Book Review: A Home at the End of the World

*I mentioned yesterday about
 the upcoming Heath Ledger
stuff so what do I do? Review
something that has nothing to
do with him, duh!

In 1990’s, A Home at the End
of the World, Michael
Cunningham, the Pulitzer Prize-
winning author of The Hours,
brings to life the trials, triumphs,
 loves and losses over a dozen
years in the lives of two best
friends, Bobby and Jonathan.  

The book opens in suburban
 Cleveland in the 60s and after
 chronicling the two boys’ early
 childhood, the lonely Jonathan
meets the introverted and
inarticulate Bobby. Their
 friendship soon crosses over
 into something more as the
pair blur the line between
friends and lovers.

After going their separate ways,
 the two reunite in 1980s New
York City when a now
heterosexual Bobby moves in
 with gay Jonathan and soon
falls in love with Jonathan's
 eccentric roommate, Clare.
Bobby and Clare's relationship
 develops, spoiling Jonathan's
plans to have a baby with her.
 Feeling like he has become a
third wheel, Jonathan is ready
to return home when Clare
declares her unexpected
pregnancy.

The trio forms a sort of family,
moving to upstate New York.
This happiness is short lived,
however, when Clare takes her
daughter and leaves. Now
alone the two childhood friends
face their past relationship and
attempt to navigate their lives
together.

This book was made into a
movie starring Colin Farrell a
few years back. I went all the
way down to lower Manhattan,
for the sole reason of seeing
this film,  and made my way to
the only theater it was playing
at, in the pouring rain (in pants
that turned almost see-through
btw. I admit that it was worth it,
Farrell was outstanding as was
the supporting cast, but do
yourself a favor and read the
book. Sure you can go down to
your local Blockbuster or watch
it instantly from Netflix, but even
if you do that, read it too. Along
with getting some much needed
leisure, you won’t have to deal
with scenes the FCC deemed
inappropriate being cut out.
(One in particular that involved
a steamy love scene that Farrell
did full frontal nudity-NOT FAIR)
Even worse, if you catch it on
TV, it’s been chopped apart to
fit commercials. So find a comfy
chair, get some hot chocolate
(or coffee), and curl up with a
novel that’ll all but read itself.

Consider yourselves warned…

As you could probably have guessed from “I cannot believe it has been three years,” I believed Heath Ledger to be an amazing Actor. When he passed (I will always remember finding out) it was unfathomable to me that he was gone, and truth be told, it still is. His acting was a cut above the rest, and a lot of his movies have great spots in my heart, but once that happened, I sort of unconsciously (maybe) stopped watching them. Actually, that isn’t entirely true. I didn’t avoid them and on occasion did catch bits of them in their television, edited down versions, I just never popped them in the DVD player. It wasn’t that it was too hard to watch him; at least I don’t think it was, it was just that with my extensive collection of DVDs, they were sort of lost in the crowd. I have this habit of loving a movie, watching it over and over and then moving on with time and this is what happened. In fact recently, while trying to organize my collection, I found myself saying “Oh yeah, I own CASANOVA.” As proof that it wasn’t too hard to watch Ledger on film, I immediately went out to see his turn as the Joker in DARK KNIGHT when it was released in theaters and, following this pattern, I considered it amazing and then never bothered to watch it again. I will admit that when it came time to see IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS, Ledger’s second “last film” I was a bit scared that I would be hit with a wave of sadness but instead found my new favorite movie, one that contains the sentence “Remember nothing is permanent not even death.”

The thing about it is, a 28 year old in his prime, on the cusp of winning an Oscar, doing interviews where he looks happy, just dying one day is so surreal that it doesn’t register in my mind as something that actually happened and the guy I see in Chelsea from time to time who could be his twin isn’t helping NO ONE SAW THE BODY, I’M JUST SAYING. It seems more probable that he is inside Dr. Parnassus’ mystical mirror, and so I feel no ache or pain, or feeling of loss anymore than you would if you watched your favorite actor in the movie he made before he retired for a quieter life. The point I’m getting to is recently I’ve been getting back into his older work. A few weeks before Thanksgiving (for reason’s still unknown to me) I woke up one morning with one thought in mind- WHY DO I NOT OWN TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU? By lunch my quest to rectify it was complete, thanks to my mother. Then for Christmas I wanted a BLU-RAY player (for internet access) and as my first BLU-RAY disk, my mother bought me DARK KNIGHT. Because of these, and other movie additions, I had to perform the aforementioned DVD organization, created a Ledger section and thought to myself “I should watch these at some point.”

That point has now come because of a few things.

1- I have had an upper repertory/ cold/sinus thing for two weeks and counting (for those keeping track, the entire Disney Vacation) which leads me to act more homebody-ish than usual.

2- It is cold and snowy! The world does not end because of bad weather but it does make you ask yourself “Do I want to make an effort to go out to Rockwood Music Hall in this weather” especially with a cold. Sorry Dallin, the answer was no.

3- In the Hollywood Studios backlot tour, there was a gondola from CASANOVA, which made me remember that I thought I liked that movie but couldn’t remember any of it.

4- Awards Season- this time of year will always make me think of Heath (as well as Jake Gyllenhall) because my entire winter a few years ago centered around being home to see what awards BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN won and subsequently losing my mind and running around like someone just made me watch them kill my puppy every time Phillip Seymour Hoffman beat out Ledger If you remember I have a weird and unique take on that story and the film was acted so brilliantly by both men as well as Anne Hathaway and it pains me to say nice things about her but credit where it is due, super-slut Michelle Williams.

So now the warning, I am watching a lot of Ledger’s pre-“retirement” movies which means I am probably going to write about them so be ready.

Disney Vacation Pictures: The Future

Every time I go to Walt Disney World, as the trip begins to near it's end, the thoughts in my mind always turn to, "When am I coming back?" I could see the same shows, meet the same characters, and ride the same rides a million times and never get tired of it. That being said, in 2012 I have a legitimate reason to return, the new FANTASYLAND.



From the world of SNOW WHITE "The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train"



From THE LITTLE MERMAID "Under the Sea — Journey of the Little Mermaid"

Based on the Disney movie BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, A 550-seat restaurant dubbed "Be Our Guest," a smaller eatery called "Gaston's Tavern"; a retail area called "Bonjour! Village Gifts"; and "Enchanted Tales with Belle," a cottage in which guests will be able to interact with the princess.

There will also be "Princess Fairytale Hall," a revamped "Dumbo the Flying Elephant,"and improvements made to MICKEY'S TOONTOWN FAIR.