Secret Histories, Stolen Jewels and Goodbye To Old Friends

Last week I finally got around to reading The Lure of The Moonflower, which is the final book in the Pink Carnation series.

I adore The Pink Carnation books, for reasons I’ve catalogued pretty exhaustively, and I’d put off this reading because I was in complete denial about the series being finished.

It also, like most of these books (with the distinction of the second and third entries The Mask of The Black Tulip and The Deception of The Emerald Ring.) started slowly. This time our heroine is Jane, the Carnation herself. Jane’s always figured in the stories before. She was the connective tissue, her spy missions leading a bunch of people who sort of knew her into trouble (generally because they didn’t listen to her.) Our hero is Jack Reid, brother to Betrayal of the Night Jasmine hero Alex, and son of Passion of The Purple Plumeria hero Colonel Reid. Oh, and Jack is a spy in his own right, The Moonflower.

One of the reasons I was had trouble digging in at first is that we already sort of knew Jane and Jack, but from the perspective of others and they weren’t acting the way they had through other people’s eyes.

This by the way, was sort of the point, and it took a minute for it register.

Anyway, I’m very sad that this series is over, and was very grateful for the cameos we got from old characters. (When a particular favorite of mine, Miles Dorrington showed up I squealed, in public, “Yay! Miles!” A big problem with the series post Emerald Ring was the lack of Miles.) It was a satisfying conclusion I think.

The paralel modern story, of historian Eloise Kelly and spy descendant Colin Selwick, also wrapped up with their wedding, and a whole thing about a revenge plot, that I wasn’t super in to. It was nice to see those two crazy kids get it together though. They deserved it.

I’m deeply tempted to go back and reread the series, but I know that I can’t. I still have to read Carry On, the companion book to Fangirl, (I’m so excited for it!) and Jen Lancaster’s most recent novel. (Her fiction is never as pressing to me as her memoirs.) And I want to read Felicia Day’s You’re Never Weird On the Internet (Almost). 

And hey guys! It’s my birthday today and I’m diving into NaNoWriMo (Knocked out over 2,000 words yesterday, hoping to get over 4,000 by the end of the day today.) So, I may wind up skipping a day of updates here or there this month. But we’ll see how it goes!

The Man Who Stands

You know how every once in a while, you forget why someone is as acclaimed as they are, because you haven’t been thinking about them, or their work as fallen off, or whatever. And then you see, hear whatever, something of theirs and go, “Ooohh, yeah, I like that guy. That guy is awesome.”

That’s what Bridge of Spies is. This movie reminds us why Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are at the level they are. The film tells the story of Jim Donovan, an insurance lawyer from Brooklyn who is tasked with defending a Russian spy in the late 1950’s. This eventually leads to him facilitating a prisoner exchange in Berlin, saving an American U2 pilot being held by the Russians and a grad student held by the East Germans.

The movie it’s self reminds me of some of Spielberg’s best (although it’s not quite up to Schindler’s List and Lincoln’s level, it’s awfully close.) and it’s probably my favorite Tom Hanks performance since Philadelphia. But this is material that suits these men. It’s carefully optimistic, but not light. It’s critically patriotic, if that’s a way to describe a thing. Donovan is dedicated to American Ideals, explaining that our law, our constitution is the thing that makes us Americans.

This isn’t really a thriller. It has moments of suspense, of course, but it’s closer to a legal drama and it’s a very good one.

Rankings!

1. The Martian
2. Straight Outta Compton
3. Crimson Peak
4. Bridge of Spies
5. The Man From UNCLE
6. Ant-Man
7. Mad Max: Fury Road
8. Inside Out
9. Trainwreck
10. Tomorrowland
11. Jurassic World
12. Ricki And The Flash
13. Avengers: Age of Ultron
14. Minions
15. Fantastic Four
16. Terminator: Genisys
17. Entourage
18. Pitch Perfect 2

Trailers

Mostly the same as That Martian, but also Jungle Book! It looks pretty beautiful. And a Spectre trailer I hadn’t seen before. That’ll probably be my next review. I don’t think I’ll make it to the movies this weekend.

Sailor Moon check in will go up tomorrow. I really needed the movie time yesterday, hence the switch up.

Really Enjoying Watching You Work Cowboy

The Man From UNCLE is a delightful film and I don’t understand why everyone in the world didn’t see it.

Let’s forget for a second that between Armie Hammer and Henry Cavill that it’s probably the most handsome movie of all time, but we will get back to that.

Let’s set aside the fact that I think Guy Ritchie does interesting things with action in a story that no other director really does.

Let’s not talk about my abundant love for all things early 60’s and Cold War conflict.

Let’s just talk about how effectively fun this movie was. Let’s talk about the dynamic and stylish opening sequence, the likable and funny main characters, the effective villains and the overall consistent sense of tone.

Or we can talk about those other things too. I walked in not sure what to expect, and walked out grinning ear to ear. It’s was a delight. You should go see it. Everyone should go see it, while they still can. And then we should start an online campaign for a sequel because this movie is awesome. It of course didn’t do well, as it’s “word of mouth” time was eaten up by the unstoppable juggernaut that was Straight Outta Compton. (And rightly so, I loved Straight Outta Compton, and…kind of want to go see it again…) But it’s a shame for this fun little movie.

I also take back every time I worried that Henry Cavill has a “charisma problem.” He doesn’t. It’s impossible not to look at him in this movie. His Napolean Solo is a great deal of fun, all refinement and cool sarcasm. Armie Hammer’s Illya Pavill is strength and will and violent outbursts. And Alicia Vikander makes Gaby Teller fiery and funny and vibrant. (She’s also barely featured on any advertising, quelle surprise!)

The movie is fun, sexy and action packed and I want it to gain traction because I would like more.

1. Straight Outta Compton
2. The Man From UNCLE
3. Ant-Man
4. Mad Max: Fury Road
5. Inside Out
6. Trainwreck
7. Tomorrowland
8. Jurassic World
9. Ricki And The Flash
10. Avengers: Age of Ultron
11. Minions
12. Fantastic Four
13. Terminator: Genisys
14. Entourage
15. Pitch Perfect 2

Trailers:

I was kind of looking forward to 13 Hours because I think that Michael Bay is the right director for that sort of story, but I didn’t realize that it starred John Krazinski and Jeremy Piven. I can do a lot, but taking Jim Halpert and Ari Gold seriously as badass super soldiers is asking me to take a step too far.

The 33 looks interesting if only because it’s been a while since I watched Antonio Banderas give a passionate speech.

The Walk and The Intern both still look good. I still am trying to decide if The Walk is going to be worth my panic attack.

I was really surprised that there was no Crimson Peak and no Spectre here, they seem like they would be natural fits.