Shelves courtesy of a friend's basement. Yellow floor pillows from West Elm. Quilt from Grandma.
Just a quick post to say my DVD shelves are up! My movie-watching blankets are folded! Most of this moving-and-unpacking craziness is past! I’ll be back next week to blog about the Oscar madness. Can’t wait!
@2011 Film District
Maybe you’re a half of a content pair who believes love should be celebrated every day…without so much emphasis on buying stuff. Maybe you’re currently flying solo and loving your independence…and hating how Heart Day enthusiasts assume you’ll be watching Sleepless in Seattle and sobbing tonight. (I mean Sleepless is great; sobbing, not so much.) Maybe you’re a mysterious stranger with serious stunt driving skills who breaks out of a hermit-ish existence to help his beautiful neighbor…knowing there will be price to pay.
Yep, I’m suggesting you watch Drive today, in celebration of the international day of lovey-dovey-ness. Here’s why the 2011 Nicolas Winding Refn-directed, Gosling-starring wheeled thriller is a great Valentine’s Day choice.
1. You can tell everybody overly concerned with your 14th plans that you curled up with a Ryan Gosling flick.
(The group of women who sat in front of me in the theatre—obviously out on a misinformed girls’ night—audibly sighed when this shot of Gosling graced the screen.)
2. “You know,” you can say, “the one where he’s in love with Carey Mulligan.”
@ 2011 Adam and Dog
Yesterday, I reviewed the live-action short-film nominees. Today, we’re on to the delightful animated entries.
Adam and Dog
© 2012 Serendipity Films, Perspective Films
Last week I took a break from unpacking to see some of the Oscar-nominated short films with friends. It was a good decision. There’s nothing like seeing great displays of imagination in quick succession to get re-energized! The shorts (animated, live action and documentary) are playing in theatres across the county. See if they’re near you here. (They’ll also be available on iTunes and VOD on February 19.) We’ll start with the live-action films today and move to the animated shorts tomorrow.
Death of a Shadow
© 2012 - Open Road Films
I’m really hoping to get a break from unpacking to go see the film Steven Soderbergh has said will be his last. Soderbergh’s work is always, always interesting, whether he’s going indie arthouse (Che; Sex, Lies and Videotape) or blowing up the box-office with smart takes on popular genres (Oceans 11-13, Erin Brockovich, Magic Mike). (Yes, Magic Mike was a smart film, and a surprisingly moralistic one. It’s a fascinating gender flip on the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold trope. I’ll write about that some time.) With Side Effects, Soderbergh picked a great team to go out on. The screenplay is written by previous Soderbergh collaborator Scott Z. Burns (Contagion, The Informant!), and it stars Rooney Mara (The Social Network, The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo), Channing Tatum, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta Jones.
The story is a pharmacological thriller of sorts, focusing on the unforeseen consequences a new prescription drug has on a young woman’s life. The film currently has an 82% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Peter Travers, for Rolling Stone, writes “Side Effects is a hell of a thriller, twisty, terrific and packed with surprises you don’t see coming.”
...my trusty golden, Copa...
I’m still not quite settled in enough to blog properly, so I thought I’d introduce you to my roomie, moving buddy and life coach, Copa. Today, as I was dealing with a broken water heater (fixed!), internet withdrawal (online again!) and introvert-living-in-a-glass-house freak-outs (blinds and most doors installed!), Copa just smiled, found a spot in the sun amongst the boxes, and reminded me to chill. I hope you get to meet her in person (in dog?) someday because she is one special soul.
Photo by Jonathan Wenk – © 2011 Summit Entertainment, LLC.
The Valentine’s Day movie-going season is upon us, for worse or for worse. Fortunately, the first lovey-dovey date film I have to announce features brain-eaters. Warm Bodies has a couple other things going for it, too. First, it’s directed and adapted (from the Isaac Marion novel) by Jonathan Levine, who was behind one of my favorites from 2011, 50/50. Secondly, it stars the charming (and fully grown up) Nicholas Hoult, who I’ve been following since About a Boy. And, as mentioned, zombies. Can love bridge the undead-notyetdead gap? I am really looking forward to finding out. Rotten Tomatoes has the unique rom-com at 73% right now. The New York Times‘s Manohla Dargis writes, “‘Warm Bodies’ is an improbable romance sweetened with appealing performances and buoyed by one of the better cute meets in recent romantic comedy…”
© 2009 - 2013 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
Oh, friends. It has been a hard week. In the small frustrations category, I learned I couldn’t unpack or live in my new place for another week until the painter is finished. Technically I could live there, but I’d be dodging paint spray and living out of tarp-covered boxes. So I packed a nomad bag and moved all my stuff in the new place…in easily-cover-able piles in the middle of the floor.
And in the realm of big heartbreaks, my grandpa passed away from complications from Alzheimer’s. He’s been struggling with the disease since I was a teenager. I’m so glad that he’s no longer trapped in a failing body and confused mind. But it’s still hard to say goodbye to such a compassionate, principled man. The visitation and funeral were bittersweet: I got to see family I hadn’t seen in years, be with my twin sister and her incredibly sweet kids and husband, and hug my much-loved younger cousins. And hugs were needed. My Uncle Jay, my grandpa’s oldest son, passed away just a month ago (he was battling MS). My family’s share of sadness has come all at once this season.
A script plays a pivotal role in the period thriller Argo. © 2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Being a writer, the Oscar screenwriting categories are always a highlight of Oscar season for me. I love the opportunity it gives me to go back and discover other films the writers have worked on, and the extra minutes of fame it gives the original brains behind the stories we’ve been dissecting and comparing obsessively.
In the adapted screenplay category, Argo‘s Chris Terrio, Beasts of the Southern Wild‘s Lucy Alibar and director Benh Zeitlin, Life of Pi‘s David Magee, Lincoln‘s Tony Kushner, and Silver Linings Playbook director David O. Russell will compete for 2012 bragging rights. My personal favorite in this category is Alibar and Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild. The first-timers adapted Alibar’s original play and created an entirely unique and believable world in their tightly themed screenplay. I think David Magee might have an edge in this category, though, because so many people called Life of Pi (by Yann Martel) an un-adaptable book…he may get Herculean-effort points. And Kushner managed to make legislative bargaining with a foregone conclusion suspenseful and visually compelling…so I’m split on which way to bet. Thoughts?
...what I'm currently up to...
Hey film-lovers, I am making a plea to you today and it is this: Go see a movie for me! I’ve been sorting and packing in preparation of my big move on Saturday. (Big in that I’m really excited to be moving into my new place…small in that it’s only a mile away from my current home.) All that moving is keeping me from movies. So PLEASE go to a theatre or plop down on your couch and raise a box of popcorn for me this week. (If I may make a suggestion, two of 2012′s most underrated flicks were Looper—watch right now here—and Safety Not Guaranteed—watch right now here. ) I should be back to my normal movie-going habits next week!
