Let's Go to the Movies!

Here are some possibilities for our next meeting, the laziest one yet. We're keeping the books closed and headed to the movie theater. The idea is to see a flick together, then gab about it (and anything else) afterward. Any of these appeal to you? Know of another film we should see?

Brick Lane
Nazneen’s life is turned upside down at the tender age of 17. Forced into an arranged marriage to an older man, she exchanges her Bangladeshi village home for a block of flats in London’s East End. In this new world, pining for her home and her sister, she struggles to make sense of her existence — and to do her duty to her husband. Based on the novel by Monica Ali.
We could read the book down the road to compare and contrast.

Brideshead Revisited
This heartbreaking romantic epic, based on Evelyn Waugh's classic novel, tells an evocative story of forbidden love and the loss of innocence in the pre-WWII era. In the film, Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) becomes entranced with the noble Marchmain family, first through the charming and provocative Sebastian Marchmain (Ben Whishaw), and then his sophisticated sister, Julia (Hayley Atwell).
Also stars Emma Thompson. Not sure why this recap doesn't mention that. Also? Matthew Goode = hott.

American Teen
This heartbreaking and hilarious Sundance Film Festival hit follows the lives of four teenagers—a jock, the popular girl, the artsy girl and the geek—in one small town in Indiana through their senior year of high school. With extraordinary intimacy and a great deal of humor, the film captures the pressures of growing up—pressures that come from one's peers, one's parents, and not least, oneself.
I saw the trailer for this. Looked pretty good!


Man on Wire
On August 7, 1974 a young Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire illegally rigged between New York's twin towers, then the world's tallest buildings. After nearly an hour dancing on the wire, he was arrested, taken for psychological evaluation and brought to jail. James Marsh's documentary brings Petit's extraordinary adventure to life through the testimony of Philippe himself, and some of the co-conspirators who helped him create the unique and magnificent spectacle that became known as "the artistic crime of the century."
What's up with French people and scaling buildings?

Bottle Shock
In 1976, a small American winery sent shock waves through the industry by besting the exalted French wines in a blind tasting, putting California wines on the map for good. Novice vintner Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) risked everything to realize his dream of creating the perfect hand-crafted California Chardonnay. Meanwhile in Paris, struggling wine seller Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) came up with an idea for a publicity stunt to help his floundering shop. Little did Spurrier and Barrett realize they were about to change the history of wine forever. A dramatic comedy, co-starring Chris Pine, Rachael Taylor, Freddy Rodriguez, Eliza Dushku and Dennis Farina.
Not a documentary. With Faith from "Buffy"!

So Whattaya Wanna See?

Thought I'd put up a posting where everybody can give their opinion on what movie we should watch. My top choice is Bottle Shock. You?

A Milestone for LWBC's Founder

Congrats to Angie (and Neil)!

Maybe we should be reading one of these for next time?

sex, pigs and videotape

Saturday's book club meeting was a smidge more risque than usual, as the topic was Mary Roach's "Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex." Those of us in attendance are by no means prudes; still, it was a little hard to find things to discuss without blushing. Many comments along the lines of, "Can you believe they did that? With a toothbrush?" Another highlight: the black-and-white pictures at the start of each chapter, particularly the Dutch diagram of a man trying to stimulate a pig by putting his finger in its ... well, you can imagine. Not its mouth.

Remember the book's cover with two ladybugs gettin' it on? Peugeot produced a video version. Here's the steamy ladybug-love commercial that Kendra told us about:



Overall, folks thought the book was entertaining and interesting, though Marta said it wasn't as funny as Roach's previous book, "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers." Thanks to Marta for hosting and providing such a tasty spread for Jenny, Angie, Amanda, Kendra and Katrina.

Going Bonkers

One of the blogs I read, Jezebel, has a post about our next book! It's based on an article at ABCnews.com. Highlights:

In 2007, she [author Mary Roach] had sex with her husband while a British doctor waved an ultrasound wand over their private parts testing their genital responses to the soundtrack of "Les Miserables." ...

The 49-year-old is no stranger to strange topics. She has written about Eskimo food, flatulence, vaginal weight-lifting, carrot addiction and amputee bowling leagues. Her two previous books also explore oddities with humor: "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" (2003) and "Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife" (2005). ...

Roach has discovered the term "boner" is also a misnomer. Unlike dogs and other mammals, men don't have penile bones. The walrus sports the largest one, and Inuits use it for war clubs.

Heh. Wow, this will be one very interesting and hopefully not too uncomfortable discussion!

One other note: This is our first hardcover. If you don't feel like splurging, I noticed one copy available from the D.C. library (maybe we could pass it around!). Or, I'm happy to order it from Amazon for folks ($16.47 vs. $24.95) -- I have Amazon Prime, so shipping is free (and fast). And I can try to hook up folks who want to share the book (Jenny and I are splitting a copy, for instance). Just let me know!

We Were Blind, but Now We Can See

Hey, gals! On Sunday, Lisa, Angie, Jenny, Marta and I gathered at our place in Adams Morgan to talk about "Blindness" and eat some brunchy yumminess. (See pic.) We agreed that Jose Saramago's punctuation (or lack thereof) had a neat effect and that there was a lot of poop. We also discussed (and watched the trailer for) the upcoming movie version of the book, which comes out in September, I think. We should go see!

Road-Tested?

Does anyone have recommendations for a cross-country plane ride (and then a five-hour drive to Vegas)? Suggestions of audiobooks are most welcome. I'm about to attempt a trip sans laptop, so I won't have my usual access to DVD entertainment for 10 days.

I'm especially interested in portable books (no "War and Peace").