Yes, I know it must be silly to dedicate whole two posts to Atonement, but I hate blogging about personal stuff and daily events anyway, so… here you are.

EDIT to the previous post (After watching the film): Yes, it’s a good adaptation; one of the best I’ve seen (when it comes to adapting a novel to the big screen).

Perhaps it’s because McEwan was there all the time? In any case, Joe Wright did an excellent job, now I’m his true fan. Even Keira could ruin this movie.

Definitely one of the best films of 2007. ***** 1/2 jefflions out of ***** for this (note: 6 out of 5 jefflions is the best mark, reserved only for my favourite films, films that I consider perfect. We’ll see how I’ll feel about this one after a while. Perhaps I’ll add or remove a jefflion).

PS- Saoirse Ronan was brilliant as Briony. Too bad she didn’t have more screen time.

PPS- The idea of adding typewriter sound to the soundtrack was amazing, it really made the point! I believed it was impossible to add THAT side of the story (which is the most important, BTW) to the movie, but I was wrong.

PPPS- Even Keira couldn’t ruin this one. Wait… I already said that. Twice.

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a really good book. I mean, I read a lot, but finding a quality book is not an easy task. Finding a quality book written in THIS millennium is almost impossible.

You could see why McEwan’s “Atonement” was a refreshing, a wonderful surprise. I read it a few days ago and I’m still under its spell… And impressing me- that’s not an easy task.
By the way, I haven’t seen the film yet (perhaps I will); some people say it stays true to the novel, but I don’t think you could really adapt such a story to movie screen, now can you?

McEwan’s “Atonement” is boring at times, which is one of the best things about it. I have a theory, you see. Some of the greatest works (novels, films) are painfully boring at the beginning. Just think of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. “Atonement” has the same problem, but slow parts are, in fact, the best ones.

I love McEwan’s writing style, it’s really special. It’s… soft and nostalgic, but sharp and precise at the same time. And Briony T. character is well written, realistic and unique. It really touched me, this novel, because I was one of those weird child writers that are sometimes unable to perceive the world outside of their stories. No, wait, this sounds too weird. What I’m saying is, I know what is like to be 12 or 13 years old and lonely, writing your fifth novel, and every exciting moment in the real world around you inspires you to write. I was into mystery novels, and things such as small robbery at school (done by one of the kids, I guess) became inspiration to write a larger story, with detectives and conspiracies. Don’t get me wrong, I could always tell the difference between fiction and reality, yet, I enjoyed writing stories, because in stories, life was more exciting, people were honest and I was not just one of those uncool kids but protagonist of an important story.

What I’m saying is, I could understand the great power that writing could have to a teenager, and I love the way McEwan deal with questions about writing itself, its honesty and dishonesty, its power to affect the author and its strength to, well, messes up with someone’s life.

A great book, brilliant ending, I wish there were more novels like this one.

Oscars are crap, and the whole image of this awards show disgusts me. Yet, I watch Oscars almost every year, and I prefer integral uncut “uncensored” show, not the digest they give us the next day. I like watching Oscars because it’s interesting to catch the current socio- political theme of the show. A few years ago, the theme was praising African Americans. Back in 1998 it was praising idiotic movies (Shakespeare in Love, anybody?) This year, the theme was “praising” Europeans.

So, I drank my medicine and watched the show on Croatian national TV. It started around 2 am CET and ended in 5:30. They skipped red carpet and whole fashion mess before the show, which is the most boring thing about Oscars. As for the show, it was shorter than usual (due to writers strike, perhaps?) and pretty predictable.

Jon Stewart as the host… Hmmm, I like his “Daily Show”, but for some reason that I do not fully understand, you can’t bash current American president at the Oscars, so he was not really interesting.

I didn’t watch most of the nominated films, but somehow managed to have a favourite or two. Though I love Johnny Depp, Daniel Day Levis is one if the greatest actors in history and everybody says he deserved this one. As for Marion Cotillard- it was obvious she was hoping for Oscar, but in a cute way. And Javier Bardem… I love that guy. Okay, not in THAT way, but I just love the guy. Tilda Swinton was, according to some people, the only surprise of the night, a good one. For some reason, it’s “in” to hate Cate Blanchett now. I don’t know why. I mean, she was marvelous as Bob Dylan, I mean: Jude Quinn; heck, she was as twice as bad as the guy. So, I don’t know. It’s popular to dislike her, and every Oscar ceremony should have a surprise or two.

Speaking of surprises: a VERY bas surprise, a cold shower, actually, was presenting one award from Iraq. Pardon my language, but… What the fuck?????!? Oh, you just wanted to remind all the people that there are poor suffering soldiers, away from home? (I’d really want this presentation to be sarcastic reminder that troops should leave Iraq and never come back- there, or anywhere on the planet Earth- but for some reason I don’t think it was the point behind the presentation from Iraq).

The best thing of the show, the only thing that really made me happy, was The Best Song category. There were three Disney songs among five nominated, and obviously nobody thinks it’s interesting anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I like some of the “legendary” Disney songs, but they do not have anything new to say for years now. And I’m really happy that song from “Once” won. As far as I can see, I’m not the only one. The song is not the best in history of music, but it sounds really honest. Perhaps it’s not a great song; average music and lyrics, but
it just sounds so touching and honest (I already said honest, right?)