In which I rate various attributes of the fall season's new offerings that I've seen so far, with one to four stars. Whee.
Heroes
Style: ** Humor: ** Potential: *** Characters: *** Smarts: ** Main asset: The Japanese Duo
Jericho
Style: ** Humor: * Potential: ** Characters: *** Smarts: * Main asset: That + NK = good crap-scaring-out-of
Ugly Betty
Style: *** Humor: *** Potential: ** Characters: ** Smarts: ** Main asset: Just fun. That's all.
Studio 60
Style: **** Humor: *** Potential: *** Characters: **** Smarts: **** Main asset: Oh, everything.
Six Degrees
Style: *** Humor: * Potential: ** Characters: ** Smarts: ** Main asset: Campbell Scott/New York
We Netflixed this for the bub. Of course. Ahem.
And he really did watch, mostly, in two viewings. With his attention span, that's an amazing thing. I suppose the fact that, every day, he clamors for "Monkey George! Monkey George!" (referring to the new PBS show).
It's so difficult to find gentle movies that don't feel stupid, but this is one. The animation isn't as simple as the Reys' original illustrations, but they're not of the now-popular photo-realistic type which sometimes admittedly grate, either. There was just enough playful humor to keep the adults engaged, and the Jack Johnson soundtrack, which I was sure I would tire of, was charming.
And how much do I adore Will Ferrell and David Cross? Lots, it goes without saying. The Drew Barrymore character was just simpery -- I don't really enjoy her as a voice.
Look what's being released on October 24th! Original episodes of Sesame Street! So, so giddy.
This was an utterly adorable (no, not cutesy) film, one for which I was more than happy to shell out full theater prices. I will absolutely be Netflixing it again at some point.
I laughed, I cried, I cringed... and left happy. An offbeat family comedy not mired in it's own pool of quirk -- refreshing.
Such a treat to see Steve Carrell in a calm, thoughtful role. The casting couldn't have been more perfect all around (and I'm not even a Greg Kinnear fan). The VW minibus should've gotten top billing.
If you could watch any movie on the big screen right at this moment, what would it be?
Oh, my! I don't think I can even begin to choose just one... I know it's hardly PC, what with Disney being e-vile, and all (reasons for which I am all too aware) but, at the moment, I guess it'd be some animated classic or other. I'm feeling nostalgic and in need of some comfort viewing.
It has always been a bit of a dream of mine to restore some old movie house and show nothing but classics, at reasonable family prices. Patron survey participation would be key in choosing many of the screenings, but you can bet I'd manage to sneak some of my own favorites in.
(No, I'm not into audiobooks -- my mind wanders far
too easily to allow me to pay proper attention to anything but the written page -- so ignore that "cassette" beneath the title photo, it was the only copy available).
I felt like a very poor student of art history (and feminism), indeed, when I recently (re?)learned of the Italian female painter Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653). A student of her father, Orazio, she was also tutored, and then raped, by his partner, Agostino Tassi. This led to a seven-month trial in which Artemisia was tortured and publicly shamed in the name of the "truth," subsequently making her life as a painter in Rome impossible, during a time when being a female painter was difficult enough in its own right. Her father arranged a marriage for her in Florence, where she was able to find important patrons (like the Medicis), make esteemed friends (such as Galilieo Galilei), and become the first woman to gain entrance to the Florence Academy of Art.
Vreeland's adept novelization of her life was compelling enough that I'd like to go to my library (where I've not been in more months than I care to admit) and pore over all the paintings described. And next time I'm at the Detroit Institute of Arts, I'll be sure to hunt down Orazio's "Young Woman with a Violin" -- the model none other than our heroine herself. It also has me wanting to read her Girl in Hyacinth Blue.
It's the seventies in a rural, hyper-conservative Wisconsin town. An Illinois father loses his job, and moves his family of four, for reasons allegedly "economic," back into his parents' home. Slowly, secrets are unravelled... as is the fabric of the family.
An engaging, often unsettling, and sometimes brutal look at the dynamics of families at the hands of abuse, despair, and religious fundamentalism.
We saw Dave Attell, Lewis Black, and others live, courtesy Comedy Central, in Sacramento. I do believe I've very rarely laughed that hard in my life.
So I was expecting at least vaguely similar quality from these Las Vegas performances. Honestly, I'm not that difficult to amuse. Because I'm really a twelve-year-old inside. But... this tour just didn't do it.
If you could write a book about anything, what would it be about?
Putz villages/houses (apologies for the embedded music). There seems to be a distinct lack of comprehensive information about their history, collection, and preservation in book form, one that could use some filling.
What song or lyrics are stuck in your head at the moment? What album is it from?
Submitted by Lox Ly.
The melancholy "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane:
I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river and it made me complete
Oh simple thing where have you gone
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin
I came across a fallen tree
I felt the branches of it looking at me
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?
Oh simple thing where have you gone
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin
And if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go
Somewhere only we know?
