Juno Backlash

After all the gushingly good reviews that Juno received, I thought I must have been mistaken to write it off as Knocked Up meets Superbad and decided to go see it.

I was underwhelmed.

It was a good movie. It was a cute movie. But all the fuss? What was that about? The San Francisco Chronicle called it "a confluence of perfection in every aspect." Good grief! Perfection in every aspect? Puh-leeze!

This hive mentality got me to thinking that movie reviewers must be participating in a version of the Emperor's New Clothes. Each lavishing more and more praise so as not to display their lack of coolness or not being hip enough.

I thought it was a bit too glib for its own good. Too self-consciously quirky and more than a little contrived. Apparently, I am no longer alone in that regard. There's an article on Slate about how the backlash against Juno started. Writer Dana Stevens asserts that Juno's Oscar noms precipitated the change in attitude. Fox is even marketing it as "the little movie that could." Hmm, maybe--but in my opinion it's no Little Miss Sunshine. I think maybe that all the overwhelmingly hyperbolic acclaim brought it down. It's hard to be the underdog when every one is fawning all over you.

LOST - Confirmed Dead

Yet another "wow" episode of LOST last night. While we didn't find out who else comprises the "Oceanic Six" (teaser for next week says we'll find out about one more member in the next episode...), we did get some info about the alleged "rescuers." And we're back to flashbacks--but with the new cast members.

Apparently, the freighter people are part of a team put together by one Matthew Abaddon (he was the guy who visit Hurley in the mental institution claiming to be an attorney for Oceanic airlines) and headed by the now deceased Naomi--who, by the way, doesn't have a sister. That was a code to warn the others from the freighter she was in danger. Anyway, we were introduced to each of the "rescuers" via flashbacks this episode. First was Daniel Faraday of Essex, MA--who was overcome when footage of the submerged Oceanic 815 wreckage was broadcast on TV. Yes, Naomi wasn't lying. They found the remains of the flight in the ocean and there were no survivors. Daniel is a bit twitchy and talkative and apparently is a physicist. Maybe he's an expert on time loops and doppelgangers.

Next up is Miles, from Inglewood, CA--a ghostbusting exorcist type who is surly and trigger-happy. Miles talks to dead people and his communion with the very much dead Naomi cleared Jack and Kate of her death--although Miles was not about to put his gun away. Jack tells him he should because his friends are pointing guns at Miles' and Daniel's heads to which Miles says, "How stupid do you think I am?" At that moment Sayid and Juliette and company appear with guns drawn and Jack replies, "I don't know. How stupid are you?"

With Miles and Daniel disarmed, the survivors start to track down the other passengers of the chopper. We flashback to Charlotte at an archaeological dig in Tunisia. But the bones are not of a prehistoric dinosaur, but instead a polar bear! Ah yes, the infamous polar bears. Digging through the rubble, Charlotte locates a collar with a DHARMA Hydra symbol on it. So now we know it's the DHARMA initiative that the "rescuers" are seeking...

It's John Locke and company who stumble upon Charlotte--while they are on their way to Jacob's cabin. (Sawyer asks Locke who he is taking his instructions from and Locke replies, "Walt." Is Walt back then? Would that mean Michael is back as well?) Charlotte seems quite innocuous but John is not convinced. He tells her she's coming with them and when she protests that they should stay put so "they can find us," John replies, "We don't want to be found." Meanwhile, Jack and company have picked up Charlotte's transponder signal on the phone. When they track it down, they find the transponder attached to Vincent's collar. Jack says, "Locke's got her."

The last member of the team is Frank Lapidus, whose flashback takes place in the Bahamas. When he sees the footage of the Oceanic 815 crash remains, he calls the survivor hotline and insists that the person identified as the pilot, Seth Norris, is not the shriveled body shown in the footage. Does that mean someone other than Seth Norris was the pilot--or that the found wreckage is part of some conspiracy hoax and those perpetrating it forgot to add details like Norris' wedding ring? (The picture of the live Seth Norris looked nothing like Greg Grunberg. Maybe without the mustache...)Also, Frank claims HE was supposed to be flying Oceanic 815 that day. Frank is the chopper pilot and, despite the electrical storms, he managed to land the chopper safely. (It occurs to me that not many survivors can fit into the chopper at one time. Could the Oceanic Six be the first and only batch of survivors who made it off the island via the helicopter?)

Frank sends up a flare that Locke's camp sees but instead gets him found by Jack and company. In a conversation with Juliette, he asks her name. When she tells him, Frank says, "You weren't on that plane." He relays that info to Miles, telling him that Juliette's name wasn't on the flight manifesto and that she's a native of the island. This is when Miles reveals the purpose of the mission--which Daniel admitted earlier that "Rescuing you and your people...can't really say it's our primary objective." Turns out their primary objective is finding Benjamin Linus.

Ben is causing a bit of trouble in John Locke's camp. Sawyer wants to get rid of him, but John tells him that "Apart from his mouth, he's harmless..." to which Sawyer replies, "His mouth put that hole in your gut?" That Sawyer--always a comeback! Later, Ben manages to wrangle a gun and shoot Charlotte. Fortunately for Charlotte, she's wearing a bullet-proof vest. When John is about to shoot Ben, Ben tells him that he shouldn't because he has information, he has answers. So Locke asks Ben about what almost every LOST fan wants to know--the smoke monster. But Ben doesn't have that answer--but he knows Charlotte's full name and the name of every team member and what they want. "And what do they want?" says a surly Sawyer. "Me, James" is Ben's answer. According to Ben, he knows this because he has a man on their boat. And who would that be? Minkowski? Regina? We know that these two remain on the boat--are there more?

So we've got a plane full of crash victims at the bottom of the ocean, a physicist, ghostbuster, archaeologist assembled as part of a team to find Benjamin Linus and six Oceanic 815 survivors who make it off the island. But, will we ever find out about the smoke monster? Hurley said in last week's episode, "It wants us back." Could "It" be the island? And is the smoke monster the manifestation of "It"? Again, check out screencaps for more details and the episode recap at Lostpedia and the Dueling Analysis over at Celebritology.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

I saw the trailer for the movie based on Philippa Gregory's bestseller a while ago. Despite the fact that it stars ubiquitous starlets Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johannson (I don't HATE them, I'm just a bit weary of seeing them in EVERYTHING!), I am curious to see the film. I have a weakness for period costume dramas in general and for this historical time period specifically. So I decided to check out the book.

First off, from the little bit of trailer I saw it would seem that the movie will deviate from the book. Which isn't a big deal since the book took some liberties with the facts itself. Just about everyone knows the story of Anne Boleyn for whom Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church and created the Church of England all so that he could divorce his wife Katherine of Aragon to marry her. Unfortunately, having set the precedence of discarding a Queen as it suits a King's fancy, Anne found herself similar overthrown--with her head divorced from her body to boot.

The book tells that story through the eyes of Mary Boleyn, Anne's sister and onetime lover of the King. Told over a period of 15 years from 1521 to Anne's beheading in 1536, it will be interesting to see how the film deals with the time span of the story. Movies generally require a more compressed time period. It will also be interesting how they balance the characterizations of the two sisters. In the book it's fairly black and white--Anne is a scheming, manipulative bitch and Mary is the good, dutiful girl. It's doubtful that either Portman or Johansson would concede to portray such one dimensional characters.

Gregory depicts Anne as being the elder sister, but according to most historians Mary was the eldest of the Boleyn children. She also lops about seven years off Mary's age, making her a mere 15 years of age when she became Henry's mistress. In fact, Mary wasn't the virginal teenager as the book makes out, but had already been mistress to the King of France before coming to Henry's bed. Gregory also seems to take perverse delight in the scurrilous rumors that were used to condemn Anne and her brother George--much in the same way George's devious wife Jane Parker is portrayed in the novel--presenting what was most certainly fictional (incest, homosexuality, witchcraft) as true. Certainly Anne Boleyn was ambitious, headstrong and opinionated. She may have even been manipulative and at times deceitful. But it's doubtful that she was evil incarnate as written by Gregory in this book. Mary, on the other hand, is depicted as a proto-feminist--ultimately defying her family and her status to marry commoner William Stafford for love.

After Mary's marriage, she was banished from court and there is no evidence that she had any contact with her sister between 1534 and 1536--much less have been an eyewitness to Anne's downfall. There is a scene in the trailer where Mary begs the King to spare Anne's life. This was not in the book, nor does it appear to have happened in real life. Ironically, both Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn were discarded by Henry for want of a son and heir to the throne--and yet Anne's daughter Elizabeth became one of the greatest monarchs England has ever known.

All in all, I enjoyed reading The Other Boleyn Girl. There are inaccuracies and anachronisms, but it paints a time and lifestyle that's exceptionally interesting to me. I'm looking forward to the movie to see how it differs (for better or worse) from the book. And for the awesome costumes...

Paper or plastic?

I do most of my grocery shopping at Trader Joes. At the checkout, I swipe my credit card and start packing the groceries into paper bags as the cashier rings them up. I do it because I hate grocery shopping and it gets me out quicker. I do it because packing a grocery bag correctly is a lost art. I do it because store employees who pack the bags tend to put two or three items into seventeen bags.

I do not double bag. When I specified this one time at TJs the cashier looked so grateful. He told me I was his favorite customer. I think double bagging is wasteful. Especially when you've got seventeen bags worth of groceries. I used to ask for plastic at checkout--ever since it was first offered. Why not? Choose plastic, save a tree. I recycled the bags to collect trash, but it soon became apparent that I didn't create enough trash to keep up with the supply. And I've come to fear garbage dumps more than carbon footprints.

So now I choose paper. Trees are renewable. Paper is biodegradable. At least that's my rationale. But according to this article in the Washington Post, plastic may not be an option much longer. Hooray for that! Now if they could just find a way to stop the gas-guzzling SUV drivers from parking in COMPACT parking spaces, my life would be complete.

Kurt Cobain About a Son

On February 20th, Kurt Cobain would have been 41 years old. 41 years old--it boggles the mind. It's almost as inconceivable to imagine the grunge icon, spokesman of Generation X, as a middle-aged man as it is to accept his untimely death 14 years ago at age 27.

To coincide with the anniversary of his birth, on February 19th Shout Factory is releasing Kurt Cobain About a Son, the acclaimed documentary about Nirvana's elusive and enigmatic frontman.

Using excerpts from over 25 hours of interviews recorded by journalist Michael Azerrad for his book Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, the voice of Kurt Cobain provides not the backdrop for the film, but the backbone. This is not your typical musician biopic with interviews and performance, but Cobain himself speaking about the things that influenced his journey as a human being and his development as a musician.

Illuminating the candid and intimate ramblings, directer AJ Schnack captures images of the places that Cobain lived and worked. Aberdeen, Olympia and Seattle, Washington are giving starring roles in the film--showing the influences that shaped Cobain, helping to formulate his philosophy of life and inspiring his music. The visual imagery combined with a soundtrack featuring Cobain's musical influences--which range from Creedence Clearwater Revival and Queen to Mudhoney and the Melvins--gives us a glimpse into Cobain's mind, heart, soul, life.

It was quite eye-opening to hear Cobain speaking with refreshingly honesty about all aspects of his life--from his damaged childhood to his adult drug use. He saw himself as a child of divorce and felt empathy for all the other kids of his generation who grew up in broken homes. At the same time, he considered himself a part of the last generation to grow up in a far simpler, safer--Sesame Street--time. Amazing and eerily prescience since Cobain died 7 years before 9/11. Although many have demonized his wife, Courtney Love, and even blamed her for his death, Cobain speaks quite tenderly about her and conveys the belief that they were kindred spirits.

Schnack deliberately avoid including images or performance footage of Cobain and/or Nirvana--until the last moments of the film. According to Schnack, this was one of the main themes of the film--the presence AND the absence of Kurt Cobain:

"I wanted to create a film that would show all sides of Kurt: his humor, his anger, his fear, his compassion, his sadness, his love, his paranoia and his clear-eyed assessment of the world around him. I wanted to give an audience the opportunity to sit with him, to really take him in. I wanted them to forget for a moment that the conversation they were listening to was more than a decade old and the the voice they were hearing was now silent."

14 years ago at only age 27. Hard to believe...

Halfway

I've used half of the iTunes gift certificate that my friend John gave me for my birthday. These are the songs I've purchased so far:

1. The Man Who Sold the World - Nirvana
2. Life on Mars? - David Bowie
3. Life on Mars? - Seu Jorge
4. Suffragette City - David Bowie

(Yes, I went a little bit overboard on Bowie--who wouldn't? Life on Mars? and the Seu Jorge cover of the same were inspired by my recent viewing of Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic.)

5. 1234 - Feist
6. My Moon, My Man - Feist
7. My Culture - 1 Giant Leap featuring Robbie Williams
8. Angels - Robbie Williams
9. I Turn My Camera On - Spoon

(Blame my yoga instructor, Ursula, for the previous five selections...)

10. The Only Flame in Town - Elvis Costello (Unbelievably missing from his Best of the First Ten Years album--but now I have it!)
11. Hey There Delilah - Plain White T's (Reminds me of Simon and Garfunkel's Cecilia...)
12. Big Girls Don't Cry - Fergie
13. Baby, Now that I've Found You - Alison Krauss (I love this sweet cover of The Foundations pop hit...)
14. The Pretender - Foo Fighters (For some reason, whenever Dave Grohl belts out, "What if I say I'm not like the others?," I am reminded of Sesame Street's "One of these things is not like the others...")
15. Dreaming with a Broken Heart - John Mayer (Quite possibly one of the best breakup songs ever!)

The Oceanic Six

Been musing over the possibilities of who the other three members of the Oceanic Six are. We know that Jack, Kate and Hurley are three. And the last time six survivors were separated from the rest was at the end of season two when Michael lured some of his fellow survivors into The Others trap so that he could rescue Walt.

That would be: Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sawyer, Michael and Walt. Of course, Michael and Walt ostensibly made it off the island--or did they? The obituary for the man in the coffin at the end of season three said he was from New York and that he was survived by a teenage son. Michael is from New York and Walt would be a teenager in the flash forward/present day. It also makes sense that Kate wouldn't want to attend the funeral of the man who had betrayed them.

Of course, that would gobsmack my theory that Sawyer's character arc is ended and he's ripe to be killed off this season. But then again, Sawyer could be the "he" Kate refers to when she tells Jack she has to get home because "he" will be wondering where she is. I've also heard rumor that Sun and Jin make it off the island, but I think my hypothesis is better.

Just a theory...

Cheaters Never Prosper

Congratulations to the New York Giants, champions of SuperBowl XLII! Just goes to show that Bill Belichick and his slimy tactics finally have gotten their much deserved comeuppance. (Google "Patriots" and "cheaters" and you get 146,000 hits...)

Just a bit of poetic justice...god, I love that!

Cautiously Optimistic

There's all sorts of buzz about the imminent end of the WGA Strike. While no announcement has been made (the talks are still under the heading of "informal" and there's been a news blackout since they restarted a little over a week ago...), even sources as credible as the Washington Post are reporting that significant headway has been made towards a new contract. Craig Mazin hinted on his blog that something would break today or Monday and even Nikki Finke has roused herself from her deathbed (just kidding!) to report on the possibility that a deal is nearly done.

United Hollywood--a blog comprised of strike captains and other WGA members, cautions about celebrating too early, but in my opinion this is even more cause to celebrate than if the New York Giants decimate the way too full of themselves Patriots today in the SuperBowl.

Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Runner's Yoga 90210

Once upon a time I used to be a hardcore runner. Up at just past 5 am to do my 5 miles in rain, sleet, wind chill or even blizzards. After a while my knees started hurting, so I wore braces and kept running. But I finally came to a point where I knew continuing to run would require knee surgery, so I stopped.

Angie Stewart had a similar experience. A competitive athlete and runner for many years, she faced increasing discomfort while running--forcing her to come up with a solution in order to continue participating in a beloved activity. The solution was yoga.

According to Angie,

"I could have never imagined the impact that yoga would have on me as an athlete, especially as a competitive runner. Once I tailored the class for the specific needs of a runner's body and mentality, my own running improved, my chronic leg injuries disappeared and my long runs once again became my source of solace instead of pain."

Runner's Yoga 90210 is Angie's unique adaptation of traditional yoga poses. I was able to witness a demonstration of a class and found it more high energy than traditional yoga classes. Even more so than power yoga classes with their emphasis on building heat through constant flow. I told Angie, "I've been doing yoga for almost eight years and I think your class would kill me!" She laughed and told me that the class can be modified for any level. I asked her if the class was harder for a yoga student--used to a more traditional style and pace, or for a runner. She said without question it's harder for runners. She has one student who runs marathons in under three hours who said her 60 minute class was more strenuous than running 26 miles!

So if you really want to amp up your workout--whether you're a runner or a yogi or both--you can check out Angie Stewart's Runner's Yoga 90210 for FREE every Tuesday this month (February 2008) at lululemon athletica located at 334 N. Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. The class is held from 7:30 - 8:15 pm with an optional run prior at 6:45 - 7:30 pm. Contact Angie at angie@angiestewartfitness.com to register.

LOST - The Beginning of the End

Well, it may be the beginning of the end (47 episodes left!), but what a way to kick things off, huh?

The episode began with a clean-shaven Jack spicing up his morning O.J. with some vodka while watching the news. (This is how we know we're in "flash forward" mode--the pre-crash Jack NEVER would have had alcohol that early...Speaking of which--does this mean no more flash BACKS? I wonder...) On TV, the LAPD chases after a vintage Camaro. Was anyone surprised that the driver turned out to be Hurley? Me neither. What was surprising was Hurley's declaration when captured by the police, "I'm one of the Oceanic 6!"

So then there are 6...We have Jack, Kate and Hurley (I am ecstatic that it appears Jorges Garcia will be getting more screen time after 3 years of playing the lovable sidekick!)--and three more? Who are the three other Losties who made it off the island? Would Michael and Walt count? Or just those "rescued" by the freighter people? Anyway, Hurley's car chase was instigated by a freak out in a convenience store when he saw "someone he knew." Hmmm...who could that be? We didn't have to wait too long to find the answer to that--but before that was revealed, Hurley had a hallucination--a sort of reliving of Charlie's death--while being questioned at the police station. The police detective (who, in typical LOST coincidental-ness, was Ana-Lucia's former partner) threatens to send Hurley to the nuthouse to which Hurley responds sincerely, "Thanks!"

So Hurley is sent away--back to his old mental institution stomping grounds. He gets three visitors while there--the first is a tall, mysterious black man who calls himself Matthew Abbadon and claims he's an attorney for Oceanic Airlines. He offers to "upgrade" Hurley's "accommodations" at a nicer mental institution but Hurley is suspicious. When he demands to see Abbadon's business card and Abbadon has none on him, Hurley goes berserk. The mysterious man disappears, but before he leaves he asks Hurley, "Are they still alive?" Is who still alive? The Others? More Losties?

Later, another mental patient tells Hurley to watch out--someone is staring at him. And that someone would be--Charlie! Oh yes, Dominic Monagham back from the dead and looking good with newly shorn locks--if I do say so myself. Take that all you Hobbit haters! Wait--where was I was? Okay, now Charlie is having hallucinations starring Charlie's ghost. He tells Charlie, "I'm trying to buy jerky and a slushee and you're over there by the Ho-hos. You're supposed to be dead!" Charlie replies that he IS dead, but he's also here. And he slaps Hurley to prove it. He tells Hurley, "You have to do something." And, "They need you." Who's "they?" Claire and Aaron? The same "they" Abbadon was referring to when he asked "Are they still alive?"

Hurley's final visitor is Jack. They engage in casual conversation until Hurley pointedly asks, "What are you really doing here, Jack?" He tells Jack that he thinks he came to see if he went nuts and was gonna tell. Ooooh--tell what? Is that what Jack meant when he told Kate he was sick of lying? Hurley also tells Jack that he's sorry he went with Locke, "I should have stayed with you." As Jack leaves, Hurley says "I don't think we did the right thing. It wants us to go back!" which is reminiscent of Jack's plea to Kate in the last episode, "We have to go back!" (Are they getting a ton of mileage out of that line or what?!!!)

But before all this happened, the Losties were awaiting rescue on the island. Their happiness was marred when Desmond returned to the beach with news of Charlie's death and his final warning. So now Sayid, Hurley, Sawyer, Juliette, Bernard, Jin and Desmond (hereafter to be referred to as the "beach Losties") decide they must warn Jack that the freighter people (aka the other Others) are not who they say they are and trek off towards the tower to find him and the "tower Losties."

On their way there, Hurley gets separated from the group and ends up in front of Jacob's creepy house. He hears whispers and sees Jacob's empty chair rocking and freaks out and runs away. He looks back at the house and with eyes closed tight, he chants "There's nothing there." When he opens his eyes there IS nothing there--except for John Locke, who's sort of creepy in his own special way. John wants to join the beach Losties in convincing Jack that something is not right about the other Others. They reluctantly agree.

Back at the tower, while preparing to be rescued, Naomi's body disappears. Jack finds a trail of blood, but Kate finds another and, unbeknownst to Jack, relieves him of Naomi's phone and follows the second trail which leads her to a tree in the jungle from where Naomi pounces on her. I could go on about how someone with a mortal knife wound in the stomach manages to create a fake trail for Jack, then crawl into the jungle and up a tree and pounce on Kate holding the very knife used to wound her to Kate's neck, but this is LOST and strange things happen on this island and we have to accept that. So let's move on...A call from the freighter comes in while Kate is trying to explain it was all John Locke and the rest of the Losties would never hurt Naomi. Naomi takes the call, blames her injury on her parachute landing and resets the phone so the other Others can track it again. She dies saying, "Sorry, George. Just tell my sister that I love her..."

The beach Losties are reunited with the tower Losties and Hurley gives the sad news of Charlie's death to Claire. But as the tribe comes back together, the schism grows with Jack's attack on Locke. He holds a gun on Locke as Locke claims that everything he did was in the best interests of the Losties. He tells Jack that Jack won't shoot him just the way Locke couldn't bring himself to shoot Jack earlier. Jack tells him that the gun's not loaded. Hmmm, did Locke know it wasn't loaded when he pointed it at Jack? Also, it occurred to me (after three freaking years--how swift am I?) that Jack and John are essentially the same name. Sort of like Jack and Locke are two sides of the same coin--both strong, leaders but one a man of science and the other a man of faith.

It's time for the showdown and John declares he's heading for the Others' barrack since it's the only place on the island that's secure. He invites anyone who wants to join him. The first to do so is Hurley--to honor Charlie's death by heeding his warning. Claire and Aaron follow. Rose and Bernard (surprisingly since Rose's cancer might recur if she leaves the island) stay with Jack, as do Kate and Juliette. Ben asks for permission to go with John and Jack's more than happy to be rid of him. Alex and Rousseau go as well. The big surprise was Sawyer choosing to forgo rescue as he tells Kate he's "Surviving."

Obviously, Kate and Jack survived. As did Hurley who was in the other camp. So what happened next? We'll find out soon as the episode ended with a chopper from the freighter reaching the island and another parachutist landing right near Jack and Kate. The next episode is entitle "Confirmed Dead." I can hardly wait!

P.S. For anyone else who is an uber fanatic like me, check out Liz Kelly and Jen Chaney's Dueling Analysis on the Celebritology blog. Some interesting stuff I missed (It's hard to watch AND take notes!) Also, check out the Lostpedia entry on the episode and the screen caps at Lost Easter Eggs. And feel free to post your comments and theories here!

Netflix Quick Picks - Round 6

It's that time again! Get ready to update your Netflix queues as I tell you what's worth renting and what's eminently "skippable." Here goes:

1. Finding Neverland - I'm on a major Johnny Depp kick lately and this sweet tale of J. M. Barrie, creator of Peter Pan, was enchanting. Depp manages to portray the inner child of the man without crossing the fine line into creepiness. Rent it!

2. Moonlight Mile - Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon--how could you go wrong? Oh, I almost forgot--Ellen Pompeo who is just as drippy and dreary in this flick as she is on Grey's Anatomy. I can't remember much about this movie because it really didn't hold my attention. Skip it.

3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Goblet of Fire, the Order of the Phoenix - I'll just do one review for my Harry Potter marathon because essentially it's all the same movie. Harry is wizard is training at Hogwarts whose parents were killed by the evil Lord Voldemort and who escapes death and danger with the help of his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. All the movies are good--although not quite "great," but the latest installment--Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix--was by far the best. Rent them.

4. What's Eating Gilbert Grape? - Another excellent performance by the talented Johnny Depp, but Leonardo DiCaprio is simply amazing as Gilbert's mentally retarded younger brother. Now I may be on a Leonardo kick...Rent it.

5. Shine - I like Geoffrey Rush but had never seen his Academy Award winning performance of troubled piano genius David Helfgott. While Rush is quite good, he doesn't really appear in the movie (except for two brief scenes) until an hour into it. Most of the heavy lifting is done by the excellent Noah Taylor who portrays the young virtuoso during adolescence and specifically during the time of his abusive relationship with his father and his subsequent breakdown. So how is it that the Oscar-worthy Rush was awarded the prize for Taylor's performance? Still, it's worth a look. Rent it.

6. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Many Wes Anderson fans were disappointed with this movie. Not me. I LOVED it! Perhaps not as much as Rushmore, but still--the colors, the music, the settings, the characters--pure Anderson. Wes Anderson movies always seem more like a party--a "Hey guys, let's put on a show!"--than high art. And this flick is no exception. Favorite cast members are back--Bill Murray (in an energetic and welcome change from his usual sad sack portrayals of late...), Owen Wilson and Anjelica Huston--and having a blast. The scene where Zissou and company run across an island armed with guns to rescue the "Bond Stooge" is priceless... Rent it!

7. The Tailor of Panama - Geoffrey Rush, Pierce Brosnan and Jamie Lee Curtis in an odd little political thriller. My copy was damaged, so I missed out on stuff. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. For Harry Potter fans, Daniel Radcliffe has a bit part and there's a lovely turn by Brendan Gleeson (aka Mad-Eye Moody) as a Panamanian rebel.

8. Whale Rider - There was a lot of buzz about this little indie film about a young Maori girl played by Keisha Castle-Hughes--who was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar at age 13. Castle-Hughes has an beautifully expressive face, but the movie's mostly scenery. Gorgeous New Zealand scenery, but scenery nonetheless. And you spend an hour and a half just waiting for the freaking whale ride. Skip it.

9. The Magdalene Sisters - Horrifically agonizing portrayal of Irish Catholic young women who were sent to asylums run by nuns as penitence for their sins. Two of the "sinners" portrayed in this film committed the heinous acts of being raped and being pretty. Absolutely shocking. And if the film isn't enough with its depiction of hypocrisy and cruelty by the Church, watch the documentary it was based on included as an extra with the DVD. Appalling. Rent it.

Hopefully the AMPTP doesn't know about this...

I'd hate to see the talented writers of my favorite shows replaced by monkeys. But I'm sure the greedy bastards of Big Media would do it if they could! (Although, it might be an improvement for Cavemen and Carpoolers. And even According to Jim...)

From Emil Steiner's OFF/Beat:

In the latest setback for aspiring writers, the world's oldest monkey has reportedly been offered a book deal. Cheeta the Chimp, who has stared in 12 Tarzan movies, worked with Bela Lugosi and even overcome an addiction to alcohol and cigars, will work with a ghostwriter to concoct a "funny, moving and searingly honest" autobiography. (Is James Frey available?) It remains unclear how much of Me Cheeta, due out this fall, will be written by the 75-year-old chimp, whose real name is Jiggs.

And I can't even get an agent!

Juno Soundtrack

From the moment the movie starts off with Barry Louis Polisar's All I Want Is while a line drawing animation of Juno swigging a gallon jug of Sunny D treks along the screen, you know this isn't your typical teen comedy. According to director Jason Reitman, the musical sound of the hit teen pregnancy movie came about while he was hanging out in his office with actress Ellen Page and casually asked her, "What kind of music do you think Juno listens to?" and without pause Page answered, "The Moldy Peaches."

When Reitman heard Anyone Else But You he immediately decided the song should be closing of the movie with Page and Cera performing the quirky duet. According to Reitman:

"This song, more than any other, defined the sound of the film: a patchwork of homemade sounds made by teenagers whose senses of humor and honesty rang through the crappy tape recorder they used to capture their chicken-scratch lyrics."

Co-creator of The Moldy Peaches, Kimya Dawson provides eight of the nineteen songs on the soundtrack--including Tire Swing, Loose Lips, So Nice So Smart and Tree Hugger--which all feature the raw, childlike vocals and lyrics and stripped down instrumentation of Anyone Else But You.

The soundtrack also features tracks by The Kinks (A Well Respected Man), Buddy Holly (Dearest), Sonic Youth (doing a moody and sensual cover of The Carpenter's Superstar), Mott the Hoople (All the Young Dudes) and The Velvet Underground (I'm Sticking with You). Also included on the soundtrack are songs by Belle & Sebastian, Antsy Pants and Cat Power doing a sultry cover of Sea of Love accompanied by a zither of all things!

The soundtrack is doing just as well as the movie, hitting number one on the Billboard Album Chart--making it the first number one album ever for distributor Rhino Records. A limited edition orange vinyl release is scheduled for February 18th along with a Juno ringtone--Ellen Page and Michael Cera's cover of The Moldy Peaches Anyone Else But You. I know for many people, the music was the best part of Juno and the soundtrack perfectly captures and enhances the quirky, offbeat sensibilities of the movie.

Found!

It's back! It's back! Well, almost anyway...But in advance of the eagerly anticipated return of LOST, ABC is re-airing last season's final episode which was the Best. Season. Finale. EVER!!! My favorite TV moment of 2007 was Hurley's dramatic entrance with the van. That actually might be my most favorite TV moment ever. I actually stood up and cheered...

What new surprises will this season hold? More information about the mysterious Jacob? Will the Losties join forces with their arch enemies the Others in order to fend off the other Others? Who will leave the island? Who will return to the island? Will Michael and Walt be back? And how about Libby, who figures in the backstories of both Hurley and Desmond--will we be seeing her again this season? And most importantly, who will get killed off this season?

Does Daniel Dae Kim's fairly recent DUI portend the imminent demise of his character Jin? Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse cited the fact the Charlie's character arc was complete as the justification for Dominic Monagham's dramatic departure. I hope that WAS the reason and not catering to all the Hobbit haters. I never had an issue with Charlie. Although I was mighty relieved when Paulo and Nikki were--in inimitable LOST fashion--"voted off" the island.

If the completion of the character arc is indeed the reason for killing off characters, then it would seem that Sawyer's time is just about up. After all, he accomplished his life long goal to kill the con man responsible for his father and mother's deaths. Before you go--"No, not Sawyer! He's way too hot!" keep in mind the writers killed off Boone early on in the series. I still mourn the loss of uber hottie Ian Somerhalder. All we know for sure is Kate and Jack don't die and do make it off the island.

As for the mysteries of the Island--the smoke monster, the Others, the Dharma initiative, time travel, healing properties, miscarriages, etc., I am content to enjoy the ride. I do think that a clue to the answers of many of the mysteries--the fact that wreckage of Flight 815 was found with no survivors, time travel, the healing properties and the pregnancy problems might be found in this Orchid Station Orientation video:



Cashmir effect? Doppelgangers? We've got 48 more episodes until all is revealed. Enjoy!

More Cell Phone Woes

After getting a new cell phone and switching to T-Mobile, I thought my cell phone woes were over.

No such luck.

Induced by the sleek Motorola RAZR phone and the promise of rebates (which would more than offset T-Mobile's set-up fees...), I placed my order with Wirefly.com. Big mistake. My $50 T-Mobile/Motorola rebate was rejected by T-Mobile, because my phone had already received the rebate. Huh? I'm a new T-Mobile customer, it's a brand new (or so I was told) phone. How could it have already received the rebate?

After being shunted from one department to another when I called Wirefly to see what was up, I finally got someone from the Office of the President who told me to fax my info and he would get my rebate processed. So I did that. Waited a month and called back for a status report. "Oh, we sent that out a month ago." Um, no--you didn't. They checked again. It's been approved but all rebates are on hold right now. That was two months ago. Called again recently and was curtly told that all rebate payments are on hold with no estimate for when I could expect my check.

So I google "wirefly rebate scam" and come up with thousands of hits. Seems I'm one of many, many, many people who have been screwed over by this company. Wirefly aka In-phonics appears to be the Enron of the rebate world. I'm not pleased with T-Mobile either for associating with such a shady organization.

So buyer beware--do NOT buy from Wirefly!

My New Tattoo - part 2

Finally got a picture (courtesy of work buddy, Elizabeth!) of my latest tattoo. It's located on my right upper arm. It's still healing so it's still a little "peely."

I really like it!

Age is more than a state of mind!

Vindication! Finally proof that exercise helps fight aging! This article in the Washington Post reports on a study in Great Britain using 2,401 twins (hmmm...If they're twins, shouldn't that be an EVEN number?) and studied the telomeres of active vs. non-active participants. What's a telomere? According to the article:

"Telomeres cap the ends of chromosomes -- the structures that carry genes. Every time a cell divides, telomeres get shorter. When telomeres get too short, cells can no longer divide. Scientists believe that aging occurs as more and more cells reach the end of their telomeres and die -- muscles weaken, skin wrinkles, eyesight and hearing fade, organs fail and thinking clouds."

Apparently, the more active a person is, the longer their telomeres. Does that sound like a gymrat pickup line or what? "Hey, baby--check out the length of my telomeres!" The article goes on to say:

"The length of the twins' telomeres was directly related to their activity levels, the researchers found. Those who did moderate amount of exercise -- about 100 minutes a week of activity such as tennis, swimming or running -- had telomeres that on average looked like those of someone about five or six years younger than those who did the least -- about 16 minutes a week. Those who did the most -- doing about three hours a week of moderate to vigorous activity -- had telomeres that appeared to be about nine years younger than those who did the least."

Now I don't feel so bad about hacking a decade off when I punch my "age" into the elliptical fitness trainer at the gym. Judging my the length of my telomeres, I'm hardly even lying...

The thing about Facebook...

I like to say Facebook is MySpace on crack. MySpace... Yeah, that's so last year people! You need to be on Facebook playing movie trivia and Superpokin' friends.

The great thing about Facebook is it lets your friend keep track of what you're up to--via posted pictures, links, reviews, etc. You can even track what trivia challenges your friends have taken, friends they've added and even wall posts they've left for others. And that's the problem with Facebook as well.

For example, I had a birthday a couple of weeks ago and Facebook alerted my "friends" to that fact. Some of my Facebook friends sent me birthday greetings. But some did not. No big deal-- except one of the people who couldn't be bothered to acknowledge my birthday even by throwing cake at me (it's a SuperPoke thing...), is someone I've known for EIGHT years. In real life--not just virtually. Adding insult to injury is the fact that Facebook allows me to see she just wished four of her Facebook friends a "Happy Birthday!"

Sometimes ignorance is bliss...

King of California Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the movie King of California has an interesting genesis. Two years before writer/director Mike Cahill even got funding for his offbeat father/daughter treasure hunting fable, he and composer David Robbins (brother of actor Tim Robbins) started brainstorming on the soundtrack.

Said Robbins about the experience:

"I rarely get the chance to work with a director this early on in the movie making process, and with as much musical savvy as Mike, and let me tell you, it was a treat."

This just goes to show how integral the music is to the telling of tale of Charlie and Miranda. Robbins incorporates ukulele, banjo, accordion, musical saw and whistling to create a unique sound. In addition to the variety of instrumentation, there is a diversity of styles among the 19 tracks. Some of the pieces hearken back to the wild, wild west with a twangy cowboy feel while other are infused with a mariachi beat. Robbins collaborated with Jolie Hollard who wrote the lyrics and sings the song Flood of Dreams. Other than the spicy Malambo No. 1 performed by Yma Sumac and the mournful Zari Ritual Lamentation performed by the Lileh Choir of Dmanisi, the soundtrack is all original music by David Robbins.

According to writer/director Mike Cahill:

"Dave and I were working on this thing long before there was even the possibility of being able to record it, or to shoot the images that the music would accompany. My happiest memories of King of California are these: two guys without jobs talking about the music they love, and would love to make."