Knocked Up and Two Good Books
Oct 2nd, 2007 by Alex
After a long time waiting and listening to coworkers’ ravings, I saw Knocked Up. It did have a good mix of cheap and more insightful quotes, but the two kids stole the screen.
The two daughters are the actual daughters of writer/director Judd Apatow and actress Leslie Mann (who plays Debbie). The movie is supposedly a rough approximation of the birth of their older daughter (who plays Sadie). Knowing this, watching the exchange between screen and real-life mother and daughter is even more funny.
Sadie: Where do babies come from?
Debbie: Where do you think they come from?
Sadie: Well. I think a stork, he umm, he drops it down and then, and then, a hole goes in your body and there’s blood everywhere, coming out of your head and then you push your belly button and then your button falls off and then you hold your butt and you have to dig and you find the little baby.
Debbie: That’s exactly right.
It wasn’t as funny as people have been making it out to be. I think it came down to a combination of too much hype and serious content. There were plenty of uncomfortably funny “no he didn’t just do that” and “do people really do that” sorts of responses from the viewing couch. I could have done without the crowning shots. The drunken stumble home from the club is well depicted though, especially the eerily accurate fixation with the now. “We should go swimming right now.” No other movie in my mind has nailed it like that before.
It is very easy to comment on movies. Harder to comment intelligently on books that I’ve read. I always feel like I’m not doing the book any justice in my review or recommendation.
I finished John Connelly’s Book of Lost Things after a recommendation of a particular librarian. I usually don’t read a lot of fantasy because a lot of it melds together in my mind. Had I know that it would contain delightfully dark twists on classic fairy tales I would have read it sooner. Great twists, without being unoriginal. I’m a big fan of clever twists in general, which is why James Garner’s Politically Correct Bedtime Stories sits atop the guest commode. Both books are worth a read.
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If you’re into the “twisted fairy tale” vein (and you like graphic novels), you might like Fable. I just borrowed it from ACW and plowed through the first three novels. Awesome.