august

Books

Fingersmith

In an odd turn of fate, I’d seen the Handmaiden before I read this book, so the English setting was strange compared to the eerie world of Korean director Park Chan-Wook. I knew most of the twists because of the film, but Waters has a deft way with descriptions, and Maud and Sue came alive on the page. It felt like I was reading this for weeks, but that’s likely because I devoted little time to reading. I’m glad I finished this, and recommend it if you love multi-layered, deftly-woven stories.

Empire Ascendant

A wild second installment in the Mirror Empire trilogy that is so chock-full of characters and their (spoiler alert) doubles, that I got a bit confused. There’s a glossary and character list in the back, but dang, this is some GoT stuff. I enjoyed the descent into chaos in this book, and I’m eagerly anticipating the conclusion(?) in the third. Also one of the only books I know that has a character using ze/hir pronouns, but it also unhelpfully talks about sex as different from and perhaps less malleable than gender, so I wouldn’t call this a “dope representation of trans folks,” so much as “well there’s some genderqueerness I guess”.

Movies

Den of Thieves

A heist movie with a pretty solid cast. Gerard Butler plays a shitty, dirty cop well. The plot was decently executed, but it’s mostly just a movie with lots of bro posturing and guns. Not a bad way to spend a couple hours on the couch.

Masterminds

A ridiculous heist comedy with Zach Galafanakis, Kristen Wiig, and Jason Sudekis. It’s about as ridiculous as you would imagine. A+ romp. Lots of quality physical comedy.

Book Club

Watched this on a whim with a couple friends, and it was kinda great? I love Candace Bergen from the Murphy Brown days, and hope I look as good as Diane Keaton when I’m older. Silly popcorn fun. Also I guess I own it now because it wasn’t available to rent.

The Meg

Wow. This is my new favorite sea-based movie. What an epically hilarious film. A+ good job everyone.

Mission Impossible Fallout

A wild, nearly 3 hour ride through a comical series of twists and beards. I laughed out loud often, both at the unearned gravitas, and actual jokes. I love this series like Tom Cruise loves being an action hero: deeply, and passionately.

Ready Player One

I blame my friend Mark, because he chose this for us to watch. It was just as bad as I thought it would be, but blessedly we could make good jokes throughout.