Reviews

Two months ago I read and later re-skimmed the David Sedaris book "Dress Your Family in Denim and Corduroy." Although the title of the book is not explained (I think the motive behind the title of a book should be apparent by the time it's finished) I thought it was a better book than his more recent "When You Are Engulfed in Flames." In "Flames" he writes stories and reflections from roughly 20 years ago to the present, but he focuses much more on his expatriate present life in France, while in "Family" he writes stories going all the way back to when he was in 6th grade. His stories are more interesting in "Family" since he covers some low points in his life and includes events to describe his family. Sedaris includes blunt references to his former craving for drugs as well as reflections about living in the basement of his parent's house after graduation, his obsessive compulsive daily schedule, encounters with a manipulative 9-year-old ghetto girl and a visit to his trash-diving family-avoidant sister. Best of all, he ends the book drowning a mouse in a bucket in front of his house in France at 3 AM. Sedaris presents people descriptively and objectively, revealing the right edetails, behaviorisms or dialogue so that we may judge and see them the way he does. He referenced a Joni Mitchell album called "Hejira" and the 1999 movie "You Can Count on Me" so I downloaded and rented them.

"Hejira" is an allright CD. I think its tone mirrors the fact that Joni was driving across the United States when she wrote the songs. It's basically repetitive melodies with stream-of-consciousness lyrics and instrumental guitars that make it sound like a collection of acoustic Led Zeppelin songs.

"You Can Count on Me" is an unintentionally funny drama starring Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo. They play siblings who were orphaned when they were young so they really like each other and tell each other everything. Mark Ruffalo is a wandering construction worker with hobo-like habits who is visiting Laura Linney, a banker and single mother. At first Laura Linney is a little pissed off because Mark Ruffalo needs to borrow money from her ("I'll pay you back, man"). Mark Ruffalo becomes friends with Laura Linney's son (played by Rory Culkin, who is poker-faced and resembles MacCaulay Culkin). The funny thing about this relationship is that Mark Ruffalo talks to Rory Culkin as if he were a grown up guy and expects him to act like one. Most of the movie consists of shots of Mark Ruffalo sitting in Laura Linney's house and watching TV while profound cello music plays in the background. This movie doesn't have much of a message except that nonconformists want to have a positive impact on the people in their lives and that they are misunderstood by society. There isn't much substance to make a conclusion about the impact of Mark Ruffalo's visit on Laura Linney's life. Still, the style, acting, characters and storytelling make up for these flaws.