One of those spur of the moment collections of days that just comes together perfectly.
What made it so good?
Seeing Wall-E. So good. Soooooo good! I am actually going to go ahead and say: best Pixar film ever. Ever!
Why so good? The characterizations, I think, mainly. The gifted animators managed to squeeze emotions out of very limited creatures (simplistic robots with incredibly small vocabularies).
And what emotions! These simple little characters with big personalities made it easy to tell a very small, simple story - with an epic, intergalactic, post-apocalyptic scale - and that gave the movie a huge emotional impact. Don’t be fooled by the cutesy robots in the kiddie cartoon: the movie is intense.
Shopping! Yes, I’m a girl… But this has more to do with some rather male-like efficiency in procuring what I needed (an outfit for an upcoming summer wedding) in a minimum amount of time, for a minimum amount of money.
It’s sale time, pretty much everywhere, which meant after only an hour or two that mission was accomplished, which is especially impressive given that I needed a new bra to go under a new dress. Bra shopping is probably the single most depressing regularly occurring event in a girls life (with the possible exception of swimsuit shopping), so getting it over and done with in record time was pretty satisfying.
Impromptu dinner party! We threw one at the last minute (we gave people like, 18 hours facebook notice) and: People! Actually! Showed! Up!
Liam made vast quantities of sushi, we all drank plum wine and sake, hundreds of edamame were popped out of their pods, I got to make new friends and catch up with some old ones I hadn’t seen in too, too long, and a good time was had by all.
We finally met our neighbors. Meeting new people is always hard, especially for us (me and Liam are both kinda shy - Liam especially).
We were the only childless couple, which was a little odd, and meeting and befriending all those hip, young Torontonian parents I’ve read so much about in Toronto Life was a little surreal, but cute toddlers and frisky dogs are the best icebreakers, as is a good cheeseburger, and friendly people. Plus, I’ve learned that a love of good food is universal, so my knowledge of the 100 mile diet, organic food boxes, and my own little organic vegetable patch came in handy.
Really, I think we came to the realization that we had more in common with these new people (minus the many, many, babes-in-arms) than we do with many of our friends right now. We love our friends, but we’re kinda on a different life path than many of them are right now.
We are building a home, and a life together, where most people we know are still focusing on the next concert, the next party, the next new toy. It’s kinda nice to be around people who don’t think it’s crazy to be looking inward, instead of out; to throwing dinner parties at home, instead of getting drunk at a club. It’s no judgment call on the people who like that sort of thing, but I know that I get so much more enjoyment out of sitting at home in front of a good movie, piled next to loving kitties and boy, tummy filled with a home cooked meal. I can’t imagine wanting anything else.
A well-dressed, well-sauced socialite with a equally well-sauced husband, who trade witty repartee like it’s going to be prohibited shortly, accompanied by the darlinglist dog in all of Hollywood while solving mysteries with aplomb.
We watched the Thin Man last night, and I want to be Nora when I grow up. Liam, you can be Nick (and don’t tell me being a booze-soaked private detective doesn’t appeal to you - it’s only your lifelong dream). Should I remind you that Dame Maggie Smith and David Niven parodied them in Murder By Death? Wouldn’t you like to be parodied by David Niven when you grow up?
I find the Fox Terrier especially dreamy. That little dog was twice a co-star of Cary Grant and is regularly an answer in the New York Times crosswords. That’s pretty much the finest pedigree there is as far as I’m concerned. When we finally live in a place where we can get a dog, I think I want one.
Well, it’s the first long hot weekend of a long hot summer, so we are going to take advantage of it.
Our weekend is going to be positively packed with farmers markets, and golfing, and shopping, and eating, and probably a little bit of gardening (although, other than a little watering, things are looking pretty self-sustaining at the moment).
To celebrate, you should watch this clip of a pretty good old movie (with a script by Billy Wilder, and opening credits by Saul Bass - how can you go wrong?) about the beginning of another long hot summer in the city (just ignore the slightly racially offensive bit in the middle - kinda hard to find an old movie that doesn’t have a couple moments like those, unfortunately).
And then Marilyn Monroe shows up. You should really hunt this down and watch the rest of it though. It’s one of those classics that’s a classic for a reason.
We have been told on a number of occasions by people whose opinions we trust that Speed Racer was actually pretty good. Which was surprising, because even though I really wanted to see it, the reviews had convinced me otherwise.
Last night, we learned it was still playing on IMAX and went to check it out for ourselves.
The IMAX theatre here in Toronto (@ John and Richmond) fits close to a thousand people. There were about eight of us when the lights went out. It was like our own personal home IMAX. Pretty awesome.
A lack of audience doesn’t bode so well for the Wachowskis however… which is sad, because you know how - maybe a year ago - you heard rumors about this flick being mind-blowing? They were all true.
The movie was excellent, saturated with colour and movement - the best kind of drug-free head-trip. The plot was easy to follow and entertaining - I didn’t think it felt overly long at all. The races were speedily kinetic and weirdly pneumatic - mesmerizing to watch. The acting was definitely one dimensional, but in a knowing way that perfectly fitted it’s source material - a cartoon. It did all this in a manner that was pretty wholesome and family friendly, so feel free to bring kids along (not too young of course, there is a bit a of implied violence - although no worse than the Home Alone movies). It was like nothing else I’ve ever seen, which is the only reason I can fathom it got such lousy reviews.
It was a great big, larger than life, caricature of the original.
A living, breathing manga.
The way the images evoked the intense world of extreme diagonals, flat characters and dense set-pieces inside Japanese comic books was breathtaking. I could see the black lines dancing at the edges of the actors faces, as though the movie would fall back into ink and newsprint at any moment.
We left the theatre charged up and energized in a way I haven’t felt in a long time - probably since I was a kid and we went to see the big blockbusters and Disney cartoons. I definitely didn’t feel that way when leaving the theatre from Ironman (which I found merely entertaining).
To anyone that is in any way a fan of Japanese art, or art in general, don’t believe Rotten Tomatoes, this movie is a must see (so go see it now if/while you still can).
Yet another reason to be our friend: we throw really elaborate parties, even if it’s just for a person or so.
Last weekend we had a bit of a sushi blowout. We also invented a new flavour: asian pear! It’s really good in sushi - a beautifully sweet little crunchy-crunch in the middle of the tangy roll. We watched anime (Tekkonkinkreet - really good!), drank (pink!) sake and had organic miso soup with udon floating around in it - and also had strawberry bubble tea (which isn’t Japanese, but I sorta think it’s perfect with sushi anyways).
Our theory is that it’s cheaper and more fun to do this at home than go out.
I’ve loved that dude since Roar. He’s like my teenage crush number 2 (number 1 was Christian Bale - so just imagine how excited I was to see him star alongside Batman as Joker - and now it’s just going to be creepy).
And he was an amazing actor to boot - he turned even teenybopper flicks into something interesting and inherently watchable (10 Things I Hate About You for example - and A Knights’s Tale too).
Poor dude had a baby girl.
I mean, hollywood actors implode from time to time, but when’s the last time anyone of actual worth died and left behind a little helpless baby.
Pretty much never.
Can we get Hollywood off of drugs now, please? Damn things are destroying my favourite actors, and acting’s something I actually used to enjoy and respect at one point in time.
We rented a bunch of movies over the weekend and, by some fluke, all of them turned out to be perfect for a snow-bound, tree-trimming weekend. Each was very different, but very good in it’s own way.
First we watched a Japanese animated movie called Paprika.
It had that sumptuous, colourful, dense, Hayao Miyazaki style imagery I am really digging these days. The plot was kinda trippy, (a company develops a machine that lets people enter each others dreams - but something is corrupting the dreams of those who use the machine) but not completely unintelligible - at least, not compared to say, a David Lynch movie. Compared to Mullholand Drive this movie was pretty straightforward. The eclectic/electro soundtrack was pretty cool too - the “parade” song in particular is definitely stuck in my head these days.
They filmed this all over Toronto last year, with the main street scene close to our old apartment in Parkdale. They transformed a whole, actual city block into 1962 Baltimore (the early sixties is my absolute favorite era). We visited one afternoon when they weren’t filming, and it was amazing the attention to detail they put into the thing. I was pretty wary of a big studio adaptation of such a classic cult film, but I was impressed first by their authentic sets, then by the thumbs up of John Waters himself (not exactly an easy thing to get from such a known curmudgeon) and then by the good reviews.
So we finally took the plunge, and gave it a go, and we were impressed. The singing and the plot ebbed and flowed naturally and didn’t take itself too seriously - and the music didn’t even suck all that much - pretty catchy, actually. With the possible exception of John Travolta (who wasn’t even all that bad, considering) the cast was perfect, and any opportunity to see Christopher Walken sing and dance should be taken.
You might have heard of this one, as the woman (Adrienne Shelley) who wrote and directed it was murdered shortly before it’s release - which I would normally be wary of, as films in these situation often get hyped out of control. However, in this case the hype was justified and it truly is sad that this unique voice was silenced.
It’s a bittersweet little film about a young woman (Keri Russell) who works in a pie diner and makes miraculously delicious pies. She gets pregnant by her abusive husband (Jeremy Sisto, duh), and then falls in love with her gynecologist. It reminded me a bit of The Gilmore Girls - snappy dialoge, eccentric small townies (including Andy Griffith!), and a general romantic quirkiness.
I mean, The bottom line is, this movie involves quirkiness and pies, so I am pretty much in love with it.
If you like Wes Anderson you will love it. If you consider yourself to be a student of cinema and literature you will love it’s depth and elegance (although if Hollywood movies and best-selling books are more your thing you might not). If you’re looking for a bit of a visual boost, some eye candy to jangle your creativity, it’s perfect too. If you’re looking for inspiration for decorating your home, then this is the movie to see this season.
The India depicted is (like in most Anderson movies) not so much of the present, or even of the past, but one of dreams captured cinematically. The set pieces and locales are astonishing - everything is drenched in a vibrant, fairy-tale exoticism. However, it’s not quite as much of a fashion flick as other Wes Anderson movies have been - despite the help of Mark Jacobs and a large set of absolutely divine Louis Vuiton luggage.
I found this poster for it, and it’s a bit of a odd find as it depicts only Natalie Portman and a tiger. While both are certainly in the movie, they do not appear as more than spoken-of-mirages, and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos. But I do absolutely love it’s retro illustrative style, reminiscent of mid-sixties movie posters. It certainly hints to the mystery and style of the movie.
Script-wise, Anderson is back to form - recalling his first (and most critically acclaimed) film: Bottle Rocket.
Anderson’s trio of brothers are, though a return to a familiar subject of disaffected families, one of his most emotionally interesting depictions. Although he does receive a lot of help from his always impeccable casting.
Brody? Schwartzman? Wilson? You can’t go wrong
I’m really hoping that he never collaborates with that Noah Baumbach ever again. I actually quite like Roman Coppola (his CQ was entirely underrated) so I think he was a much better choice as a collaborator than that other guy. They certainly share a certain retro, new-wave, colour-drenched sensibility. I could tell he added a lot of sparkle and elegance to the cinematography and script - but then again, it’s well established that I have a thing for the Coppola family.
Speaking of which, Jason Schwartzman is also quite effective here - I think it’s his sense of humour which most comes out in both his performance and the script (which he also co-wrote), bringing levity to Wes Andersons darker inclinations. .
Here’s also hoping Owen Wilson never succeeds in his recently publicized attempts, because he is a woefully wonderful actor who adds so much undertones and depth to a performance - but damned if doesn’t ever get to show it except for in Wes Anderson movies.
I went up to my family’s cottage this weekend. It was very cold, and there were mice. Probably didn’t get warmer than 20 degrees (C) ’til the day we left (of course). Still got to get in a little swimming (had to traverse debris though - my dad was rebuilding the dock).
We saw Ratatouille before we left, and I was quite surprised by it (although really, what was I expecting from a Pixar flick? Anything less than amazingness?).
Thanks to Disney’s inept marketing I knew pretty much nothing about it going in, other than it was a Pixar movie about rats (which is really a good thing - I’m sick of seeing movies where I already know all the good moments because they put them all in the trailer).
It is about a adorably ambitious little rat who has a stirring passion for cooking who finds himself in the (once) finest kitchen in all of Paris. He pairs up with similarly adorable but not nearly as ambitious human to take on all the snobbery and bad tempers that France has to offer. Hilarity ensues.
What this movie comes down to is rats, the cooking of truly fine food and Paris - and Pixars animators captured them all in a gloriously gauzy haze of nostalgia (which won me over to their chubby, fuzzy, adorable little interpretation of rodents - they already had me with the Paris and the fine food).
They actually used Chefs from French Laundry (one of the finest restaurants in the world, with the most beautiful food) to oversee the food design. A more appropriate choice could not have been made, and speaks to Pixar’s incredible taste and discretion.
There were also small references to Amelie, and larger allusions to the Muppets (Jim Henson being the patron saint of adorably sarcastic rats and underground dwellers).
Do I even have to tell you how much I loved this movie?
It did, occasionally, have it’s faults (overlong by a about twenty minutes, and there is this speech at the end that I didn’t really get the point of - and felt was a little misplaced). But overall it sucks you into it’s golden little epicurean world, and you don’t mind staying there at all (even during the slow bits, even with all the rats).
All in all, I am definitely putting Brad Bird on my “geniuses I would someday like to steal the brains of” list. He has more than proved himself with this one.
The following is a list of the most awful things I have ever owned:
“Northern Star” (By Melanie C)
“Happiness is Not a Fish You Can Catch” (by Our Lady Peace)
“Jesus Freak” (by DC Talk)
An completely unread copy of “The Two Towers” (by JRR Tolkien)
A completely read copy of “Fall on Your Knees”, an Oprah Book club book (by Ann Marie McDonald)
A VHS copy of “Ever After”
A VHS copy of “Steven Curtis Chapman: LIVE”
At least 3 clown themed music boxes (one of which played “Send in the Clowns”, another which played “Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head”)
A year long subscription to Focus on the Family’s magazine for teen girls: “Brio”
Two pleather skirts. One pair of pleather pants. One pleather jacket.
Psychadelic Daffy Duck Keds
Fake Doc Martens
Navy blue, yellow, lime green, pearly blue, black and at least 4 varieties of sparkly (multi, silver, purple, red, etc) nail polish. Often worn all at once.
A logo t-shirt from American Eagle
A fuzzy Elmo shaped backback.
I just thought you should know what you’re getting yourself into.
