I thought I’d concluded the Favorite Movies series with my all-time fave, but I forgot about another personal classic: the 1998 ensemble drama Deep Impact.
Deep Impact was one of two Comet Apocalypse movies released in the late 90s. The other was Armageddon, which I’ve only seen once in its entirety. While Armageddon was more of an action movie, Deep Impact took the human-interest perspective. I’ve probably said before that one of my favorite elements in any story is a cast of diverse, unrelated characters who are slowly weaved together by the events of the plot. Mix well with Comet Apocalypse, network broadcasting, estranged families reuniting, the space program, young love, and President Morgan Freeman, and you can’t fight me off with a stick.
I’m aware that this movie will never make any critical best lists. There’s plenty of cheese, and the line delivery of Tea Leoni’s dad leaves a lot to be desired. But the ensemble cast is hard to beat. Pre-Frodo Elijah Wood! Laura Innes at the peak of her Dr. Weaver days. Leelee Sobieski. Blair Underwood. Robert Duvall. Again, Tea Leoni, who’s always terribly underrated. And again: MORGAN FREEMAN AS PRESIDENT.
Deep Impact is also my guaranteed weeping movie. When one doomed character presses his hand to a screen showing his infant son and tells him to “be good…” I lose it every time.
It’s been a while since I watched this. Maybe I’ll take out the DVD tonight!
4 Comments + Posted in: movies
City of Fallen Angels and Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
CFA is the fourth book in the ongoing Mortal Instruments series (modern fantasy set in NYC), and CA is the first in the related, but stand-alone, Infernal Devices series (set in London during the Victorian era). I really enjoyed both, but CA captured me in a way that CFA didn’t. I can’t wait to see where that trilogy goes. :) As I said in my Goodreads review, I was a big fan of CC’s epic Harry Potter fanfiction before she got signed, and it’s cool to see many of the same themes and character traits emerging in new ways. It’s like getting a glimpse of old friends.
Bossypants by Tina Fey
This stream-of-consciousness-ish memoir is hilarious (I LOLed repeatedly) and insightful. Tina discusses her childhood and family, how she got into comedy, her years on SNL and the birth of 30 Rock, and what the whole Sarah Palin thing was like – plus several random funny stories. She also shares great thoughts on womanhood and what improv teaches us about life. I think she’s brilliant, and am encouraged by how much I relate to her in some ways. :) Five stars!
Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr
Anyone who’s ever had the rug ripped out from under them will relate to this honest novel. Sam’s mother is in rehab, and her pastor dad is in denial and making some bad decisions. After a member of the youth group is kidnapped, Sam doesn’t feel like she can trust anything or anyone – including God. As a Christian brought up in the church, I think the setting, tone, and perspective of this book are perfect. I admire Sara Zarr’s serious treatment of Christian culture without turning it into a cliche or a parody. That’s not easy to do! This is an excellent read for those who believe, those in doubt, and those who have walked away from faith.
Books for November: 4
2011 year to date: 68
One more reading note: if you like book blogs, I highly recommend Good Books and Good Wine. April is very entertaining. :) This blog actually gave me the final push to read The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, which my brother-in-law has been recommending to me for at least a year, but I had a hard time getting into it and it was due back at the library yesterday. I was less than 100 pages in. I just don’t have time for that kind of commitment right now. I’ll try again in 2012!
1 Comment + Posted in: book reviews, reading
The whole 11/11 thing was fun, but I’m glad to see November go. More than any other month, November is packed with marriage-related dates and emotional landmines for me. Compared to how I felt last year, this year was barely a blip on the radar, and I know it’ll get even easier. But this is the permanent kind of grief and fallout that you just have to learn to live with. I’m very “over” my divorce in a day-to-day sense, but in a deeper sense, I will never be 100% over it. It doesn’t prevent me from being happy, or healthy, or moving on, but it’s there underneath everything. Any major loss creates a ripple effect that applies in new ways to new experiences, so you can never totally shake it. I have a special appreciation for friends who have also experienced deep loss, because they instinctively understand this and don’t hold it against me.
While I’m on the subject, it bothers me that a death is more socially acceptable to grieve, and feel repercussions from, long-term than a divorce. I believe a divorce can be just as bad as a death, and in some ways and situations, even worse. It’s terrible when a loved one dies, and it’s natural to have anger and complicated feelings toward the circumstances or even toward the loved one. But in most cases, that person didn’t choose to leave you. Generally, you can be comforted knowing that the person loved you, and remembering your good times together. When your loss is the result of someone’s choice, a choice that rejects every molecule of your being, it’s a whole other ball of wax. It makes grieving the actual loss a lot messier. Meanwhile, people will expect you to forget any happy memories you have, acknowledge that you’re better off, and Move On as soon as possible. But you can know the truth of your better-off-ness and still pay tribute to and feel sad for what you’ve lost, even years later. It doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It’s okay… no matter what anyone says. Actually, I think this can apply to a lot of things.
Anyway, this Christmas season should be just what I need. My hope has really been waning lately, so it’s the perfect time to reflect on the coming of the Hope of the world!
4 Comments + Posted in: divorce, grief
My dad and brother view Thanksgiving as a deer-hunting holiday, so unlike most families, mine tends to scatter for the turkey feast. :\ This year, my sister and brother-in-law invited me to his family’s Thanksgiving in Cullman, Alabama. I wasn’t sure how it would go, but I had a fantastic time. His family is very relaxed and welcoming, and I felt comfortable with them immediately. To paraphrase Debra, it was good Southern food with good Southern people. We all enjoyed our couple of days together, and of course, I was happy to spend the holiday with my sister.
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| The whole fam |
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| Acknowledging the niece or nephew to-be :) |
4 Comments + Posted in: celebrate, fall, family
Several of my friends are reading Grace for the Good Girl now, reminding me that I never posted more of my thoughts on it. One brief passage that resonated, and has stuck with me, was about the fruits of the Spirit (as listed in Galatians 5). Emily Freeman says she went through a phase of “working on” a specific fruit each week – joy, kindness, patience, self-control, etc. Each week, she’d power through a few days before falling into despair. (I’ve undertaken similar projects with similar results.) But as she came to understand grace better, she realized that fruits of the Spirit aren’t things we have to produce. They’re things we already possess as Christians.
“This good [the fruit of the Spirit] is a result of the Spirit within us. Goodness is a fruit or a natural outcome, not a try-hard workout. Only Jesus can be like Jesus. And he wants me to trust him to be who he is in and through me. “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). We received him by faith for salvation, and now we can walk in him by faith just the same.”
So, this is another facet of what grace is about: realizing we don’t have to work for what’s already been given freely to us. We can be at peace. I wish I believed this all the time, because when I do, I feel such peace.