All Consuming : lasagnahog

A story about "Kontroll"

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 13:26:51 GMT

by Nimród Antal

Wow! I just loved this movie. It was so odd, gritty, and stylish yet somehow very sweet. Does anyone know any other Hungarian films that I might enjoy? I would love to see more like this.

Real mindbender (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:31:06 GMT

The End of Mr. Y

by Scarlett Thomas

I love this book. It was packed full of intrigue, theoretical physics, philosophy, and mice. “The End of Mr. Y” has bumped “Popco” as my favorite Scarlett Thomas book yet. In her previous books I had taken issue with her endings which I felt were a bit weak, but not so here. Well done, Scarlett! Thanks for writing smart fiction. My head still hurts from being wrapped around the concepts in the book. Youch!

A story about "Heroes (Season 1)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 13:17:25 GMT

Heroes (Season 1)

by Tim Kring

I am so addicted to this show! It has great characters and does not overuse special effects.

Mysterious and smart! (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 16:51:55 GMT

Special Topics in Calamity Physics

by Marisha Pessl

This was hands down the best book I have read in some time. It was one part mystery, two parts teenage drama, with a twist of literary and pop references. Unlike many books by new authors, Marisha Pessl really came through on a satisfactory way to end her novel. This is quite an achievement considering the enormous undertaking of writing a 550 page post-modern treatise on loneliness and the world of academia that still reads as a funny and smart mystery novel. Are you confused? You won’t be after you read “Special Topics In Calamity Physics”.

A Delightful Sendup

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 12:48:11 GMT

Cooking with Fernet Branca

by James Hamilton-Paterson

“Cooking With Fernet Branca” is a delightful send-up of those travel/food books which usually involve someone staying at a lovely villa in Provence or Tuscany and meeting quirky characters and eating wonderful food. In this novel, an obnoxious but well-meaning English writer lives next door to a composer from a made up Eastern European country and they have misadventures involving really terrible recipes and drinking large amounts of Fernet Branca, which in my experience is an acquired taste (to say the least).

The Englishman cooks concoctions like “Lychees on Toast” in which he mashes anchovies into peanut butter with Tabasco sauce, and stuffs the mixture into lychee nuts. These lychees are then smothered with gorgonzola cheese on toast. The recipe is one of the only ones listed in the book that do not include smoked cat. While this delightfully bizarre book did not make me hungry, it did make me want to give the black and bitter Fernet Branca another try, and so I shall.

Too much behind the scenes (rated 2 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 17:43:05 GMT

Tristram Shandy - A Cock and Bull Story

by Michael Winterbottom

I really wanted to like this film, but I simply could not get through it. The post-modern storytelling and the bits from the novel were wonderful, but they were too scarcely scattered amidst a sea of boring “making-of” scenes. I would love to have seen the film-within-the-film rather than sitting through the film itself. Steve Coogan tried very hard to be an irritating British actor and I must commend him on his terrific success.

Great morbid fun.

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 12:37:48 GMT

Blood Sucking Fiends: a Love Story

by Christopher Moore

If you read one book this year then you don’t read enough. On the other hand, if you read many books this year, “Blood Sucking Fiends: a Love Story” should be one of them. I have yet to read a Chris Moore book that I didn’t like. His characters are terrific, his stories are creative (if not a little morbid) and he is very funny. This book was no exception.

Fun, if not incomprensible

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 13:17:07 GMT

Starstruck (2-Disc Special Edition)

by Gillian Armstrong

I didn’t understand about half of the audio on this badly remastered DVD, but the oddly choreographed dance club scenes were fabulous. It was high camp, Aussie style.

A story about "Grey Gardens - Criterion Collection"

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:23:59 GMT

Grey Gardens - Criterion Collection

by Albert Maysles

This is the best thing to wear for today, you understand. Because I don’t like women in skirts and the best thing is to wear pantyhose or some pants under a short skirt, I think. Then you have the pants under the skirt and then you can pull the stockings up over the pants underneath the skirt. And you can always take off the skirt and use it as a cape. So I think this is the best costume for today.

Funniest movie ever

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 13:47:28 GMT

Little Miss Sunshine

by Valerie Faris

Little Miss Sunshine was one of the funniest movies I have seen in the past few years. It was also one of the few movies that had both my wife and me laughing out loud in the theatre. The cast was outstanding. Just see it. You know you want to.

Why I recommend "Emerald Germs of Ireland"

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 03:52:35 GMT

Emerald Germs of Ireland

by Patrick McCabe

This book is one of the funniest books ever written about a serial killer. Poor Pat McNab. When you start out by killing your beloved mom with a frying pan, where can you go from there?

A very amusing freakshow

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 12:31:23 GMT

Myra Breckinridge

I am not sure how this movie was ever made, but with Rachel Welch, playing a transvestite how could you go wrong? The rest of the cast includes John Huston, Rex Reed, Mae West, Farrah Fawcett, and Tom Selleck. Whaaaaat!

A review of "High Art"

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 14:07:57 GMT

High Art

by Lisa Cholodenko

I wanted to like this, but the writer and director did not give us enough of the characters to care about anyone in the film. The cinematography was delightful so the film was very pretty to watch. It’s too bad that they didn’t delve more into the characters, becasue by the end of the film I had predicted the ending but didn’t care. This was very disappointing. I much preferred Lisa Cholodenko’s directing work on “Six Feet Under”.

Cute but vapid (rated 2 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 12:25:20 GMT

Microserfs

by Douglas Coupland

“Microserfs” had good ideas and was stylistically interesting, but it really didn’t go anywhere. Scarlett Thomas (of “Popco” fame) writes in a similar style but she adds compelling plots to her novels which make them ever so much more interesting and fun to read.

How "My Left Eye Sees Ghosts" changed my life

nobody@allconsuming.net (lasagnahog) — Tue, 23 May 2006 12:14:34 GMT

My Left Eye Sees Ghosts

by Ka-Fai Wai

Ahhhhh! My left eye sees ghosts!