Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke as brothers that have robbed their parent's jewelry store and it goes horrible wrong. You would think there would be some bad blood between the parents and their sons, but none of that exists. I wouldn't even call it desperation; the men aren't down and out, but they believe they need the money to further their lives. The story is compelling and it's fascinating how a family can be ripped apart in such an unimaginable way. 

Something Extra:

I live on IMDB.com and someone commented that the father's (Albert Finney) acting wasn't great and I kind of agree. At times I found Finney to be very dramatic, but at other times I found him very believable. 

Maurice by E.M. Forster

I'm taking a course called Gay and Lesbian Literature this semester and our first book is Maurice by E.M. Forster (pronounced mor-is because of the time period). Written and set in the early 1900s, two men meet at Cambridge and fall in love. Homosexuality is presented in a very obtainable way; though not every reader of this novel will be gay, hardships are experienced by all. I am really enjoying this novel and the direction it is taking. It's a bumpy ride, when things are going great they do not stay that way for long. Though the novel begins slowly, by half way through part one it picks up and the plot thickens.

Something extra:

Maurice was written during 1913 and 1914, and published after Forster's death in 1971. This is an interesting commentary on the time; homosexuality wasn't something that was very hush hush I suppose, too risque for the masses.