In terms of subject matter, Milkman is like the song “Zombie” in book form. There are bombs and bombs and guns. But where the Cranberries’ song is filled with anger, Anna Burns uses a more delicate touch.
The unnamed protagonist is a young woman who is being pestered “the milkman,” who is romantically interested in her and also happens to be a member of a paramilitary organization. The stalking alone makes for anxious reading, but the real tragedy is that she has nobody to turn to. Because they live in basically a warzone, the entire community is in a constant state of mistrust and paranoia, and her personal struggles are only seen in the context of which side of the political conflict she may or may not be on.
Despite the dark story, the writing style is quirky and playful, in a way that reminds of a bit of George Saunders. There’s a lot of absurdist humour, like how the parents of the protaganist’s “maybe-boyfriend” have abandoned their family to become internationally famous ballroom dancers. I enjoyed this read, even if it does feel little bit repetitive and long-winded at times.
On the one hand, there’s a surprising amount of emotional and political depth here, to make the monster action scenes more impactful. The film doesn’t shy away from criticizing the idea of honourable sacrifice, which as I understand it, is deeply ingrained in Japanese culture, and gives us things like sepukku and kamikaze.
On the other hand, my enjoyment was dampened a bit by the acting style, which leans towards the melodramatic. There’s also a toddler who, when she cries, seems to have been dubbed over with the sound of an infant crying.
I got some disappointing personal news just before Christmas which, paired with the free time that the holidays bring, meant that I was looking for some cinematic comfort food to pass the days. The MCU has been pretty weak since the end of “Phase 3”1, and I had not revisited these last two Avengers entries since Endgame came out in 2019.
I was just as impressed as I was when I first saw them: it’s like watching the finale of a long-running TV series. Endgame especially rewards the loyal viewer with bittersweet character moments.
More specifically, since they tried to diversify into streaming TV series, which in hindsight really had a diluting effect on the quality of the stories. ↩
Biopics work best for me when I know nothing about their subject. Such was the case for The Iron Claw, which tells the story of the Von Erich family of pro wrestlers. The film is well-directed and well-acted, and I was sucked into wanting to know what happens next. The amount of tragedy that the family endured is almost unbelievable. However, I have to say that it left little emotional impact on me. I should have been bawling throughout the film, but I wasn’t.
We just finished watching the three seasons of this Toronto-based show about a gender-fluid person. The show started off more as a comedy in its first season, and I felt that it shifted more towards drama as it progressed. I respect the show for not giving into the temptation to follow the typical rom-com happy-ending route. The main character Sabi is defined by their feelings of not knowing where they belong, and I think it’s fair to say that they’re not ready at this stage in their life to be in a long-term relationship.
The plotting maybe relied a bit too much on big shocking events, and didn’t give the characters enough time to process them before moving onto the next twist. You could say that it’s true to life, but I would have liked to see more falling action to balance out the escalations. Still, the show is a valuable lesson in empathy for people who are different.
I hold The Social Network in high esteem as one of my favourite movies, and so it’s high praise when I say that BlackBerry belongs in the same conversation.
I remember when “The Facebook Movie” came out, it was criticized for its factual inaccuracy, especially because it depicts such recent events. BlackBerry, I suppose, will be immune to this criticism because there’s no mistake that the characters are exaggerated caricactures. The movie is way funnier than I expected it to be.
Also enjoyable are the local references, e.g. Ontario license plates, Shoppers Drug Mart, Tim Horton’s. There’s even a quick shot of someone paying with a 20 CAD bill with the old design that I haven’t seen in real life for years.
A short novella that you can read in one sitting, but may be worth savouring over a few quiet evenings. The story tells of a young girl whose overwhelmed parents drop her off with another couple for the summer. The setup is inherently sad, and the feeling of being unwanted is always hanging there, even though it’s not spoken.
There’s also a sense of timelessness about the setting; there’s no specific mention of when the story occurs. There’s no obvious references to cellphones or present-day technology, but you could believe that it’s happening now.
I admit I found it a bit slow at times, but the devastating final lines really grabbed me and made me want to read it again someday.
Third book: Here’s a new character! A pastor, whose job it is to talk about the philosophical implications of discovering alien life. But she ends up saving the day in a drug-addled action scene.
I preferred the second book to this one. The attempts to bring more philosophical discussion into the mix felt underdeveloped, in favour of a final action sequence that lasts way too long, in my opinion.
If you’ve got both Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan in the cast, I’m going to watch it.
Yeoh gets some cool fight scenes as the Goddess Guanyin, and the action choreography in general is pretty good in this show, which transplants the mythology of Journey to the West into a high school setting.
Quan’s role as a former TV sitcom star is a bit odd… his character is completely unrelated to the plot, and he never meets any of the main characters. It serves only as a commentary on Asian representation in media, which is an important message, but quite distracting because of how disconnected it is.
About Me
Hi! Albert here. Canadian. Chinese.
Writing software since 2001. “Blogging” since 2004. Reading since forever.
You can find me on socials with the links below, or contact me here.
