I’ll keep this site, but I’m posting under www.gracewu.ca now, currently redirecting to http://relytwu.blogspot.com. Also on twitter: @relytwu

I knew I should’ve bought a Hot Docs ticket so see this documentary…It’s a must-see for me as my due date gets closer – 12 May!

This was cute and fluffy, just as advertised. Recommended over daytime television for sure!

I prefer the highs and lows of the seasons rather than being constrained by the movie format, in which all loose ends are tied up for the closing credits. The characters flatten out considerably on the big screen.

I jumped on the bandwagon on this one, in part to see what my spouse’s 13 year old niece was so obsessed about. It was satisfying, but not fantastic…perhaps I will reserve judgment as I read through the series.

I missed the first and last fifteen minutes…This was a more spirited Michael Cera than in Juno. It was compelling in the way that you have to cringe but you can’t stop watching. It was possibly brilliant…I will go read the screenplay.

I borrowed a friend’s DVD to watch this again, and also the extras. I have a connection to the dialogue, having read the screenplay before the first viewing. This second time through, I also watched the extras, and appreciated the choices made in editing. I was impressed with the “screen tests” of Ellen Page, and how she had talent equal to the screenwriter, to take on the character. It’s a privilege to watch, and Ellen Page is worthy of the critical acclaim (and fame).

Konigsburg has gotten a little dreamy in her later writing, but I still wish I could listen to her voice, installments at a time, as I age. This one picks up a bit more on history, art, and family history. It picks up edges of characters, and how they relate to each other. It’s a pleasure to be drawn in, and to be won over by clever, though flawed, child protagonists. The story takes on a certain timeless quality, and it’s a relief not to be inundated with the technological references of the moment, as it could become so much filler. In not filling in all the blanks, she leaves the reader to imagine and to generate additional substance to carry the story.

The women and girl children suffer…but are sustained in some measure by friendship. This was a glimpse of another time, but I recognize some Chinese sensibilities that continue to the present day. I have been thinking about feet and shoes lately, having seen the ballet of Romeo & Juliet this past Sunday. I was quite taken with the concept and process of foot-binding. I was in the neighbourhood this morning so I went to the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto for the first time, and it was an enlightening way to spend an hour, and to see some shoes from this period when 3 inch feet were the ideal.

I’m reading this for a book club I will be joining! More on this book to come…