What I Watched -- The Life of Chuck. Plus: Stephen King

The Life of Chuck was another airplane watch. The plane's system only had short blurbs, and the blurb for this one said something like, "Chuck examines love and death." Together with the pensive-looking guy in the photo, it seemed like it might be something I could come across at a film festival. 

"Not so," I thought as it began. It's told in reverse (a neat trick), and it begins as an apocalypse film. I did not care for that portion. 

But as it goes on, it gets better. The beginning of the movie (actually the end of the story), though I never came to like it, at least finally starts to fit with the the rest of the plot as it goes on. I really liked the middle and end of the movie (really the middle and beginning of the story), and that's when it all comes together. I don't want to say too much about it because it was an interesting journey which I enjoyed taking.  I'd hate to ruin it for you!  (And it does become sort of a film festival movie by the conclusion.)

The film is based on a short story by Stephen King.  Not long ago, I listened to a podcast that in which each of the hosts set forth their argument for a writer for the reason of the day. One of them made such a strong argument for Stephen King - whom I've never read a word of, though I have seen several movies, including this one - that it made me want to read some of his stuff. Any recommendations on where to begin, besides this very short story?

What I Watched -- Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows

The Sherlock Holmes franchise of visual entertainment is vast. It includes a streaming series starring one of my faves, Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch, which of course I have watched. (This doesn't even get into the original books or any fan fiction that has come along since.  Like I said, it's a vast world.)

Two of the movies star another fave, Robert Downey, Jr., in the lead role. I knew I had seen one of them, but I couldn't remember which. (Fortunately or unfortunately, Holmes suffers from the same fate as action and other extensive film franchises; unless you're a real fan, eventually the casual viewer can't remember which ones they've seen and which they haven't. The basic plot of good versus evil with a heap of mad genius and a dash of dutiful sidekick are just too similar.) So, I selected the second, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, for my airplane viewing pleasure, hoping that I would have started with the first one.

Game of Shadows boasts a basic plot of good versus evil with a heap of mad genius and a dash of dutiful sidekick. Have I said that before? But it satisfies.

Here's the funny thing (you may have seen this coming) -- now that I've seen the second one, I'm still not sure which one I had seen previously! I'm not sure what that's a sign of (besides the aforementioned plot similarities), but there you have it.

And that's just the visual world of which I am aware. Let's not forget it all started with the written genius of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, though to be honest my literary experience with Holmes is not nearly as extensive as it should be. Though I feel I should get some credit for having spent some time on Baker Street!

What I Watched -- This Is Where I Leave You

I found myself on an airplane recently with limited options as far as in-flight movies went, and This Is Where I Leave You stood out as one of the better possibilities. I love Jason Bateman and his incredibly expressive face, and the rest of the cast (including, but not limited to, Tina Fey, Adam Driver, Jane Fonda, and more) is pretty impressive as well.

I also thought that it was one that had been on my list of movies I wanted to see (though, being airborne, I couldn't access that).  I checked later and it turned out that I was right!  So satisfying to be able to mark anything off any kind of list, even a movie!

The four siblings all come home after their father's death.  As if just his death weren't enough stress, they all begin to push each other's buttons in ways both good and bad.  They are also in their hometown again, which brings up all kinds of memories and the presence of old friends.  

It was everything I expected and hoped. It's about how family, though messy and complicated, is still family for good or ill -- even through all the secrets and deep ways of knowing each other. It's a sweet dramedy with a few genuine laughs.  

And, aside from a couple of quick scenes, it's a great airplane watch. (I always feel self-conscious about about airplane movie choices. Am I the only one? One of my favorite pop culture podcasts did an episode on good airplane movie choices, which highlights a lot of good things to think about in making an airplane movie choice. Check out their suggestions here.)

What I'm Reading Now -- A Simple Act of Violence

In my continued (and of late, disappointing) attempt to find a good, page-turning murder mystery, I downloaded the ebook version of A Simple Act of Violence. 

The case with this one, as happens to me frequently, is that I can't remember why I had jotted its title down. Probably I read about it somewhere or someone recommended it to me and, knowing that I would forget the title if I didn't make a note of it, I made a note. What I consistently neglect to do - often because I'm in the middle of a conversation I'd like to continue - is also include any detail about any of the Ws of the source: who recommended it, what it's about, why it came up in conversation, when in my life it seemed relevant.  (I don't really have a "where" for this particular topic.)

As expected, I didn't know what it was about when I downloaded it but it seems to be set in Washington, DC, and have a somewhat political bent. Not usually my favored subject area, but we'll see.

What I'm Reading Now -- Three Day Road

Three Day Road is a selection from my 2025 Reading Challenge that I'm taking out of order.

It's the story -- so far as I an tell, a few pages in -- of two Native American boys who go off to fight in World War I, then have to return home and deal with the fallout of the war at home and on the survivor of the two of them.

The Snack Thief -- Take 2

This was another murder mystery that was just okay.  I enjoyed the unfolding plot better than City of Buried Ghosts, though - as with so many of these stories - all disbelief must be suspended. This one involved some international conspiracy, disappeared people, a kiddo, and of course a troubled main character. 

I found him, Inspector Montalbano, to be nearly insufferable.  What perhaps were supposed to be this quirks (his constant need to put his desire to eat above all else, including relationships and the ongoing investigation) and sympathetic character flaws (a phobia of committing to his long-suffering girlfriend) to my mind just made him seem like a completely unlikable and self-centered jerk.  Not someone I'm particularly interested in spending more time with.

The beating heart of the story, though he makes few appearances, is the titular Snack Thief.

(To be fair to the author, Andrea Camilleri, this is a work in translation. Some of what I dislike about it may be the work of the translator. But to the reader of the English-language version, does the source of the flaws really matter so much?  Either way, they're there.)

A Day to Remember

Happy Birthday, Dad!

What I'm Reading Now -- Overwhelmed

I admit it, I'm not much for self-help books.  But I am trying to turn over a new leaf, broaden my horizons, and all that good stuff.  So recently I picked up Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time, by Brigid Schulte.

What I've covered so far seems to blame parenthood for most of the lack of leisure time that adults worldwide are experiencing, and obviously that is not my issue.  But, I can feel some of the pain of what she early on describes as "mental pollution" - that noise that's always in my head, the constantly, the always-updating, rolling to-do list. I expect, to the extent there is useful information to be gleaned by anyone, at least some of it will apply to non-parents as well.

I'll be back with any brilliant insights! 

What I'm Reading Now -- The Snack Thief

Someone gave me a copy of The Snack Thief after I had expressed my overall disappointment with City of Buried Ghosts.  I was told it was a pretty good yarn, so I'm hoping for a quick page-turner.  This one is nice because it's slim, so easy to carry around and pull out when I have a few spare minutes.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest -- Take 2

"Hooee!" What a change of writing styles to go from the elegant prose of The Prospector to the first-person asylum story which is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest! 

I had heard somewhere along the way, but forgotten, that Cuckoo is narrated by Chief Bromden, whose self-described "deaf-and-dumb act" gives him a fly-on-the-wall perspective.  So while technically it's in the first-person, it has a very third-person feel to it.

What it also has, which you may have guessed because it's set in an asylum, is an unreliable narrator.  I very much enjoy a good unreliable narrator, but Chief Bromden was one I found myself needing to take a break from every few chapters.  Trying to untangle what's (for real) going on is a little bit like trying to read Jack Kerouac's Book of Dreams. Sometimes it just hurt my brain, especially near the beginning.

But buried in the Chief's narrative was commentary about life circumstances which extended far beyond the walls of the Day Room, as I suspect is often the case with someone suffering from mental illness.  One of my favorites:

"I thought for a minute there I saw [the Big Nurse] whipped. Maybe I did. But I see now that it don’t make any difference. One by one the patients are sneaking looks at her to see how she’s taking the way McMurphy is dominating the meeting, and they see the same thing. She’s too big to be beaten. She covers one whole side of the room like a Jap statue. There’s no moving her and no help against her. She’s lost a little battle here today, but it’s a minor battle in a big war that she’s been winning and that she’ll go on winning. We mustn’t let McMurphy get our hopes up any different, lure us into making some kind of dumb play. She’ll go on winning, just like the Combine, because she has all the power of the Combine behind her. She don’t lose on her losses, but she wins on ours. To beat her you don’t have to whip her two out of three or three out of five, but every time you meet. As soon as you let down your guard, as soon as you lose once, she’s won for good. And eventually we all got to lose. Nobody can help that."

Who out there hasn't felt completely helpless in the face of someone or something that seemed simply unbeatable? A gem of tragic brilliance, right to the end.