I loved the book “Olive Kitteridge,” Elizabeth Strout’s novel that made a cantankerous math teacher the intersection point of a collection of stories about small town oddballs. So I’m delighted to hear Frances McDormand has taken on the title role in the upcoming HBO series.
The New York Times has a piece on McDormand and the project here.
I think “Olive Kitteridge” was the last book my late mother read at my recommendation. She and I read a lot and often swapped recommendations, but our taste in books didn’t match all that well — she was more of a mystery fan than I and gravitated toward that genre.
Mom liked “Olive Kitteridge” the book but didn’t like Olive the character, which surprised me because they actually had a lot in common. Olive was ten times crankier than my mom, but neither put up with any bullshit.
Anyway, open thread.
[Photo credit: Alison Cohen Rosa for The New York Times]
Trollhattan
Know nothing of the book but will watch McDormand in anything, so WIN!
In unrelated news, somebody had a very bad day in Canada.
Mike J
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2014/oct/15/john-lydon-russell-brand-revolution-video
Anoniminous
HBO is planning on offering a streaming subscription next year.
pamelabrown53
Hi Betty. I wonder if your Mom disliked Olive Kitteridige because it reminded her of characteristics she disliked in herself? Sometimes we hold a special loathing for those who represent our least desired qualities. It’s a defense mechanism.
For example, my mother was/is hypercritical. While I loathe that characteristic, I still see I’ve not purged myself and I feel both fear and loathing.
replicnt6
@Trollhattan:
Oh, sure. They’re already trying to cover up a conspiracy.
Betty Cracker
@pamelabrown53: That thought definitely occurred to me, though I kept it to myself. ;-)
Amir Khalid
This could be good news, if true.
Random grumble: I am revising my French grammar. Why, oh why would any language need twenty freaking tenses, including four in the subjunctive mood?
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: Had you known this, you could have taken on another project.
raven
I hope it’s better than Mildred Pierce was.
SiubhanDuinne
@Betty Cracker @top:
I want Frances McDormand to play your mom in the movie version of the book you’re writing about her.
Um, you are hard at work on that project, aren’t you?
(Autocorrect wants to insert an apostrophe so as to make the meaning “McDormand, property of France….”)
WereBear
@raven: Yes, that was draggy and disappointing.
I’ve love to have Frances McDormand play me in No Such Thing As Too Many Kitties: the WereBear Story.
Randy P
Asked this in an earlier, nearly-dead thread.
I’m hearing a lot of excitement about an opinion written by Judge Richard Posner which destroys all the justifications behind voter ID laws and shows them for what they are. It’s apparently a dissent. Apparently it’s a big deal that this particular highly-regarded conservative judge has come around, but how excited should we be? What real-world impact is this dissent likely to have on these laws?
SiubhanDuinne
@WereBear:
Given the title, I hope you will cast fellow commenter manyakitty in a cameo.
catclub
This is a big deal:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=Banner&module=span-ab-top-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
Chemical weapons found in post Saddam Iraq? Check? Made by Saddam’s 1999 re-armament efforts?
Nope. 1985 and helped by Western industrial powers – US, Germany, Spain.
And covered up since 2004.
Amir Khalid
@Gin & Tonic:
Of the other languages I know, German has just the same six tenses as English. My native language Malay has no tenses; past/present/future time is indicated solely by context. (Malay also gets along fine without gendered personal pronouns, definite and indefinite articles, and the subjunctive mood. ETA: Why can’t all other languages be as simple?)
Mnemosyne
@raven:
Much as I’ve liked Kate Winslet in other things, she was seriously miscast. The actress who played the young Vida was really good, and Guy Pearce was terrific. But, man, Winslet was just a black hole at the center of that story.
Plus, by shooting it in New England, it didn’t look anything like Southern California, unless the whole story was taking place during June Gloom.
WereBear
@SiubhanDuinne: I will hold open auditions. Bring kitties.
Kyle
Speaking of Frances McDormand, who I adore, am I wrong to like Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day as much as I do? It looks silly, but really is excellent (not least because of McDormand and Amy Adams).
SiubhanDuinne
@Kyle:
It was one of my favourite books as a youngster, and I enjoyed the movie.
CapedJA
Not related to anything, but I bought a treadmill recently on Craigslist and checked reviews of the model on Amazon. Now, the entire blog is covered in reminders that I haven’t used it in the last few days.
I have this site whitelisted on my adblock, so I am assuming that there are no other cookies for it to feed from for ads. If you could add dating sites to the ads, not only would my self guilt be taken care of with the treadmill, but my mom could move on to other subjects the next time I talk to her.
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: It seems my attempt at topical humor was too subtle.
Amir Khalid
@Gin & Tonic:
I got your joke. I was just not done grumbling.
raven
@Mnemosyne: The beach scenes just killed it for me.
Yatsuno
@Amir Khalid: Finnish says o hai der.
Shana
@pamelabrown53: I suspect that’s why she didn’t like the character of Olive. I have a niece who was very much like Ramona of the Beezus and Ramona books but didn’t like the books at all. Hit a little too close to home.