gottahavacuppamocha

Afraid to go out
Thomas falls in love online
Struggles against fear

Thomas in Love at Rotten Tomatoes
Thomas in Love at IMDB

Rating:  

Lost in Tokyo
With millions of people
Two lonely souls meet

Lost in Translation at Rotten Tomatoes
Lost in Translation at IMDB

Rating:  

A big, hairy beast
King of jungle and asphalt
Brought down by lost world

King Kong at Rotten Tomatoes
King Kong at IMDB

Rating:  

I’ve never read the works of Jane Austen, and having recently finished Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, it can be argued that I still haven’t. Her books were never assigned reading in any English classes I took, which is probably just as well. During grade school, I disdained anything that was assigned to be read. I liked (and like) reading for pleasure, but despised being told what to read. By treating certain authors in hagiographic fashion, while ridiculing the works of others, English teachers unintentionally alienated me from a large body of literature. I didn’t have any reason to read the works of Austen, Shakespeare, or others on my own, because I held my literary tastes to be different from those of my teachers. However, in the decades that have passed since the torture of high school, my acceptance of literary works has grown broader, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has given me the opportunity to read Austen, after a fashion.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a gimmick to make money from a piece of public-domain literature. Updated with the presence of zombies (using plenty of faux Regency-era euphemisms), it becomes Pride and Prejudice meets Shaun of the Dead, and is meant to appeal to people who might otherwise forgo Austen’s works. In this cheeky mashup, the sisters Bennet, having been trained at the Shaolin monastery, are charged by His Majesty with defending Hertfordshire from the menace of “unmentionables.” Yet the story isn’t too far removed from the film Bride and Prejudice, so I assume the book isn’t a total butchery of the original work. One of the effects of reading this book is that I’ll probably read the original Pride and Prejudice in the next few months, to see how the two compare. I wouldn’t be surprised if sales of Austen’s books rise in correlation to the popularity of the updated version.

Rating:  

City of lovers
Twenty scenes of Paris life
Reflections for all

Paris, je t’aime at Rotten Tomatoes
Paris, je t’aime at IMDB

Rating:  

Divorced man needs maid
The girl needs a place to stay
Experience love

The Housekeeper at Rotten Tomatoes
The Housekeeper at IMDB

Rating:  

Widower needs flat
A girl wants the place also
No names are needed

Last Tango in Paris at Rotten Tomatoes
Last Tango in Paris at IMDB

Rating: