Why you should watch “Tonight You’re Mine”

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Tonight You're MIneRecently I decided to try out Netflix’s DVD service so that I could finally watch some new releases I’d been wanting to see. While I was browsing through their offerings, I came across a movie called “Tonight You’re Mine.” The synopsis intrigued me:

Shot over the course of five days at Scotland’s annual T in the Park music festival, this unconventional romance centers on a pair of bickering rockers who are handcuffed together; 24 hours later, they’re falling in love.

Yes, the setup is a total cliché, but I’m a sucker for movies about music and musicians, so I figured I’d give it a chance. And I’m really glad I did! The two lead actors are very appealing, particularly Luke Treadaway as Adam. (To be fair, I like looking at scruffy rock stars, so I might be a bit biased!) They have great chemistry together and manage to make the handcuff thing look very natural and realistic.

I also loved the fact that the movie was filmed at an actual music festival; it really captured the energy and magic of 85,000 people coming together to enjoy some great songs. A lot of real bands are featured in the film, and while I had never heard of most of them before, I was happy to be introduced to some new music!

It’s not a perfect movie, by any means. Because the movie is short and was filmed on a very tight schedule, the plot and character development are relatively slight. Also, it’s very hard to hear some of the dialogue due to the challenges of filming at a live event. But there’s enough here to be entertaining for anyone who likes music and rom-coms. This scene alone, where the heroine’s band is playing a gig (with the hero still handcuffed to her arm), sold me:

Unfortunately the end of the song is cut off, but you get the idea. 🙂

There’s also this charming song from the very beginning of the film (actually written by Treadaway):

It’s so freakin’ catchy, I can’t even take it!

Long story short, “Tonight You’re Mine” isn’t going to be one of my all-time favorite movies, but it’s definitely worth watching!

Bookish Update: January 2013

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List-maker that I am, I thought it might be fun to collect some bookish statistics and post them at the end of every month. I’ll list the books I read, the books I acquired, and anything else that strikes my fancy.

Currently reading: Phillip Rock, The Passing Bells

Books read in January (all reviews can be found on the Review Index page):

  1. Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus
  2. Lauren Morrill, Meant to Be
  3. Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove
  4. Anna Gavalda, Hunting and Gathering
  5. Patricia Moyes, Dead Men Don’t Ski
  6. Gemma Burgess, The Dating Detox

Favorite book of the month: Hunting and Gathering — a beautiful love story with depth.

Least favorite book of the month: The Night Circus — gorgeous setting, but no real plot or character development.

Books acquired in January:

  1. Kristan Higgins, Until There Was You
  2. Julia Quinn, Just Like Heaven
  3. Kristan Higgins, Somebody to Love
  4. Umberto Eco & Cardinal Martini, Belief or Nonbelief?: A Confrontation
  5. Tayeb Salih, The Wedding of Zein and Other Sudanese Stories
  6. Patricia Moyes, Dead Men Don’t Ski
  7. Anna Dean, A Woman of Consequence
  8. Alicia Thompson, Psych Major Syndrome
  9. Hester Browne, Swept off Her Feet
  10. Kathryn Miller Haines, When Winter Returns
  11. Gemma Burgess, The Dating Detox
  12. Cynthia Smith, Silver and Guilt
  13. Susanna Kearsley, The Shadowy Horses

Tune in Tuesday with Katelyn: I wish I could do better by you

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Tune in Tuesday with KatelynMy pick for this week’s Tune in Tuesday is another awesome find from Pandora (seriously, the Mumford & Sons station is great!). The lyrics are just so endearing! I love a simple, straightforward, un-ironic love song — even when it’s also an apology, as I think it is here. I also can’t help swaying and tapping along to the beat. Anyway, here’s “The Girl” by City and Colour:

If you’re not digging the song initially, skip ahead to [2:17]!

Review: The Dating Detox

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The Dating DetoxGemma Burgess, The Dating Detox

Sass (real name Sarah) is a 20-something copywriter in a London advertising agency who has just been dumped for the sixth time in a row. What’s wrong with her? Why can’t she make a relationship last? And why is she always the one getting dumped, even when she doesn’t like the guy all that much either? After several drinks and talks with her best friends, Bloomie and Kate, Sass decides she’s had enough of heartbreak and rejection: she’s going on a dating sabbatical. For three months, she won’t flirt, date, or sleep with any men. Almost immediately, Sass begins to notice improvements in her life. She’s more confident at work, she’s more productive in her free time, and she’s not distracted by men all the time. But when she meets Jake, a handsome and charming man who shares her offbeat sense of humor, she must decide whether to risk everything she’s achieved through her dating sabbatical and take a chance on a new relationship.

What a fun book! Yes, it’s chick lit and thus inherently predictable, but Sass’ original voice makes it a lot more interesting than the usual fare in this genre. Sass narrates the book in present tense, which is usually something I hate, but in this case it really emphasizes Sass’ upbeat, live-in-the-moment character. However, this is a book in which you really have to like the heroine, so if detailed descriptions of outfits (yes, she loves clothes) and the bar scene in London put you off, then you may not enjoy the book as much as I did. I also really liked the fact that the other characters in this book are fleshed-out individuals with their own problems and concerns. Bloomie and Kate, for example, both grow and change throughout the course of the novel as they navigate problems at work and in their relationships. Many chick-lit books can feel like a one-woman show, but that was definitely not the case here! Overall, I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys British chick lit, and I look forward to reading more by Burgess.

Review: Dead Men Don’t Ski

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Dead Men Don't SkiPatricia Moyes, Dead Men Don’t Ski

Inspector Henry Tibbett and his wife Emmy are looking forward to a relaxing ski holiday in the Alpine town of Santa Chiara, Italy. However, Henry has also been asked to keep his eyes peeled for information relating to an international smuggling ring that might be headquartered in the area. Though reluctant to spoil his holiday with work, Henry can’t help but notice that several of his fellow vacationers have secrets to hide. Then one of the other guests at his hotel, Fritz Hauser, is found murdered on the ski lift. As Henry helps the local police to investigate, he soon learns that Hauser was involved in the smuggling ring — and that several of the hotel guests had good reasons for wanting him dead.

I think this book could best be described as a “traveling” English country house mystery. All the key elements are there — unlikable murder victim, plenty of suspects, an unusual crime scene which demands very precise alibis from everyone — but it happens to take place in a ski villa rather than an English country house. Since I love the genre, I found a lot to enjoy in this book. I especially enjoyed the subtle deviations from the standard mystery formula: for example, two of the characters are a hearty English colonel and his domineering wife, yet there’s more to both of them that meets the eye. Also, the “foreigners” in classic mystery novels always seem to be there as mere background, but here they were truly fleshed-out characters with actual relevance to the plot. I believe this is the first book in a series featuring Tibbett, and I’d gladly read more. Definitely recommended for classic mystery fans!

Review: Hunting and Gathering

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Hunting and GatheringAnna Gavalda, Hunting and Gathering (trans. Alison Anderson)

The original French title of this novel is Ensemble, C’est Tout, which is a much more fitting name for a book about a group of lost souls who eventually find happiness with each other. Camille is literally a starving artist, wasting away to skin and bones while working a completely unfulfilling job as an office cleaner in Paris. One day she falls ill and is rescued by Philibert, a sweet-natured but socially awkward aristocrat who is living in his family’s decaying ancestral home. Philibert also has a roommate named Franck, a talented chef whose filthy language is only matched by his even filthier lifestyle. Initially, the three of them living in one house seems like a recipe for disaster; but as they learn more about one another, they slowly build an unconventional family.

I think this is a perfect cold-weather book; it just begs to be read while snuggled up in a blanket and sipping something warm. At its core, it’s a fairly simple and predictable love story, with the hero and heroine hating each other at first, then slowly changing their minds. But Gavalda’s dreamy, transparent prose helps it to rise above a stereotypical chick-lit or romance novel. There’s something very thoughtful and smart about the book as a whole; I especially loved the descriptions of Camille’s art. The only thing that bugged me about the book is that sometimes the dialogue was hard to follow — there aren’t a lot of tags to indicate who’s saying what. There’s also a lot of jumping around between different characters’ perspectives, which can be distracting. Overall, though, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to fans of love stories or French literature.

A Year with the Beatles: “Please Please Me”

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Beatles_Please Please MeTime to kick off my Year of the Beatles by talking about their first U.K. LP, Please Please Me. It originally came out in 1963, which makes 2013 its 50th anniversary! Overall, I really like the album, which is basically 14 songs of happy, innocent, fresh-faced rock and roll. I think the Beatles’ later work is going to be more interesting, but I can see why this album made them so popular.

I actually did write up my thoughts on all the individual songs…but then I lost them somehow when I published this post! 😦 I had tried to put them under a jump, but in so doing, I inadvertently deleted them. Despite my efforts to restore an earlier draft, it looks like they’re gone for good. So I apologize for not providing the in-depth discussion of individual songs that I wanted to do…I just don’t have it in me to rewrite the whole thing. I’m crushed, but what can you do?

My next Beatles post will be on February 23, when I’ll talk about their second U.K. LP, With the Beatles. (And I’ll have the jump thing figured out by then, I swear!) Stay tuned, and feel free to join me!

Tune in Tuesday with Katelyn: I can hear it clear as day

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Tune In Tuesday Button

My pick for this week’s Tune in Tuesday is “Just Stay” by Kevin Devine. I really like the entire album, Put Your Ghost to Rest, but in my opinion this song is the standout. I love the slow build of intensity throughout the song, to the point where he’s almost screaming at [2:18] and following. Something about this song is cathartic for me; it makes me feel sad in a good way, if that makes sense. Anyway, here it is — hope you enjoy!

Review: Lonesome Dove

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Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryLarry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove

This epic Western tells the story of a group of cowboys who decide to drive a cattle herd from the small town of Lonesome Dove, Texas, to the wilds of Montana. Leading the outfit are former Texas Rangers Woodrow Call and Gus McCrae, whose prowess in fighting Indians has made them legendary throughout the Wild West. They take a small group of cowboys with them on the journey, including several men who served with them when they were the only law in Texas. One woman also accompanies them, a prostitute named Lorena who has fallen in love with one of the cowboys. The book follows this group on its journey north, describing the various perils the cowboys meet along the way, including bad weather, hostile Indians, and a growing despair as they confront more and more suffering.

This is the first Western I’ve ever read, although I’ve seen and enjoyed several John Wayne movies. But I definitely think this was the right novel to start with, as it seems to encapsulate the entire scope of what a Western should be. I was especially impressed with the descriptions of the country, its weather and its wildlife. I honestly did feel transported to another place and time. The character development is also very well done; every person encountered in the book seems clearly delineated, with his (or her) own goals, fears, and desires. In a book this long, so much specificity is quite a feat! I especially enjoyed the depictions of women in the novel; I was amazed to think of what a hard life they must have had in such unsettled, lawless country. My one complaint about the book is that it’s extremely long, which made it hard for me to find the motivation to read it. It’s also quite heartbreaking in places…I don’t want to spoil anything, but a lot of people die throughout the course of the novel. But overall, I was very impressed with this book and would definitely recommend it!

“Be a better man than your father:” My thoughts on the end of “Fringe”

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Despite appearances, this is still primarily a book blog, I promise! I’ve just been reading the same book for a while, so I haven’t had any new reviews to post. And in the meantime, a TV show that I really like just aired its series finale. So I’d like to take a few minutes and talk about “Fringe,” the sci-fi show that surprised everyone by hanging on for 100 episodes.

Confession time: I started watching this show because I have an absurd celebrity crush on Joshua Jackson. (The ear-splitting grin? The easygoing charm? The constant five-o’clock shadow? I swoon.) But while I came for the eye candy, I stayed for the original storytelling (which spans multiple universes and timelines), fascinating mythology, and complex relationships between the three core characters, Olivia, Walter, and Peter.

Since I don’t want to spoil people who haven’t seen the whole show yet — or bore people who couldn’t care less — I’ll post my thoughts on the series under the jump. (Warning: they are very long and full of spoilers!) Would love to hear from anyone else who watched the show!

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