This book is hardly worth a review. Suffice it to say, Digital Fortress is not nearly as interesting as The Da Vinci Code. The plot here is much less compelling, with fewer twists and turns. The book might have been interesting at half the length; as it is, so many scenes were drawn out that I kept thinking “will this ever end?”

Sydney Pollack does a good job with The Interpreter, a story of corruption and justice. It was suspenseful and twisty enough that I was never quite sure what was going to happen, and not disappointed with what did. Sean Penn does a fine job as the emotionally wounded, gruff cop; Nicole Kidman is ok as the traumatized PTSD-suffering interpreter. Notable performances among the cast: Yvan Attal, Earl Cameron.

Absolutely worth the watch; a good solid thriller, revolving around real-world issues. As a bonus there’s all that great footage of NYC.

I watched the first half of Flightplan during my rowing workout last night, and it kept my attention. I ran over my preset rowing time without noticing. But I found the second half of the movie sort of disappointing – it didn’t carry through on the suspenseful buildup. Jodie Foster and the rest of the cast were all great; the plot was too far out, and I couldn’t suspend my disbelief.

It’s light material, probably be a good movie to watch when you’re sick, working out, etc.

I watched The Razor’s Edge with a friend over the weekend. It’s the story of a somewhat shallow guy who acts as an ambulance driver in WWI, is shocked by the experience, and finds his life dramatically altered. He is unable to continue on the path waiting for him when he gets back home, and goes off to find the meaning of life.

The movie has flaws. There are several points in the film where I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on – motivations were not clear or well-developed. I plan to read the book, which I’m hoping will be better.

Nevertheless, the cast was very good. I find Bill Murray a fascinating actor, and his job here is quite good. If you liked him in Broken Flowers or Steve Zissou, you should like this. There are also fine performances by Catherine Hicks (who currently plays Mrs. Camden in Seventh Heaven), Theresa Russell, and Denholm Elliott.

My friend found the ending unsatisfying – she wanted to know what happened to everyone, and didn’t feel that the lead character showed much change after going on his quest for meaning. I disagree, though; I feel like it was a pretty realistic picture of what can happen on such a quest. Definitely worth the watch, for me.

Years ago, I read Liar’s Poker, by Michael Lewis, and Burn Rate by Michael Wolff. Both very enjoyable books.

Trading with the Enemy is in a similar vein, but not as well done as either of those books. Nicholas W. Maier needed a good editor, or he should have put more work into this book himself. It’s just not well put together and at some points it gets a bit boring. The problem could be that there’s simply not enough story to tell and he tried to stretch it out.

Despite all that, there’s the core of a good story in here, and it is worth the read. I wouldn’t recommend buying it; check it out from the library if you can.

Overall, this is an interesting account of the author Sorrel Wilby’s 1900-mile trek across Tibet, circa 1986, most of it done on foot. It’s an impressive story, and worth the read for anyone with a love of adventure travel or an interest in Tibet.

I have a quibble though. I find both Wilby’s writing style and her attitude a bit irritating. It’s a little difficult to pinpoint exactly why that is, without giving away details of her story, but I’ll try.

She comes across as a somewhat shallow and flighty personality, quick to jump to conclusions and lacking in forethought of any kind; given all that, I find it remarkable that she was able to achieve what she did. It may be that she was trying to write her story in a humorous fashion, but if so, I just don’t “get” her sense of humor (contrast this with Bill Bryson’s adventure stories, which I find hilarious). She relates several circumstances in which she was so ill as to be close to death, but it never seems serious because of the way that she tells it. In the cases where she is clearly trying to be serious, she often comes across as trite and sentimental. Again this is in contrast to a book like “Touching the Void”, by Joe Simpson – a well-crafted life-and-death story without a pinch of sentimentality.

Despite those problems, the book is worth reading, because what she did is a remarkable achievement.

This is a great French film by Yvan Attal. It’s a fascinating exploration of marriage, focusing on one relationship in particular, with a few glances into the lives of several other couples. Even though much of it made me cringe – why do married people so often treat each other in such awful ways? – the acting is superb and I was completely sucked in.

Johnny Depp’s cameo is a plus. My only complaint is that the end seemed completely inconsistent with the rest of this grittily realistic movie. I have no idea what that was about, but it’s forgiven.

Chicago: I watched this on DVD last night; maybe it’s better on the big screen. I found it impossible to care about any of the characters, who were one-dimensional and cardboardish. Maybe that’s to be expected in a musical, but the plot was also insufficient to interest me. The music is just ok – did not leave me humming (with the exception of the song “All That Jazz”). The only redeeming features of this musical are a couple of spicy dance routines – gymnastic and energetic. The rest is just, eh, so-so.