Compiled by Alex Lento, ’10, LifeStyle Section Editor
When it’s cold outside, it can be tempting to stay in all night with some hot cocoa and curl up with a good book or movie. It’s nice to read something that comes recommended by a friend, but perhaps even better when it comes recommended by a teacher.
Hirsch:
MOVIE: Not a big movie go-er but I loved The Blindside. I love true stories and from all reports the movie was pretty close to the real life story.It will be fun to follow Michael’s career with the Baltimore Ravens… guess it’s not surprising that the athletic director likes the football movie!
Ms. Hausman:
MOVIE: Arranged. When Rochel (Zoe Lister Jones) and Nasira (Francis Benhamou) — an Orthodox Jew and a Muslim, respectively — meet as new teachers at a Brooklyn school, co-workers and students expect friction. But the women discover they have a shared expectation of entering into arranged marriages. As they experience tension between their traditional cultures and life in contemporary America, Rochel and Nasira form a special bond.
Mr. Dunn:
MOVIE: Raging Bull. For mature audiences only. Starring Robert DeNiro and directed by Martin Scorsese. The movie portrays the life of Jake Lamotta, a 1940’s era boxer whose rage and lack of control make him a champion boxer, but a lonely tragic figure in real life. Two legends at the top of their games; it is the best acting of DeNiro’s career and the best directing of Scorsese’s career.
BOOK: Too Late the Phalarope by Alan Paton. Written in the 1950s, both the themes and this period in South Africa’s history are eerily modern. It uncannily presages both the fall of apartheid and the fall of Tiger Woods. It explores the destruction of an individual and his family caused by his uncontrollable forbidden desires and actions. With the almost weekly felling of famous men by sexual scandal, the importance of rugby to South Africa portrayed in the movie Invictus, and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, it is a must read or reread.
Mrs. Dunn:
MOVIE: Precious. Mo’nique was unbelievable. I would never treat “the daughter”* that way.
MOVIE/BOOK: The Reader for its skillful use of the first person point of view.
MOVIE/BOOK: No Country For Old Men, a mesmerizing movie but even better book—both are relentless, the movie more from angle of the criminal and book from the point of view of the law.
BOOK: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and its sequel, The Girl Who Played with Fire, for great suspense with surprisingly good character development.
Mr. Black:
MOVIES: Two very different films come to mind—one is a drama and the other a comedy. My favorite film is On the Waterfront starring Marlon Brando as Terry— tough and gorgeous on the exterior and sensitive and vulnerable underneath; he knows how to deliver a punch as well as a kiss! The other film is Play It Again Sam starring Woody Allen. Allen plays the role of Felix—a total loser, whose obsession is be as cool as Humphrey Bogart; a leading character in the movie is Bogart’s cigarette!
Mrs. Mapes:
MOVIE: Steel Magnolias, because it’s about strong southern women. Favorite quote: “I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special.” Mrs. Mapes reminds us to “Treat everyday like it’s your thirty minutes.”
Mr. McGivern:
MOVIE/BOOK: Gone Baby Gone, the book and the film. Official synopsis: “Dorchester, one of the toughest neighborhoods in all of Boston, is no place for the weak or innocent. It’s a territory defined by hard heads and even harder luck, its streets littered with broken families, hearts, and dreams. When one of its own, a 4-year-old girl, goes missing, private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro don’t want the case. But after pleas from the child’s aunt, they open an investigation that will ultimately risk everything — their relationship, their sanity, and even their lives — to find a little girl-lost.” Gone Baby Gone is an evocative and riveting story that I read in a day (no, honestly), by Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River (another interesting work), that I highly recommend if you’re up for a gritty and poignant story. The story’s conclusion presents an ethical dilemma that will invariably prompt ample discourse for the dinner table. The film adaptation is excellent too; it was critically acclaimed and it received several Oscar nominations—Casey Affleck gives an especially moving performance.
TV SHOWS: My recommendations for quality television programming would definitely be Mad Men (on AMC) and Dexter (on Showtime). Without question, these are the two best series I’ve seen in recent years (if you’re looking for brilliant acting, directing and screenplay). In fact, you’ll feel ashamed for liking shows like Lost and 24 once you start watching Mad Men or Dexter.”
In case these suggestions aren’t enough, your LifeStyle editors have provided their own recommendations.
Alex Lento:
BOOKS: If you liked Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code, then you’ll also like Digital Fortress and Deception Point. They are both beautifully crafted, thrilling, mystery novels. They are both somewhat lengthy, but in my experience they go quickly!
Jessup Smith:
MOVIE/BOOK: Youth in Revolt the movie and Youth in Revolt the book, by C.D Payne.
I read this book during winter break of my freshman year and saw the movie the weekend it came out my senior year. The movie was a great adaptation of the book, but it is just that, an adaptation. The novel extends the journal of Nick Twisp and elaborates more on his time spent with Leftie, his boyhood friend from Oakland with an anatomical mishap. The book takes his adventures to another level involving staged deaths and funerals, bogus news broadcasts, more stolen cars, and even more time with the irresistible girl from the trailer park.
*The daughter refers to Brigid Dunn, Class of 2008.
Photo of Mr. McGivern by Ilana Habib.
