Better than 'Being Julia'

Considering that I spent yesterday defending my lack of blogging because of how insanely busy things have been, it probably doesn't make much sense that I just finished a 300-page book, which I started 2 days ago. But, I did.

'Julia & Julie' (which I consistently find impossible to say correctly) is a book based on a blog about a year-long project for Julie Powell, a frustrated 29-year old in a dead-end job, who invents the Julia/Julie Project to reinvigorate her life by cooking every recipe - all 524 - in Julia Child's seminal cookbook, 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' over the course of a year. Why? She's not quite sure - it just seems like something she needs to do.

I picked it up off Jessica's bookcase months ago, but got distracted by various book group books and selections from the New Classics list that I've been working on, but with three days of 1 1/2 hours of train commuting to deal with, I decided that this was the week. Plus, I wanted to read it before the movie version comes out next Friday. The movie stars Meryl Streep who, post-'Death Becomes Her' anyway, can do no wrong, and Amy Adams who is beyond cute as a button, so I'm not that worried about the movie sucking compared to the book, as most adaptations do. But, I did want to read it first, so I could reserve my right to be uppity and indignant just in case.

The book went quickly because it's written a lot like a blog - including isolated stories, punch lines and cursing - and it's been a long time since I enjoyed reading something so much. The author's relatable, with a self-deprecating eye on herself, and some wicked/wonderful insight into life on the cusp of 30, in the era of the 2000s, in urban America.

Sure, it's hard to imagine what I would find so attractive about the book: The author's a Buffy-devout, ex-theater nerd who married her high school sweetheart when she was in her early 20s and often feels like the old married woman amongst her sea of single friends. She has no idea what she wants to do with her life, and crafts a project for herself that involves a ton of eating and drinking, thus paving the way to a happier marriage, successful career and well-adjusted self.

Actually, on second thought, maybe I hated this book. Because, seriously: Why didn't I think of this?

Time's a-flying

Life has really gotten in the way of blogging lately, and I apologize for that.

As you know, after many moons (9 years for me, and 8 for him), in Boston, Trevor & I are moving to California in August (August starts when?!?). Last week, I had my final day of work, and we went away last weekend for our 5th annual trip to Vermont. Over the last three days, I've been leaving the house at 6AM to go to Lowell, Massachusetts for a babysitting gig, and wrapping up my days with insane amounts of list-making and packing, while trying to squeeze in final nights out and dinners in with dear friends who I might not see for awhile.

I'm certainly not complaining - we had an amazing weekend in Vermont, I have a nice amount of (hard earned, if I do say so myself) babysitting money in my pocket, and I just spent a random hour with my best friends fo' life eating sandwiches in the South End - I AM making excuses. Don't worry, y'all out there in cyberspace, I'm alive and will return to my fairly regular blogging regimen soon.

So, while I fully intend to post a review of 'Up' (which we saw last week and which was just as wonderfully heartwarming as I expected), pictures from our trip to Vermont (maybe even someday I'll finish posting about our May trip to Seattle & Portland) and a blog devoted to my Boston List (things I want to do in Boston before leaving), right now, I really need to be packing up never-used steak knives, because we are loading our first moving truck (things that are going for storage at my lovely sister's house) in 3 days. In the meantime, please feel free to submit suggestions for August's Man of the Month, because I can't really believe it's time to choose one again!

Thanks for your patience - and stay tuned!

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

This was the first of the Harry Potter movies that I didn’t see within 24 hours of opening. This might mean 2 things: #1: I’m growing up. #2: My lackluster reaction to the film is my own fault (for lack of participation).

Don’t get me wrong – I enjoyed the movie. I particularly enjoyed seeing Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Emma Watson (Hermione) and Rupert Grint (Ron) doing some real acting for the first time – those kids have become so much better than they were in the first couple movies, especially Grint. The books showed us that Ron isn’t just comic relief – and now that the actor’s matured and infused some real subtlety into the role – we’re starting to see that.

It’s only been 3 days since I saw the movie, and I can’t really remember what else I liked about it (See? Lackluster reaction.), so let’s get into my issues. Essentially, I felt that the movie was just going through the motions. It was good enough to get us to the two-parter finale, and it’ll fit well in the eventual deluxe box set, but it just didn’t excite me.

Ron’s relationship with Lavender is necessary in order to continue building the Ron/Hermione tension, but the way it was carried out in the movie made it feel like a fluffy, unnecessary side plot that should have just been cut – this may or may not be because they miscast (or, as Jessica pointed out, mis-styled) Lavender so much. It’s frustrating to know that so many other side plots had to be cut to keep the movie under 2 ½ hours, and this one just didn’t satisfy.

It’s been a long time since I read the books, but something that struck me was the lack of attitude from Harry in this one. In my mind, I remember Harry getting more and more angsty in each book – as he goes through his teenage years, loses people he’s close to, and has the pressure of the entire wizarding world put upon him. If anything, Harry was a little boring in the movie – the entire crux of his character development was in his crush on Ginny. He wasn’t mad about Sirius, he didn’t lash out at Mr. Weasley, Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione, or even Snape (really) – he was much too even-keeled.

I was incredibly disappointed in the final 20 minutes of the movie. The scene where Harry and Dumbledore go to the cave to find Voldemort’s horcrux felt like it lasted 2 minutes, and I don’t think it explained what was happening clearly enough. That scene is the entire basis for the final book (which will become the final 2 movies) and wonder if people who haven’t read the book will know to pay attention. The showdown scene in the tower also fell flat – I don’t feel like the director took full advantage of what a major development was taking place. There was little build up, and a pretty half-hearted wrap up. I will leave it at that – it’s too hard to keep this spoiler free, and I know I’m being frustratingly cryptic!

So, yes, issues. 7 Twix bars! I was, however, endlessly amused by how much the teenage Tom Riddle (the eventual Voldemort) looked like Mad Men’s Pete Campbell:

As a final sidenote, this installment really made me think about is Chris Columbus and his bad rap. It’s pretty widely accepted that the first two movies in the Harry Potter series, those helmed by Chris Columbus of “Home Alone’ fame, are the worst of the bunch. That’s because they were followed up with the more artsy installments from Alfonso Cuaron ('Y Tu Mama Tambien' & 'Children of Men') and Mike Newell ('Four Weddings & a Funeral'). But ‘Half Blood Prince’ reminded me how much of the Harry Potter universe we take for granted. Of course the first two movies (especially the first) were a bit shallow – not only were those the least sophisticated of the books (back when they were truly being written about kids, for kids), it was up to Chris Columbus to translate that universe onto film for the first time, and that required quite a bit of hand-holding for the audience.

Sort of a Movie Review: Almost Famous

I have seen 'Almost Famous' probably 15 times, so it’s probably not fair to call this a review. Last night, we hooked up a projector and our iPod speaker deck and watched the movie upstairs on our roof deck, projecting it onto a building across the way. We had talked about this hypothetically for years, and in the spirit of Getting Things Done before we leave Boston, we just decided to make it happen. We chose ‘Almost Famous’ because it’s such a crowd pleaser, and it seemed like the type of movie that should be projected on a brick wall.


Maybe it was the setting, maybe it was the company, maybe it’s the ever-increasing sentimentality as we prepare to move, but every second of the movie was even better than the first 14 times I saw it. Some thoughts:

• After the credits, the movie shows San Diego during Christmas time in 1969. The Chipmunk Song is playing. This cracked me up last night, because of how Jason Lee was just in the movie version of ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks.’
• Why did Patrick Fugit disappear after this? The only other thing I’ve ever seen him in was the movie version of ‘White Oleanders’. Did he not age well? Was he *too* William Miller to make it seem like he could play other characters?
• When I had this thought last night, I thought it was totally insightful…now I’m realizing I brought the same thing up with ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’: Do you think that movies set in the past (at the time of release) age better?
• Jessica shared with us some trivia about the movie, and Jack Black was up for the role of Lester Bangs, which eventually went to Philip Seymour Hoffman. I find it mindblowing how much this could have changed his career. This was after Tenacious D, and right around the time of ‘High Fidelity’ – it could have really reshaped him. Instead, he did ‘Shallow Hal.’
• Frances McDormand is so good: She says more with one eyebrow raise than I could get out in a week. Her character is so strongly developed – she is this powerful, hard headed woman, with this amazing soft heart. I think this is one of my favorite movie characters of all time.
• Two Elton John songs feature prominently in the movie: 'Tiny Dancer' and 'Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters.' Beautiful stuff. He’s so not lame, I don’t understand how he became a mainstay of soft rock stations (and I wonder if he does).

If you haven’t seen 'Almost Famous' before, step away from my blog right now and go to your nearest Netflix queue. This is one of the movies I compare other films to when evaluating their Twix bar worthiness, it's that movingly good. 9 Twix bars!

Farewell to Fenway

In 2005, I was bequeathed a seat in a 10-game Red Sox ticket package by my friend Steve who was moving to New York. Sitting in a group of 4 that included my college friend Heather and 2 of her old roommates, our section-mates eventually learned my name (I was called “New Steve” for the entire first season I was there) and thus inherited a truly wacky Fenway family that became one of my favorite groups of people in Boston. Wednesday marked my last day with this family. Watching David Ortiz hit career homer #299 and a pinch-hitting Nomar get a standing ovation from an appreciative crowd, I couldn’t help but get a little misty-eyed thinking about all the good times I’ve had in that park.

I saw Johnny Pesky’s number get retired, and watched David Ortiz break the Red Sox single season home run record. I watched the Sox dismantle my Angels in the ALDS (again and again), and wonder if I could ever cheer for them again, and then watched them do things like go back-to-back-to-back-to-back off the Yankees and realize that I could.

Johnny Pesky's number being retired

ALDS 2007

I've watched a lesbian couple and a North Shore tough guy who works at a video store become friends. We’ve judged professional baseball players by their at bat music and fellow fans by their signs. I’ve seen a drunk guy in a Cecil Fielder jersey get kicked out of the bleachers – twice in one game.

I’ve said no to the FanFoto guys about 25 million times. I've pilgrimaged to Pesky Pole and to the fried dough stand that’s literally the last place you can reach in the stadium. We’ve snuck in burritos and cookies and flasks and wondered why on earth they don’t sell cupcakes as a concession.

Pesky Pole, 2006

I missed Trot Nixon’s last game as a Red Sox, because it happened to be after a 6+ hour rain delay. We’ve waited out rain delays too, keeping ourselves warm with $7 beer.

Miscellaneous rain delay. 2008?

We’ve busted down the door at the Cask & Flagon on Drinking Sundays, turned down free Brahma beer (it’s just that bad) and shared packets of sunflower seeds. I’ve sung to Caroline Kennedy at the top of my lungs, and watched the crowds filter out until the end of 'Joy to the World.' It’s been a good run.

Drinking Sunday (Last Sunday game of the season), 2006

Drinking Sunday, 2007

Last game of the season, 2008

Though it feels like an end, this is certainly not na-na-na-na-hey-hey-hey-goodbye to Fenway Park. Just like Nomar, eventually I’ll be back.

Man of the Month: July

From 8th-12th grades, I had a video tape that I used to keep snippets of important television happenings (So, yes: I've always been this pop culture obsessed.). It was labeled “Melrose Place Tape #5” from a project I had undertaken of recording an entire season’s worth of 'Melrose Place' on VHS to send to my friend Ayesha who was spending 6 months of our 8th grade year with her grandparents in Pakistan. Upon her (and the tapes’) return, 'Melrose Place' quickly got replaced. Aside from 'General Hospital' which I’d record every day, and shows like 'Party of 5,' 'Buffy' and 'Felicity' which I recorded weekly, I kept careful track of when my many celebrity boyfriends would be on various talk shows so that I could tape them all. Then, I’d transfer scenes that I liked or interviews I wanted to keep onto this video tape. Man, I really knew my way around a VCR. Life skills, you know.

With ‘Brothers Bloom’ recent release (from the director of 'Brick'), all the film festival/indie rock love hoopla around the upcoming '500 Days of Summer' and the premiere of a TV version of one of my favorite 1990s movies, '10 Things I Hate About You,' I’ve been thinking about Joseph Gordon-Levitt quite a bit these days. And when I think of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I think about an interview I kept of him on this tape – it was with Jay Leno during the time that he was on '3rd Rock From the Sun,' but towards the end, because he had short '10 Things I Hate About You' hair, not the bob.

In this interview, he talks about having a hyphenated name, and how it really is both of his parents’ last names joined, and about how they used to be hippies but now they drive BMWs. As a member of the hyphenated last-name club, I actually think about this quite a bit. But, I feel like I’ve already told that story on this blog, so I have come up with some new reasons to like this seemingly well-adjusted, smart guy who likes what he does and just happens to be our latest Man of the Month:

1. This trailer:
   
   
   
   
2. This interview (From Entertainment Weekly, 4/24/2009):
   
   EW: How would you describe your character in '(500) Days of Summer?'
   JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT: He's a bit of a hopeless romantic who has taken perhaps a little bit too seriously pop songs and love stories. He has to figure some s--- out and man up a little bit.
   
   EW: You've never made a movie as outright romantic as (500) Days. Are you a fan of the standard romantic comedy?
   JGL: Well, who is a fan of the standard romantic comedy? The vast majority of Hollywood love stories — let's be honest, they're full of s---. Love is not about winning and losing. Love is not about happy endings or good guys and bad guys. [At] most movie studios, the big decisions get made by accountants and lawyers. They don't get made by artists.
   
   EW: Is that why you've done so many independent dramas since 1999's '10 Things I Hate About You?'
   JGL: I'll stand up for '10 Things I Hate About You.' I think that was a good movie. [Laughs] The A-R-T word is a complicated one. I shouldn't have brought it up because you can sound pretentious calling things art. But when I make a movie, it's because it inspires me. People always smirk when I say this, but when I saw the designs for the character that I play in 'G.I. Joe,' it was like, ''Wow! How'd I get to be that guy?'' That's exciting to me.
   
   EW: 'G.I. Joe,' in which you play Cobra Commander, opens three weeks after '(500) Days of Summer.' Are you prepared for the amount of fame that could bring?
   JGL: I don't know. When I was younger, I used to hate that kind of recognition. I still kind of have a problem with the intersection of this word called ''celebrity'' and acting. What makes it worth it for me is that people that saw '(500) Days of Summer' at Sundance have been coming up and saying, ''Wow, that really meant something to me.'' So if you're asking, ''Are you prepared for so many more people to connect with you in that way?'' I want that connection. That's a dream come true.

Movie Review: The Proposal

My hopes weren’t too high for this movie. I’m not big for the prat falls of ‘Miss Congeniality,’ and I’ve never seen ‘Two Weeks Notice.’ I'm really more of a Sandra Bullock-in-Speed person. So while I find her very likable and am super into the fact that she married that motorcycle guy (though I can't help but wonder how on earth she's okay with him starring on a television show essentially designed to kill him), I was more attracted to ‘The Proposal’ by Ryan Reynolds (who I found just delightful in ‘Definitely, Maybe’) and Betty White (who is just delightful period). No one was more surprised than me to realize, upon leaving the movie theater, that I liked it more than ‘The Hangover.’ I was pretty embarrassed by this, but thankfully, over post-movie fresh fruit margaritas and mojitos, Sarah confessed that she did too.



Let’s get the negative stuff out of the way first: They really tried to make Ryan Reynolds seem a lot younger than he is (He was supposed to be playing a guy 3 years out of college. Can't you tell? He’s listening to an iPod! Look at this hip jacket and messenger bag he wears ALL the time!), the immigration officer part was way over the top at the end, and there’s this gag that almost works, where, because it’s a small town, one person appears to do every job (general store manager, catering staff, stripper, you know). If that one person wasn’t played by Oscar from 'The Office,' I think I would have been annoyed by it.

Negativity done. There was way more to like about this movie.

Most importantly, I laughed out loud. A lot. The “naked” scene has gotten a lot of play on the talk show circuit, and its payoff was much funnier than I expected. There was also a scene that involved Sandra Bullock's character, a hard-nosed, high-powered book editor, singing wildly inappropriate song lyrics ("Sweat drips off my..."), and a second scene with Ryan Reynolds doing an amazing falsetto that had my throat hurting from laughing so hard. Betty White was everything you’d hope for – over the top granny-rific, not above guilt-tripping her children & grandchildren by pulling the What-if-I-Die-and-this-is-the-last-thing-I-remember card, and with some great one liners ("She sure comes with a lot of baggage."). Mary Steenburgen played Ryan Reynolds’s mom, and she’s just so darn nice and mom-like, I really loved her. (Sometime after the early 90s - 'Prancer,' 'Back to the Future 3,' 'Philadelphia' - it seems like Mary Steenburgen began just playing herself. I feel equipped to say this, since I saw her actually play herself on 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.' So she really must just be the nicest person ever. Who’s with me?) Also, she wears really great sweaters in this movie.

Sure, the movie was full of overused rom-com clichés (They hate one another! Her parents died when she was young! She forgot what it was like to have a family!), but there were also bits that felt, if not original, at least fresh. Laugh out loud funny, I will gladly queue this up for any girl bonding night in the future. 7.5 Twix bars!

(Sidenote: I get a lot of flack for the fact that all of my Twix bar ratings fall between 6.5 and 8. There's a reason for this: I am not actually a movie critic. Shocking, I know. But I’m not getting paid to go see everything. So, if I've committed to paying $11 to see something, I expect to like it. If you get rated less than a 7, you disappointed me. If you get more than an 8, I will buy your DVD for our collection and probably also give you to someone for Christmas. If you fall somewhere in between, you did your job. I also try to consider/balance how much the movie was Trying, and a few other highly mathematical factors, but there's the basic logic. Do you disagree? Let me hear it!)

Movie review?

The last few days have been a bit rough around the Graham-Wilcox abode, with Trevor and I both battling some pretty nasty colds. Yesterday, we exerted ourselves enough to go out to dinner, but that was the most we could muster. The rest of our evening became devoted to watching the long DVR-ed 'The Sandlot: Heading Home", a TV sequel of the classic baseball flick, which just happens to be one of our favorites.

From about 20 minutes in, it was clear that this movie deserved to go straight to TV. It was a pretty painful experience. In fact, Trevor said it was the worst thing he'd ever seen (I disagree because, well, I watch more bad TV than Trevor). Check it out for yourself:



The thing that is bothering me the most about the 2 hours of my life I lost watching this “movie” is the following brain puzzler: Luke Perry agreed to star in this, but can't be convinced to guest star on the new '90210'?

Movie Review: The Hangover

Despite the credit loaded onto Judd Apatow, he didn’t invent the bromantic comedy. We all know that Vince Vaughn did. Okay, even that’s not true. Buddy movies have been around a long time – it’s just that recently they’ve taken on a new look. You know, where guys are allowed to hug one another and have opinions about the other’s relationships, while also doing gross “dude” things. I am a fan of this balance and judging by the huge box office returns of 'The Hangover,' so are a lot of people.



I went in with big expectations, since terms like “funniest movie ever” were being thrown around pretty liberally by reviewers and commonfolk alike. I wouldn't go that far – I had fun, and I laughed out loud. A lot. But the first time I saw 'Wedding Crashers,' I thought my cheeks would permanently hurt from laughing so hard, and this didn't quite get me there.

Maybe the reason I'm hesitating is because of the setup – a flashback, wrapped within a flashback – which was a little unnecessary. Mike Tyson was also totally unnecessary – that entire plot point would have been just as funny with the *idea* of Mike Tyson as it was with his awkwardly canned presence.

Ed Helms singing at the piano was just about right. Bradley Cooper is awesome at playing a weirdly likable douche. I liked Heather Graham more in this than I have for a long time, and I loved the scene when the guys get out of the Las Vegas police department by “volunteering” to get tazered – by kids! Las Vegas is best when it's allowed to be its very own character – wedding chapels, trashy strip clubs and all. The weird brother-in-law was also a great character – largely because of his going out outfit (But the big “reveal” - SPOILER ALERT! - that he was the one that roofied them, was a letdown), and because there was literally nothing endearing about him.

I think that a big reason people were drawn to this movie was because of the lack of Seth Rogen, Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson, etc. – you didn’t feel like you already knew what you were in for with this. And that was definitely a bonus. When there was a mysterious buildup to some reveal, you knew you weren't going to get a Ben Stiller cameo (and I love Ben Stiller cameos – it's just, you know, been there...).

I enjoyed this the first time around, and am sure that it will get funnier every time I see it, much like Anchorman before it. As is, 7 Twix bars!

My life is a lie

In this world of Facebook status updates and Twitter-led microblogging (and, hey!, full length blogging too), it's easy to feel like everyone's always all up in your business. But, lately, real life has gotten in the way of this for me.

In March, Trevor and I decided to apply for staff positions at the camp in San Diego County where we met and got married. This set off a chain of events – this wasn't just a decision to think about changing jobs; if accepted, we would be moving across country. It's beyond ironic that with this going on in our lives, not once could I gather opinions, vent or share excitement on Facebook and Twitter. These are communities that know what I'm eating, drinking and reading on a minute to minute basis, but actual life decisions are off limits for discussion?

This begs the question: Was this really off limits? Should I have been perfectly comfortable sharing every step of the process with friends, strangers and co-workers alike? Is this where the world of social media is leading us - this is my life, accept it?Already, most of us have a filter through which we share information online, but is that filter getting thinner? How long before all of us (not just the attention starved) are posting:

• Off to meet my mistress
• I can't wait to quit this job
  
• Hooking up with a co-worker
• I'm thinking about breaking up with my girlfriend
• Proposing tonight!

How involved you want the anonymous interweb to be in your life is a personal decision. Maybe it’s just the marketer in me, but I think that those of us who choose to participate in social networking have essentially created our own brands. And just like major organizations have to carefully cultivate their brands – allowing for evolution, while also keeping them under tight control – so do we. Unlike any generation before us, we are creating records of ourselves that will be incredibly easy to access for years to come (even when we un-tag photos of ourselves, and eventually delete our profiles, highlights can be preserved on any number of websites) – so it’s essential that we be conscious of what we’re putting out there now. While it was hard for me at first to deal with my Dad being on Facebook, I now think about it this way: If I’m not okay with my Dad seeing it now, I probably won’t be okay with my kids seeing it in 15 years. That’s my own personal Brand Test.

Another, more current, Personal Brand Test is: Do I want my boss to see this? And that’s the question I was answering by leaving the job/move decisions off my social networks. Yes, I would have preferred to give notice at my current job 3 months ago, but that’s just not practical – why pay to keep someone around when they have no future at this company? I also could have maintained my social media brand as a personal space only, without connecting to anyone I’m involved with professionally. It’s a feasible alternative that many people use, but for me, someone who works in marketing, is interested in communities, and would like to use social media in her career, it doesn’t make sense to leave professional connections out of my social network.

So the solution was to just keep it all a secret (and be near-paranoid about what was getting posted on my Facebook wall). Without using social media, we dealt in traditional ways – you know, finding condo tenants through Craigslist and spreading the news via email. But now it’s all out there (hey! We got the jobs! Moving in August!), and not only can I start sharing this new part of my life with all of y’all, I can also start getting input from the smart people who surround me virtually each day on a whole bunch of decisions. Let’s make up for lost time:

• What are the three things I need to make SURE I’ve done in Boston before I move?
• How should we prepare our poor cat for a cross-country road trip?
• Do you know anyone who needs their car moved from New England to the West Coast in August?
• And while we’re at it: Have you had a circumstance where you struggled with the line between your internet life and your real life? How have you dealt?