I just finished Patricia Highsmith’s psychological thriller, Strangers on a Train. Highsmith is the author of The Talented Mr. Ripley. It was recommended by a feature writer of the WSJ. Plus, Alfred Hitchcock thought it good enough to make into a movie. Two men meet on a train..sounds like a joke…but it is very serious. One wants his father killed and the other is in a nasty marriage and wants a divorce. You see, if the murders are committed and they are motiveless, then no one gets arrested, see? Well, it’s a great study in how one can manipulate another’s mind to distort reality and create dementia. Let’s just say I’m not talking to anyone on a train, a plane or at Six Flags…
Read more…
On Brad Pitt movies: Even though I think Brad Pitt is one hunka hunka (except his scruffy stages), I’ve never been much of a fan of his films. the only two I’ve liked are his early ones, Thelma and Louis and A River Runs Through It. 
But now comes The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Ben, you see, is born in an infant’s body, with the ailments of an 85, but with the brain of a baby. As the film progresses, his body grows to adulthood, to a fine specimen of a man, I might add, but then his mind ages as his body digresses into, once again, a baby. A baby with the mind of an 85 year old. Now, wouldn’t Stephan King have had the mother give birth to a full grown adult with a child’s mind and then digressed to that of a baby with an old mind? It makes more sense. It is actually a very touching movie. It deals with loving your neighbor, loving your family, dealing with deformity, is our life ruled by fate or chance? Well, and, to once again see Brad Pitt in his youthful glory, albeit digitally enhanced. The problems I had with the movie were two fold: It took place during the Jim Crow years. Blacks and whites did not co-habitat. And there was no way a black man was going to growl at some white kids without getting thrown off the bus. Secondly, what was with scenes with the mother and daughter reading the diary while hurricane Katrina wailed? They added NOTHING to the movie, other than Brad is now politically involved and he wanted to show how mean and neglectful the Bush administration was.
Howdy Hairball! Thought I would add a comment to the Benjamin movie thread. My 18 year old son ad I saw it the day after Christmas. Yes, Brad digitally enhanced definately did me good! 😉 but even better . . . my son loved the movie and was touched by many lessons he gained from it. He enjoyed it so much that he wanted to see it again the next day when we went to go see Yes Man, and again when we went to take his cousin to see Despereuox (the mouse movie-mispelled I’m sure). I have too many movies I wanted to see, so he is going to see it with his girl friend when he gets back to LSU. He said he witnessed much about tolerance, love (between Mom and son-and between man and woman), patience, and growth from heartache. His understanding of the movie touched me more than the movie itself. We didn’t pick the movie apart (LOL-hairball), we were there for the entertainment value – hurricane or not! 😉 . . . Single~Deb
Now a comment on a book I have read recently! “The Art of Racing in The Rain” by Garth Stein. If you are a dog lover, an animal lover, or a Nascar lover . . . you will love this heart touching lovely story told from the mind and mouth of a dog. I was given the book by dear friends in college Station, Texas . . . sorry Hairball – they are Aigees . . . but none the less, the book is beautiful and so touching that I couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend it as an easy rid on a cold winter day. NO-I am not a Nascar fan, but the words of a dog…that blew me away! My sons received this book for Christmas (18 & 21-and they do like Nascar)! Happy Reading!…Single~Deb