Books read, movies watched

(These posts are more for myself than anything else. Feel free to press the 'J' button on your keyboard now)

So far in 2011....

Books:
1) Committed - Elizabeth Gilbert
Whatever, I can deal with your scorn. I will fully admit that I enjoyed the Rome/Bali bits of Eat, Pray, Love (the book) a lot more than the movie... But this was a much better anthropological look into cultures and marriages from a Western perspective. This is a lot more of Gilbert the journalist and breaking down the history of marriage than it is a personal memoir like in her previous book.

And Gilbert fully acknowledges and states her privilege as a heterosexual, white, middle-class American from the get-go too, which helped. Also, picturing Javier Bardem in your mind whenever Gilbert switches back to her personal life doesn't hurt too.

2) What the Dog Saw - Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell does what Malcolm Gladwell does.

Movies:
1) Going the Distance - What can I say. I like rom-coms, this isn't a brainless one. I have a soft spot for Drew Barrymore, and now Justin Long after he wrote that famous letter to the movie critic. Plus, this is a movie about long-distance relationships, something which I can relate to. 
3/5 on Lisa's Cry-O-Meter 

2) Gladiator - Watched it in Rome, only because it came in a special box-set which Xian and David bought, and also because we saw the Colosseum. Very 'macho' movie, about men doing 'macho' things. Think I liked it a lot more than I would have in a Singapore cinema because the memories of the real Colosseum were still fresh for me.

3) The Town - Mmmm.  Bad guy (Ben Affleck) with good conscience does questionable deed in order to save his skin. Jon Hamm uses a total of two facial expressions, which is one expression more than he normally does in Mad Men.

4) The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec - Cute movie, in your usual haphazard Luc Besson style. Spunky female protagonist with a sharp tongue - something which I find very endearing. Also, talking mummies! Love. Also, Qatar Airways blurred out the top cleavage of the actress! So her chest looked like a blurred blob when she was sitting in the bathtub.

5) The Switch - Was prepared for a potentially distasteful movie plot (hijacking someone's pregnancy??), but was actually pleasantly surprised. Although I think it's sort of expecting your whole leg to be chopped off, only to find that your doctor only amputated your foot. A few cute, touching scenes but not enough sexual chemistry between Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman to think that this could actually happen. (Actually I think he had more on-screen sexual chemistry with Ellen Page in Juno than in this movie.)
2.5/5 on Lisa's Cry-O-Meter