The Cephalopod Coffeehouse: May 2016 Blog List

 

Greetings to all!  I hope you'll join us for the next installment of the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, an online gathering of bloggers who love books.  The next meeting is set for Friday, May 27th.  If you're interested, please sign on to the link list at the end of this post.

The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you've finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same.  In this way, we'll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers.  Please join us:

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse: April 2016

Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cozy gathering of book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the works they enjoyed most over the previous month.  Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun.  If you wish to add your own review to the conversation, please sign on to the link list at the end of my post.

Title: The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
Translator: Jack Zipes

via Amazon

Inspired by the comic book series Fables, I decided to seek out the original versions of the Grimms' fairy tales, a major source material for the series.  Many of Fables's most important characters derive from the Grimm stories, including Snow White, the lead female character.  The tales are much rougher than Disney would have one believe and Fables reflects that well.

There are many lessons to be learned from Grimm:

• Be kind to a beggar on the road because it might be God in disguise.
• If you are forced to marry a talking animal or an ugly person, tough it out because s/he is likely to be a gorgeous prince(ss) under enchantment.
• Everyone gets what they deserve, though both rewards and punishments can be a bit over the top.
• Don't leave a trail of edible goods, be they beans, bread crumbs, whatever.  Fairy tale characters make this mistake with shocking frequency.
• Animals are more likely to remember your good deeds than people are. 
• Don't make a pact with the Devil unless you have a clever plan for getting out of your obligation at the last minute.
• Don't send your wife down to the cellar to draw beer from the barrel - at least, not if you expect her to come back up again.
• Women are prizes to be won.  Men, too, though they usually have more choice in the matter.
• Be cautious in any situation where you are being granted wishes, especially when a talking fish is involved.
• Do not, under any circumstances, mess with St. Peter.
• There are few sins worse than being ugly.
• If you are dark skinned or Jewish, you should probably steer clear of fairy tales altogether.  The people in them are not likely to be kind to you.

I enjoyed the stories immensely.  There were plenty I'd never been exposed to before in any medium.  I am left wondering, though, why particular stories have become so deeply entrenched in western culture while others have not, especially when so many narrative elements are repeated from one tale to another.  "Snow White" I understand.  That story has unusual depth to it compared with others in the collection.  But why "Hansel and Gretel" when so many other stories involve children in miserable circumstances?  Why "Cinderella" when so many other stories involve wicked stepmothers?

Please join us and share your own review of your best read from the past month.  This month's link list is below.  I'll keep it open until the end of the day.  I'll post May's tomorrow.  Meetings are the last Friday of each month.  Next gathering is May 27th.

On the Coffee Table: Zeina Abariched

Title: I Remember Beirut
Writer and Artist: Zeina Abirached

via Goodreads

Abirached was born in war-torn Lebanon in 1981.  I Remember Beirut is her graphic novel childhood memoir, originally published in French in 2008.  The English translation came out in 2014.  We are spared the more brutal details of the Lebanese Civil War.  Instead, we see the daily life of a family living in the shadows of that conflict.  She shares such memories as her mother's bullet-riddled car and her neighborhood, considered so sketchy that school buses wouldn't go there. 

Both the art and the narrative themes are highly reminiscent of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis.  Unfortunately, Abirached does not have quite the same knack for storytelling.  The book is short: 95 pages.  That's not such a sin in itself but I didn't feel I had much time to fall in love with either the characters or the setting.  Also, too many of her sentences begin with "I remember..."  While there is poetic potential in such repetition, the rest of the text does not deliver on such lyrical promise.  I am grateful for the opportunity to learn more about Lebanon, particularly during such a volatile time period.  But I would have preferred something more substantive.

In short, it's a good book.  But Satrapi's work is better.

The Clone Wars: Sphere of Influence

My friends and I are watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  Every Tuesday, we will be featuring an episode from the series which began in 2008 (as opposed to the one that started in 2003).  All are welcome to join us for all or parts of the fun.

Episode: "Sphere of Influence"
Series: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Season 3, Episode 4
Original Air Date: October 1, 2010

via Wookieepedia

Chi Eekway and Che Amanwe, Chairman Papanoida's daughters, have been kidnapped.  Ahsoka is on the case.  She and Pantoran Senator Riyo Chuchi follow the trail to Tatooine.  It's not the greatest Clone Wars story but it does give us a chance to catch up with some old friends - Greedo and Jabba the Hutt - and visit earlier, animated versions of sets we know from the original trilogy - Mos Eisley and Jabba's palace.

*****

via Wikipedia

Jabba the Hutt, overlord of the underworld, is the third point of Star Wars's moral triangle (Yoda and Palpatine are the other two).  In Return of the Jedi, he was voiced by Larry Ward.  In "Sphere of Influence," he is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.

via Muppet Wiki

Richardson was born October 25, 1964 in The Bronx, New York.  He went to Syracuse on an acting scholarship.  His deep, resonant voice has brought him many villain roles, including the Joker on The Batman animated series.  He has also performed for such shows as Family Guy, The Cleveland Show and The Simpsons.

If you would care to join us for all or part of our travels, sign on to the list below.  Please visit the other participants today.  Next week: "Corruption."

 

The Jungle Book: Then and Now

Rudyard Kipling's classic, The Jungle Book, is the tale of Mowgli, a human child raised by a pack of wolves.  Now that he is growing up, he must go back to the man village before Shere Khan the tiger catches up to him.  It is, of course, all a metaphor for growing up, leaving home and finding one's place in the world.  Over the past two weekends, we have watched both the 1967 and 2016 Disney interpretations of Kipling's story.

Title: The Jungle Book
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Original Release: 1967
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

via Wikipedia

There is still something elegant and charming in Disney's cel animated films.  The main selling point for me with Jungle Book, though, has always been the music.  I was, in fact, first introduced to the story through the soundtrack album.  The Sherman brothers of Mary Poppins fame supplied most of the songs, including "That's What Friends Are For" as performed by Liverpudlian vultures and "I Wan'na Be Like You" as performed by King Louis, the orangutan monarch.  Louis is voiced by none other than Louis Prima in one of the all-time genius casting moves.

Interestingly, the Shermans did not write the movie's most famous song.  "The Bare Necessities" was written by Terry Gilkyson.  The song has been covered by numerous artists in the years since.


Title: The Jungle Book
Director: Jon Favreau
Original Release: 2016
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

via The Disney Wiki

Favreau's movie is visually stunning.  Needless to say, the technological capabilities of animation have increased exponentially in 49 years.  The new telling is also much darker.  For what is often a sad and scary story, the 1967 version maintains a remarkably lighthearted feel.  Threats loom around every corner in Favreau's film.  The voice cast is excellent: Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson and Christopher Walken all shine.

A few of the songs carry over, though they lose some of their impact in the darker tale.  And as amusing as it is to hear Walken sing, he's no Prima.

The two movies end very differently.  To say more would be to spoil and I won't but there's no denying that the difference changes the meaning of the story significantly.  Another discussion for another day.

The Clone Wars: Supply Lines

My friends and I are watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  Every Tuesday, we will be featuring an episode from the series which began in 2008 (as opposed to the one that started in 2003).  All are welcome to join us for all or parts of the fun.

Episode: "Supply Lines"
Series: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Season 3, Episode 3
Original Air Date: September 24, 2010

via Wookieepedia

So far, Season 3 is all about expanding stories from Season 1.  "Supply Lines" is a prequel for "Ambush," the very first Clone Wars episode.  "Supply Lines" is also a Jar Jar episode.  Why the producers felt the "Ambush" story would be improved by including the goofy Gungan is beyond me but, well, here he is.

Jar Jar is accompanying Bail Organa on a diplomatic mission to Toydaria.  The Republic wants to get supplies to the besieged planet Ryloth and Toydaria would be an ideal staging base.  The Toydarians, however, are eager to maintain their neutrality.  Aiding the Republic would likely upset their lucrative trade relations with the Separatists.  But the Toydarians really do want to help, discreetly.  It's Jar Jar's job to provide a distraction.

*****

via Wookieepedia

In "Supply Lines," Jar Jar is voiced by Ahmed Best, the actor who performed the role in the prequel films.  Best was born August 19, 1973 in New York City.

Best is an accomplished musician.  He attended the Manhattan School of Music as a percussionist.  In 1994, he joined the acid jazz group The Jazzhole.  In 1995, he joined the touring cast of Stomp.  That gig led directly to his discovery by Robin Gurland, casting director for Phantom Menace.

If you would care to join us for all or part of our travels, sign on to the list below.  Please visit the other participants today.  Next week: "Sphere of Influence."

 

On the Road: Montpelier 2016

Attending the Green Mountain Film Festival in Vermont has become an annual tradition in our family.  This year, we managed to take in ten movies over four days.  Everything we saw was good.  Either we're getting better at picking films or the festival is.  Without further ado, here's the rundown:

Title: Harry & Snowman
Director: Ron Davis
Original Release: 2015
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

via Harry & Snowman

Our first festival film of the year tells the tale of Harry deLeyer and the horse he bought for $80 off a truck bound for the glue factory.  The horse, Snowman, became a legend on the show jumping circuit.  Definitely an inspiring tear-jerker of a story.


Title: Boy and the World
Director:  Alê Abreu
Original Release: 2013
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

One of this year's Oscar nominees for Best Animated Film, Boy and the World exhibits the perils of modernization and urbanization through the eyes of a child.  Artistic styles range from the simplest crayon drawings to live film footage.  A Brazilian work, Boy and the World is yet another sign that the South American film industry is on the rise.


Title: Lutah - A Passion for Architecture, A Life in Design
Director: Kum-Kum Bhavani
Original Release: 2014
My Overall Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Lutah Maria Riggs was a prolific architect who left her creative stamp on an industry long dominated by men.  The footage was beautiful, though the story offered few details beyond her professional life.  I often compile mini-festivals of my own as I watch movies and this one would pair nicely with Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision.  While Lutah was my least favorite of our festival choices, it was an awfully strong weak link - certainly a high 3-rating.


Title: East Side Sushi
Director: Anthony Lucero
Original Release: 2014
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Juana is a gifted Latina cook who finds work in a Japanese restaurant kitchen.  She teaches herself to prepare sushi, though prejudice prevents her employer from posting her at the bar.  While the culinary tale falls short of authenticity, the cultural clash between Hispanics and Asians in California rings true.  Between this movie and Fruitvale Station (review here), I am increasingly curious about indie films coming out of Oakland.


Title: Bounce: How the Ball Taught the World to Play
Director:  Jerome Thalia
Original Release: 2015
My Overall Rating: 5 stars out of 5

My favorite of the festival and also my Mock Squid Soup film for the month.  See my full review here.


Title: The Lady Vanishes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Original Release: 1938
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Hitchcock was a major presence in this year's festival.  The Lady Vanishes was one of two of his classics to be screened.  (The other was The Birds.  We missed that one.)  None of us had seen it before.  An Englishwoman, on holiday in the Alps for her last pre-marriage adventure, meets a charming older woman who mysteriously disappears on the train ride home.  Only one person believes her and unfortunately, she can't stand him.  The plot twists and turns as one expects from the master storyteller.


Title: Hitchcock/Truffaut
Director: Kent Jones
Original Release: 2015
My Overall Rating: 5 stars out of 5

In 1962, the young French director François Truffaut interviewed his idol, Alfred Hitchcock.  The resulting book is a seminal text in the study of cinema.  For Jones, the relationship between the two was a launch point for a broader exploration of Hitch's genius, also incorporating interviews from other master directors such as Martin Scorcese, Peter Bogdanovich and Wes Anderson.  While the documentary takes in the full scope of Hitchcock's opus, particular attention is devoted to Vertigo and Psycho.  I love an exploration of creative process and Hitchcock/Truffaut was a close second to Bounce as my favorite for the festival.


Title: The Man Who Knew Infinity
Director: Matthew Brown
Original Release: 2015
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Dev Patel is Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar, a self-taught Indian theoretical mathematician whose work in number theory, infinite series and continued fractions revolutionized the field.  Jeremy Irons is G.H. Hardy, the Cambridge professor who brought Ramanujan to England and promoted his work at the outbreak of the First World War.  My Wife reasonably describes the movie as obvious Oscar bait, though certainly enjoyable.  The Man Who Knew Infinity is set for general theatrical release on April 29th - highly recommended.


Title: Only Yesterday
Director: Isao Takahata
Original Release: 1991
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

via Wikipedia

My wife and daughter tend to agree on their favorite film of the festival.  This was their choice for 2016.  Third place for me - a 5-star rating was tempting.  This 25-year-old movie was, until recently, the only Studio Ghibli film never to be released in the United States.  Daisy Ridley, who voices the lead role in the English version, wasn't even born yet when it originally hit theaters in Japan.  Dev Patel, who voices the male lead, was a year old.

Only Yesterday is the story of Taeko, actually parallel tales from two separate parts of her life: one as a ten-year-old school girl in Tokyo, the other as a 27-year-old woman on a work vacation in the countryside.  All of the Ghibli staples are here: a strong female protagonist, breathtaking animation - especially the landscapes - and sophisticated storytelling.  While there were plenty of young Totoro fans in the theater, I wouldn't say the film was intended for a child audience.  I sensed lots of squirming, especially at the end.  The intended audience is adult women and if my housemates are anything to go by, it hits the mark soundly. 

The movie was a box office smash in Japan, the #1 film in the year it was released.  Perhaps the slightly more mature material is what kept it from crossing the Pacific for so long.  Without a doubt, it was worth the wait.


Title: Francofonia
Director: Alexander Sokurov
Original Release: 2015
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

via Wikipedia

The premise of this Russian-made film is an ambitious one: a history of the Nazi occupation of Paris from the perspective of the effort to protect the works of the Louvre.  Because of a mislabeling in the program, we were expecting a three-hour film that was only half that length.  Three hours might have been too much but 90 minutes was digestible.

Full disclosure: I fell asleep several times during the movie.  It was our last film of the festival and the multimedia, trippy atmosphere of the presentation practically encourages a dreamlike state of mind.  I am not above falling asleep during movies but it's certainly rare for me to come away from the experience with a favorable impression.  But what I saw sparked my curiosity.  I'd watch again, first thing in the morning with a strong cup of coffee in hand.


Another great festival - I can hardly wait for next year.  Maybe we'll go for eleven next time?

The Clone Wars: ARC Troopers

My friends and I are watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  Every Tuesday, we will be featuring an episode from the series which began in 2008 (as opposed to the one that started in 2003).  All are welcome to join us for all or parts of the fun.

Episode: "ARC Troopers"
Series: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Season 3, Episode 2
Original Air Date: September 17, 2010

via Wookieepedia

"Clone Cadets," last week's episode, was a prequel to "Rookies," a particularly strong episode from The Clone Wars's first season.  "ARC Troopers" is a "Rookies" sequel.  The planet Kamino, home to the cloning factories, is under Separatist attack.  Echo and Fives, two members of Domino Squad, have returned with Anakin and Obi-Wan to help defend the homeworld.

The story has several touching moments involving 99, a deformed clone introduced in "Clone Cadets."  Otherwise, "ARC Troopers" is too heavy with battle scenes for my taste: fighting in space, underwater, in the cloning complex, etc.  The always intriguing Asajj Ventress is back, though, which is definitely a plus.

*****

via Wookieepedia

Shaak Ti is the Jedi General supervising clone trooper training on Kamino.  She is a Togruta from the planet Shili.  Shaak Ti first appeared in Attack of the Clones, played by Orli Shoshan.  In The Clone Wars, she is voiced by Tasia Valenza.

via Wookieepedia

Valenza was born April 5, 1967 in New York City.  Her first major television gig was the recurring role of Dottie Thornton on All My Children, for which she received an Emmy nomination.  She also has made appearances on The A-Team, Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Coming of Age") and Space: Above and Beyond. 

on Star Trek: TNG via Memory Alpha

If you would care to join us for all or part of our travels, sign on to the list below.  Please visit the other participants today.  Next week: "Supply Lines."

 

Mock Squid Soup: May 2016 Blog List

MOCK! and The Armchair Squid are proud to present Mock Squid Soup: A Film Society!

Next meeting is Friday, May 13th.  As announced last month, the plan for this month is for each participant to pick someone else's movie from our ever-growing society library.  I maintain a list of those movies here, also to be found on my page list as "Mock Squid Soup Film Library."

The signup list:

Mock Squid Soup: Bounce

MOCK! and The Armchair Squid are proud to welcome you to Mock Squid Soup: A Film Society, meetings on the second Friday of each month.  Last week, society members posted three clues as to their chosen film for the month.  Today is the big reveal.  A reminder on my clues:

- This documentary travels the world from a village in Central Africa to the urban slums of South America to the Orkney Islands and on and on, connecting all of humanity through a passion that has been an important of my own life and certainly the early days of my blog.

- It also takes us on a journey through time all the way back to the origins of our species.  The discovery of rubber by Europeans is a pivotal moment in the story.

- I will be both shocked and delighted if any of you have seen this film or even heard of it.  If you know something of what my family has been up to this past month, you might have a shot at guessing.  I can't wait to discuss it further with everyone and hope I can inspire a few to seek it out.

Title: Bounce: How the Ball Taught the World to Play
Director: Jerome Thelia
Original Release: 2015
My Overall Rating: 5 stars out of 5

via IMDb

Nearly all of my life, I have loved sports.  I love playing, though I am not athletically gifted, and I love watching.  As a kid, I devoured the sports section of the newspaper every morning over breakfast.  Though my enthusiasm has never been in doubt, I have often been curious about the causes of it.  When my team won its first Super Bowl when I was nine, it was as if I had won, too.  All the emotional energy I'd put into rooting for them had paid off.  It makes no logical sense whatsoever and yet I know that millions of sports fans all over the world feel exactly the same way.  Beyond all rational consideration, we stake a claim to our team's triumphs and also its failures.  But why do we care at all?

Bounce explains everything.  The documentary's subtitle, though, is a bit misleading.  The film's thesis is that we play by natural instinct as do many intelligent animal species.  The ball didn't teach us to play but its spherical shape and its not entirely predictable responses to our manipulations inspire our curiosity.    Through expert interviews, animal observations, historical meanderings and sports footage from all over the world, Bounce explores the evolutionary necessity of play as well as the psychological reasons for enjoying the athletic exploits of others.

The movie covers a lot of ground over the course of 76 minutes but a couple of segments were particularly noteworthy.  One was mentioned in my clues last week: the discovery of rubber by the Spanish Conquistadors.  Previously, the European version of a ball was along the lines of an inflated sheep's bladder.  It didn't bounce anywhere near as impressively as the Aztec equivalent.  Rubber changed everything.  The historical implications of the discovery go far beyond sports, of course, but many of the games we know today might never have been invented without it.

Perhaps most memorable of all is the Scottish Ba' game in the Orkney Islands, essentially an all-town mob football game played on the village streets twice a year.  The winning team awards the ball to the day's hero and those who have won claim it as a possession prized above their own children.  Apparently, such games have a long history in Europe though they only survive in remote corners.

We saw the movie during our recent trip to the Green Mountain Film Festival in Montpelier.   While it is unlikely to turn up at your local multiplex, it is available to watch via iTunes, Amazon, Vimeo and Google Play.  I highly recommend it to all, even those who don't share my mania for sports.

Next meeting is Friday, May 13th.  I'll post May's blog list tomorrow.  For May, pick another society member's choice from our ever increasing library to review.  Today, please visit my fellow cinephiles, listed below:

The Clone Wars: Clone Cadets

My friends and I are watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  Every Tuesday, we will be featuring an episode from the series which began in 2008 (as opposed to the one that started in 2003).  All are welcome to join us for all or parts of the fun.

Episode: "Clone Cadets"
Series: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Season 3, Episode 1
Original Air Date: September 17, 2010

via Wookieepedia

Season Three kicks off with a prequel to what is, so far, my favorite Clone Wars episode:  Season One's "Rookies."  That story is essentially a space opera treatment of the war movies of the 1950s and '60s.  The experience of the clones is an important and gratifying theme for the series and even perhaps indirectly prepared the Star Wars audience for the character Finn in The Force Awakens.

In "Clone Cadets," Hevy, Cutup, Droidbait, Fives and Echo are in training as Domino Squad.  They are most definitely not the star pupils of the operation.  They don't follow orders and don't trust each other enough to work together.  As a result, they consistently fall short of other squads in their training exercises.  In an important macro-narrative development, it is suggested that the group's shortcomings result from the gene pool running shallow after Jango Fett's death.  We also meet 99, a malformed clone who serves as another reminder that the process does not always go exactly to plan.

In some ways, I feel like the prequel undermines the "Rookies" story.  Part of the magic of the earlier episode is the fact that the five troopers involved are presented as ordinary soldiers, neither unusually good nor exceptionally bad.  Caught up in a sudden crisis, they must rely upon training and instinct in order to prevail.  Then again, perhaps their shortcomings would explain why they were assigned to such a remote outpost in the first place.  And the underdog element has some appeal of its own.

*****

via Wookieepedia

Bric is a Siniteen bounty hunter hired to help train cadets, including Domino Squad.  The Republic recruits such mercenaries to do the work because, as Bric himself says, the Jedi don't have the time.  Bric is a hard-nosed drill sergeant, in stark contrast to El-Les, a kinder, gentler bounty hunter from Cona.

via The West Wing Wiki

Bric is voiced by Larry Brandenburg.  Brandenburg was born May 3, 1948 in Wabasha, Minnesota.  His film credits are impressive, including such classics as The Shawshank Redemption, Field of Dreams, Fargo and The Untouchables.

If you would care to join us for all or part of our travels, sign on to the list below.  Please visit the other participants today.  Next week: "ARC Troopers."

 

Mock Squid Soup: April's Three Clues

Today, for this month's edition of Mock Squid Soup, all society members are invited to post three hints about their film choice for the month.  All are welcome to guess, of course.  My three clues:

- This documentary travels the world from a village in Central Africa to the urban slums of South America to the Orkney Islands and on and on, connecting all of humanity through a passion that has been an important of my own life and certainly the early days of my blog.

- It also takes us on a journey through time all the way back to the origins of our species.  The discovery of rubber by Europeans is a pivotal moment in the story.

- I will be both shocked and delighted if any of you have seen this film or even heard of it.  If you know something of what my family has been up to this past month, you might have a shot at guessing.  I can't wait to discuss it further with everyone and hope I can inspire a few to seek it out.

Any guesses?  Society reviews will be posted next Friday, April 8th.  See you then.  Meanwhile, please visit my fellow cinephiles today: