When the penis dies

« These are terrifying times for writers and publishers alike. Some contracts demand that authors give up their electronic rights for all time and throughout the universe, so uncertain are publishers of where the future is going and who will control it.

[…] But I believe reports of death of books have been highly exaggerated. When asked whether literature as we know it is an anachronism, Isaac Bashevis Singer, in a Paris Review interview, replied, « I don’t think that literature, good literature, has anything to fear from technology. The very opposite. The more technology, the more people will be interested in what the human mind can produce without the help of electronics. » Bernard Malamud expressed the same sentiment, though slightly more tersely, when asked if the narrative is dead. His answer bears reprinting. « It’ll be dead, » he said, « when the penis is. »

From The Forest for the Trees, an Editor’s Advice to Writers, by Betsy Lerner.

The year in movies

I save my movie tickets and DVD receipts for tax purposes and for the sake of creating a personal archive, I decided to make a list of the films I have seen in 2004. The total comes up to 80 films but I know I’m forgetting a few. Out of these 80 movies, 7 were Quebec productions, 10 were subtitled (or in French), 5 were documentaries (but I’m not counting all the documentaries I caught on television) and one was an animation film. The rest are either Canadian, British, American or co-productions. Some DVDs were rented just for fun and other ones were rented for work related purposes.

From the movies produced or distributed in 2004, I’ve chosen 10 as my favorites. (They are marked with a star.) I guess you can see these movies as my rental suggestions for 2005!

10 things I hate about you
1er juillet, le film
A silent love *
All the real girls
Before Sunset *
Bend it like Beckham
Big fish
Birth
Bourne identity
Closer
Collateral
Comme une image *
Donnie Darko
Duets
Elles �taient cinq
Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind *
Fahrenheit 911
Frida
Garden state
Girl with a pearl earring *
Goodbye Lenin
Hackers
Heat
Hero *
I�ll sleep when I�m dead
In America
In the cut
Intermission
Johnny English
Kill Bill
La peau blanche
La proph�tie des grenouilles
Le dernier tunnel
Les aimants
Lord of the rings (1, 2 and 3)
Love actually
M. Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran
Maria full of grace *
Monica La Mitraille
Morvern Callar
Motorcycles diaries
My life without me
Nez rouge
Purpose
Ray
Remember the titans
Satin rouge
Searching for Debra Winger
She�s all that
Six feet under, the second season
Spiderman 2
Spring Summer Fall Winter *
Step into liquid
Super size me
Takedown
Taking lives
The beach
The cable guy
The cooler *
The day after tomorrow
The forgotten
The good girl
The good son
The last casino
The life aquatic with Steve Zissou
The machinist
The net
The party
The statement
The station agent *
Touching the void
Twist
Two girls and a guy
Under the tuscan sun
Unfaithful
Uzak (Distant)
Wargames
We don�t live here anymore
Welcome to Sarajevo
Wimbledon