Friday, March 27, 2009

Tulkinghorn reads Betsy Sharkey (so you don't have to)

I know she's a friend of many -- and that she's reputed to be a good editor -- but what is it with the endless sentences? Proust, perhaps, or Faulkner, maybe, but Sharkey? If I posted these here under my own name, Generic would change them. Or at least want to.

From this morning's paper:

What does it say about the current state of cinema that " Monsters vs. Aliens," animated in a '50s retro style, albeit with an assist from the latest in 3-D technology, and aimed roughly at the under-12 set, turns out to be the movie making one of the strongest statements about female empowerment out there today?

and this:

The film also creates one of the most endearing characters around, and frankly one of the best roles for slacker guys this year, in Seth Rogen's B.O.B., a sweetly optimistic and slightly slow (and I mean that in every way you might imagine) blob of gelatinous blue something, with a single eye and no brain -- and he's better for it, especially the brain part.

and my favorite:

Meanwhile, it's surprisingly satisfying to watch Susan and the boys take on a giant robot, an evil alien lord in the form of the many-tentacled purple Rainn (as in Wilson) named Galaxhar, the military (yet again, it cannot be trusted), the media and self-esteem (Susan's needs bolstering, her fiancé Derek's -- played by Paul Rudd -- needs puncturing) for the good of all man- and woman-kind.

4 comments:

David Chute said...

I wouldn't change them. I'm a "give them enough rope" sort of blog host.

As long as I can read a sentence through without loosing the thread I figure it's basically OK. The breathless rushing-along quality is a personality choice as much as anything.

Tulkinghorn said...

The boys.... take on.... self-esteem for the good of mankind?

Does that mean something?

David Chute said...

Several senses of "take on" woven into a single sentence? Genius!

David Chute said...

If DFW did it you'd wet yourself.