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March 18, 2005
Be Cool
Great cast . . . is there anything else nice I can say? Brad loved it. . . . trying to come up with something else.
There were some funny parts, but overall this moving was lacking. Could be because I never saw Get Shorty. I would definitely wait to see Be Cool at the $1 movie.
Posted by jocelyn at 11:54 PM | TrackBack
Things Fall Apart
I finally got around to reading this book, after hearing it referenced with reverence repeatedly a decade ago by comp lit and English professors and students. I highly recommend it.
It's the story of a "primitive" African tribe, and towards the end of the book, how it is affected by white Christian missionaries who move in. The writing style is a nice simple journalistic Hemingwayesque style, crisp and clear and straightforward. Quiet but powerful. The insight into how the tribe manages itself, while sometimes cruel (discarding all twins in the forest), sometimes beautiful and heroic, is quite interesting and moving.
I found the ending particularly interesting, because it tells of how a white colonialist plans to write a story of his experiences, titled "The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger." This pov falls at the end of one of the first works to convey the voice of the "wild primitives." Bravo. I'll read this again.
Posted by courtney at 02:16 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 09, 2005
The Starlet
...is probably the best show you're not watching.
Okay, that's an exaggeration. But I watched the first two episodes last night, thinking that Chip had also seen them. I swear he said at some point recently that he was going to watch it (I now realize he was probably joking), and so I figured I would too. I've learned my lesson about ignoring his TV suggestions (it was completely a mistake to not watch Everwood and even Smallville).
I just found The Starlet to be absolutely fascinating. It's fairly predictable, but also kind of satisfying to see who gets sent home early on. And there's a good range of women who have talent and those who really, really don't.
The best parts are the moments of (possibly unintended) hilarity--the overly dramatic, "This is my life and they can't take that away from meeeeeeeeeeeee" kind of wailing that accompanies being eliminated from the competition, the bringing in of that funny looking Jamie Pressley to explain that everyone in "the business gets exploited" so the girls need to just get over themselves and do the lesbian kiss from Fastlane, the acting class that involves primal screaming (with a total shoutout to me, since the teacher is wearing my blue leather jacket from Ann Taylor), and oh my God the scenery-chewing that goes on in some of the scream tests...
Seriously, this is fun TV. And props to whoever is editing the show because it's the right pace for such a fluffy trifle of a show.
The first two eps re-air on Thursday from 8 to 10 on the WB.
Posted by hannah at 08:49 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 08, 2005
Fat Actress
Um. This show had some really funny moments, sure. But it wasn't groundbreaking, as all of the advance press would have you think.
It's clear Showtime wants you to see this show. The network was free for the weekend before and day-of the show, plus Yahoo runs the show online for the rest of this week.
But it's just okay. It's filled with Scientologists and other "heavy" actors (John Travolta, Mayim Bialik) plus some way over-the-top schmacting by Kirstie Alley.
I agree with the EW review at CNN.com:
[T]he huge problem with Fat Actress is that it isn't about a fat actress at all: It's about a crazy woman and her enablers.
Not having Showtime, I won't be seeing more of this series. But I think that's probably okay with me.
Posted by bonnie at 06:11 PM | TrackBack
The Pianist
I watched this movie last night and was really moved. It's got some incredible hard and ugly scenes, but somehow it is stunningly beautiful the way it is shot, gorgeous to look at, even the destruction. Adrien Brody, from what I've seen, in real life is a doofusy idiot, but he is breathtaking, subtle, heartbreaking as Szpilman. It's a heavy movie, but one worth seeing.
Posted by courtney at 12:21 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 05, 2005
Shallow Hal
I don't know, maybe I'm just insensitive, but I didn't find Shallow Hal offensive. It didn't seem to be the same as the promotional ads. Sure, there were dumb fat jokes, like Rosie always breaking her chairs, the giant thong, but Rosie was usually defended and loved. Tony Robbins was absurd, as was the premise of the movie, but it was a fine way to pass a couple of hours knitting. I like Jack Black, and he wasn't too "on" the whole time, like he is in School of Rock, which can be exhausting for two hours. Plus Gwyneth Paltrow is just nice to look at. And Costanza has a tail.
Posted by courtney at 11:44 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Sex, Lies, and Videotape
I didn't much care for this movie. I think it would have been more interesting to see it at the time it came out, as I imagine it was different from anything else in theaters, but now it's just dull and bland. And I think if Andie MacDowell could act at all, it would have been a decent movie. James Spader tried so hard, but how can you make a scene work with a mannequin, even if she is supposed to play a frigid repressed housewife? It does have that guy from the O.C. with the eyebrows. He plays a really rotten two-dimensional jerk.
Posted by courtney at 11:40 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack