Embarrassingly, for months now, I have been looking forward to the film PENELOPE starring Christina Ricci, James McAvoy and Reese Witherspoon. First, it was meant to be released in April...then this was changed to August 17th. Well, the 17th has come and gone. The question is, where is PENELOPE?
posted by beth slack at 12:40 PM
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Oh, to be back in High School
I have such happiness in my soul when the refugees from ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT pop up in different projects. There was a party in my soul to see the funny Michael Cera take the movie scene by storm. I am the wrong demographic for SUPERBAD. Getting that out of the way, this movie was hilarious. Dirty, funny, and sweet, this is a movie about teenage boys….what they want….the unspoken fears they have….and the trauma it is to not be the captain of the football team. Both Cera and comrade Jonah Hill bring a surprising depth to what could be a throwaway teen-sex movie. Instead with humor and moments of sweetness, they can have you laughing, cringing, and sighing within moments. Kudos to Judd Apatow for bringing us yet another grown-up and unapologetic comedy to the masses.
Finally, a trilogy that doesn’t utterly and completely drop the ball on the third film! After the train wrecks that were SPIDERMAN and PIRATES, I was ready to have a fit of epic proportions if someone didn’t do this right. Yeah for Matt Damon! BOURNE ULTIMATUM is a gritty thriller, and is well worth the price of admission. The pieces are starting to come together, and Bourne is turning into a larger and larger liability for the government. David Strathairn is a great villain, and Joan Allen is back with her diplomacy in place. With a hand-held camera, director Paul Greengrass thrusts the audience into the action, and is relentless in the violent realism of the film’s action sequences. You can’t help but root for Bourne as he works to uncover his past.
I am, of course, a hopeless romantic at heart, and therefore, love a grand, epic, love story adventure. STARDUST manages to be funny, swashbuckling, and sweet, and a fun time at the movies. Claire Danes is a falling star. Charlie Cox decides to go through the wall of his village to the magical land beyond to collect the star for his true love Sienna Miller. Adventure ensues. Michelle Pfeiffer is delicious as a witch who wants the star to reclaim her youth, and Robert DeNiro plays a gay pirate. Seriously. I giggled like a kid, and got lost in the magical land beyond the wall. Although this isn’t really a kid’s movie….you can still embrace being a kid-at-heart, and enjoy rooting for the good guy, booing the bad guy, and getting lost in the adventures.
posted by beth slack at 12:20 PM
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There is nothing sadder than seeing your vacation come to an end. I found myself despondent as I climbed aboard an Amtrak train and returned to the city from the beautiful Lake George. For the past fourteen summers, my parents have rented a cottage for two weeks on the Lake. I used to go for the whole two weeks, but now since I am a grown-up, I take a long weekend and head upstate for a rest. The cottage is rustic....I mean there is a TV, plumbing, and a stove, but there are bugs. I don't really like bugs, and in fact, I am so sick of watching cockroaches skitter towards the corners when I turn on the light in our kitchen. (Boo!) Anyway, I spent my time at the lake reading trashy novels, watching older movies, and getting a solid nine hours of sleep. It was bliss.
I wanted to love this movie more than I did. I don't mean to imply that I didn't enjoy it, it was just really different from what I thought it was going to be. [SPOILER] I was particularly moved by the true story of the musical CRADLE WILL ROCK which actors performed from the audience after the Government said they couldn't do it on the stage. The film also featured fabulous actors including Broadway favorite Victoria Clark, Emily Watson, and the Cherry Jones. Will this appear on my top-10 list? No. However, if you are interested in government censorship, or an arts-lover in general, you should check this out.
Adrien Brody grabbing and kissing Halle Berry at the Oscars was pretty much the extent of my knowledge of this film. So, using the fabulous New York City Library system, I decided to check this film out. Brody is absolutely stunning in this horrific look at the Holocaust in Poland. This movie is hard to watch. Horrible things were done, and director Roman Polanski is unflinching in his portrayal. I was moved, saddened, sickened, exhilarated, and artistically fulfilled as I watched this film. One to see....but only if you are able to take a good, hard look at how ugly, and also beautiful, humanity can be.
After returning to the city, I decided I was still on vacation, and so set off on a night of fun for me. First, I took in HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX on IMAX-3D which was freakin' awesome! This is the way to see this movie. I still love this movie even though I have seen it like four times! That says something....that's all I'm saying.
posted by beth slack at 5:21 PM
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I am in the midst of a love affair with goat cheese. All I seem to want at restaurants are goat cheese salads. I thought putting a picture of a goat would be funny....but I think I have only managed to gross myself out. Um....I did really love goat cheese, until I thought about the whole from a goat thing....
posted by beth slack at 11:54 AM
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posted by beth slack at 7:11 AM
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When Ellen was a NY-er, she and I would basically go out every weekend for lunch and then to see a movie. We tended to see romances or foreign films, and upon her return, we decided that BECOMING JANE starring Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy was a must-see. The roommate joined in, and after a quick dinner took in the fictional story of Jane Austen. The film was pretty good. I wasn't totally bowled over by it, but I enjoyed myself. Anne Hathaway is lovely, and this is her best work to date. James McAvoy is charming as ever, and the two of them work well off of one another. (I am VERY excited for his next film, PENELOPE, which opens next week!) Jane lives at home with a poor family, and dreams of writing as a profession. Instead, her mother pushes her to marry a wealthy neighbor, whilst Jane meets a poor student who intrigues her. Through the course of her interactions, she writes the novel that would become "Pride and Prejudice", with her experiences speaking to what happens in the novel. Maggie Smith is fabulous, as are other supporting players Julie Walters and James Cromwell. This movie will go down in history as the film that has the best line ever spoken in a movie: I think you're flirting with my brother, cousin.
On Sunday afternoon, Ellen and I headed to midtown to take in the Broadway production of XANADU. Yes, this musical is based on the legendary terrible film starring Olivia Newton-John, which I have never actually seen. Anyway, the show was very funny, and the whole experience was made even funner (he he) by having seats that were on the stage. The actors were thisclose to us, and while it was weird to lose that "fourth wall", this was such a funny show to do it with. Sadly, Kerry Butler was out of the show, but we saw a lovely understudy who actually performed at Papermill while I worked there. Cheyanne Jackson was dreamy and hilarious as the not too bright Sonny, and Mary Testa and Jackie Hoffmann tore up the stage as two of the G-ds. There was roller-skating, Australian accents, and glow sticks. What more could a girl at a Broadway show wish for?
One thing that I don't do very often is go drinking. Mostly it is super-expensive in the city, and I would rather go to movies or the theatre or something like that. Anyway, Ellen had a couple of friends in the city with whom we met up and had margaritas with before heading to a sing-a-long version of the new HAIRSPRAY movie. Well, two pitchers later, and this was pretty much the best night ever. We went to an 11:15pm showing, and there were only 12 people total in the theatre. Um, needless to say, after our dose of inhibition juice, I don't think anyone else was really singing along as enthusiastically as we were. The film was still fabulous, and it was a hoot to sing along to John Travolta. I guess now I can say that I have sung a Broadway show.....on Broadway?
posted by beth slack at 11:08 AM
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So, I have finished book seven. It was lovely. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it yet, but only encourage you to read the stories, as each one was truly better than the last. J.K. Rowling is said to be working on her next book. It will be interesting to see what she creates, and how the world accepts it. HARRY POTTER could very well go down in history as one of the greatest series of children's books ever written. I don't know....in some ways I am quite sad that I have read them all. It was something to look forward to and savor, knowing that there would be another edition of adventures for Harry and his friends. I guess it won't really be OVER OVER until the final two films are released.
posted by beth slack at 12:03 PM
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It was with much relief that I watched THE SIMPSONS MOVIE and totally enjoyed it. I couldn't help but fear that after 20 years, my expectations would be too high....or perhaps I might have outgrown the show somehow. Happily, neither of these devastating consequences came to be. THE SIMPSONS MOVIE is funny, simple, and makes fun of everything including itself. My only complaint about the whole affair is that there was a man who was sitting behind me who had the most annoying laugh, and it was exactly the same for everything he laughed at through the entire film. It was kind of a bark....and if the moment was guffaw-able - he would bark. If the moment was giggle-worthy - he would bark. If it wasn't a joke - he would bark. I truly regretted that I wasn't a secret ninja because the man was driving me crazy! Anyway, back to the movie. Homer does something stupid.....Lisa wants to help the environment......Bart is making trouble......and Marge is overwhelmed by her family. The movie doesn't try to be too grand, instead, it takes what makes the show so lovely, and simply made it longer. I think that this was the way to do it.
posted by beth slack at 11:44 AM
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Living and working in New York City is an adventure every day, except the days that I do laundry. Then it is normal. Is there a point when you have seen too many movies? I am in constant fear that I have reached that point.
