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Laura's Online Journal February 2004
Comments? Your movie reviews? I would love to hear from you! lauralu@mac.com
Enough about you, let's talk about me....
February 28, 2004
Sad StoriesFor living in the city we have a lot of woodland area nearby. Here are some more neighborhood pictures. Joe made up a story for the first one.
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| Little Billy knew better. He should have said no to that third sippy cup of warm milk. But it was too late to worry about that now, with the long evening rays of the sun slanting through the trees, reminding him that it was, after all, long past naptime. His drowsy eyes barely registered the sharp bend in the road. He jerked the wheel, and then it was just a flurry of rocks and trees and a long, almost slow-motion arc into the icy creek. | You make up your own story for this one. |
Some more movie/DVD reviews
Dolls
This is a Japanese movie by Takeshi Kitano (aka Beat Takeshi) who was
a standup comedian before he became a director. He now specializes
in violent Yakuza (Japanese mob) movies but takes a break every now
and then to do something different. This is one of the different ones.
The film has 3 sad love stories. In each there is a small ray of
hope but it vanishes fairly quickly. The film is pretty (it is
hard to make cherry blossoms and bright red japanese maples ugly).
The stories are modern but there are nice little elements of
traditional Japanese theater (not counting the initial puppet theater.
I am not fond of puppet theater). I would recommend it but it's only
available on Japanese DVD . Some of his other films are available
here. I would recommend his Yakuza movie
Hana-Bi (Fireworks).
February 22, 2004
UpdateYou've probably all been wondering what the Halfsies are up to.
Some more movie/DVD reviews
Solaris
The original version of this movie was 3 hours long and in Russian.
This version is half the length, in English, and, if you are interested
in this sort of thing, shows George Clooney's naked behind at
00:27:55 and 00:39:02. The movie is a sci-fi romance, a cross between
2001: A Space Odyssey
and
Truly Madly Deeply.
George Clooney, a psychiatrist, is on a space station type ship above a
planet called Solaris. He has been sent there to investigate strange events.
When he arrives there are only 2 very strung-out people left alive and they
cannot really explain what is going on. Pretty soon the Clooney character's
dead wife appears and he starts to understand more about the situation.
This is a simple movie as sci-fi movies go. It has a nice look. It is slow
paced and only has 4 main characters. Jeremy Davies is particularly good
as one of the ship survivors. Joe has suggested I watch the 3 hour original
(which he has on laserdisc) to "compare and contrast". I say "No thank you".
Mystery Train
A 1989 Jim Jarmusch movie with three intersecting stories all taking place
during about a 24 hour period in Memphis, Tennessee. Much of each story takes
place in a seedy rundown hotel next to the railroad tracks. Elvis figures
prominently. I like Jarmusch movies. He is very good at creating a mood
and he always has great quirky characters.
February 19, 2004
My New IdolWe like to watch the early episodes of American Idol mainly to see the baddest of the bad. As soon as they start the real competition we bail and go watch My Big Obnoxious Fiance (just kidding, I'd rather eat glass) Anyway, this time around one of the baddest was William Hung but he was fascinating. He is a nerd - a engineering major at UC Berkeley. He has crossed eyes. He has bad teeth. He can't sing. He can't dance. He won a talent contest in his dorm so he thought he should try to go all the way to American Idol. Simon said "You can't sing, you can't dance, so what do you want me to say?". But he was charmingly clueless, deeply earnest and optimistically cheerful. His choice of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" was brilliant. The image of him dancing stayed in my head long after the other losers' auditions were replaced in my brain by more important stuff (that's how the brain works, doesn't it?)
Apparently, we were not the only people charmed. William Hung is now a Reality TV celebrity. Last night he was on one of the celebrity news programs because he was asked to sing at the halftime program of his school's volleyball game. They showed him rehearsing with his backup singers/dancers. The reporter said there was going to be a big surprise for him. We thought it would be great if Ricky Martin appeared. That would be just what Ricky needs to restart his career and it would be sweet to see them together. Well, the surprise was a recording contract offer. Oh well....
Need to know more? See it all (including his audition) at the fan site www.williamhung.net
February 15, 2004
The Simple LifeWent to a movie, took a long walk and had a great dinner tonight - fried rice. We use peanut and sesame oils, onions, celery, carrots, red pepper,water chestnuts, broccoli, day-old rice, soy sauce and the secret ingredient - slivered almonds. It is better than any Chinese restaurant fried rice we know.
We bought new cotton sheets and large bath towels on sale today.
And a new episode of Arrested Development was on tonight.
All in all a nice Sunday before a Monday holiday.
Some more movie/DVD reviews
Touching The Void
Film about two climbers who climb a mountain in Peru but only
one returns after feeling he has no choice but leave the other for
dead after an accident. You know from the start that both men survive but
the suspense is still intense. The film is based on a book by the
left-for-dead climber. Very well done.
Shiri Korean action/thriller about a female assasin and two cops trying to find her before she kills again. It was ok. The story was a bit confusing to me but even though I did not really know what was going on I guessed the plot twist early on.
February 11, 2004
Recent News EventsSo in my bathroom (the Girls bathroom, it's pink) I have a piece of art that my dad did in pastels of the old teddy bear that I've had since I was three. The picture is recent and reflects the teddy's missing eyes.
I put the picture in the bathroom about a month ago and since then it has undergone mysterious "enhancements", mostly with the use of the gell-like glass/mirror decorations. First it was the eyes ....
There were some other entertaining changes and then after all the news about the superbowl performances...
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Some more movie/DVD reviews
Y tu mamá también
I had heard good things but what I heard also made me a little wary. I thought
it might be a yuppie's dream - a foreign art house movie with lots of sex.
Jerry Seinfeld made fun of movies like this. In his sitcom the movie was
called Rochelle, Rochelle. Anyway I decided to try it and
after the first 15 minutes I was ready to send it back to NetFlix.
I was prepared for the gratuitous sex but not the farting jokes. I
decided to let it play and it turned out to be decent. Yes, it is a coming
of age type story about the two young fun-loving male leads who are
confronted with realities regarding their future, their families and their
friendship. But it is equally about the woman that has asked them to
drive her to the beach that they told her about, a beach that they made
up while they were trying to impress her. The filming and the story is
interesting and there is also a message about saving the environment.
February 2, 2004
FrostyIt's been a really cold winter. I am getting to wear all my wool clothes and wool accessories (Latvian mittens and hats). The last couple of winters have been wimpy. It's been a long time since I have had to wrap a scarf around my face to keep it from freezing off.
Here are some pictures Joe took. One is of the Potomac River and Georgetown University. The other is stonework at the new Pakistani Embassy down the street from us.
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I made a small Quicktime movie using footage from a film Lyla's friend Wayne made of their beach vacation over 20 years ago. Lyla asked me to extract footage of Lynda and make a movie for her 45th birthday. So if you need some beach scenes after all that ice and snow take a look here.
Some more movie/DVD reviews
The Royal Tenenbaums
This completes the trilogy of rented Owen Wilson movies. Owen, his brother
Luke, and friend Wes Anderson have made three movies now.
Bottle Rocket
is still my favorite because of Owen's character, Dignan, and what they did
with so little money.
Rushmore had its
moments but was ultimately disappointing. I am happy to say
The Royal Tanenbaums is great. Every one in it is great. The story
is great and well thought out. The style is great.
The scenes are framed carefully and artistically and are as memorable as the
characters and the story.
Gene Hackman plays a crusty washed-up and broke father trying to get back into the family he abandoned years ago. Gwenyth Paltrow, who I really don't think is a very good actress, is perfect in her part as the tortured-soul sister. Ben Stiller, who is usually too enthusiastic in his comedy roles, is subdued and also perfect. Luke Wilson, who is mostly a pretty face in his movies, is still a pretty face here but it works. Owen Wilson plays his usual charming bad boy character that always works for me. There are several other supporting characters who play wonderful enablers to this totally dysfunctional family. It reminded me a bit of Hotel New Hampshire in its deadpan dealing with tragedy and life's misfortunes. As is obvious, I totally enjoyed it.
