Last Time (promise)

(500) Days of Summer was very good. Not excellent or anything but highly enjoyable! You all should see it, and remember - "This is not a love story". Great songs/cast/story. It does lag in the bridge a bit, but all is well when you leave. We especially loved the faux-Truffaut French vignettes and dream sequences - look for Han Solo - that's all I'm saying!

Proust said, "On n'aime que ce qu'on ne possède pas tout entier"

We only love what we cannot wholly possess

True 'dat, Marcel.....
Boy, does that apply to this flick...

Enjoy!

To Die By Your Side Is Such A Heavenly Way to Die..

Today, (500) Days of Summer comes out here and other major cities. It'll be everywhere next week. I hope it doesn't suck. It sounds like it's going to do for the Smiths what Garden State did for the Shins (have I already made that point...?). Let's be honest though, if you haven't ever checked out the Smiths (England's premier 80's band) then slap yourself. Go download some immediately. I recommend buying their entire catalog, but I am a bit crazy. The title is a line from "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" from the 1986 album the Queen Is Dead. Go check out a greatest hit compilation if you like (there are countless ones), but again the full albums are delightful. Lead singer, Morrissey, and lead guitarist, Johnny Marr, never made feeling melancholy so beautiful.

PS - My favorite song is "This Charming Man"

Summer Movie Preview (JUNE)

This month finds us in the "salad" part of the meal. June is full of buddy comedies and RomComs for one of my favorite Nashville couples, Blalizabeth (hey, it's better than - Elizablake....this is what you get for being Brangelina for Halloween).

JUNE

1st up is Land of the Lost with Will Ferrell and Eastbound and Down's own Danny McBride. Even with all that potential, it's gonna take a lot to get me in that theater...






Sam Mendes of American Beauty fame pulls off a shocker with a comedy (with John Krasinski? What in the world?). Away We Go is an across the country misadventure of an expecting young couple searching for the perfect place to settle down.





While watching TV last night, we had a little chuckle with the preview for The Hangover. Old School's Todd Phillips is back with a troupe of B-list comedians that I love (Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Rob Riggle, Matt Walsh, Rachael Harris etc). Las Vegas bachelor party - GO!





All you My Big Fat Greek whatevers get excited! Nia Vardalos is back with Richard Dreyfuss (huh?) for My Life in Ruins. Get ready to awwwww (or vomit).







Ghostbuster Egon (Harold Ramis) is directing Jack Black and Michael Cera as 2 banished cave men in Year One. Hmmmmmmmm?







Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock star in The Proposal. I wonder what's it's about? I will from here on out affectionately refer to it as Three Weeks Notice....







Rounding out June is Transformers: Revenge of the Sith (wait?). I loved T-formers almost as much as GI Joe (hold your horses, that's July!). Didn't see the 1st one, so it doesn't look good for this one. Sorry, Shia the Beef.

Summer Movie Preview (MAY)

Whitney just "shushed" me so she could watch a preview of the new Woody Allen flick, Whatever Works, starring the always dry Larry David (what a NYC combo of Allen and David!). So here are some other movies to look forward to (or not) this Summer.

MAY

May is already upon us. And while it is technically not a summer month, it has laid out some decent appetizers. First off, let me say I really can't stand Star Trek. Nevertheless, Whit and I will be seeing JJ Abrams latest with bells on.





X-Men: Wolverine? Nope. Love the men of Xavier, but it's time to hang up the Adamantium, Weapon-X.







If anyone goes to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, you are not my friend anymore. It's hard for me to hate McConaughey - the guy who was Wooderson from Dazed & Confused, but I have lost all respect for you, dude (even when you had some redemption with Tropic Thunder- ugh!)





I REALLY don't want to see Angels & Demons. I did not read A&D (it was just way too long guys, and there's too much crap I have to read everyday for Perio). I DID read DaVinci Code. Ron Howard, Tom Hanks and Co. butchered that film. My fear is that I would see A&D and like it only to have to deal with all you "readers" telling me how much it sucked....




May winds down with Terminator: Salvation. No thanks. Even with Christian Bale, nope. I loved T1 and T2, but I could care less about any of this. It can't be good with all the behind the scene problems that riddled this potential buster.





The last is a Mexican Indie that is Swine Flu free. Rudo y Cursi follows 2 brothers aspiring to be professional footballers. The scout comes to town but can only take 1 to Mexico City. Rivalry ensues.

Nashville Film Festival

Well - talk about a hiatus! I have had loads to say, but NO time to say it. Whitney, Lorelai, and I blazed a path across America to Nashville (not for the festival but for SB2K9) - that's 18hrs of power! The NFF was last weekend. We were there but not there. We were down the hall at "I Love You, Man" (which I thoroughly enjoyed as you know I love a good bromance). The lead off film for the festival will likely be in theaters this summer.
"(500) Days of Summer" is yet another attempt to be the next "Little Miss Sunshine" or "Juno". It appears to be palatable. It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (the kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun and 10 Things I Hate...) and Zooey Deschanel (one of my favorites and Whitney's least). He's in love. She's not that serious about love. Indie ro-com ensues! Keep it on your radar:

Remember This One? Chasing Amy

I'll admit it. From 1995-2001, I was all about anything Kevin Smith put his hands on. His most critically acclaimed film was 1997's Chasing Amy. After the commercial flop of Mallrats, Smith went back to his indie roots with his dramedy about a comic writer (Ben Affleck) who falls for another writer (Joey Lauren Adams) who happens to be a lesbian. He's followed around by his inker buddy (Jason Lee) as he fights to get her to change teams. Adams even got a Golden Globe nod. It's on IFC right now. I used to own it. Another victim of the fraternity house.....David Zegley, I've got my eye on you.

The movie starts off at Comic Con (that's "Con-vention" you non-nerds) with a classic rant about racism in Star Wars by Black Panther comic writer, Hooper X.

Here's the scene - vulgar, wrong - hilarious.....

Bring the Payne!!!

Director/Screenwriter Alexander Payne has emerged from his hibernation for the 1st time since 2004. It is about freaking time. My favorite movie of 2004 and one of my favorites of all time, Sideways (please see Trailer here, classic!) brought Payne his 1st Academy Award for best adapted screenplay. As we followed Miles and Jack across wine country for a bachelor weekend, you couldn't help but laugh at all that unfolds. You can't believe Jack's blind ambition to "score" and Miles' consuming inadequacy to function in general. Coupling with Sandra Oh (Payne's then wife) and Virginia Madsen, the story will make you smile, shake your head and even hurt from the raw reality of their lives. If you have never seen this movie, add it to your queue, NOW! Fair warning, it has some pretty crass/racy moments, but if Whitney can look past it and love this movie - anyone can!
Payne has re-united with long-term writing partner, Jim Taylor, to write the script for Downsizing. Much in the vein of Wes Anderson or M. Night Shamylan, Payne has pulled actors from his previous movies to star in this upcoming project. Paul Giamatti is back in the lead role (how can you not cast him? the academy's failure to even nominate him for Sideways after he WON nearly every award in every film critics circle will forever irk me! For another GREAT Giamatti performance check out Cinderella Man), and Reese Witherspoon is on board after carrying Payne's 1999 dark comedy, Election. The plot again is riddled with satire (shocker), and apparently Sacha Baron Cohen has a role playing some foreigner (yikes!). Whatever the end result may be, I am excited. I'm almost as excited as I am about GI Joe: the movie and Jeff Bridges in the upcoming Tron sequel. Whew!

Knowing Is Half the Battle

So, I meant to talk about this last week, but I have been way too busy with Holistic Detox (don't ask.....). Regardless, the highlight of the Super Bowl commercials for me had to be - THE G.I. JOE MOVIE !!!!!!!!!!!

GI JOE: The Rise of Cobra

G.I. Joe was only my favorite show and toy growing up. My weekly $3 allowance meant a trip to Target to get the $2.99 new action figure. Hold on to your socks, kiddos! It is like a G.I. Joe prequel before Cobra came up from the underground. Destro before he had his metal face, Hawk when he was just a General, Duke when there was no Lady Jay (which BTW is total crap that there is no Lady Jay in this flick, erghh!), and Cobra Commander when he was Duke's best friend. The Baroness, Zartan, Scarlet: they're all here. Who can't wait for the always classic Storm Shadow vs. Snake Eyes showdown? Me. I have chills. I'm sure it will probably disappoint and suck as we don't have a big name in charge ala Michael Bay or John Woo - not to mention some questionable casting calls (Dennis Quaid as Hawk?? No names everywhere else? Though Ray Park/Darth Maul is playing Snake Eyes). I can live with it. It will be here this summer. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Weekend at the Movies

We played catch up this weekend with back-to-back matinees on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday afternoon, it was Revolutionary Road. Whew.... I'm going to need some time. Going into any Sam Mendes (American Beauty) flick, you can't expect an uplifting or sunny experience. This movie is no surprise in that respect. The Wheelers are a post-newlywed couple that had big dreams for their lives but find themselves rounding 30 and living dead-end lives on the dead-end of Revolutionary Rd. Kate Winslet is a classic Hollywood starlet and chilling til the end. The scene stealer, though, is Michael Shannon as John, the mid-thirties son of the Wheeler's gossipy realtor played by Kathy Bates. John has lived for years in the looney bin but may be the most sane person to grace the screen in RR. People have noticed his performance as his ~10min on screen have earned him a Best Supporting nod from the Academy (something not seen since Dame Judi Dench's Supporting nod and win in 1999 for even less screen time in Shakespeare in Love). Like other Mendes films, the movie builds to a climactic finish that leaves the audience silent, bewildered, and somewhat disturbed. I even got a little emotional outside the theatre when I couldn't find my parking stub... The movie hit me in places I don't know if I look too often. Tread lightly my friends especially all my 20-something married friends with or without children. As we left the theatre, Whitney couldn't help but think of this quote:

"Maddest of all is to see things as they are and not how they should be." - G.K. Chesterton

For Sunday's Matinee, we took the trip we've been trying to take since before Christmas. Finally, we made our way to the heart of India and Slumdog Millionaire. This movie is a tour-de-force and an amalgamation of many other films. Director Danny Boyle's touches are everywhere. The story as I'm sure you are all now aware of follows the gutter rat contestant of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire through his life up until his eventual interrogation by the local police convinced of his cheating. The visuals and music will leave you breathless, and the situations will leave your stomach in knots. First arriving on the scene with Shallow Grave and hitting the mainstream with Trainspotting, Boyle finally directs his crowning achievement. Much like his last movie, Millions, Boyle again strikes gold with the stars of his picture being innocent children with good in their hearts trying to avoid the horrors found in an adult world. Boyle's signatures seen in Trainspotting and Millions are here along with his visions from somewhere across the globe last seen in The Beach. Speaking of The Beach, this story seems very akin to the material usually found in the novels of Alex Garland, the author The Beach, who struck a chord with Boyle in the late 90's. Equal parts Garland and Boyle, Slumdog borrows scenarios from everything from The Usual Suspects to Blood Diamond. Much like Diamond, you are forced to watch children thrust into horrible situations. Hold your breath. You are in for a ride....

Have you seen these?
What did you think?
I'm gonna need time to process as it has only been a couple of hours.
This is the rapid reaction...

2008 Movie Recap...

(In honor of the Globes)

Well, I have to admit - I have not been the best moviegoer since my Dental education began. As I sit down to write a Top 10 list for 2008, I can only think 1 thing: "Did I even see 10 movies this year....?". I may not have. There are PLENTY of amazing movies that I did not see: Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Burn After Reading, The Wrestler, Revolutionary Road, Slumdog Millionaire, Rachel Getting Married, Pineapple Express, Benjamin Button - Lots of great movies that I SO wish I had seen.....We still have time...

These were the ones I enjoyed

In Bruges
Atonement
Juno
Dark Knight
Wall-E
Iron Man
Tropic Thunder (parts at least)

I also saw (sadly)

Sex and the City
Indiana Jones and the Alien Space Skulls
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (which I did enjoy, I think?)

Wow, only 11 movies were seen by me.....pitiful.
(not counting the ones I was trying to make up for from '07)
Let's do better in '09, yeah?

All the President's Men

Tonight, I'm watching one of my favorite movies on TCM - "All the President's Men". I own the commemorative special edition 20th anniversary etc. edition on 2-disc DVD. It's sitting 8 feet away from me, but I am still watching it on TV. Whitney and I are notorious for this practice of watching movies we own on TV. Regardless, it's a classic. If you have not seen, go watch it, then shoot yourself for not seeing it until now. It's the movie based on the book of the same name by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that blew the doors off the Watergate burglary in the 1970's. I mean we are talking about "Deep Throat" here, the secret informant of Bob Woodward that went unnamed on "deep background" for his strories in the Washington Post. The movie is full of icons with Redford as Woodward, Hoffman as Bernstein, Hal Holbrook as Deep Throat, and my favorite, Jason Robards, as Washington Post editor, Ben Bradlee. I love a good scandal, and I know you do, too. This was one the biggest ever. What a flick!!!

If you are bored on the internet just get on wikipedia and read all about G. Gordon Liddy, E. Howard Hunt, Bob Haldeman, Chuck Colson and John Mitchell. You can learn all about Watergate and bigger scandals like Hunt's involvement with LBJ and Kennedy's assassination. History buffs unite!

Best Weekend Ever

Not Really, but I love Hyperbole.

Nevertheless, this was a decent weekend. On Friday, Whitney and I went to the North End for Giacomo's with Leann & Will from the ECS reunion. I had some excellent shrimp and scallops over linguini with the Giacomo/Fra Diavolo combo sauce. Delicious. We then walked to Caffe Vittoria for coffee, liqour, and gelatto. On top of all that, I didn't have to drive, and Whitney let us take the T. Bless you. OH, did I mention that the Sox won AGAIN in Anaheim.

On Saturday, I went to the Mass Periodontal Society meeting at the Crowne Plaza. I know. Can you imagine the excitement? The speaker was from Charleston...awesome. Until I realized that he was an egotistical Elephant Killer. Literally, the guy showed pictures of his safari and pictures of 3 elephants that they HAD to kill because they attacked them......nice guy. SO, I left at lunch (b/c Vanderbilt had Gameday, and b/c I had Giacomo's left overs). I then watched the DVR of Fulham losing to West Bromwich Albion (the one black-eye of my weekend) and the DVR of Gameday. Awesome. The next couple of hours consisted of me on the couch girating and watching the clock slowly tick towards 6:00 pm and kick-off. Whit made Chicken Chili, and the game began. Down early, Vandy came back and won. Hurray! Still hasn't registered, yet.

Sunday kicked off with sleeping late which I NEVER DO. We had lunch at Zaftig's consisting of my Feta, Tomato, Spinach omelet w/ home fries, rye bread and challah. Challah Back, y'all! We hit Bed, Bath and Beyond for space heaters, tupperware and curtain rods. All in all, pretty wonderful Sunday. Not to mention, the Titans came back and defeated the evil Baltimore Ravens. We filled our time until the Red Sox game with a little Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. It's pretty alright. It's kind of like Can't Hardly Wait meets Adventures in Babysitting with a little Scorcese's After Hours. Oh, wait. This is a remake of After Hours? Kind of. It wants to be Juno 2: Bleeker Get's Ready to Go to College. It's not. It does have a tuna canned indie rock soundtrack that I'm sure you'll download and tell all your friends that you knew Bishop Allen before there was a Nick n Norah (I did and you did too if you heeded my requests on this blog for you people to download that you never read or care about - so, I wonder why I even take the time.) ahem! This flick namedrops for street cred like I've never heard: Arlene' s Grocery, the Bowery Ballroom, the Mercury Lounge, insert band here ____. All in all just bring your Purell. That's all I'll say. Whitney wanted to shower after this - not a movie for germaphobes. We are currently topping the night off with some steak fajitas, Red Sox/Angels, and an Amstel Light.
(side Note) Happy Birthday, Blake Sloan. 30 never looked so good (kidding, I know you're 29). War Eagle all you Aubies and have a great week!

Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head

But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turnin’ red
Crying’s not for me
Cause I’m never gonna stop the rain by complainin’
Because I’m free
Nothing’s worrying me.....

Butch Cassidy has ridden off into the sunset, and Cool hand Luke has eaten his last egg. Hollywood says goodbye today to one of their finest. Paul Newman passed away this morning at the age of 83. After breaking hearts with his stellar looks and inspiring souls with his on screen presence for years, Newman spent his later years with his Newman's Own salad dressings, coffee, charities, and his racing team that won 8 CART series championships. While often a serious face on screen, Newman always charmed me with his playful characters. Of course his partnership with Robert "Sundance" Redford in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", established the two of them as icons (can you ever forget Newman riding in a circle on that bicycle while Burt Bacharach's "Raindrops...." played?). Similarly, any guy can reference "Cool Hand Luke" with its "failure to communicate" and hard boiled egg showdown. For me, I just can't help love Newman as minor league manager/player, Reg Dunlop for the Charlestown Chiefs hockey team. In the 1977 comedy "Slap Shot", Newman leads a rag tag team to a championship in the vein of "Major League" or "Bad News Bears". Lingering more in your mind after you watch "Slap Shot" are the Hansen brothers (a trio of bottle-rim glasses wearing goons that beat the tar and fire out of everyone and simply fight their way through the league with much ballyhoo and hilarity).
You could talk forever about so many of his films - "The Sting", "The Color of Money", "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "Road to Perdition", "The Hustler", "The Long Hot Summer" and on and on and on. Nevertheless, there were not many like this guy. He wasn't the original "ol' blue eyes", but I'm pretty sure they'll remember him the same nonetheless. So long, Fast Eddie.

Slap Shot and the Hansens at their finest

NOBODY can eat 50 eggs!

Inspiratu

Watched the wacky-fest that is "i ♥ Huckabees" this weekend on IFC. Wasn't sure if anyone realized the inspiration behind my other blog, "How Am I Not Myself?". Here is the scene in all its glory.
Enjoy....

"Sic Transit Gloria" or "How Do You Take Your Tea?"

(CHOO CHOO !)

Tuesday is always the day of new releases for music and movies in the U.S. (Monday in the UK). Today, the DVD for The Darjeeling Limited comes out! (sadly not on Criterion Collection format due to the studio that released it blah, blah, blah) Regardless, it was one of my favorite movies of the few I saw last year (whitney, too). I plan on picking it up on the way home today, and you should, too (that is if you like Wes Anderson's quirkiness). After their father's funeral which their mother did not attend, three brothers set out across India to find their mother and themselves aboard the Darjeeling Limited. Though I never thought The Royal Tenenbaums would be topped, Rushmore really won top prize in the "Will's Pantheon of Wes Anderson" after repeated viewings of them both over the years (albeit a VERY narrow 1st prize). As my wife can attest, it really wasn't a fair fight, because I truly enjoy everything Jason Schwartzman does from Rushmore, to Huckabees, or bit parts in Shopgirl. Though the Bill Murray action is limited in this Anderson journey (Darjeeling, now keep up people!), he still makes an appearance, and the movie is better for it after his bloated Steve Zissou (which also holds a special place in my heart, too). There are cameos from many of your favorite Anderson players, and a soundtrack riddled with his usual fare of British Invasion Stones and Kinks. Sadly the uniqueness of Mark Mothersbaugh's (leader of DEVO.....whip it!) score (a staple of all of Anderson's movies) is missing...(tear...sniff). I love his scores especially the music from the Rugrats show (what?). Before you watch it, be sure to watch the short film prequel Hotel Chevalier starring Natalie Portman and Jason S.

You can download it for free on ITUNES for a teaser if you like. Then, you should watch it again after you watch the movie. It will mess with your head....not really. Once you've had the experience, try to track down a copy of The Kinks - "Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Part 1" (preferably on vinyl bc I'm a snob). Either way, check it out. It'll blow your mind, or my name isn't Robert Goulet.