I finished Justin Cronin’s City of Mirrors this morning. It’s an amazing end to a remarkable trilogy that spans centuries, nay, millennia. There’s a lot of back story about Zero in this one, which at first seems like a huge digression until you realize that humanity was destroyed because of the actions of a star-crossed lover. Some brief and intense conflict scenes, and oh, what he does to Manhattan! I’ll be seeing him at Murder By the Book in a few days. Looking forward to hearing what he plans to do next.
We went to see Money Monster (which my mind insists is Monster Money) on Saturday. The plot is highly improbable (no way the cops would let a guy strapped with a bomb walk out into the open streets), but it is redeemed by fine performances by George Clooney and Julia Roberts, not to mention Jack O’Connell, who I’ve never heard of before. Clooney plays the host of a cable TV show where he makes wild predictions about the viability of stocks and companies. One of his featured “buys” went so far south it has penguins, and O’Connell bet the family fortune on it. So he’s a little miffed. He sneaks into the studio during live filming, armed with a gun and a bomb vest, which he makes Clooney’s character put on. It’s a little Network—he’s mad as hell and he’s not going to take it any more. He doesn’t want his $60,000 back: he wants everyone who lost a total of $800 million to get an explanation for the trading glitch that caused the stock to tank. Curiously, the CEO (Dominic West) is nowhere to be found. So Clooney, with the aid of his research team, some Icelandic hackers, and his intrepid camera man, producer and director, set about to get to the bottom of things, all live, all under duress. Directed by Jodie Foster, it’s entertaining but doesn’t have the power to get you all fired up like The Big Short did. It also stars Giancarlo Esposito from Breaking Bad as the police officer in charge of the hostage situation.
We also watched The Royal Night Out, starring 11.22.63‘s Sara Gadon as a young Princess Elizabeth, and Rupert Everett and Emily Watson King George and the woman who we’d come to know as “the Queen mother.” The story takes place on the night of V-E day. The war in Europe is over, and everyone in England is taking a moment to celebrate, even though the war continues elsewhere. Elizabeth and her younger sister, Margaret, beg to be allowed to go out amongst the populace, incognito, to join in the revelry but also to hear what the people think about the King’s speech and the monarchy in general. It is to be a tightly controlled excursion, but the two women manage to slip their handlers and have a number of experiences. It’s very loosely based on reality. Maybe 10%. The real night out was nothing near as exciting as what the movie portrays (Margaret was only 14 at the time, though she’s played older in this movie) but it’s a fun romp and Gadon is charming and radiant as the future Queen. Plus she gets to put the Lindy Hop skills she acquired filming 11.22.63 to use again.
