Movie and Book Reviews.

Things are a little slow at the coffee shop this week. Actually, Wendy has taken off with her family to the mountains, and the shop is officially closed. Not to worry, we have a key. We just went in, make up a pot, and carried on. A few regular customers came in and got a cup of coffee, but there were no lattes, burritos, or pastries served. We will settle up with Wendy next week. Is Ellies' Coffee Shop a last great place or what? The conversation was a bit slow today, just football, Tiger Woods, and a few stories retold by the chief. To fill in a little space, I'll review a movie I saw this week, and a book I read over the weekend.

The movie My wife Kathy and I watched was "Up In The Air". This is truly an adult film, no special effects, just a good plot and smart dialogue. The main character, played by George Clooney, works for a company that specializes in firing people working for other companies. He's a professional traveler who packs light and is obsessed with collecting airline miles. He meets an equally jaded professional traveler, played by Vera Farmiga, and of course an affair ensues. I don't think I have ever seen Vera Farmiga in any other movie, and she is no raving beauty, but she plays a very sexy part. The movie is not your typical romantic comedy, is has lots of dark humor, and the end is not what you might expect, but the interaction between the characters is excellent. I could watch it again.

The book I finished this week end was "The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver. It is a work of historical fiction in which the main character is inserted into the lives of Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Lev Trotsky. It spans a period in history from about 1925 to the nineteen fifties, and follows the rise and fall of the communist party in America. I confess that I knew very little about Trotsky's exile to Mexico, the communist party in America, or the McCarthy hearings, but I read the book with my laptop beside me and found the items I Googled really inhanced my appreciation of the book. Kingsolver's style is more like poetry than prose, and is a joy to read.