movie and book Reviews: By Snow

Snow's
Vanity, whimsy, and foolishness site...

movie and book Reviews

Movies at the Theatre

This was a great movie, and worth seeing on the big screen, and paying full price for it. (twice even!) Good acting, pretty costumes, great scenery, lots of story elements woven together beautifully, and a happy ending. What more could you ask for?

Movies On Video or DVD

The Closet

Very funny. I'm not sure where I heard about this one, but they do a fine job with a story of a very boring man who learns to live again. It is a French film. I saw it with English subtitles. I may have to see it again since I often feel that I miss a lot of the visuals because I am reading the dialog, but this one is definitely worth the second viewing.

Truly, Madly, Deeply

Since I am a romantic sap I adore this film. I also adore Alan Rickman. This is a lovely romantic comedy about a woman who hasn't been able to get over the death of her love. Rickman plays the ghost of her love, who comes back to help her.

The Dark Crystal

Love it! I can't even recall how many times I must have seen this now. I was given a copy on DVD for my birthday. Jim Henson and Brian Froud make an amazing combination. Their creation of an entirely original world is incredible. Not a single earthly creature is seen. All animals, plant life, and the four or more sentient races we meet are fantasy, created by the imagination of this incredible team. I love anything fantasy. If you like it even a little you need to see this. (Again if it has been awhile.)

The Stunt Man

A group of my friends who I watch movies with regularly all said this was among their all time favorite films, and I had to see it. So we watched it. It was a lot of fun. Hard to pigeon hole this one. IMDb lists it as 'Action / Comedy / Thriller'. It's worth seeing for yourself, there is just no explaining without ruining it (which I hate). It's out on DVD, go rent it.

Books

Year's Best Fantasy (for 2000)

Periodically I forget just how much I love short stories. I really enjoyed this book. My only problem is that I can never remember which story was written by which author. I picked it up for the Charles de Lint story (Making a Noise in this World) included. (Of course I did, and it was great.) Some other favorites were by John Sullivan (Everything Changes), Storm Constantine (The Face of Sekt), George R. R. Martin (Path of the Dragon), and Terry Goodkind (Debt of Bones). I enjoy almost all of them in fact. Only a couple were not to my taste.

The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien & The Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Does anyone really need me to tell them how wonderful these books are? I hope not, but just in case... They're great! Really worth reading. I recommend that you keep in mind that if anything is at all obvious to you it's because every writer since was inspired by this masterpiece. If it's been done a million times, then it's been a million times since these books were first published.