Books and Movies

As an English (literature) major, avid reader, and filmmaker, I am consistently giving people recommendations based on what I’ve read/seen lately. Here you can find a periodically-updated list of good stuff I’m reading, have read, or seen, recently.

Juno, film by Jason Reitman

The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway

Stardust, film by Matthew Vaughn, based on the book (which is also great) by Neil Gaiman

The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas

Blood Diamond, film by Edward Zweig

Babel, film by Alejandro González Inárritu – Of course everything on here is really good, but, seriously, this is one of the most amazing, powerful films I’ve ever seen.

Stranger Than Fiction, film by Marc Forster

The Departed, film by Martin Scorsese

The Fountain, film by Darren Aronofsky

Casino Royale – I don’t know who it’s by, but it’s the new James Bond movie, and it’s amazing!

The Shawshank Redemption, film by Frank Darabont, written by Stephen King (I know this is cliché but I just saw it (in French) for the first time and it was quite good.)

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Suzanna Clarke

Marie Antoinette, film by Sofia Coppola

True Pleasures: A Memoir of Women in Paris by Lucinda Holdforth (Seriously, this is an amazing book!)

Water, film by Deepa Mehta

Little Miss Sunshine, film by Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris (I enjoyed this, but not as much as some people seem to have, or as much as I enjoyed the other films on this page.)

La Science des Rêves (The Science of Sleep) film by Michel Gondry

Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Scoop, film by Woody Allen

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (If you haven’t read them, read Atonement and Saturday as well.)