Blog of Leonid Mamchenkov

When she brought the tray and put it on the bed table I thanked her and ate a little of the supper. Afterward it was dark outside and I could see the beams of the search-lights moving in the sky. I watched for a while and then went to sleep. I slept heavily except once I woke sweating and scared and then went back to sleep trying to stay outside of my dream. I woke for good long before it was light and heard roosters crowing and stayed on awake until it began to light. I was tired and once it was really light I went back to sleep again.

Can you guess the author?  Here is hint : these lines were written in 1929.  Yes, you got it right.  It’s Ernest Hemingway, “A Farewell to Arms“, last paragraph of Chapter 13.

While reading the book, I caught myself a few times thinking that it feels a lot like a blog - first person story telling, simple sentences, a few “what I ate for breakfast” paragraphs.  But then again, somehow it feels better than a blog - connectivity, metaphors, a tiny hint of old times.

They say that one can improve his own writing by reading great writers.  Having this book in mind, I do agree with that.  And, it seems, I’m not the only one thinking of what and how to learn from Hemingway for my blogging - Copyblogger published Ernest Hemingway’s Top 5 Tips for Writing Well some time ago.

Most of the new movies that come out of Hollywood are unbearable crap. This is especially true for the year 2005. So, instead of wasting my time on another piece of crap, I used the magic Intenet time machine to travel back to 1941. Yes, if there is nothing new worth of time, turn to classics. “Meet John Doe” seemed like a good choice.

Directed by: Frank Capra
Genres: Comedy, Drama
Cast: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold, Walter Brennan, Spring Byington, James Gleason, Gene Lockhart, Rod La Rocque, Irving Bacon, Regis Toomey, J. Farrell MacDonald, Warren Hymer, Harry Holman, Andrew Tombes, Pierre Watkin
IMDB raintg: 7.6
My rating: 9.0

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Vladimir remind me today that I wanted to see “The Italian Job” - the original version from 1969. After work I rushed to Martin’s DVD club and luckily he had one for me.

Directed by: Peter Collinson
Genres: Action, Comedy, Crime
Cast: Michael Caine, Noel Coward, Benny Hill, Raf Vallone, Tony Beckley, Rossano Brazzi, Margaret Blye, Irene Handl, John Le Mesurier, Fred Emney, John Clive, Graham Payn, Michael Standing, Stanley Caine, Barry Cox
IMDB raintg: 7.3
My rating: 7.0

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“To Kill a Mockingbird“. This film was on my wishlist for as long as I had a wishlist. It seems that it was one of the most important movies of the last century as everyone and their brother are referring to it.

Directed by: Robert Mulligan
Genres: Drama
Cast: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, Robert Duvall, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy, Ruth White, Brock Peters, Estelle Evans, Alice Ghostley, Paul Fix, Collin Wilcox Paxton, James Anderson, William Windom
IMDB raintg: 8.5
My rating: 8.0

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During the last two days I was cutting and pasting time from here and there to watch “The Merchant of Venice“. Finally I managed to do so even with all the interruptions that I had…

Directed by: Michael Radford
Genres: Drama, Comedy
Cast: Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins, Zuleikha Robinson, Kris Marshall, Charlie Cox, Mackenzie Crook, Heather Goldenhersh, John Sessions, Gregor Fisher, Ron Cook, Allan Corduner, Anton Rodgers, David Harewood
IMDB raintg: 7.3
My rating: 9.0

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