Two Thumbs Up

Lately I have been feeling like a pop-culture critic because I just finished up a great book and watched a movie that was very well done.

Water for Elephants was such a page-turner and kept me up way past my bedtime lately. Written by Sara Gruen, this piece of historical fiction details the life of Jacob Jankowski while he was in the circus. It is narrated by Jacob, a ninety-something-year-old man, and how his life was quickly affected by love, loyalty, power, and murder. Honestly, if you are interested in reading this book, I shouldn't say much more. Those who are interested will want the story to unfold as the pages turn!

The other night I watched There Will Be Blood on the big screen. Bloomington has kept it in the theaters for some time, as it will be available to rent this week. I thought the movie was so well done. It definitely isn't "the feel good movie of the year" as my friend at work pointed out, but it kept my eyeballs glued to the big screen for the whole two and a half hours. Like the book above, you don't want to know much about this movie before you see it. All I went in knowing was the movie was centered around a man in the early 1900's who was creating an oil empire. I knew it touched upon the topics of greed, corruption, and power. I think it is the type of movie you want to see again because more things will make sense the second time around. I went with some There Will Be Blood Fanatics, one of whom was seeing the movie for her sixth time! Everyone else had already seen it too, but wanted to catch it on the big screen one more time --- so you should have seen the look on their faces as I mumbled it was my first time. After the movie was over, it was required to have a debriefing to discuss everything.

Let me know if any of you have read Water for Elephants or see There Will Be Blood. I am curious to discuss them both. In the meantime, enjoy this crazy video of an elephant painting a picture of one of its kind!