Habemus Papam, Bullfighting and Ethan Frome

Habemus Papam (movie)

Longshot is elected pope and decides he doesn't want or can't handle the job. Big crisis. Interesting flick, but too often lapses into cartoon mode: the cardinals are childlike buffoons, the upset pope-elect calls for his mummy and the shrink might as well have round glasses and a goatee.

Bullfighting

Short stories by Roddy Doyle. Has some wonderful moments. The middle-aged lads at the pub watch the news on TV and discuss the likelihood of their kids using drugs.
"They left it at that. They didn't talk about the wives. They drifted from cocaine to football, and on to the film that Gerry had seen at the weekend and the others wanted to see.
How was Denzel?
Brilliant.
And on to international affairs. Poor oul' Benazir.
What a place.
Mad. Would you have given her one?
Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
Too late now, an'anyway.
She was a fine thing. I liked her headscarf.
That's the thing though, said Donal. Women don't wear them anymore.
Not even at mass.
They'll make a comeback, said Ken. Wait and see. Abercrombie and Fitch or somebody will bring back the headscarf."

Brilliant indeed. There is another lovely story about a middle-aged guy driving his elderly parents to funerals. All the stories are pretty good.

Ethan Frome

A short Edith Wharton novel about a lonely marriage, the possibility of escape and the dashing of hope. An easy read about difficult lives.