Phoenix + Morimoto = Awesomeness Squared

Last week was my husband's birthday, and a few months ago I bought tickets to see Phoenix. What's funny is that I bought them more for me than for him, but I figured we could make a day out of it as consolation for dragging him along. I suggested that he pick a great restaurant, but he still hadn't made up his mind at the beginning of last week. After a few days of haranguing, he finally settled on Morimoto.

While I was initially super excited about Phoenix, I eventually became ecstatic about Morimoto. Now, let me tell you about the best meal of my life.

The restaurant itself is pretty small. The walls are decorated with cool wave shapes and there is a definite feel of simplicity throughout. We sat at the sushi bar, but we noticed that the tables were decorated elegantly...and strangely. The highlight was watching the waiters prep for the upcoming night by giving all of the lamps a good wipe down. After getting over the hilariousness of the scene, we waited for a few minutes and were taken to our seats at the sushi bar. It was a tight squeeze, but luckily we were the only ones sitting there for quite a while.

Until Saturday, I had never tried sushi. I had always wanted to, but living in Northeastern Pennsylvania, I figured it would only lead to food poisoning and a lawsuit. Since we were going to be at an Iron Chef's restaurant, I figured it was safe, so I tried the rainbow snapper. It was seriously like butter over rice. Delicious.

My husband and I had the 10 Hour Pork Kakuni for an appetizer. A piece of pork belly is cooked for ten hours and then served over some rice porridge. It was a little hard for me to get used to the gelatinous texture of the pork belly, but the taste helped me get over the texture issue pretty quickly. Imagine bacon cooked slowly so that the fat melts instead of getting crisp. So tasty.

As an entree, I had the arctic char over gingered mushrooms and swiss chard. It was cooked medium and absolutely fell apart, and the combination of flavors was incredible. My husband had duck three ways, and after sampling a piece of the duck breast, I can understand why he said he'll never be able to eat it anywhere else again. It was juicy and delicious. The duck egg over fried rice was also excellent.

For dessert, I had the yuzu meringue tart, which was absolutely to die for. It was fruity, light and delicious. My husband had the matras tres leches cake, which he enjoyed very much. I also had a glass of warm sake that I loved, loved, loved. To make a long story short, we both loved it and would love to go back again. Unfortunately my husband is allergic to fish, so the Omakase (8 course chef's special menu) will be out for him, and I'm not sure I would want to try it while he sat there and watched me eat.

After stuffing ourselves, we headed over to the Tower Theater in Upper Darby. What a stark contrast to Morimoto. On the way to the theater we stopped in a little movie complex to use the restroom. When I went into the ladies room, there was a bottle of malt liquor on the back of one of the toilets, and in the next doorless stall, the toilet paper was hanging from the wall by electrical tape. I fixed my hair and got the hell out of there.

We had pretty good seats, as we were only eleven rows back. I was pretty excited once we got inside and saw how close we were to the stage. The theater kind of reminded me of the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre before it was refurbished. The ceiling was dotted with lights in the shapes of constellations. I really liked that.

The first band that played was Wavves. They were kind of a mixture of college punk and indie pop. While I am a fan of the original, old school punk sound, I'm not so much a fan of the more modern iterations. The group is also an interesting mix of a James Hetfield-like dude on guitar, an emo kid on bass and a preppy college kid on drums. Their sound was all right, but they had a lot of energy and while they weren't playing to a huge crowd, they brought all that they had. The drums were miked up very loudly, and by the time they were done my ears were bleeding. Did I love them? No. But I didn't mind them.

Jenny and Johnny were next. I kept looking at Jenny and wondering who she was, and it was only later when I realized it was Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley. Their first song, "Committed," was pretty good, but then they played quite a few very 50s beach rock feeling songs. The East Coast crowd wasn't feeling it so much. Then, they played "Slavedriver," which I really enjoyed, and the finished out their set with "Next Messiah," which they rocked all over the place. Their sound with the electric acoustic was amazing, and if they did more crunchy sounding stuff, I'd be totally on board with their sound.

Then came Phoenix. They opened with "Lizstomania," and it was awesome. Their sound live was much heavier and rockish than on their albums, which wasn't what I expected. They played an amazing version of "Fences," my favorite song from the Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix album. Rocker versions of "Girlfriend," "Armistice" and "If I Ever Feel Better" were standouts. After a quick intermission, Thomas Mars, the lead singer, came out into the audience and sang "Countdown" accompanied by an acoustic guitar. He also sang a pretty song in French. After going back to the stage, they rounded out the show with a raucous version of "1901," which included another trip into the crowd for Thomas and ended with many members of the audience going up on stage. Pretty cool.

Thomas sounds awesome live, pretty much exactly like he does on their albums. He has a great voice. Their showmanship was excellent, and my only complaint would have to be the light show, which at times was retina burning and nearly seizure inducing. Other than that, they were excellent. I wanted them to play so much more, including my favorite song of theirs, "Everything is Everything." I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to hear it, but I really can't complain.

Needless to say, it was a great night, and my husband actually enjoyed Phoenix live, which made it even better.

Movie Review: The Social Network

Ok. I have to admit I was really skeptical about The Social Network despite the across the board good reviews. I was initially turned off by super melodramatic trailer. While I usually take a lot of joy out of hearing choirs of children singing, hearing their rendition of "Creep" by Radiohead almost made me boycott the movie all together. Well, that and the fact that I don't really care about Mark Zuckerberg or what he supposedly did.

I am truly a cinephile, so when my husband said that he wanted to see it, I decided that I should just suck it up and go. From the very first scene I was hooked. A scene of snappy dialouge between Mark (Jesse Eisenberg) and his girlfriend Erica (Rooney Mara) really sets the pace for the rest of the film, and it also accomplishes incredible character revelation. It's kind of hard to think of Mark as anything other than a totally self-absorbed obtuse jerk after the way he talks to his girlfriend.

The script is practically flawless. If Aaron Sorkin isn't nominated for an Oscar, I'll be surprised. He expertly crafts a story weaving together the intricate details with the intimacies of Mark and Eduardo Saverin's (Andrew Garfield) friendship. Both Eisenberg and Garfield are incredible on screen. Eisenberg plays the role of Mark as someone so smart he's nearly autistic, and Garfield plays the role of Eduardo as an emotional, thoughtful guy who just wants to help his friend out with his idea. They are polar opposites and if they are portrayed as they are in real life, well it's easy to see how their friendship could have suffered. I think it would have suffered at some point anyway, with or without the creation of Facebook.

The movie moves at a feverish pace, with scenes going back and forth between the events leading up to the creation of Facebook as well as the depositions of Mark, Eduardo, the Winklevoss twins, Carmeron and Tyler (Armie Hammer, who is insanely handsome, by the way) and various others involved in the lawsuit against Mark. It's during the depositions when we see who Mark truly is; he has himself convinced that he has done nothing wrong, and his arrogance and disdain for anyone in his way is apparent.

The question is, "When are you going to make another record, JT?"

We even get a great performance from Justin Timberlake in the role of Sean Parker, also known as the guy who founded Napster. It's obvious to see how Mark would be attracted to Sean. It was almost like a Fight Clubesque relationship - Sean was everything that Mark wasn't, and Sean reinforced how Mark felt about Facebook and what it should and shouldn't do for its users. We can see how Sean's influence began to change Mark, and it wasn't for the better.

I'd also like to add that the soundtrack is pretty incredible. Scored by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the music really heightens the emotion in a lot of the scenes. It highlighted the darkness that was just underneath the surface in Mark's personality, and it also helped to express the characters' feelings throughout the film. Once again, I'll be surprised if they don't get a nod at the Oscars.

Is this really how it went down? Who knows. Zuckerberg has come out and said that it's a work of fiction, but I can't imagine anyone being portrayed as poorly as he was in this film would have anything else to say. I can't imagine that it's been much fun for him to have his life splayed open in a public forum, but then again, Mark is laughing all the way to the bank. Dude is twenty-six and worth nearly seven billion dollars. While his public image may have taken a hit, I'm sure that he'll get over it.

This is a really great movie. It's well written, thought provoking and emotionally charged. If you like dramas about the human condition, friendship and betrayal, you'll enjoy this film. I feel like you don't even have to know what Facebook is to enjoy it, so if you don't know what to see and are just looking for something good, check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Teeny Tiny Update

So after pysching myself out eleventy billion times, I finally started writing my screenplay. Of course, I kept forcing myself to try to be perfect, and we all know how well that goes when writing. After resigning myself to the fact that it was not going to be a masterpiece the first time out, I've actually been productive. I'm about seven scenes in and it's going pretty well.

I'm a very succinct writer, and while sometimes it's absolutely appropriate to be terse, but with creative writing, it's not always a good thing. I know I'm going to have to go back and lengthen some scenes just like I did when I wrote my novel. I can't let that discourage me from pushing forward, but honestly, it really frustrates me. I just have to remember the words of Dr. Mike Lennon, "Lower your standards."

It gets me through. I can't revise a blank page.

At some point today I'm also going to see The Social Network. Everyone is saying that it's incredible, and even though I wasn't interested at first, I want to see what the deal is. I'm sure it's not going to hurt to watch a well written screenplay up on the big screen either. I'm also reading The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall, which I've really been enjoying. Hoping to have reviews up for both the movie and the book very soon!

Comic Book Review: The Walking Dead

I'm not going to lie - I never understood what the big deal was about comic books. Even though I watched the hell out of the Batman TV show with Adam West, I still thought it was all kind of stupid. Pop! Bam! Boom! Pow! WTF? I guess even at the age of seven I understood the concept of guilty pleasures.

I always thought that superheroes were kind of flat as characters. They don't really do anything other than their superhero stuff, and while protecting humankind is cool and important, I'd like to see some kind of character growth somewhere along the way. Yes, Clark loves Lois and it tears him up inside, but it always tears him up inside.  Yeah, it's fun the first few times, but after that, it's nauseating.

And seeing as how I didn't really have exposure to any comics other than the superhero variety, I didn't think there was anything out there for me. The Scott Pilgrim series changed my mind slightly, but The Walking Dead changed it completely. While I am a huge fan of some zombie related things, like Resident Evil video games and Zombieland, I'm not a certified freak like some people are. Geronimo suggested the series to me and reassured me that zombies weren't the main focus, which made me feel slightly better. While I resisted for a while, when I finally gave in I wondered why I had waited so long.

The Walking Dead is a post apocalyptic story concerning a few key characters, but mainly revolves around Rick Grimes, a former police officer. He becomes the unwilling leader and voice of morality and reason. But, as the story progresses, his idea of what is right and wrong begins to change as he fights to survive and protect the people he loves.

This story isn't about zombies. It's about people, and what happens to them when they are faced with unbelievable circumstances. My favorite thing about this series is that it feels absolutely real, like if the zombie apocalypse happened tomorrow, this is exactly what would go down. The writing is absolutely stellar, with twists, turns and moments that had me muttering under my breath and sometimes shouting, "Oh. My. God," as I read. In some ways, it feels like a soap opera, especially with some of the relationship dynamics. While that might seem like a turn off, don't let it be; soap operas have an amazing way of capturing human drama, and The Walking Dead is second to none in that department.

Characters are full developed, realized and flawed. It's exciting to read and wonder what they're going to do next, because so many times it's completely unexpected. What's also kind of neat is that you begin to understand some of the more cringe inducing choices they have to make as the situation grows more desperate. I really liked this aspect of the story because I'm pretty sure tough choices would be make more often than not.

If you like stories about human nature, you will love this. If you like well developed characters with real motivations who are constantly faced with hard choices, you will love this. If you like character driven plot, you'll love this. Basically, if you love all that is right with the world, you'll love this series. I've only read up to the 68th issue, and I believe there are eight or nine more I need to read to be caught up.

Added bonus: On October 31st, The Walking Dead TV series will be premiering on AMC. If they can preserve the drama and human emotion that's in the comics, I think it will be a hit. So, pick up the comics and set your DVRs. You can thank me later.

Something a Little Different

I haven't been posting here much because I've become involved in another writing venture. A dear friend of mine runs a blog called North Station Sports that covers news for the Boston Celtics, and I've just come on board as a member of the staff.

Any of you who know me know that I love sports, but for the most part I've refrained from writing about it here. I also enjoy being snarky, and I've carried that over to my opinion pieces on NSS. We have something for everyone there, even if you aren't a fan of the Celtics. The pieces are always well written, opinionated and sometimes controversial.

If you're the type of basketball fan who enjoys reading different slants on hot topics, this would be a fun site for you to check out.

So yeah. Hopefully I'll get back to posting soon. I have a half written review of Machete, which I really enjoyed, and I've been working on a review of The Walking Dead comic book series, which I never imagined I'd love so much. So stay tuned. I'll be back.

Cool Places: Woodstock Museum in Bethel Hill, NY

Over this past Labor Day weekend I had the pleasure of spending it with some friends at a lovely lake house in New York. This place was absolutely breathtaking. The night we got there I sat on the dock and looked up at the night sky, drinking in all the stars. There was a fine mist on the water and I felt like I was in an amazing dream. When I woke up the first morning, I went down to the dock and took this photo:

Beautiful, no? The weather was generally nice even if it did get cold at night. We had lots of sunshine and laughs and overall it was a great time. The only bad thing for me was that I had just come back from a vacation and didn't really need any rest, so I was a little antsy. When Sunday afternoon rolled around, a few of us decided that we needed to get out for a bit. After some poking around on my GPS, we decided to hit the Woodstock Museum in Bethel Hill, New York.

I was really excited to check it out because I had grown up with a lot of music from that era. When we were kids my father would always play Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; Santana; Credence Clearwater Revival and many others. I have lots of fond memories of rides for ice cream and to Harveys Lake for some Grotto Pizza all set to a sixties soundtrack.

On our way to the museum, we stumbled upon the local Harvest Festival. It was a mixture of arts, crafts, live music and food. There was also an alpaca festival going on so we got to check out some of the lovely clothing made from their wool. The place was jammed and it made me happy because I really like to see local people supporting their community and the arts.

After we hung out there for a while, we headed over to the museum. For some reason I thought the museum was going to be a hole in the wall, but the site is actually a very big place. Check it out here:  http://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/. The museum itself is curated incredibly well; it had all kinds of clothing, albums, tickets and maps that the police used to try to control the crowd of 500,000 who poured into the tiny town of Bethel Hill.

It was cool to see how they used the technology of the 21st century to try to recreate the sixties vibe. They had a Volkswagen bus that you could sit in, which is cool, but what was even more awesome was that the windshield was actually a video screen that showed a short about how people traveled to Woodstock. There was an iMax theater with bean bag chairs that was meant to give the viewer the sense of what it was like to be in the crowd over those three days. They also had some videoes that explained the culture at that time, and they were pretty interesting.

Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed in the museum, and I didn't get a chance to take pictures of any of the grounds, but I can tell you that it was awe inspiring and breath taking. The museum is super cheap to get in, and even if it were more expensive it's totally worth the trip. I'm already making plans to return because I feel like there's so much more to see.

Book Review: Mockingjay and My Inability to Not be Feminist

Oh Susan Collins, let me count the reasons why I want to punch thee. While I think she had an awesome idea for the Hunger Game Series, I cannot for the life of me figure out why she decided to squander her efforts. The concept is great - children fighting to the death to honor the district from where they came. It features a main female character, Katniss, who is strong willed, not afraid to admit her faults and is accountable for her actions. The backdrop is a post apocalyptic United States, and it is being controlled by a nearly totalitarian government, and Katniss is the key to bringing it all down. Think all of this sounds cool? Yeah?

Well guess what. It's lamesauce. Why, do you ask?

Because it's just another Twilightesque novel where the main female character is basically completely driven by her desires for boys/men. I completely despair over this. Katniss has so many opportunities to do so many wonderful things but yet she is often preoccupied with her friend Gale and Peeta, the boy who fell in love with her for no apparent reason at all. I was hoping that Katniss would kind of grow up in this installment, and while she does in some sense, for the most part she is still the loopy teenage girl who is a slave to her hormones.

I'm not saying that romance or love shouldn't be a part of literature for young readers. That isn't the case. Many of us have learned a lot from our relationships and in some ways it makes us who we are. I object to the unhealthy relationships that are presented in a lot of young adult novels. Love should not hurt. Love should not make you feel as though your life is in danger. Your boyfriend or girlfriend should not look to you to tell them who they are. You shouldn't play games with people's emotions. All of these things are kind of at play here. I actually found myself shaking the book at certain points because it was so frustrating for me to read these things and think about the audience consuming it.

I do like that Katniss, although completely unwillingly, does become a symbol of hope to people who are completely despondent. My only problem with this is that she is absolutely manipulated the entire time by the leaders of the revolution. She bends to their will at almost every turn. Even when she thinks she's tricking them, she isn't; everyone already knows what she's going to do before she does it. I also don't like that she almost never has consequences for her actions. She is driven by her anger to the point where it becomes self-destructive. She is irrational and selfish. At the end of the book, I found myself not really caring what happened to her - the death knell for any main character.

The two main male characters aren't all that great either. Gale and Peeta are both pretty bad examples of men and how they should be. Gale does everything for Katniss and willingly puts up with her abuse because he loves and cares about her. Peeta is the same way in a sense, but he's much more sensitive than Gale. So basically Katniss uses and abuses them as she sees fit because she knows they will both come crawling back to her. Really? Is this appropriate in any sense?

Another thing I took issue with was the absolutely over the top emotional reactions to nearly everything. It was annoying by the time I reached the end. There was also an undercurrent of suicide throughout the entire series, which I thought was highly inappropriate. Oh, life isn't going your way? Why don't you just kill yourself? Absolutely unacceptable.

I read an interview where Collins said that her whole idea behind the book was reality television, and how everything is cut and manipulated to look like something it might not be. She also said that she wanted to show how we are experiencing life differently because of television. I thought this was a cool place for her to write from. I also understand that her audience is a bunch of kids who are going through a lot of physical, emotional and psychological changes and that they love to read this kind of stuff. I just think that she could have done the relationship thing in a different way.

Movie Review: The Expendables and Bonus Stallone Love

Sylvester Stallone is the only celebrity I care about. I have mad love for the guy, and he has served as an inspiration to me and my writing ever since I can remember. Lots of people love to talk lots of smack about how he's so terrible at everything, but dude wrote Rocky in three days. He created one of the best characters ever in three days. THREE DAYS!

Yes, the man has been nominated for thirty Razzies and has won ten. He fully acknowledges that he's made some crappy films, and yeah, he has. But he's Stallone. The guy never gives up. In fact, the quote from Rocky Balboa pretty much sums him up (to me anyway), "I'd rather do something I love badly than to feel bad about not doing something I love."

I feel like if you're a creative person, you're going to need to have this kind of attitude. Not everyone is going to love everything you do all of the time (except when the person doing is Stallone and the everyone is me). I've pretty much accepted that I'm going to get knocked down and rejected when I put my work out there, and I'm all right with that. And once again, Sly says it pretty well: "No one likes to fail at anything, but I believe I'm a better person for it. I learned life's lessons. You're given certain gifts and that's what you should try to be."

Word.

Now onto the review. I rarely go to the movies at night, nonetheless on an opening night, but my husband wanted to go and I jumped on board. I had been watching the previews for The Expendables for over a year and I was all about it just for the cast alone: Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews and Mickey Rourke. I just remember seeing their name scrolling across my screen and thinking, "Wow, this is going to be the best movie ever."

It wasn't the best movie ever, but it wasn't bad. While I usually like the schlocky tough guy dialogue, a good 75% of the film was The Expendables trying to convince themselves that they weren't bad people because they had spent most of their adult lives as mercenaries. It was a little more emo than I expected, and there was one scene in particular where Tool (Mickey Rourke) begins to cry as he recounts an old tale. A little shocking.

I did enjoy the father figure role that Stallone played in this movie. Barney, Stallone's character, was a tough guy with a soft and just side, which he played very well. Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) was also a very complex character who while not being a mercenary was busy trying to reconcile his relationship with his ex-girlfriend. Stallone and Statham were actually incredible on screen together, making for one of the best drive-bys ever. Statham also had an incredible scene at a basketball court. Stallone definitely showed Statham a lot of love when he gave him that role.

The supporting cast was also pretty good, except for Eric Roberts, who played the worst evil guy ever. He was like a cartoon, and at times he was actually painful to watch. Not good. I enjoyed Terry Crews as Hale Ceasar, a dude who loves him some big guns. Jet Li was pretty fun too. Dolph Lundgren was a little silly but he played the crazy/angry/scorned role pretty well. (But really, how much can we expect from this guy?)

The movie ends in a big, over the top way that I loved. The fight choreography was awesome, the explosions were huge, and the energy was fantastic. I did enjoy the movie overall and think that if you're a fan of action movies, you'd enjoy this. There are a lot of really good things about the film and I think they're enough to outweigh the few bad things. Check it out.

Book Review: The Alchemist

I have to admit that the program at Wilkes really made me lose my taste for non-fiction. I went into the program expecting to write a memoir and ended up doing something I never thought I could - writing at 90,000+ word fictional novel. Since then, I have barely read an non-fiction and have been gravitating toward good fiction. When it was my turn to make a pick for the one on one book club, I chose The Alchemist because it had awesome reviews and also because it was compared to The Little Prince, one of my favorites.

All I can say is...eeeehhhhhhhhh. I was totally disappointed. The Little Prince it ain't.

Look. If you love this book you probably want to stab my eyeballs out with a pen, but hear me out. It's not that I don't get it. I do...you have everything you need to succeed already there within your heart. That's nice. I've heard it a million times already though. I've heard it in better ways.

Santiago, the main character, is so open to suggestion that at times I felt as though he wasn't even exercising his own will. A little silly to have a character doing that when the point of the story is to follow your heart. I did like that he was willing to make mistakes and pretty much picked himself up and dusted himself off easily, but really, how couldn't he? He had everyone telling him what steps he should be taking next to follow his personal legend.

While I usually enjoy concise writing, this book felt a little to simplistic to me. There is no elegance in these pages. There were no images that stuck with me. The story is flat, the characters are flat and the message has been done to death.

My main problem is this - is anything in life figured out with a couple snappy answers from some strangers? If that were the case we'd all have it figured out with ease. If this is a modern fable or a fairy tale it lacks the things that make those kinds of stories so enjoyable: great characters, a lot of adventure, fear, fun, a sense that all can be lost if the main character doesn't get it together and a good overall plot. I felt less lectured in fourteen years of Catholic school (1-12 and two years at a Catholic college) than I did when reading this.

If you like being told what to think, this book will be perfect for you. If you like boring stories that are vague and go nowhere, pick this up. You'll love it.

Book Review: City of Thieves

City of Thieves. This book about Lev and Kolya, two young Russian men who are sent on a very strange quest during the Leningrad blockade, is very hard to put down. Almost immediately, I was taken to Russia during World War II. I could feel the cold as it penetrated me to my bones. I could see the bleak landscape, the roads covered in snow. But most importantly, I could feel their fear as they traveled throughout their homeland.

Lev is an awkward seventeen year old who has the misfortune of being caught after curfew on a night when a German bomber pilot has literally fallen from the sky. Strict rules dictate that no one is allowed out for any reason, even if it was just to check the Fritz's body. After watching his comrades get shot, he is jailed, and there he meets Kolya, a strapping lad who is Lev's perfect foil. What they don't know is that they are about to be sent out to find eggs for Colonel Grechko's daughter's wedding cake.

The narrative that follows is nothing short of pure magic, and David Benioff shows that he has got some wickedly good writing chops. The banter between Lev and Kolya is at times, laugh out loud hysterical, and at others, heartwrenching. These two unlikely companions form a friendship that is strong and true. The trust they share is a beautiful thing to watch as it unfolds on the pages. One thing I really liked was the real care these characters shared for one another. They felt real.

Benioff doesn't shy away from the grim realities that the people of Russia faced during that time. Cannabalism, the constant fear they experienced, it's all there and plainly laid out. I don't like historical fiction that goes soft or tries to hide the truth, and Benioff manages to weave in these truths without weighing the story down and making it too dark.

This was one of Geronimo's picks and it was a very good one. This is now one of my favorite books, one that I'm sure I will pick up and read again and again. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes historical ficition, has an interest in World War II, or who just likes amazing characters.

Movie Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Right from the very first second of the first preview I had seen for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, I knew I had to see it. I loved the look of the preview - the slick video game feel, the witty humor and the over the top fighting scenes seemed like something I would really enjoy, even though I secretly didn't want to admit it. It isn't often that something new and fresh in entertainment comes along, but with Scott Pilgrim, I can honestly say that it really has.

From the opening scene, it's clear that the audience is going to be in for completely unique viewing experience. As Scott (Michael Cera) walks around his apartment, little boxes pop up with information about his roommate and friends, just like they would in a video game. It's clear right away that belief needs not only be suspended, but shattered. When people kiss, tiny pink hearts leave their lips and flutter around them. Doors magically appear and people fly through them. Scott punches another character clear up into the air. He jumps through a window to avoid his girlfriend, then jumps back in to grab his coat.

All of this stuff is incredibly cool, but the story is actually pretty good. I have to admit I didn't think I was going to be able to get into it because I tend to really dislike romantic comedies. I also didn't think that I would like a story centered on yet another cool nerd cliched character. Somehow, it all worked together and produced something that made me smile throughout the entire movie.

I'm just going to add here that I feel like the imminent Michael Cera backlash will be coming soon. During the movie I tried to think about what was so great about him, and I couldn't really come up with any reasons as to why this kid is this popular. You know the universe will start hating on him any second now.

There were some parts where it felt rushed and other parts where it dragged. I just got my hands on the comic series so I'm curious to see how the characters develop throughout. Apparently there are much more detailed back stories for the exes, plus tons of other stuff I'm sure.

Should you see it? Definitely. While some of the older crowd might feel baffled by some of the references, I think that it's so unique that even if you don't understand, you won't be disappointed. I also scored a pretty cool guitar pick keychain that I've been rocking since the weekend, which was a nice added bonus.

TV Shows You Need to be Watching: The IT Crowd

I have no idea how my husband found out about this show, but I'm so glad he did. At its most basic level, its a British sitcome about Ross, Roy and Jen, three folks who work in the IT department. Computer geeks everywhere would rejoice at the little inside jokes that are peppered throughout this show, but what I love it for is its irreverence.

At first, I didn't really like this show. I didn't know why, and I couldn't even tell you why, but this is a trait of mine that I've had ever since I can remember. I will irrationally hate something intensely, but then all of a sudden I'll notice something that I didn't before and then love it with all of my being. This is exactly what happened with this show. It was an episode where Moss, Jen and Roy are attending the funeral of their boss. Unfortunately, I can't embed the clip, but this is the very moment when Roy stole my heart - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOTW6gFQUlg

I know, right? It's so me. I especially love Moss, a superdork who passes out when he hears the word "bra" unexpectedly. Check him out here:

Jen is also a really great female lead. I love her because she is always trying to get ahead in a male dominated field, and she tries very hard to break the glass ceiling. What I think is very interesting about her character is that she is a feminist without being the feminazi stereotype. Most of her time is spent trying make sure that Moss and Roy stay firmly out of trouble, and she's rarely successful.

Which comes to my next point - this show is absolutely brilliantly written. It's funny, full of social commentary and random while not being too out there. Everything has a purpose, and it's almost Seinfeldesque in the way that little things from the beginning of the show will come back around full circle in the end. Some of the situations they get themselves into are absolutely hilarious. Plus, everything is better in a British accent.

If you have the IFC channel, I highly recommend that you set this show to record. If you like really smart comedy, you'll love this, I promise. The DVDs are also available on Netflix and you can probably pick them up at Amazon too. Such good stuff.

Movie Review: The Other Guys

Another weekend past, another movie seen. This time it was The Other Guys, a comedy about an Odd Couple like team who end up busting a big time baddie. I was really looking forward to this film because I love Will Ferrell because he makes me laugh, and I love Mark Wahlberg because I love to laugh at him. I went into this with Anchorman expectations and left feeling like I just sat through another Ricky Bobby movie.

Don't get me wrong - there are plenty of hilarious parts in this movie. I laughed out loud quite a few times and thought that the over the top acting on the part of the cast was absolutely perfect. Mark Wahlberg was particularly hilarious as a miserable, angry cop who wants a chance to be in the spotlight. Will Ferrell was his usual unassumingly funny self, even if I thought a part of his character reveal was one of the most idiotic things I've seen in a long time. I really enjoyed Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson in their roles as the supercops. They were absolutely hysterical. Eva Mendes was all right. Michael Keaton was entertaining as the police chief. Are you noticing something here? No character names? Right, because I don't remember any of them and I'm not looking them up.

I know I should expect much of a plot from a comedy, but seriously, the story line in this movie was pure garbage. Bernie Madoff was the inspiration, with the character played by Steve Coogan as the leader of a Ponzi scheme. Most of the movie revolved around Marky Mark and Will trying to figure out exactly which was going on, which I think left the audience as confused as they were. By the time the movie was over, I didn't care what was going on. I just wanted to leave.

The worst part was that there were a lot of irrelevant jokes, like a running one about TLC songs. Really? The best the writers could come up with was references from 1999? Add in a completely out of left field credit roll with all kinds of pie charts and figures about CEOs and Fortune 500 companies, and there you have the randomness of this movie. Random is good, but at some point everything has to come together, and in this trainwreck, it didn't. I heartily suggest you avoid this at all costs, or at least wait until you can rent it. Don't encourage these people!

Seriously, I'm not even taking the time to look up a picture for this piece of crap. That's how bad it was.

Book Review: The Shadow of the Wind

I have a thing for Spanish language authors, and it's no secret. I like to be seduced when I read. I like a narrative that grips my mind and incites passion in my heart. I like books that give me a very clear view of the deepest hearts of its characters. I even like things that don't have true happy endings. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is all of these things and more.

Ruiz Zafon's tale centers around Daniel, a young boy who discovers the author and other main character, Julian Carax, while looking through the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Daniel chooses Carax's book, also titled Shadow of the Wind, and he's instantly hooked. Of course, he wants to read more books by the wonderful author, but in trying to find his other works, he uncovers the tragic past of Carax. Through his detective work, he ends up finding more than he bargained for and begins to suffer as a consequence.

There is so much to love about this book. The descriptions of Barcelona post World War II are incredible, and Ruiz Zafon also has a knack for poetic descriptions of mundane things. I am really bad at describing things because when I read, I usually skip anything that doesn't directly pertain to the story or the characters, but in this case, I read them. I also really enjoyed his characterization of Daniel, a young boy who is a complete romantic and who can't help but fall in love with nearly every woman he meets. Fermin, a homeless man he befriends who ends up working with Daniel and his father in their bookstore, is a really fun character who adds a lot of levity in a sometimes very depressing book. The female characters are strong as well, even though they don't play a huge role other than being objects of desire. I especially liked Nuria, who I thought had an incredible female voice.

While I enjoyed reading, I was a little disappointed at how Ruiz Zafon chose to reconcile the mystery of Julian Carax. It was a little too easy. I also tend to despair when all of the women in a book are these super sexy temptresses who show up and ruin men's lives, and there was plenty of that in this book too. The only real saving grace is that they were smart, headstrong and not afraid to voice their opinions. It also read like a romance novel in some parts, although it wasn't over the top. No bodice ripping here.

I liked this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes mysteries. It's also loaded with romance as well, but the tragic type that at times to me felt a little unbelievable. I definitely think it's worth the read.

Movie Review: Dinner for Schmucks

Ah, comedies. Sometimes you're not so funny. Sometimes all of your funny parts have been shown in previews, so that by the time I get to the theater, I've seen everything there is to see. I'm always really skeptical of comedies, mostly because I know how hard it is to write something that will make a wide range of people laugh. Dinner for Schmucks has gotten some lukewarm reviews, and I do agree that there are times when the film kind of drags, especially because it's a romantic comedy in disguise. But overall, I thought it was pretty entertaining, and I enjoyed that not every punchline was given away in the previews.

I know I mentioned in an earlier post that I like to be entertained. I find all forms of entertainment valid, even if they might not fit into the label of things I should like. This is something I have a real problem with. I actually broke up with a guy because he didn't think Joe Dirt was as hilarious as I did. He said it was beneath him to watch that kind of movie. I sent him packing, and he went home to rearrange his skinny tie collection while I stayed at my house and laughed my ass off. I guess if you're afraid of being judged for liking a certain kind of movie then maybe you have a bigger problem that needs to be addressed.

I like to laugh, and I certainly did during Dinner for Schmucks. What I particularly enjoyed were all of the cringe-worthy scenes they manages to pack into this film. That type of comedy is rare, and I thought it was done very well in this movie. I also loved how a lot of the dialogue was set ups and punchlines, which is a part of the reason why I love The Emperor's New Groove so very much.

Some of the stuff was a little mean, although the main character Tim (Paul Rudd), is aware that making fun of Barry (Steve Carell) is gross. But, the heart wants what it wants and Tim wants nothing more than to marry Julie (Stephanie Szostak) and get a big promotion at work. If you've seen the previews, then you know that Barry is the potential key to Tim getting that nice corner office. We basically watch Barry screw up Tim's life is ways that are hard to imagine, but in the end, everything works out. I don't think I'm spoiling anything here.

Jamaine Clement is hilarious in his role as Kieran, a hypersexual artist who has a thing for Julie. And even though Zach Galifianakis isn't in the movie for very long, he totally steals every scene he's in as Therman, Barry's boss and rival. The rest of the supporting cast is great too, although I wouldn't have minded some more Ron Livingston. Lucy Punch is really convincing as Darla, a woman who has been stalking Tim for years.

I will admit that I was not a fan of the crazy and/or stupid women in this film, although women are usually not treated very well in comedies, which is a shame. It was also tooth-achingly sweet at some points, which was strange but (I guess) all right. While this might not be a movie that you need to see on the big screen, I think it's definitely something worth watching. You'll leave the theater with a warm, fuzzy feeling, and that certainly isn't a bad thing.

My Screenplay is a Zygote

A few posts ago, I mentioned that I was going to try writing a screenplay. Well, so far so good. I picked up a copy of The Screenwriter's Bible by David Trottier, which has turned out to be indispensable. It answers every question I had and then some. Even if you aren't looking to write the next great American movie, there are lots of cool things within that can help with any kind of story.

One of the things I particularly like is the character chart which lists all of the important things characters needs to stand on their own two feet, and I think something like this can come in handy when trying to answer all of those questions you need to answer before you start writing. I wish I had something like that when I wrote my thesis, which was a fictional novel.

Trottier suggests writing a three paragraph synopsis of the plot before you type even one letter of the script. After thinking about it, I think this is a pretty good idea for anyone writing anything of length. I was skeptical but did it anyway, and let me tell you, problems emerged right away, making it easier for me to figure out what you need to fix before things get way out of hand.

Another thing I like is using index cards for each scene. While this is especially helpful for a movie script, it can definitely be helpful if you're working on something that may not follow a traditional story line. When I was writing my thesis I had an outline that was pretty detailed, but I can see the benefit of really thinking each scene out that you have in mind. Of course as you write things change, but if you have definite scenes you know will be there, I think this can be really helpful.

So far I'm at the index card stage with about fifteen. I'm sure I need more, so I continue to think about pacing, breaking up scenes with dialogue, etc. What's really cool is that now when I watch a movie, I pay more attention to the way the scenes fit together, even though I think I have been doing that subconsciously for a long time.

I haven't been frustrated at all, which is a very good thing. I'd get frustrated at least ten times on any given page when I was writing prose. That being said, I haven't really "written" anything yet, but I feel like writing a screenplay is more in tune with my strengths.

The Hunger Games Book 2 - Catching Fire

Suzanne Collins, how dare you? How dare you make me experience a roller coaster of emotions a la Ron Burgundy? While I question some of her plot points, I have to say that the characters Collins has created in the Hunger Games series have me dying to find out what happens to them. I'm just going to have to distract myself until August 24th when Mockingjay hits store shelves.

The first book left me with a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth, mainly because I thought Katniss was being too much of a silly little twit for her own good. Then I remembered being sixteen, and promptly realized that it is difficult for a young lady at that age to be anything other than an annoying brat. I stand firm to my assertion that the young women of today do not need another boy crazy heroine, and even though Katniss keeps telling us how boy crazy she isn't, the fact remains that she is. There's also an undercurrent of staying with someone to make other people happy even if it makes you miserable, which is gross, but it seems as though in the second book, Collins is at least giving Katniss the brains to stop that relationship from becoming something it should not be.

Once again, it's hard to review this book without giving way too much away, but let me say that I do appreciate Katniss: 1) admitting she's annoying; 2) realizing what her real potential is; and 3) absolutely embracing it. One great thing about Katniss is that although she might sulk for a bit, she truly understands that she has absolute power, and she knows that it really scares some very important people. Which is pretty cool.

Throw together a few new characters, the potential for another love interest (this brings dear Kat up to three), the fate of their world squared on her shoulders, some very covert attempts to end her life and there you have this book. While Geronimo complained that one of the plot points was rehashed, it didn't bother me as much, as I felt it seemed the only logical direction the story could take.

When I read the final installment, Mockingjay, I'm sure I'll have much more to say about this story overall, but until then, it's just going to be a whole lot of stomachaches and wondering.

(Here's the credit for the lovely rendering of Katniss - http://rohanelf.deviantart.com/)

Movie Review: Cyrus

Living in a small market area, I'm often disappointed that there are many indie movies that never make it to our theaters. When I saw the preview for Cyrus (in the movie theater, no less), I knew it was something I'd want to see. The tagline - "John meets the woman of his dreams. Then he met her son," grabbed me immediately. Imagine my surprise when I found that Cyrus was actually playing here in NEPA. Since yesterday afternoon was rainy and crappy, my husband and I decided to check it out.

John (John C. Reilly) is a divorcee who is still in love with his ex-wife Jamie (Catherine Keener) and still affected by their separation seven years later. Knowing how socially awkward John is, Jamie decides to invite him to a party after telling him that she is getting remarried, I suppose to soften the blow. He tells her he isn't going, then the next scene flashes to him sitting in front of a fire at said party. After a few drinks, he meets Molly (Marisa Tomei) while he's peeing in a bush. The spark is instantaneous and the two of them go back to John's apartment together.

But something's wrong. Molly never stays the night and seems to be in a hurry to get home. John wonders if she's married and decides to follow her back to wherever she's rushing to be. He eventually ends up at her home and falls asleep, and the next morning he wakes up in his car. John begins sneaking around her home when someone appears. A young man. Cyrus (Jonah Hill).

What follows is sometimes hilarious, sometimes sad, and sometimes very, very dark. Molly and Cyrus have a unique and close relationship, and Cyrus is not at all comfortable with John's feelings for his mother. I was amazed at Hill's acting chops; I cannot imagine anyone else playing that role. He played the manipulative, passive-aggressive, spoiled little brat that is Cyrus perfectly. When the relationship between John and Cyrus escalates near the end of the movie, Reilly and Hill are magical on the screen.

I definitely expected it to be a little sillier and have some more slapstick than it did mostly because of the past roles of Reilly and Hill. This is a smart, dark comedy with two guys who are known for their over the top kinds of roles playing more subdued, thoughtful men. Marisa Tomei was also pretty good as an over-protective single mom.  While she was supposed to be a woman completely out of John's league, but I found their supermodel styling of her a little distracting. Two and two were not adding up for me. Catherine Keener, as always, was phenomenal as John's honest and caring ex-wife and best friend.

While there were some things that didn't make sense, the heart of this movie was solid and pure. I enjoyed the performances and some of the dialogue was absolutely hilarious. I think anyone who has a darker sense of humor would really enjoy this film. It is romantic comedy, although it follows quite a different path than others in its genre. There's a lot to laugh at, but there are also plenty of cringe inducing scenes. Overall, I really enjoyed it and thought it was worth every penny we paid for the tickets.

Book Review: The Hunger Games and Teenage Female Expectation

My friend Geronimo and I have started a book club. Since we're the only members, we alternate book choices. This time around, I chose The Hunger Games, the first in a three part young adult series written by Suzanne Collins (told you I was a little kid at heart). The reviews were glowing and it seemed like something that I'd enjoy, so I gave it a shot. While I'm still kind of on the fence because I haven't finished the series, my initial reaction is that it's pretty slick.

The Hunger Games is an American version of Battle Royale, with the main difference being that it's set in post-apocalyptic America, and the names of every child from the ages of twelve to eighteen are chosen from lottery-style. There are twelve districts with a girl and boy chosen from each, and they must fight until only one has survived. The protagonist, Katniss, is a sixteen year old girl who becomes one of "tributes" when she offers to take the place of her twelve year old sister, Prim, after her name is drawn.

Katniss is a very likeable character. She has a ton of integrity and is as loyal as they come. Her devotion to her sister is touching and she's also very smart. At the beginning of the novel, she's just this regular girl who's trying to help her family survive during very tough times. Katniss and her best friend Gale, a boy she has known since childhood, regularly break the rules and hunt outside of their district. Katniss is more inclined to do what is right than she is to follow the rules. She also doesn't adhere to gender roles.

As the story progresses, Katniss becomes more and more flighty, mostly because of her relationship with Peeta, the male tribute from her district. After I finished the book, I found this a little disappointing. The recommended reading age is grades seven through nine, and I'm not sure if any pre-teen or young teenage girls need their heads filled with any more of the stereotypical gender roles that Katniss begins to fall into as the relationship develops. Not to give too much away, but there are times when I shook my head at this smart, strong teenage girl.

I think that a good story should be transformative for the reader, and I think that Collins may have missed her opportunity to give young women a new type of heroine. Katniss drastically changes from the beginning of the novel to the end, although I did try to take into account that she did experience something very traumatic and that her decisions may have been based on the the stress of being in the arena, fighting to survive. I am very interested to see where Collins take Katniss next - I certainly believe that she has a lot of potential, and I hope that she becomes the kind of heroine that makes the girls who read this realize that it's ok to be strong.

Overall, I think that this is a pretty solidly written book. It moves along at a good pace and there is a sense of profluence throughout. There were times where I couldn't put it down because I had to know what happened next. The style is a little juvenille, but it is from the viewpoint of a sixteen year old and it's written for thirteen year olds, so I couldn't expect much there. Even though I was slightly disappointed at the end of the first book, Collins has hooked me and I need to keep reading, which says a lot.

Trying Something New: Screenwriting

The other day I found my yearbook from eighth grade. I had quite the laugh over some of my fashion choices, but hey, it was the early 90s. Sebagoes, anyone? It was kind of fun to look through those pages and remember what it was like to be thirteen. I always say that I am a twelve year old trapped in a thirty year old's body, which is mostly true. I own a house, have a car, have a master's degree, and I'm married. But seriously, I do not feel like an adult. Ever.

My favorite song? Jeremy by Pearl Jam. I remember my mom being mad I didn't pick a "nice song." Favorite activities: baseball, shopping and talking on the phone. Two of out three stuck. My future career? Movie director.

Yeah. I remember that. I wanted to be a movie director. I wanted to make movies about the mob and have Joe Pesci star in every single one. The first time I saw The Godfather, it was a religious experience. My childhood is defined by Rambo: First Blood Part II, Godzilla movies and It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. I remember being crushed when I found out Rock Hudson and Doris Day were not a real life item. I still cannot hate Nicholas Cage simply because of his performance in Moonstruck.

I have seen hundreds, if not at least a thousand movies in my lifetime. I'm at the movie theater every weekend. I think visually, usually doing stop motion in my mind to get my ideas onto paper. So why am I writing novels and short stories?

I have no idea. I could kick myself for skipping out on the screenwriting foundations course when I worked on my master's. Luckily for me, I'm not one to give up, or not do something just because I don't know how. I've jumped feet first into a lot of things, and I've failed at a lot of things. And I'm all right with that.

So I'm going to do what all the experts say you should: think about what you said you wanted to be when you were a kid and work on it. Get there. So I'm trying something new. But still writing.

The Pianist and Working Every Day

One of my favorite Tweeple is @AdviceToWriters. Almost every day, Jon Winokur posts something that makes me have a lightbulb moment in relation to my own writing. Any writer will tell you that's a blessing, seeing as how so many of us are often left in the dark.

A few days ago, I went to Winokur's site Advice to Writers and tripped over the following post:

It doesn't matter what time of day you work, but you have to work every day because creation, like life, is always slipping away from you. You must write every day, but there's no time limit on how long you have to write.

One day you might read over what you've done and think about it. You pick up the pencil or turn on the computer, but no new words come. That's fine. Sometimes you can't go further. Correct a misspelling, reread a perplexing paragraph, and then let it go. You have re-entered the dream of the work, and that's enough to keep the story alive for another 24 hours.

The next day you might write for hours; there's no way to tell. The goal is not a number of words or hours spent writing. All you need to do is to keep your heart and mind open to the work.

WALTER MOSLEY

I've been struggling with writing ever since I graduated with my Master's Degree. Once I didn't have that gun next to my head, I started falling back into the same routine of watching television and generally being lazy. I'm helping my dad with a story idea because he's not a writer, and every week he asks me if I've made any progress. For the past few weeks, my answer has been, "No. Sorry."

That's just not good enough. I certainly need to be devoting more time to this, but I feel like it should be easier. I've already written a novel, and while it may still need tons of work, it's one more novel than I ever thought I'd write. I know the pitfalls, the traps, how easily I can put off writing while I tend to millions of other seemingly more important things. How could I have forgotten the importance of breathing with the project every day?

And today, as I was walking back from lunch, I heard a piano being played. I looked into the art gallery (I work at a college) and see this young man hammering away on the keys. As I walked away, I realized that he's in there every single day, playing like he'll never see a piano again. Mosley is right - "creation, like life, is always slipping away." Every day is our last chance to create, whether we realize it or not.

Book Review: "I Know This Much Is True" and The Issue of Character Torture

Most of my writing projects have started as a result of a character coming to mind. For instance, my thesis at Wilkes University was brought about by a writing prompt where a child was faced with something emotionally scarring, and almost a year later, I had written 325 pages that ended up sort of being about her. As I wrote, her mother became center stage, and she had a bunch of pretty crappy stuff happen to her, too. Throughout, I tried to keep the plot simple so that I could focus on my characters. Whenever I'd get stuck, I'd throw more and more wrenches into my main character's gears, hoping that it would move things along.

I didn't realize how ridiculous this was until I went back to revise. What had I been thinking? By trying to power through some less inspired sections, I had basically written a very silly, unbelievable book. Some of the scenarios were downright laughable. But what really made me realize this was Wally Lamb's book, I Know This Much Is True. While very well written, it was also very hard to believe that this one character experienced all of these things that might not happen to any of us in our lifetimes.

As part of a little book agreement between a friend and I, we've been picking books, reading them and discussing them. IKTMIT started out perfectly for me. I was into the characters and the story. Everything felt really authentic, and I was really relating to Dominick's plight as a caretaker. Truly a man with the world on his shoulders, I felt his Italian duty to his family attitude all the way to my bones.

But then, something weird happened. Something out of his character. Something that didn't make sense. Then, the weird somethings started popping up like summer afternoon thunderstorms. They were all over the place,  By the time I reached the end of the book, I had no idea what I had read. Basically, poor Dominick (you can't help but pity him) had been on the recieving end of some pretty terrible things, victimized by the author the entire way through the text. There are some bright spots for him, though very few and far between. In fact, at the end of the book I found it hard to believe that his story ended where and with whom it did.

I felt as though Dominick's main issue, the care of his schizophrenic identical twin brother, to be enough for him to have to endure as a character. I don't understand why Lamb felt the overwhelming urge to give him more crosses to bear. Lamb's decisions to make the unbelievable happen to this man over and over again jolted me from my waking dream while reading this book, making it nearly impossible to enjoy it. The things that happened to Dominick felt completely contrived, and part of me felt as though Lamb just didn't have the heart to kill his darlings.

There is a good story in there somewhere amongst the 900+ pages. Cut away two-thirds of that and maybe you have something that will move you, change your life. As it stands, IKTMIT for me was largely a very long and drawn out disappointment.

Movie Review: Inception

I doubt there is a person alive who hasn't heard of Christopher Nolan's latest film, Inception. With all the hype surrounding the release, I have to admit I was just a little skeptical. Not that I doubt Mr. Nolan's ability to tell and present his audience with an incredible story, but I have fallen prey to the thought that watching a movie could be a life altering experience. After watching the movie today, I have to say that I'm glad I was proven wrong.

Inception is a film about dream hijackers who get into their subjects' subconsciousness to extract information. Sounds cool, right? Well, it is. To see the textures of a dream brought to crisp, crystal high definition was nothing short of visually stunning. I particularly enjoyed the use of natural environments to set the mood and tone. Nolan is a master at creating an experience for the audience, and he certainly did that in this film. My husband and I saw this in XD, and it was incredible. What was also pretty cool was that Nolan resisted the trend of making a 3D version of this film. I have the feeling it was because he knew he didn't need a gimmick to get people in the seats.

Back in the day, before YouTube, Hulu and the general playground that is the internet were easily available to me, I had a membership at Blockbuster that I used on an almost daily basis. I would rent four movies at a time, and since I didn't have cable, I usually watched two or three of them a night. It was during this period when I found Memento and then Following, then a few years after that, I saw Insomnia in the theater. Nolan's skills as a writer and director really gripped me, and his unique point of view left me hungry for more. What I loved the most were his characters.

Dark, brooding, complex and unaware what is happening to them, Nolan's characters are always the focus. While the stories in each of the films are excellent, the characters are the gems. Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is our hero, the man who leads the rest of the dream squad because of his knowledge and expertise. As the story unfolds, we find that he's deeply disturbed and haunted by his past. Ellen Page plays Ariadne, a young college student who has the brains and ability to be one of the best. Her heart is what sets her apart from the rest of the crew, and she is also strong and complicated.

The cast turns in believable performances, and each of them holds their own. I was slightly surprised by Joseph Gordon-Levitt's performance, as I didn't expect that Tommy Solomon could have any kind of presence on screen next to Leo. He did an excellent job playing the loyal sidekick, and his past role as a funny kid definitely came into play during the film. Marion Cotillard also turned in a moving performance as Cobb's wife.

It's hard for me to review this film without giving too much away, so let me just say this: make the time to see this film in the theater. With the stunning visuals, great story telling, complicated characters, intense action scenes and a pay off that you wait for the entire film, this movie must be seen. At times, the suspense was so palpable that I caught myself holding my breath. While this movie is by no means perfect, it will certainly have you on the edge of your seat, rooting for the dream thieves to complete their mission before they wake up.

Movie Review: Let the Right One In

My dear friend, who I will always refer to as The Josie on this blog, is the person who recommended that I see this movie because she thought it related to one of my writing projects. As I mentioned in my previous post, it takes me forever to get around to things, and it took me a solid eight months to finally watch this. After it was over, I could have cried for waiting so long. Such wasted time. Want a synopsis? Go here.

Vampire movies are pretty popular right now, especially vampire romances. While Twilight has its center in a fantastical, unbelievable world, Let the Right One In is deeply rooted in reality. Much of the believability of this story lies in the stunning performances of the two lead characters, Oskar and Eli. Kare Hedebrant plays Oskar, a middle schooler who is bullied at school and pretty much ignored at home. Lina Leandersson plays Eli, a vampire who is struggling to survive. Their relationship becomes the only bright spot in either one of their lives. I really enjoyed the unconditional love aspect of this film as well, seeing as how Eli was a literal monster. It was very touching.

The two of them portrayed the innocence of puppy love perfectly. In their debut roles, they act as though they have been acting for a lifetime. It felt like they were born to play these characters. From the first moment Oskar notices Eli's beauty to the final moment they share on screen, there is the sense that we are being blessed with the first glimpses of something huge. Their romance feels as epic as Romeo and Juliet's, and it feels just as dangerous too.

Although there is no real story line outside of Oskar trying to avoid his bullies, Eli dealing with her urges and their budding romance, I felt that the story moved along nicely with a sense of profluence throughout. Somehow, the complicated mixture of gore, horror and romance never seemed overwhelming, silly or confusing. In fact, the film felt more like a slice of their lives than an overall complete story.

When I really like something, I tend to get a little obsessed with it, and this is one of those things. I want to read the book (of the same name), and I want to know what happened to the characters after the end of the film. They feel like real people to me, much in part to the phenomenal job on the part of the cast.

There is also supposed to be a remake of this film coming out soon, titled Let Me In. I feel so strongly about this movie that this is kind of blasphemy. Let the Right One In is only two years old. Maybe if more time had passed I wouldn't feel so annoyed by the obvious jump on the bandwagon, but we'll see. I highly doubt that this film can be topped. I definitely think it's worth tracking down for a rent. Oskar and Eli definitely give Edward and Becca a run for best vampire romance.

A Note on Reviews

Before you start reading my reviews, there's one thing I have to make clear - I'm all about entertainment. I don't care what implications a text has about the social implications of goat herding in an agricultural society, nor do I care about the hidden or not so hidden poltical subtext in most modern movies. I do not analyze anything, especially if it's on a big screen and I'm sitting in a movie theater.

While I do think the ability to analyze a text or movie for its social or political statements is an important skill to have, I will be investigating none of those things here. I'm doing this for enjoyment, not for a grade. Please refrain from telling me I missed the entire point of a movie or book because chances are, I didn't. I just don't feel the need to prove that I am intelligent, and I also believe that sometimes a story is just a story. The bottom line is that if I like something, it'll get a favorable review. If I don't, well then you know the rest.

I'm also going to keep all reviews as short as I can, and sometimes I'll do "Haiku Reviews." I want to keep things as short and to the point as possible. Also, please note that sometimes it takes me forever to get around to things. You know that movie you saw three years ago? I probably just watched it last night. Yeah, I'm like that.

Legends Never Die

I had something else planned for today's post, but with the recent passing of Bob Sheppard and the news of George Steinbrenner's passing today, I'd be remiss if I didn't comment.

I am a lifelong New York Yankees fan, and when I say lifelong, I mean it. When I was a little girl, only about two or three years old, I would lay down on my mom's bed and watch the Yankees with her. Most of the time, I'd fall asleep before the end of the game. When my dad would get home, he'd pick me up and carry me to my room, and I would inevitably ask, "Did the Yankees win?"

When I think Yankees, I think summer, fun, my family and love. The first day of baseball is just as important to me as seeing that first spring bud. Baseball has and always will stand for everything that's right in the world. Last weekend I was at a Boston Red Sox game, and I soaked in all of the joy that radiated from the fans. I loved watching sons and daughters with their mothers and fathers, old friends meeting up to take in a game and people just generally enjoying a beautiful afternoon in an incredible ball park. That is what sports is about.

Bob Sheppard was dubbed "The Voice of God." I will never forget the night of August 9, 1994 - Phil Rizzuto Hall of Fame Night at Yankee Satdium. The Yankees were in first place in the AL East and had the best record in baseball. They were unstoppable. Don Mattingly had a chance for a title. And the strike was looming. Bob Sheppard announced in his beautiful, booming voice not only Phil Rizzuto, but also Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle. I had the extreme privilege of being there to watch them walk around the entire field as they waved to us, the fans. It's one of those moments that I will never forget. My Mom framed the poster they gave away that night.

George Steinbrenner was all that is America wrapped up into one person. Everything had to be the best, the top of the line, no matter how much it cost, whether it was a player or a stadium. While other baseball fans chastised the Yankees for spending tons of money on players, I always thought that if you had the money to own a Bentley, would you buy a Chevy Cavalier just because you felt bad for other people? The answer is no, and George thought the same way and rather unapologetically, I might add. It was the spirit of never giving up and doing anything to win that helped the modern Yankees rise up to meet the team's history.

Love him or hate him, George Steinbrenner had more vision than he knew what to do with. He is the father of modern baseball. He created theater with all of his antics, good and bad. His tirades, his calling out of players, his stormy heart, his attitude, his swagger, his enterprising mind and his desire to be the best all added up to something that was much more than a game. He made baseball more than a bat against a ball.

George once said that owning the Yankees was like owning the Mona Lisa. In the end, he painted his own work of art.