The Week in Entertainment

Film: I Am Legend - although this ends much more, um, shall we say optimistically?, than the novella, the movie is definitely worth seeing. Will Smith's performance is absolutely riveting (which, considering that most of the movie is just him, is a damn good thing). It's entirely possible - and probably intended - to read the end of this movie as an endorsement of religion (God sent Anna, our salvation is in the blood, the first thing we see in Vermont is a church), but don't let that stop you from seeing it. (more here)

DVD: More of that Rankin/Bass set: The Year Without a Santa, Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July, Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, Frosty's Winter Wonderland - I can see why Nestor never became a real classic. Unfortunately, I had to laugh when the Roman soldiers told the donkeys "Move, slaves!" ... and the ending was abrupt and unmotivated, and made no sense whatsoever. And the winter wonderland one devalued the Frosty story by making the magic which brought him to life quite, quite commonplace. And the Christmas in July one was simply bizarre - death, darkness, and all those songs about "you're the one!" Jeepers. And it made no sense, either. Oh well, we've still got the others!

TV: Futurama on Adult Swim! Yay! But too bad Cartoon Network has lost the show...

Read: I took a break from Kafka on the Shore to read The Asti Spumante Code which I had been told was hilarious. It's not. But it's amusing enough for something I got through in a couple of hours. As a parody it has a problem of not making sense - they have to be consistent to work, otherwise they're just mean-spirited. Dan Brown is a tight plotter, whatever his other literary sins may be, and within the confines of his bizarre world, his books make sense and his protagonists act reasonably (well, fairly so). The people in The Asti Spumante Code do not, in the end, act reasonably. Then I finished up Kafka on the Shore, which is Murakami at his metaphysical (and confusing) best; I love his work.