Movies and Books of Feb 2012

Looks like I'm making good progress on the reading front. Me happy :)
 
Books:

1.  By Blood Possessed -  Elena Santangelo : Wonderful read. Set in contemporary times, the story oscillates between the civil war period and present day. I was attracted to this writer who hails from a suburb about 2 miles from where I live and was the winner of the Agatha Award for 2010. Any writer who is affiliated to Agatha Christie has my attention~!
2.  Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell  : I am not much of a non-fiction reader but this book held my attention. Stories varied from 'How Hushpuppies became a fashion phenomenon' to 'How the crime in NYC during the '80s was curbed'. Gladwell definitely scores high on how to tell a good non-fiction story.
3.  Life itself : a memoir - Roger Ebert : Deserves a separate blog post. One thought though; although one is strong in life something from childhood always lingers on your head - in this case, Ebert's mother's indirect influence on the girls he dated made him marry late in life. I thought that was an interesting point to be noted.
4.  Tender is the Night - F Scott Fitzgerald (abandoned for lack of interest. Blasphemous, I know, but I never read a book I'm not interested in.) 
5.  The Valley of Fear - Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)  : Need I say anything more than what millions haven't said before? A good murder mystery for a silent winter evening.

  Movies:

1.  Jazabel : I think Bette Davis deserved an Oscar for her performance in 'All about Eve' and not this one.
2.  Munich:  (abandoned because of too much violence) - A sad but true story of how the Israeli team were brutally killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics and how their death was avenged.
3.  Drive : I thought the plot was too contrived although Ryan Gosling was very good.
   
4.  Deconstructing Harry : Cookie, is the first African American woman featured in any of the Woody Allen movies I have seen so far. Movie is a hilarious riot of a writer whose writing has gone awry with twisted autobiographical incidents.
   
5.  Office Space : Is funny every time I watch it because of how close to truth the movie actually is.
6.  That obscure object of desire : One of Bunuel's famous works, I did not think much of it except that I liked the beginning- A man from a running train, pours a bucket of water on a woman's head, which piques the curiosity of the fellow passengers.
7.  I Don't Know How She Does It : Fun movie of a career woman balancing kids, husband and her project that needs her to travel. Kudos for making a woman respectably reject the boss who is interested in her and stick to her husband.
8.  Higher Ground : Surely everyone who watched 'Up in the air' were mesmerized by Vera Farmiga. So when I heard that she had directed this movie and had good reviews, I decided to pick it up. But it was not for me. A movie about religious zealots is not my cuppa tea. 

I plan to blog about all the books and movies for each month and would love to hear from you on your monthly viewing/reading.