Boy, this is a fun book to synopsise for friends.

The story begins with one Oswald Cornelius Esquire, who learns from a General about the magnificent and mysterious powder derived from a Sudanese beetle. Its powers are quite magnificent: a few grains on the tip of a needle are enough to drive a man to lustful distraction. Recognising its unused potential, Oswald decides to harness this power in order to make himself a pretty penny. A chemistry student, he begins to manufacture pills and sell them to Ambassadors and statesmen whom he meets at dinner parties at an incredible mark-up. When later he meets a scientist who has mastered the art of freezing sperm, they team up in order to attack the lucrative market of (involuntary) high-profile sperm donation.

While are sinister yet humorous, My Uncle Oswald is based upon trust. Though our narrator has dastardly intentions, his keen business sense and wacky company are engaging and feel curiously authentic. The characters are fantastic, particularly Oswald's partners in crime Dr A.R. Worseley and his girlfriend-cum-concubine, the sharp-witted and enchanting Yasmine.

Despite its linearity, many scenes are truly hilarious and plodding repetition is duly avoided. Dahl even has a little dig at himself and fellow writers for their self-importance and misplaced passions.

Another engaging and deliciously filthy tale from the inimitable Roald Dahl.


Book #35: ★★★★★

Sometimes, you have to finish up a long work week with a good giggle.

Next week: Roald Dahl book review & FilmCamp10 at Glasgow Film Theatre with Quotables.

Lately, I've been finding that there are a lot of films that I'm really looking forward to. To which I am looking forward. That I wish were here already, please.



Misfits, Series 2
I have no idea when this is due to start, but I'm not sure I can go much longer without my Robert Keenan fix. Plan: Series 1 catch-up this week.



Charlie St Cloud
What can I say? It looks decidedly, unabashedly, and (hopefully) delightfully rubbish. I can't wait.


Glee, Season 2
I started watching Glee while I was living in the US last summer. Sadly it looks like it won't be screened in the UK until January, but I'm making a trip to California in December so hopefully I can do some quick catch-up.


From Here to Eternity
The wonderful Park Circus Films is re-releasing From Here to Eternity tomorrow (Friday 24 September). I read today that they're also re-releasing It Happened One Night, and although I watch it pretty recently I'm not sure I can resist a quick trip to the GFT to catch these beauties.


This is the first 'unconference' (or non-con as I've been calling it) on Digital Innovation & The Moving Image (click for more details on how the website I'm working on, Quotables, is involved). I get to skip class, hang out with a bunch of my film buddies, hear great speakers, and round off the day with a few drinks and a film quiz. That's my kind of day.


What are you looking forward to in the coming months?

After reading a handful of books from Stephen Fry and daily blog posts from That Kind of Girl whose writing is very much inspired by the inimitable Wodehouse, it was time to test the waters.

The trouble with Wodehouse is picking a title. With a career that spanned 70 years and produced close to 100 published novels and short story collections, it's difficult to know where to begin. My choice was made for me, however, as I came across a copy of Mulliner Nights for the princely sum of £2 tucked away on a bottom shelf at my local Fopp. Lovely.

It turns out that Mulliner Nights was an excellent choice, particularly for my tastes. It's a collection of short stories narrated by one of Wodehouse's famed protagonists, Mr Mulliner, who regales tales of his nine juniour Mr Mulliners. As an added bonus, more than one of said stories heavily feature cats.

Despite their predictability, Wodehouse's expert storytelling and portraits of sneakery, humiliation, and redemption are unwaveringly brilliant. Though have clear signs of his influence, Wodehouse is different in that he teases but never tortures his Mulliners. We know the cat will drink some whiskey, get drunk, and break the spell of gentility over his reluctant owner, but Wodehouse's delightful descriptions tickle and tease through his acute mastery of language.

Whether you're new to the wonderful Wodehouse or an existing admirer, Mulliner Nights is a simple, fun read.

Book #34: ★★★★★

"I'm the guy who does his job. You must be the other guy," declares a terse FBI agent played by Wahlberg in Scorsese's 2006 The Departed. This time he, with Will Ferrel in tow, is the other guy.

The cross-over to comedy does not come easily to Wahlberg, whose attempts at comedic intensity and anger translate as trying too hard. Ferrel struggles to find a rhythm with him, thus the entire set-up of The Other Guys is based on a double-act that audibly creaks in its need for lubrication.

The Other Guys starts strong with a highly comedic action sequence starring Samuel L. Jackson (on form, as usual) and Dwayne "No Longer Using The Rock In Quotation Marks" Johnson. The over-the-top spectacular sets the bar just out of reach of the rest of the film, but its explosive energy and lead-up to a hilarious and brilliantly shot exit for Jackson and Johnson almost makes the film worth it all by itself.

Careening from extreme to extreme for the next 40 minutes, the film struggles to find its way as Ferrel's would-be potent monologues fall flat against Wahlberg's stiff demeanour. It is not until the pair become buddies that The Other Guys finds a comfortable rhythm. Though it has its moments, one of the film's main flaws is the repetition of jokes that fail to gain traction, from musical interludes to unintentional lyrical references and mimicries of, "Wait, did he just say [this unfunny statement]?!"

What The Other Guys does execute well are the slow-burners: stereotypically New Yorker-pleasing baseball jokes (though Brits will likely miss these references), quick-edits between the best scenes with Steve Coogan, and some excellent cameos. Rounded off with a brilliant gunshot car-chase finale, The Other Guys finishes strong in the manner in which it began.

With a little more patience and a looser cast, it could have been brilliant. As it stands, The Other Guys is a buddy-cop spoof with too little action whose great moments are overshadowed by a mediocre middle.

The Other Guys is released in UK cinemas this Friday, 17 September.

About a month ago, you may recall, I eviscerated Sloane Crosley's "humorous" memoir, I Was Told There'd Be Cake.

Having previously read Sedaris' When You Are Engulfed in Flames and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, I was fairly well acquainted with his style. Understated with ribbing humour and a knack for coming full-circle, Sedaris' style is subtle with a few splashes of provocation. Though I'd seldom found myself laughing out loud, from the opening essay of Me Talk Pretty One Day, I found myself giggling endlessly and stifling laughter on the train. Though I'd enjoyed his later work, this is the Sedaris that Americans know, love, and recommended time and time again. I get it now.

Me Talk Pretty One Day is a collection of personal essays, concentrating on Sedaris' art schooled mid-20s, moving to New York, temp jobs, and relocation to Normandy and Paris. With hilarious stories about his avant-garde drug addiction, eccentric sister Amy (a well-known comic in the US), and trials of learning a second language, the book covers many of the same topics as Dress Your Family, but something in the  wordplay of his midget guitar teacher, "dipping his burger in a sad puddle of mayonnaise," really did it for me this time.

If you're new to Sedaris, this is an excellent place to begin.

Book #33: ★★★★★

Though I love Charlie, Buster is my favourite of the silent clowns. Though I hate to compare them through their autobiographies, I recently finished Chaplin's, so it is difficult not to invite a few comparisons.

Keaton's style is far more informal, more like your Grandad sitting you down for storytime than an old codger regaling tales of his finest hour. Buster begins with his budding career, which began around his 3rd birthday. Named Joseph Keaton (the first son of a first son of a first son to be called Joe Keaton), he earned the nickname Buster after taking a spill down a staircase and being picked up and christened by Harry Houdini.

Detailing vaudevillian life through knockabout sets as a child, burlesquing fellow acts, imitating and learning from the best, and finally declaring independence from his father, Keaton keeps the snappy anecdotes flowing. A little reflection is given, but much of the time we are acutely aware that there was more to it than he lets on.

What is refreshing about Keaton's book is that he is not afraid to share his work ethics, salaries, and details of his tricks. From imitating his father and Houdini to his final days in television, he is honest and opinionated about his colleagues and famous friends. Notable among these stories is Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle's murder trial and Keaton's attempts to revive the old friend's career, before dropping him as a director and coercing him onto another project instead. He is candid about his married life and the disappointments it contained, as his first wife wiped him out with nary a squabble.

My Wonderful World of Slapstick is an excellent insight into the life of a great filmmaker, whose humble, take-it-from-me-kid attitude keeps the tone light and the anecdotes pleasing. He compares himself to Chaplin who, unlike Keaton, heard the critics when they called him a genius, and tried to play up to the role. Keaton's modesty may have kept him from becoming a multi-millionaire, but may also have preserved his career. Assessing their memoirs, this is apt.

For silent film fans and autobiography-nerds, My Wonderful World of Slapstick is a wonderful read.

Book #32: ★★★★★

Cyrus is a film that would benefit greatly from an audience that has never seen its trailer.

With its low-tech aesthetic, it's very nearly a film pretending to be something it's not - not an offender like Dan in Real Life, but in the vein of Pieces of April or Sherrybaby. Hand-held cameras and tight zooms make for a borderline uncomfortable intimacy with faces old, young, unpleasant, and pretty. Although this establishes a methodical scratch across the lens of LA life, telling us that, yes, this is what real life is like for "normal" people, you're never sure exactly what any of the characters do outside of their small, 3-person social lives and undefined jobs.

Unfolding slowly and revealing nothing that we don't already know from the preview material, we gradually learn that John (John C. Reilly) is crazy for Marisa Tomei's bubbly Molly; a pretty and fun 40-something who, it turns out, has a 21 year-old son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill). As we all already know, Cyrus is more than a little bit creepy, and wants to screw John over without his mother suspecting a thing. Hill's performance shines in the trailer, but does nothing to flourish on screen in the following 90 minutes. His creepiness factor is actually diminished with the refreshing lack of a ; a look of which the actor is so fond.

Rather than poking fun at the less-than-natural relationship between Molly and Cyrus, the subject is tip-toed around, leaving a void where the audience is unsure whether to laugh or bear judgment. While the pacing is excellent, there are no surprises, making for a long, drawn-out journey towards a climax that falls on its face along with John and Cyrus. All that's left to decide is how Molly will handle the situation.

Only vaguely endearing, Cyrus is easy on the laughs and leaves little to the imagination.

Cyrus is released in UK cinemas this Friday, 10 September.

Steven Ray Morris is a young filmmaker and soon-to-be MA Filmmaking student at London Film School. He's also a friend of mine - we both attended University California at Santa Barbara. He's headed for the directorial big-time, but for now he is focusing on film adaptations from Tolkien and Jackson to O'Malley & Wright. Please note there are spoilers aplenty after the cut! Check back tomorrow for my review of Cyrus.


I've been thinking a lot about adaptations lately, recently reread The Hobbit and am flummoxed at how in the hell they are going to adapt that into a movie. The structure is so bizarre, but I digress. I also re-read Lord of the Rings and am moving on to re-read (and read) the Harry Potter series so lots of adaptations in the can. I was thinking about doing one of these on LOTR but that is an even bigger mess to untangle.

Also, I am currently working on adapting Bryan Lee O'Malley's first graphic novel Lost At Sea into a film as bit of screenplay practice (and would be cool to make it in the future) so again the work and struggle it must take to adapt a movie and get people to ignore the, "book was better than the movie," talk is really taking over my mind and I hope this piece shed light on this often mysterious process.

Thoughts?


On to Scott Pilgrim: Now, a disclaimer: if you talk of oh the book was better than the movie kind of talk I will shoot you in the eyes and pour acid in the sockets. We aren't doing 7th grade book reports anymore.

However, I am merely posting this comparison to illustrate the subtleties and intricacies of adaptations and how diffcult it must be to take someone else's baby and make it yours.

The illustration for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World Vs. The Adaptation Process is mostly character-based, but obviously when you deal with character changes, shrinking roles, timeline restructuring, etc., inevitably plot changes come into play so bear with me.


Let's start with the losers!

Silent film comedy's most famous actor-director, Charlie Chaplin was born in London in 1889. In the early 1960s, having returned to Europe from a 40-year residency in America, he sat down to dictate his autobiography.

It is a fascinating read. Chaplin begins by detailing his impoverished London childhood and early stage experience through rose-tinted spectacles. Beautifully painted but highly romanticised, he described his home life, family troubles, and transitions in and out of workhouses and schools for the poor. With an alcoholic father and ailing mother (she was a singer until her voice gave out and she had no other skills to support the family); it was up to him and his brother, Sydney, to work and take care of themselves. While difficult to read at points, the first-hand recitations of his enthralling childhood are key to understanding the life challenges that put a stamp on his politics and disagreements later in his life.

Chaplin skims over his teen years, peppering in excerpts from his fledgeling love-life, young confusion, and loneliness. He also describes his first two trips to America, which made a clear impact upon him. In a time when New York was being built and travelling Vaudevillians made the rounds, he came to experience the America that we can now only imagine.

Moving on to his life in movies, he details some of his work habits and the people who influenced and worked for or against him in his early days. While he admits to being a perfectionist, much of his early years in cinema are glossed over. The book becomes a little dull during his late-20s and early-30s. Some parties and socialites are mentioned, and how interesting you will find this depends on your familiarity and interest in those involved. I particularly enjoyed his tales about Hearst, Einstein, Churchill, and Lady Astor, but your mileage may vary.

The final 100 pages or so are very much concerned with the coming of the sound era, politics, personal scandal, and the run up to the Second World War. The book becomes rather messy and a little confused at this point, as Chaplin obviously troubled at what to include and what to leave out. With frustration and negative feelings towards the US government and their treatment of him, Chaplin was still angered, but had chosen to leave the West behind.

While My Autobiography is not a masterpiece, it's an excellent insight into one of the world's most famous figures. His memories and escapades are described with humour and wit, making this an interesting read for all fans of Charlie Chaplin.

Book #31: ★★★★★

The quotations when engraved upon the memory give you good thoughts. They also make you anxious to read the authors and look for more.
— Winston Churchill

Thus, here are some of my favourite books from books, and about books. They're all stored on Quotables, my favourite quotations database. Enjoy!

From Books:

A pain stabbed my heart as it did every time I saw a girl I loved who was going the opposite direction in this too-big world.
— Jack Kerouac, On The Road

We are the makers of music and the dreamers of dreams.
— Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
— Carl Sagan, Cosmos

About Books:

Good friends, good books & a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.
— Mark Twain

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.
—

Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.
— Jessamyn West

Everyone has a book in them and that, in most cases, is where it should stay.
— Christopher Hitchens

And, finally, some sage wisdom from P.J. O'Rourke

Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.