Death at La Fenice (1992)

This book is part of a series of murder mysteries by Donna Leon featuring Guido Brunetti in the marvelous city of Venice. In this story, the artistic director of La Fenice opera house, is found dead, apparently of poison.

One of the things that sets this series apart is that the lead character has a happy marriage and good home life. What a change! He also employs a deadpan sarcasm with his superior that adds a touch of humor.

"So you've finally come," Patta said, suggesting that Brunetti was hours late rather than on time. " Thought I'd have to wait all morning for you," he added, which Brunetti though was overplaying the role. When Brunetti made no response to either remark, Patta demanded, "What have you got?"
Brunetti pulled that morning's Gazettino from his pocket and answered, "The paper, sir. It's right here on page one." Then, before Patta could stop him, he read out, "'Famous Maestro Found Dead. Murder Suspected.'" He offered the paper to his superior.
Patta kept his voice level but dismissed th paper with a wave. "I've already read that. I meant what have you found out?"

I look forward to reading more stories from this series.

My rating for this book: +++

Repo! The Genetic Opera (DVD, 2009)

If I told you that the new-age singer, Sarah Brightman, a star of Law and Order, Paul Sorvino, Anthony Head from the Buffy series, and heiress Paris Hilton appeared in an opera together you would probably think I was under the influence of an illegal substance. Unless, of course, if you are a fan of the producers of other remarkable (?!) movies, most notably, the Saw series.
I am at once hypnotized by the performances and repulsed by the gore in this movie. The singing was amazing even if the songs were not.
The story is about a man, Rotti Largo who owns a company that sells organs for transplants. When recipients cannot make payments, he sends out Shilo's father, Nathan to reposess the organ. When Shiloh was born, Rotti slipped some poison to Nathan who unwittingly gave it to her mother while she was giving birth. Nathan has two horrid sons, Luigi and Pavi, and one daughter (Paris), Amber who are trying to be in position to take over the company when Rotti dies. Of course, there is one character who seems to know what's going on, Graverobber, played by Terrance Zdunich, who collects an addictive pain killer, "Z", from dead bodies.
Not for the faint hearted but fans of movies featuring maximum gore, a la Rocky Horror Picture Show, are the only people who would appreciate this movie. For me it was like watching a train wreck. I watched hoping that there would be some redeeming factor. I think one of the reasons I made it through the whole movie was the phenominal voice of Sarah Brightman (you may have caught one of her concerts on PBS).
BTW, Paris "won" a Razzie for her perfomance in this movie.
I'm even at a loss at what tags to link to this blog entry.
My rating for this movie: +