MOVIE: The Whale (2022)

The Whale Year: 2022 Rating: R Length: 117 minutes / 1.95 hours Darren Aronofsky is the kind of director who makes movies that have moments that are hard to watch but you must see at least once. With his style established in such films as Pi (1998) and Requiem for a Dream (2000), he has continued with this over the decades with varying levels of intensity. The Whale (2022) is the latest film to conform to Aronofsky’s early directorial oeuvre. It’s a simple film—which happens when adapting a stage play—but with heart-wrenching depth. That it works so well in an on-screen format is a testament to Aronofsky’s talents. Brendan Fraser’s performance of Charlie carries this film. There’s not a lot of representation of morbidly obese people, but Fraser makes it seem realistic. Granted, Aronofsky also makes it gross quite a few times, but that’s to be expected. That Charlie seems to always be in the frame, as if Aronofsky gravitationally locked the camera to him...
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BOOK: The Far Side of the World (1984)

The Far Side of the World Year: 1984 Author: Patrick O’Brian Length: 406 pages Nautical historical fiction is a rare genre for me to read. The last one I read—and that most people would be able to recognize—was Moby Dick, and that was probably 15 years ago. Needless to say, I found myself in brief possession of The Far Side of the World and decided to give it a read. Of course, this was mostly because of the movie of the same name released in 2003 that earned many Oscar nominations (only winning in two). While the plot of both is slightly different in a few key areas, I wasn’t disappointed with having read this book. First, as a historical look into the realms of sailing and whaling at the time, The Far Side of the World does a fantastic job of informing and educating the reader without necessarily resorting to huge exposition dumps. Sure, a few moments were a little obvious that the author was trying to get...
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BOOK: Captains Courageous (1897)

Captains Courageous Year: 1897 Author: Rudyard Kipling Length: 356 minutes / 5.93 hours Captains Courageous is one of those classics that I just haven’t read, for whatever reason. I got the sense it was about being at sea, probably in the same vein as Moby Dick or Treasure Island. And yet, I don’t know if I could tell you what happened in this book. Sure, the main character was picked up by a fishing vessel, and eventually, they learned how to deal with the harsh job of being a fisherman, but that’s pretty much it. The series of fishing adventures seem to be loosely tied together, and the overarching plot was weak at best. Part of me wonders if the audiobook version of this classic was to blame. Not only did the narrator have a bit of an accent, but she did all the different dialects of the various characters based on their ethnic origins. While I would usually love this attention to detail, more...
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