Tabloid

Tabloid a film by Errol Morris

This documentary feature recalls the strange adventures Joyce McKinney, a former Wyoming beauty queen.  Using interviews with the woman herself, a pilot, an ex-Mormon, a British tabloid reporter, a photographer and a scientist in the field of cloning, we learn learn the bizarre history of McKinney.  While mostly relying on these talking head interviews in front of a greyish background with archival footage and cut and paste animation, Morris creates a riveting, suspenseful film.

It recalls a period in the late 1970's when Joyce McKinney became a British tabloid star after flying to the U.K. with a small crew to "rescue" her estranged Mormon missionary boyfriend.  She claims he was brainwashed by members of the church and so she took him to an inn for three days to deprogram his brain.  His story differs.  Kirk Anderson (who did not wish to be interviewed for the documentary) had claimed that he was kidnapped at gunpoint, tied up and then raped by McKinney.  After the news broke, tabloid papers looked into the beauty queen's history and produced several scandalous pieces.   

While viewing Tabloid, a particular scene from the film Head seemed rather poignant.  The Swami tells Monkee Peter Tork, "all belief possibly could be said to be the result of some conditioning. Thus, the study of history is simply the study of one system of beliefs deposing another, and so on and so on and so on..."  How will the story of Joyce McKinney's life ultimately be documented?  

The Sandman

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Ten years ago a friend lent me The Sandman: Brief Lives. I had not read many comics, but I was hooked, and I quickly read each of the ten trade paperbacks that make up The Sandman. (Brief Lives is actually the seventh volume in the series, but it was a good place to start, as it better reflects the character of the series as a whole than does the dark and brooding Preludes and Nocturnes. If you know you are going to read the whole series, start at the beginning, but if you are unsure, starting with Brief Lives is not a bad idea.)

Although nominally set in the universe of DC Comics, no past comic reading experience is required. More important is a knowledge of myth and literature, and an appreciation for story and fantasy. The Sandman is a collection of stories which together tell the story of Dream. Dream, in The Sandman, is both a character, and a fundamental, inescapable force of the universe in which he resides. He is one of the Endless, and like Destiny, Death, Destruction, Despair, Desire and Delirium, he has always been, and will always be. Despite this, Dream is moody, stubborn, and often remarkably human.

The Sandman had its roots in horror, a genre I have never had much inclination to explore, but while it has fantastical and grotesque elements, it is too optimistic, too affirming, too delightful to be anything of the kind. The characters of Death and Delirium are particularly delightful—while both have their obvious dark sides they are depicted as being kind and caring; Death in particular is shown to be particularly wise. Most of all we delight in the world of stories and dreams. "The Dreaming", where Dream makes his home, also provides its own delights, including a cast of often comic characters and a library containing every book and every story.

Many different artists worked with Neil Gaiman on The Sandman, and the art is always competent, and often very good indeed, especially in the later volumes. I'm particularly fond of some of P. Craig Russell and Jill Thompson's illustrations, and Dave McKean's covers are fantastic.

The Sandman is a haunting story with great characters set in a complex, detailed world. It is made up of many stories of many different types, and its variety is part of its appeal. This is a great graphic novel, and worth trying even if you aren't normally a fan of comics.

The Trip [DVD]

The Trip a film by Michael Winterbottom

This feature mockumentary, edited down from a BBC television series, stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as exaggerations of themselves in the entertaining fictional road movie, The Trip.  The two colleagues continue their antagonistic relationship that began on the screen with Winterbottom's A Cock and Bull Story.  Coogan initially asks Mischa, his American girlfriend, to accompany him on an assignment where he'll be writing a magazine piece covering restaurants and quaint inns in the northern English countryside.  We soon learn the actor's relationship is in trouble and he reluctantly calls on comedian Rob Brydon to join him.  

What follows is a one upmanship contest of mythic proportions.  The two bicker over their careers, public perception, height and general approach toward life.  In the car and at various breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner tables they battle it out with celebrity impersonations, vocal range and improvisational wars.  The comedic competition is never ending, but never ceases to be funny.  Contrasting the humor is Coogan's desperation in private moments.  Cell phone conversations (with a weak signal) to Mischa, his ex-wife, son and agent reveal the actor's lonelier side and his frustration dealing with aging.

The uncredited supporting role of this film are the beautiful hills and mountains and the elaborate dishes Rob and Steve are served.  Most importantly however, the friendship seen on screen, though obscured by Coogan's condescension and bitterness, is rather touching at times.  Despite his best efforts to isolate himself, this is possibly a story about meaningful human relationships.

The Pickwick Papers

The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

This was the first novel by Charles Dickens and really a pleasure to read. It tells the story of Mr. Pickwick and his fellow Pickwick Club members as they travel the English countryside and describes their adventures in a very humorous manner but also with a keen eye into the social and political landscape of the time. It was a great re-introduction to Dickens for me and I am looking forward to reading many of his other works.

There Is No Dog

There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff

I confess: I borrowed this book because the title reminded me of my favorite bumper sticker: DOG IS MY CO-PILOT. Also, that cloud poodle was kind of cute.  You just can't go wrong judging a book by its cover.
Anyway, this young adult novel gives the most convincing explanation yet of why the world is plagued with war, famine, bad weather, and carnivores that eat each other. In short, God is a self-absorbed teenage boy who is not paying attention.  He can't even pick up his clothes off the floor, let alone answer the mail from his billions of creations.  When he's moody, the earth erupts in natural disasters, and when he falls in love with a human, all hell breaks loose.  This is my first acquaintance with the witty and irreverent Meg Rosoff and I'll be looking forward to reading more, for the laughs, the originality and the covers.

Small Gods : a novel of Discworld

Small Gods : a novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett

I've read many of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. They are great fun. The Discworld is an imaginary planet in an imaginary universe and everything, even the Discworld's fundamental physical laws, is written so as to parody or satire our own world. Pratchett isn't content to leave it at that however, he also parodies literature of all sorts, but especially fantasy novels; he affectionately sabotages these by taking their best known cliches and stereotypes and acting as if they made sense. The results are hilarious.

Small Gods is probably my favorite of the Discworld novels. I have returned to it again and again, and I enjoy it every time. Perhaps it is because libraries and books play such an important part in the book, but I think it is mostly because of the book's two unlikely heros: the great god Om, stuck in the form of a tortoise and incapable of performing even the smallest miracles, and a lowly novice monk, Brutha, the only living creature who still believes in the great god Om. Om is arrogant and ill-tempered, but endearing in his impotence and confusion as he struggles with his new fondness for lettuce and fear of eagles. Brutha is slow, illiterate, and quite accustomed to be looked down upon, but he has an amazing memory, faith in his god, and an absolute determination to do the right thing.

Things, of course, get complicated. They always do in the Discworld. There is a war and an inquisition, gods and philosophers, a labyrinth and a steam engine. Brutha plods through it all. Om, on the other hand, is carried most of the way. And they are both changed by their experiences. They have to be, because that's how these kind of stories work, but that doesn't stop the transformation from being satisfying, and even a little surprising.

Small Gods stands well on its own. You don't need to read any other Discworld books to appreciate it, and, indeed, it would be a good choice for your first Discworld book.