Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Ye Olde Partners Page

*A Collection of Antiquarian Curios & Relics*
"An ad that pretends to be art is -- at absolute best -- like someone who smiles warmly
at you only because he wants something from you . . ."
                                                                                --David Foster Wallace

THE 86TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS (OSCARS)
  I love movies.  You know who else loved movies?  David Foster Wallace.  He would have been tickled pink to learn that Hollywood is making the ultimate roadtrip buddy flick out of David Lipsky's book, Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself (9780307592439) 16.99.  Jason Segel is playing DFW and there has been a low rumble of disapproval from the intelligentsia.  However, as a fan, I can see DFW enthusiastically endorsing the selection of Mr. Segel.  Sure Jason is no intellectual giant, but he appears to be a genuinely likeable and kind-hearted soul, and if DFW had had more of that, he might still be around.  Hopefully, we'll be talking about this movie at The 87th Annual Academy Awards . . .


  From the Red CarpetTM to Best PictureTM, I am one of the survivors of an event that has been likened to Mao's Long March, and this year I also had to contend with the unfunny stylings of Ellen DeGeneres.  So as you were fiddling with your Oscar book displays on Monday morning to highlight the winners, I was trying to figure out how Jim Carrey's 30 second spot could be funnier than an entire night of Ellen's schtick.  Ellen is smart.  She wrote a book called Seriously, I'm Kidding (9780446585040) 14.99.  She sucked up to the big name movie stars, her twitter stunt was great for publicity, and her pizza bit was heartwarming, but none of it was very funny.  Her comedic barbs were saved for secondary players like Liza Minelli and Spike Jonze.  I can imagine Spike furiously working on a screenplay called Her 2, in which a beloved TV host is tortured to death by a computer operating system.


  Let's look at some of the winners:  First of all, Nebraska doesn't have a movie tie-in, but it's the only one I have seen so far.  Ted recommended it to me and it was outstanding.  For some reason Ted is under the impression that I only watch spaceship movies where lots of things get blown up.  That's not true.  Next I want to check out Twelve Years A Slave (9780143125419) 16.00, which I was planning to do anyway because the lead actor is the guy who played the assassin in Serenity, but then I learned that Michael Fassbinder, who was the best thing in Prometheus, Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Khan in the last Star Trek movie, and finally, Brad Pitt, the actor who broke Jennifer Aniston's heart, are all featured in supporting roles.  Serenity, Prometheus, Star Trek.  Hmmm, Ted may be right.  Frozen comes out on DVD on March 18, and I can't wait to watch that movie with Little Sasha. We've watched three quarters of it on YouTube, but it would be nice to see it in a more linear way.  The Frozen books are selling well, including: Frozen: Big Golden Book (9780736430654) 9.99 and Frozen: Reusable Sticker Book (9780736431163) 6.99.  I'll see you at the movies . . .   

 
       

Odds & Sods

Put me in coach, I'm ready to play.  We've already sold out of Mario Impemba's If These Walls Could Talk: Detroit Tigers (9781600789274) 14.95, but we should have more stock next week.  Maybe we can finally get the lowdown on the Prince Fielder fiasco . . .


 Benedict Cumberbatch has turned me on to the whole Sherlock Holmes oeurve.  So I was pleasantly surprised to see that we carry the children's board book, Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles: A Sounds Primer (9781423634119) 9.99.  I think I need to get this for Little Sasha, too.  It's really never too early to start working on your deductive reasoning.  Right?




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