B11: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (608 pages)

"You should have no sense of guilt about having had relations with me. You see, Mr. Okada, I am a prostitute. I used to be a prostitute of the flesh, but now I am a prostitute of the mind. Things pass through me."

Haruki Murakami is a wizard. Reading his work is like using a kaleidoscope to peek into the dream of  a lost poet. The words seemingly drip off the pages, float down and burrow themselves into your skin. You will remember this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and would highly recommend it to anyone in search of something different. For it revolving around such a simple plot, the story is imprinted with depth that is often lacking in many books clinging to "Best Seller"  lists churned out by major cosmopolitan cities. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is really a collection of savory characters that all come into contact with our unorthodoxly ordinary hero, Toru Okada.

After Toru and his wife Kumiko's cat goes missing, Toru sets out on a mission of self discovery that ultimately will dump his life upside down. A prostitute, a brooding teenage girl and an old Manchurian War general enter into Toru's world and each provides a piece of a key that will be needed to unlock Toru's potential. He soon becomes a product of these encounters and now needs their perspectives to help him locate his wife who has gone missing without a trace. This book is a heroic attempt at using history, sex, politics and human interaction to tease out life's true purpose and to give meaning to the meaningless. So much in our life revolves around the people we meet along our own journeys and this book will definitely cause you to reflect on some of the more interesting characters you may have come across in your own time here on Earth. It is beautifully written and while it has an austere backbone that creeps throughout, this book will be a fantastic addition to any library. Read it.

F17: Hunger Games-Directed by Gary Ross

"Hope is the only thing more powerful than fear. A little fire is effective and a spark is fine....... as long as it is contained."

This is a stellar movie and about as good of an adaptation of a beloved book that I have seen. There were a few minor adjustments to the plot and the elimination of a character or two, but overall I loved everything about the Hunger Games. The visual experience of life in the districts and the depressing nature of dystopian Panem was incredibly well executed. Whoever was in charge of casting also deserves some praise, as I thought all the characters were perfectly cast for the motley crew of characters Suzanne Collins spawned in her books. Donald Sutherland was a wicked President Snow. Arrogant, insidious and calculating. Woody Harleson's character Haymitch could have been a wee more of a drunken train wreck, but I enjoyed him as Katniss and Peeta's mentor. Jennifer Laurence became Katniss Everdeen and I believe she embodied the crux of the character to the fullest. Strong and innocent. Provocative yet deadly. Rebelliously devoted to those that she holds dear. In short, a prodigious female protagonist that kicks ass.

While I did really enjoy this film, there is definitely something very disturbing about the whole idea behind the Hunger Games. Set aside the futuristic predictions of what society could be like and how oppressively controlling the government could end up being. I think what bothers me the most is that this movie was based on books that kids are reading. Is revolution and televised murder appropriate for our youth? I get that there is a lot out there in the world and we as a society have become more and more desensitized to violence with each passing year. Sure, vicious adventure stories depicting sacrifice have been around for thousands of years (Collins has been noted as using the Greek Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur as inspiration), but I can't help but wonder how much is too much? What's to come from these impetuous spores that we are embedding in our kids? Seems like every few months we hear of some youth who picks up violence, stashes it a trench coat or backpack and trots off to school, only to unleash it on his/her innocent peers who just happened to show up that day trying to learn something.

The Hunger Games is a powder keg of controversial topics and I really hope the parents of our kids out there reading and seeing this movie will take some time to diffuse some of the ideas presented. As an educator, I do admire Suzanne Collins for penning such a magnetic narrative that with out a doubt has hooked many young minds into the world of reading. However, what does that say about our society if it takes a series of books about kids hunting and slaying other kids to convince youths that reading is worthwhile? That being said, if the intended audience age range was higher, this would all be a mute point. Hunger Games was a great movie. It has action, drama and a snatch of romance. The cinematography is wonderful. Top rate special effects and clever camera work create an experience well worth the money you will shell out for admission. I highly recommend reading the books and seeing this movie, if nothing else than to keep your finger on the pulse of what is being talked about in school with our youngsters. Chances are you will become a fan. Judge for yourself and may the odds forever be in your favor.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FovFG3N_RSU

F16: In the Land of Blood and Honey-Directed by Angelina Jolie

"Do you remember what is was like, before the battles?"

War is relentless. War is ghastly. And grim. And terrifying and something that I will never quite be able to fully wrap my head around. That being said, this really is a must see film. For as savagely brutal as the subject is, there is a whisper of tenderness to this multi layered drama that is worth experiencing. The film begins in pre-war Bosnia-Herzegovina and explores a potential romance between Serbian officer Danijel and a Bosnian Muslim artist, Ajla.  As the militant Serbians begin their ethnic cleansing, Ajla is rounded up with other young  women and sent a commanding strong hold where they are savagely forced into servicing the resident soldiers. Danijel is in charge of the outpost and upon learning that Ajla is now in his camp, risks his own fate by shielding Ajla from the monstrous acts that are being committed each day at the base. What follows is a snapshot of a fragile, forbidden relationship and its struggles to survive in the most dire of circumstances. 

First time director and screen writer Angelina Jolie seizes your attention with a powerfully ominous first scene that formulates the soul of what is to come. This work is essentially a self portrait of war and the horrendous atrocities that follow. War is hard at work killing, raping and humiliating people for nothing more than their belief in different ideas. Entire families are ripped apart and systematically gunned down and covered with earth. Cities are destroyed and memories are stained. Jolie's portrayal of these events are nothing short of numbing and for being such an icon of Hollywood, this film has all the artistic makings of a memorable indy flick. Outside of her choice to have the actors speaking English, there is a real feeling of authenticity to this movie and the eerie way she manipulates silence transforms these tragic events from abominable to haunting. I wish there was never a need to make this film but by reopening the wounds of this conflict, Jolie brings to attention to this abhorrent chapter in our modern history with hopes of teaching people about what took place in the early 1990's in Eastern Europe. Hopefully this film will serve as a reminder of the disastrous effects of war and at the same time remind all of us to treat each other with understanding and empathy. See this movie.

Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDBU8CqU0dg

B10: Destiny of the Republic By Candice Millard (265 pages)

"They must not be knocked down with bludgeons. They must have their throats cut with a feather."

This book is a gem. Like the cover boasts, this book is about madness, medicine and the murder of our 20th president, James Garfield. What is even more amazing than the fact that Garfield's presidency lasted a mere 200 days, is that the wounds sustained by bullets of the mad Charles Guiteau were not fatal. He was unlucky to walk into that train station on the morning of July 2, 1881, but even unluckier to have such an incompetent, pertinacious lead physician that his care was entrusted to. I am no doctor, but surely thrusting your unsanitized finger into a gunshot wound is not the best way to assess the situation. The resulting infection would eventually lead to the agonizing death of a notoriously eloquent man that never intended to be president in the first place.

Millard is promising young writer from Kansas City that attacks this story with passion. It is clear from the opening paragraph that she has an intense love of history and the means to bring it to life. This book is filled with authentic characters who all in some way or another managed to have their fingerprints left upon the unfortunate account of James Garfield; Joseph Lister, whose conviction towards sanitization of medical instruments would someday dramatically shift the way surgeries were performed. The uncanny Alexander Graham Bell gave up precious months of his time to come up with a machine capable of locating the bullet buried inside the bowels of Garfield. Then there is Guiteau. Charles Guiteau was a strange man with an intriguing story behind his road to insanity, hell bent on securing his place in history. Taking these intrigingly surly figures and mixing in the backdrop of an unstable, new formed country, 16 years after the Civil War, we get the makings of a great story. I highly recommend checking this book out as it reminded me a lot of Devil in the White City (a past favorite). You will inevitably learn something new about one of the shortest tenures in the oval office while also gleaning an new perspective on what it would have been like to be a doctor around the late 1800's. History freak or not, this book is worth reading.

F15: Safe House-Directed by Daniel Espinosa

"You know what you are? Well, I know what you aren't."

Surprisingly, this movie was quite good. Most action films released this time of year are best suited for rentals, but this film was rather absorbing. I must confess that Ryan Reynolds is not my favorite nor was I longing to see a movie about a covert CIA "safe house".  That being said, RR was solid and the plot was engaging. The story goes something like this: Matt Weston (Reynolds) holds a backwater, entry post with the CIA in South Africa and is responsible for "keeping house" at a hidden government holding center. Weston is eager to prove himself with something a little more vigorous, when legendary traitor and spy Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) is dropped into his lap for safe keeping. Frost has been swapping intel on numerous intelligence fronts and has been the subject of countless manhunts for the past ten years when he is finally snatched in Johannesburg. Unluckily for Frost, someone he has crossed in the past becomes privy to the location of his holding and unleashes hell to try and silence the slippery operative. Believing this is his one chance to impress the people that be, Weston eludes the ambush and powers across the city with Frost in tow.

This is probably the closest film I have seen to one of my favorite all time movies, Man on Fire (also starring Washington). The gritty, gloomy lighting that this movie was filmed in adds a dark feel to the action and establishes a serious tone to what could have become a silly story line. The acting is admirable, the chase scenes epic and the creative use of the camera angles really consummate a quality movie. Espinosa develops both main characters and takes us along for the ride of their individual self discovery, ultimately leading us in a direction we didn't see coming. It will not change your world, but I really enjoyed Safe House. It's getting cold out there and the movie house is beckoning. If you are going to go, you might as well go see a good one.

B9:11/22/63 By Stephen King (849 pages)

"We're all mad here was what the Chesire Cat told Alice. Then he disappeared. Except for the grin, that is. As I recall, the grin stayed awhile."

This latest enduring novel by Stephen King may be a touch sluggish but is worth reading. It has been a long time since I have read anything from Mr. King and I feel that the content of this new work is more or less a new frontier for him. Apparently he tried to pen the book back in the 70's but buckled under the weight of research that was going to be required to flush out his historically exorbitant story. I love the topic of anything JFK and admire King for undertaking such a delicate and temperamental topic. Nobody knows exactly what happened that dreadful day in '63 but I am sure everyone can agree upon the fact that if Jack Kennedy lived, our world would be completely different. Would we have gone to Vietnam? Could Regan's Cold War have been avoided? How about the present day tensions in the Middle East? An alive and well 35th president surely would have touched these and undoubtedly many other aspects of our nation's history. These questions lounge beneath the cover of this book and working under the pretext that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman, beckon…..what would the world have been like had “Ozzie Rabbit” been stopped that November afternoon in 1963?

The idea of time travel is not new. However, King puts his own spin on the matter and provides some interesting guidelines.  After stumbling upon a “rabbit hole” Jacob Epping is transported back to the year 1958.  Every time Jacob returns to the future and re-enters the time portal, history is re-set to the original way it was before the initial entry.  As we find out later though, these entries come at a cost and have their own effect on history, or “butterfly effect”. No matter how long you spend in the past, only 2 minutes of real time in the future will elapse. Our 35 year old protagonist sets about making his way from Maine down to Texas with a plan to prevent the assassination of JFK. Along the way he encounters some salty characters ranging from bookies to detectives to murderous types getting ready to commit crimes Jacob knows they are about to commit. As his level of involvement deepens, Jacobs begins to find himself struggling with the distortion of living in this new reality.  Meeting a pretty young lady only adds to his confusion of whether or not he is doing the right thing by proceeding with his plans. Should he stay and attempt to drastically change the course of US history or abandon his quest and return to the comforting confides of the future?

I would recommend this book, but must mention that it is long and at times tediously slow. I am not sure why it was written to be as long as it was, but the ending in my opinion makes up for the several chapters that you will surely breeze over. It is no Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, but definitely a solid read. The topic is absorbing and crawls into your thinking. If you had a chance to go back into history to make some changes, would you? Being my nutty history loving self, I'd be all over it. But hey, that’s just me.

F14: Man on a Ledge-Directed by Asger Leth

"So, what's on your mind?"

Consider passing on this ho-hum thriller set in New York City. With very little substance and some silly plot twists, I was mildly entertained by this film starring Sam Worthington. Although the thrill factor is about as riveting as the title of the movie, the premise did keep my attention span in check and my seat in the seat. I am a sucker for caper/heist movies and if you want a nice, fun little outing to the movie house, this may be the movie for you.

We follow the recent escape of convict Nick Cassidy (Sam W.) and his mission to prove his innocence. For some strange reason the opulent Mr. Englander (Ed Harris) has tabbed Cassidy as the fall guy for a little insurance scam centered around the theft of his revered Monarch Diamond. Cassidy claims to have been set up and sets in motion a rather far fetched scheme that has him perched atop a ledge of the Roosevelt Hotel in NYC. Proclaiming his innocence to a frenzied crowd below, Nick threatens to jump. As the police and media focus their attention on Nick, his brother and soon to be sister-in-law are busy penetrating the impregnable defenses of Englander's office building. Which just happens to be across the street from Nick and his ledge. Outfitted with thermal sensors. And infa-red cameras. And a gargantuan top of the line vault. I have no doubt that you will be able to connect the rest of the dots, but while the plot is a little lackluster, to some degree this movie was fun. I wouldn't recommend running down to the movie theater to see it, but if you need an afternoon filler, it is matinee worthy or a solid flick to pop into your Netflix que. Boom.

Trailer:
http://videos.nola.com/times-picayune/2012/01/man_on_a_ledge_movie_trailer.html