Coleman, Nan Martin, Belinda Montgomery and the wonderfully funny Dori Brenner.  The effervescent score by Charles Fox is one of his best and  enhances the beauty of David Walsh's stunning cinematography and the emotion of Larry Peerce's sensitive direction.  This film should be in the library of every veterans hospital in this country, that's how important it is.  Definitely deserves to be reevaluated.
3029791
In honor of our most recent Lead Actress Oscar winner, Jennifer Lawrence, I decided to finally watch Sunrise, the 1927 Oscar winner (Best Actress, Best Picture-Artistic Production, Best Cinematography).  If you recall, this delicate flower recently stated that she thought silent films were boring.  LOL, you have to love her crass and honesty, right?

I wasn't really familiar with what Sunrise was all about, but it had been sitting on my DVR for quite some time.  I remember months ago when it aired on TCM and I was kind of ecstatic because I had heard all sorts of wonderful things about it.  Heralded as one of the finest films of all time, even making Sight and Sounds top ten of all time this year (resting at #5), Sunrise was one that I most certainly wanted to make the time  to see.

Before the film began I listened to Robert Osborn and Drew Barrymore discuss the films importance and something struck me when Barrymore stated that the film was functionally progressive.  I don't know why, but those words hit me the minute she said them and then, throughout the film they kept coming back to haunt me.  I don't think I could have expressed my feelings for the film any better than those two words.  The film was so ahead of its time and really comprised itself of so many intricate themes and techniques that I was continually blown away by each passing frame.  Ive been a fan of the silent films for a long time, but this most certainly stands out among a slew of dominating films as one of the finest, if not THE finest ever made.

From the films opening title cards (brilliantly composed in a chalky white script) we are made aware that this is a story of no one and everyone at the same time.  The film sets itself up for a big fall in that regard because it is basically telling the audience that they WILL relate to this story.  It could have so easily failed after such a bold statement and yet despite some of the films more abrasive tricks, it works completely and one does feel this uncanny connection to the material and the resolve.

Telling the story of a young working class family torn apart by the roving eyes of the husband, Sunrise tackles the age old story of infidelity with a unique twist.  The husband, a simple farmer, is swept up in an affair with a lush woman from the city who was visiting his quant town while on vacation.  Shes lingered though, setting her sights on ruining his family.  She entrances the farmer and actually convinces him to kill his wife and run away with her.  It is there, on a boat, while he is hovering over his shaking and crying wife with his hands braced and ready to strangle her that he is struck with the realization that he loves her deeply and doesnt want to throw his life away for some tramp.  The film then takes a very sharp turn as it shifts from dark and disturbing murder plot to a night on the town as this husband and wife fall in love all over again.  It is such a beautifully detailed section of film that really enriches the films themes.  As the finale comes with crushing reality, we see the beautiful arc in these characters.

There are few films that can complete themselves the way that Sunrise does.

From a technical standpoint, as I mentioned, this film really was so far ahead of its time.  With the use of double exposures and elongated tracking shots and beautifully rich cinematography, Sunrise looks like no film the 20s produced.  It feels so modern and alive, even today.  The acting is sublime as well.  Janet Gaynor won an Oscar for this (as well as two other performances), but my eyes never left George OBrien, who just mesmerized as the emotionally tortured and morally confused husband.  Watching him come full circle was truly engaging and one of the more rewarding cinematic experiences of my life.

I cant recommend this film enough.  It is a true spectacle, a marvel of cinematic proportions that deserves to be regarded as a true masterpiece.
1819189
The bewilderment, sadness, and devastation of the Lost Generation is beautifully evoked in Marguerite Kayes dual novellas in her A Time for Scandal series: The Undoing of Daisy Edwards and The Awakening of Poppy Edwards. Like Lets Misbehave by Rae Summers (which I reviewed last year), both of these stories have a dark and melancholy tone yet, since they are romances, there are hopeful and happy endings.
In The Undoing of Daisy Edwards, Daisy and Dominic are merely going through the motions of life, both simply trying to cope day by day with the aftermath of loss and grief from the Great War. Daisy is a widow and a stage actress who loses herself in drinking and partying while Dominic, an aviator, is the second son and heir to a neglected and unwanted title. When they meet, they are two terribly lonely hearts whose passion ignites into an explosive affair. And both are content for just that; it helps them forget their mutual pain in mindless pleasure.
Of course, it develops into much more and its interesting that its Dominic who initiates the emotional part of their relationship while Daisy fights it all the way. Their conversations are lovely to read and are written from both characters points of view, in the uncommon first person voice, a unique and effective device here. I feel it makes the story all the more compelling, especially since it is essentially a short story (only seven chapters long).
Marguerite Kayes style is direct, concise, and very powerful. The tone is quiet and reflective throughout and I really felt Daisy and Dominics pain at the same time there is a joy and hope in their newfound relationship.
The Awakening of Poppy Edwards is Daisys sisters story. Poppy escaped London and the pain of the wars devastation for a career in the exciting and new motion picture industry in sunny Los Angeles. She couldn't bear to witness Daisys pain and so she escapes into moviemaking, creating a financially successful (but emotionally empty) life for herself.
Lewis Cartsdyke is a confident and handsome producer who has his eye on Poppys stardom and is hoping to make her a star in the upcoming talkies. When he first meets her, in her guise as Vera, a singer in a nightclub, dressed a la Marlene Dietrich in a mans suit, he knows who she is and is captivated by her. He breaks his own rule about mixing business with pleasure and a one night stand turns into something more. When she learns the truth behind his career motives for her, Poppy is reluctant to engage in an affair, but she cant stay away from Lewis.
Lewis holds his own pain deep inside; he was an ambulance driver in the Great War who, like Ernest Hemingway, saw great horror and death. But he is determined to survive and move on with his life. Poppy just wants a business arrangement with sex on the side. Until Lewis pushes her for more, much like Dominic in the first story. I like that it is the men in both of these stories who want more from the women in their lives.
I really enjoyed the descriptions of Poppys beautiful house, especially her kitchen, plants, and poolit creates a very nice domestic feel or normalcy to an otherwise somber story, an apt analogy of her calm and orderly home life devoid of emotional feeling.
The complicated and loving relationship between the two sisters is told from their respective points of view in each story, but its spare detail (and the satisfying ending in the second novella) is a beautiful footnote toward healing.
Two graceful stories (that should be read together) by an author Id love to read more of.
A modified version of this review first appeared on Romantic Historical Reviews.
4365702
Indeed! There is a longing tenderness in Didi Benami's voice that is both intriguing and appealing. This is a bittersweet heartbreak song but neither mushy nor sappy, just right. Juxtaposed with the nostalgic sound are the lyrics confronting a relationship that is in limbo. While the theme may be edgy, the track is easy on the ears, could very well play on repeat or mixed in your favorite playlist. Didi is a star! Her artistry and dedication to her craft is inspiring. It is palpable in this song! 10/10.
1672700
It should come into the # number one # in the category of soundtrack  music. The old and the new songs blends into one album which is excellent  and the movie also damn good, I watched it twice already and if friends of  mine ask me to watch it again, I would like to. Oh, and I love the song of  LOVE by Nat Cole King, it just superb and also the other songs like There  She Goes, Here Come the Sun, and many more are just absolutely fabulous.
1814916
Brooklyn Family Scenes holds something of a non-fiction Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio feel to it with its sketches of people and events. The book is by turns tender and touching, harsh, sad  (the few stories about Joe w. his  children during/after divorce really got to me), and funny as it details and reveals Joe's interaction w. family, friends, and neighbors. The Shave stands out among the others for me. The author's father's gesture, after such a distant relationship with his son, shows how much he loved Joe, even if he didn't or couldn't express the emotion. Really touching.  The father/son connection in these pieces stands out in particular for me.

Part of the book's appeal comes from its power to evoke for anyone who reads it memories of his/her own family, friends, and place. Memories of parents, grandparents, old girlfriends, broken love, children, kid pranks and goofy things you did, evil and not so evil neighbors, all of this surfaces in the book and turns us to remember our own histories.  Like the old Dean Martin song goies, "memories are made of this."

Happily, although a healthy dose of nostalgia informs the book  it never descends into gooey sentimentality, a tribute to Joe's writing prowess. Thanks for sharing these stories.
2444785
"The Sum of Us" offers comedy and heartfelt drama in spades, and features a young, charming Russell Crowe in an early role as a gay son living with his straight father, played beautifully by Jack Thompson.  Aside from being a character study that blends intimate family moments with universal truths ANY audience will relate to, the film dares to stretch further than most literate "gay themed" movies, and succeeds on all levels.
It also features several heartwrenching scenes that deserve a place in cinema history for being truly affecting, irrespective of issues or morals surrounding human sexuality.  Specifically, a relationship between two elderly women - Crowe's grandmother, and her longtime companion Mary - is etched in a powerful, human way that defies categorization.  The women grow old together until each of their families decide they can no longer care for each other and separate them against their will.  There are moments between the two actresses that will literally take your breath away - that is anyone who has a pulse will find themselves ripped apart by a sequence where Thompson describes what it must have been like for the two women to spend a final night together, holding on for dear life, knowing they only have a few moments left on the planet as a couple.  It's a brutal eloquent moment, rarely captured in film, and far surpassing the crocodile nature of tearjerkers like "Terms of Endearment."  If you've ever loved someone with all your heart, you will quickly put yourself in the women's shoes, contemplating what life would be like without your significant other at your side.  Unlike death, the separation of these two soul mates ranks among the most startling, affecting moments of pure sadness any filmmaker has ever fully realized.
This is a vivid look at relationships and families that deserves a wide worldwide audience.  The DVD is available only in Canada, but the video version is worth the price - not only for Crowe and Thompson, who shine in what could've been run-of-the-mill roles, but for the eloquence with which it captures true, undying love.  A very special movie.
481390
I adore the works of Wendell Berry.  It should come as no surprise then to have sensed my anticipation and excitement building since I first heard that he was gearing up to release a new collection of stories from the Port William township.

I was not let down.

In A Place in Time, Berry fills in some gaps in the Story of Port William, Kentucky, a fictional town in which he concentrates his colloquial creativity.  The collected stories in this volume span from 1864 to the present day, covering themes such as the multiplicity of sides in war; commentary on marriage and love, life and death, and specifically death that comes too soon; the art of imagination and remembering; the necessity and beauty of keeping sabbath; the power of forgiveness, of others and of oneself; dying, and dying well; returning to a well known place after an extended absence; finding one's identity, and the ways others can have an effect on that journey; the disintegration of community, in large part by the military industrial complex; leading a bifurcated life; and the unnecessary suffering and sorrow that we put ourselves through.  And in all of these, Berry writes not with a disdain for, but a love of life.

Though there are many melancholy moments, A Place in Time is, overall, a great deal less depressing than some of Berry's previously released volumes.  While reading the story, Down in the Valley Where the Green Grass Grows, I was overcome with a bout of belly laughter like I haven't felt in some time, having to stop and wipe the tears from my eyes, I was laughing so hard.

As is always to be anticipated when reading anything by Berry, there are many clear, concise and pointed statements of wisdom and beauty laced throughout A Place in Time.

In closing, I will leave you with two such morsels that I've been continuing to chew on, as they seem particularly poignant today:

On sorrow, and the way we often bring more of it upon ourselves than we even realize:
"He would never know even the extent to which it's suffering had been unnecessary... He thought...of our half-lit world, a speck hardly visible, hardly noticeable, among scattered lots in the black well in which it spins.  If all it's sorrow could somehow be voiced, somehow heard, what an immensity would be the outcry!" (P 237).

And, to end on a positive note, the essence of community:
"a membership, as Burley liked to call it, a mere gathering, not held together by power and organization like the army, but by kinship, friendship, history, memory, kindness, and affection" (p 193).
3064218
The gem of this collection is Dylan's live reading of his poem "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie." As a Bob Dylan afficianado (and a student of Existence) it is my perception that this work may well stand above and beyond his music in the decades to come. He plumbs the depths of the human condition in his stark, 20th century American voice. His allusions are timely and contemporary to the period yet timeless withal: "you need a Greyhound bus that don't bar no race and won't laugh at your looks, your voice or your face." The obvious reference to the racial de-segregation struggles that had been going on overtly for twenty years by the time that line was written resonate through and overlap all human-kind's implacable journey. He echos, magnifies and reflects what thinkers and poets have been reiterating since there have been such voices - "know thy self" because "you can't find it on a dollar bill and it ain't on Macy's window sill." As for the rest, well, it's vintage and superb. The selection of esoteric American songs interpreted by Bob Dylan I found to be a valuable addition to my folk collection. I also thought that "Hard Times in New York Town," had this record been issued on vinyl, would have been the song that re-played and re-played would cause the LP to wear out. Yes, this is good stuff. Buy it, listen to it and live with it just as you would any great classic work.
2048136
I bought this CD on a whim a few years back -- I'd seen it advertised for quite some time and thought it sounded intriguing, but frankly, I really only hoped that I'd like it enough not to regret purchasing it! Well, as I listened to John McDermott's rendition of "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" I found myself overwhelmed by the beauty of his voice and the heartbreaking poignancy he conveyed -- the senselessness of war never seemed so personal, the tragedy of wasted youth so sad. McDermott's flawless interpretation of this classic Eric Bogle song enshrouds the listener in sadness. A powerful and memorable song. The rest of the selections sung here, while not producing the same level of emotion, are nonetheless, just as perfectly sung. Songs that everyone is (sometimes depecratingly)familiar with, "Loch Lomond," "Danny Boy," "Auld Lang Syne" are given new life by the richness and warmth of Mr. McDermott's voice. "The Skye Boat Song" and "The Last Rose of Summer" are tunes I was not acquainted with, but now they are among my favorites. If you are among those who appreciate the beauty in life, the richness of a well told story, the thought-provoking memories invoked by a sad lament, you could not do better than this.
1422864
I love the Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking. The lyrics are some of Roger's best and most colorful and Eric Clapton on guitar playing within a Pink Floydian framework is phenomenal. While the entire work is great, Every Strangers Eyes is in my view the most heartfelt lyric Roger had written up to that point in time and seemed to signify a turning point of sorts. He may have followed this enlightened outlook more successfully later in the song The Tide is Turning, but the childlike sense of awakening in this realization comes across more honestly here as a true moment of clarity.  Also the concert program from the tour remains one of the best programs ever made, offering insight into the work as well as fantastic art from Gerald Scarfe and plenty of concert photos too. The CD should be re-released  with all of this stuff included as it would only enhance a work that is already as brilliant and inspiring as it is moving.
3957027
There are not that many books out there by contemporary male authors that inspire the same feeling of nostalgia and peace I get when I finish a book by Jess Walter.  He's two for two now - first with The Financial Lives of the Poets and now with Beautiful Ruins.

Beautiful Ruins may be a lovely title name for this book, but even more so it describes the absolute gorgeous nature of the story held inside the gorgeous cover.  It has all the right ingredients: dying starlette, Italy, tortured Italian young man, humorous side characters with their own touch of agony, movies, musicians, mistakes - some made right and some not, war, grief, love, death, life... the list goes on.

The story skips between four different perspectives.  The perspective of Pasquale, a young/old Italian man who dreamed of building a tennis court where a tennis court does not belong and of promoting a hotel with only an "adequate view"; Claire, a young woman who is searching for something to fulfill her dreams and whose connection to Michael Deane is one that will push her in that direction; Alvin, with his stories of war and his nobility and humor; and finally Dee Moray and Pat - each with tortured stories of their own, each on a quest to find peace and happiness.

I did not have to worry about trying to find the energy to pick this book up once I started to read it - I had to try to find the willpower to put it down in order to do the mundane things of life - you know, eat, sleep, drink.  I devoured each story as it was fed to me - pictures of the cliffs of Italy filled my mind, images of Richard Burton and Liz Taylor.  I heard the psst hey of each sprinkler hit and cried when Pasquale does something that made me believe in humanity again.

This book is a masterpiece - and I've been on a reading streak these past few weeks of really good books.  This is one of them.  Jess Walter is an author to keep an eye on - he's only getting better.
4751356
And missing this--a masterpiece that deserves to be celebrated and cherished alongside the other subdued, seemless and flawless conceptual recordings of the period: Small Faces' "Ogden Nut Gone Flake," Love's "Forever Changes," The Kink's "Are the Village Green Preservation Society," Family's "Music in a Doll's House," The Pretty Things' "S.F. Sorrow,"...and dare I add Bob Dylan's "John Wesley Harding," the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds," and the Rolling Stones' "Beggars Banquet." Wear beige fatigues dyed in the weariness and vague self-assurance that comes from resisting (or overcoming) flower power frivolity, feel the breeze caressing your face, and tangle in body and mind with the double-edged nature of real sensuality. Leave the children's stuff for the kids, and take the REAL trip with this "Odessey and Oracle." You'll return a being deeper freer.
1205918
"From bitter searching of the heart": The Paris Diaries by Marilyn Campiz

When a book makes the heart weep one could say a masterpiece is born. When a book is written with blood, one could say a masterpiece is born. When a book is written from the heart ... one could say we witness the birth of a masterpiece, so few of those still written the present day.

The Paris Diaries tell us a story of love and friendship, in a world where love seems to has ceased to exist. This autobiographic report by Marilyn Campiz relates us her journey of love, her search for more in this world, life and passion. Let's not reveal too much of the content, the theme is enough to know how deep one can go and has gone. Honest and brutal, explicit and implicit, the author touches the core of a burden so well known. What makes her work innovating is the content, vision, ideas and writingstyle. I would love to give you a detailed report, but I must say this: this journey is a journey to discover, through her words, eyes and heart. A journey one has to make and feel by him or herself. I would love to praise this book with the dearest adjectives I know but for once believe what I say and let the journey surprise you as her words sway away with your heart. I have written reviews, clean, pure, the way they should be, so often ... often enough to know that a standard review can only diminish the value of this book. If I have made you curious, I have succeeded, if not believe me when I say you will be missing out on a discovery through the mind, soul, body and heart of what could be.

Just believe ...