A Case of The Mondays

Posted: January 12, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Books, Entertainment, family, television | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

So, yeah, I just mopped the kitchen floor.  I hate mopping.

Last night, just as I was setting dinner on the table, Edison came down with a stomach bug of epic proportions.  It was like that scene in Stand By Me with the pie eating contest. I’m talking everywhere. Not sure he could have hit more surfaces if he had tried. Basically, he ran for the bathroom, and just missed the toilet, and when it splashed off the rim, it hit the rest of the powder room like spin art.

I scoured that room last night, cleaned and disinfected the family room rug, (though I still think we might need to just burn that), and then today I did the kitchen floor with a little more elbow grease than I had the time for last night.

Fun!

Also last night, I watched the second half of Tess of the D’Urbervilles on PBS’s Masterpiece. It was good, but the end was kind of a downer. Plus, you know, it was one of those BBC productions. There are plenty of good looking Brits. You got your Clive Owen, your Jude Law. I don’t swing that particular way, but neither Kate Winslet nor Kate Beckinsale is hard on the eyes. So, what then is with the BBC productions? Other than Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice…with a few exceptions in every production, it’s a lot of horse-faces. We don’t claim to look like Brangelina or anything, but Manfrengensen says it’s like watching a propaganda ad against socialized dentistry.

The actress who played Tess was attractive, but then in the end, don’t want to ruin it for you, but her horse-faced husband ends up with her sister and I kind of felt sorry for them for a number of reasons, the very least of which was their fates.  Not that I am superficial or anything, but you know, if I want to get into a romance, I don’t need Fabio, but for me, they need to throw in a little more eye candy.  I don’t think I am alone here, I mean, that’s why Colin Farrell’s the leading man and Bob Hoskins isn’t. I mean no disrespect to Mr. Hoskins, mind you.  He’s a fine actor, but I don’t want to see him strip down to his tighty whiteys, if you know what I mean.

He's Irish, I know, but you get what I'm saying.

Tess was one of the books we had to read at my Catholic girls high school, along with The Scarlet Letter and A Light In August. The fates of wayward women were big in that literary curriculum.

I have like fifty pages left in Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette. Overall, the book has been excellent.  I think I will read Naslund’s Ahab’s Wife next. Love her writing. Ethereal and accessible. A book I think about all day and cannot wait to find time to get to.

Movie Weekend

Posted: October 20, 2008 | Author: | Filed under: movies | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

In addition to seeing Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist on Friday, Manfrengensen and I watched two other movies on video, which is pretty amazing.  I can’t remember the last time we watched movies three nights in a row.

On Saturday night, we watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  I know I railed against this movie several posts ago, but I have to admit, that I hadn’t yet seen it.  I was basing my negative opinion on the reviews, specifically one that had been related by Manfrengensen’s younger brother, who almost never hates a movie.  We went in with low expectations.  And even then, we were disappointed.  It may have been worse than Pirates of the Caribbean 3.  It may even have been worse than National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets.  The script of Crystal Skull was just plain awful.  The sound editing was amateurish.  The action sequences lacked any kind of spontaneity.  It was shot with lighting that almost made it look soft-focus, like they were trying to soften Harrison Ford’s age or something.  The lighting reminded us of something starring Cybill Shepherd.

The worst part of it (and that’s saying something, because it does star Shia LaBeouf….Shia “The Beef”) was the crystal skull itself.  I am in no way exaggerating when I tell you that this thing looked like a clear plastic alien skull that was filled with crumpled cellophane.  I could make that, you know what I’m saying?

For a vehicle so highly anticipated, so hyped, it was a really amateur production. And another thing:  there’s just too much CGI usage in today’s action movies.  This one was so obviously shot in front of green screens that it was painful to watch.  And the effects weren’t even worth that.  The effects were boring and silly.  Can’t stress this enough: Stay away from this movie!  You will never get those two-plus hours back.

Last night, we watched a really good movie on DVD called In Bruges, a small, indie film starring Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes and Brendan Gleeson.  It was funny. It was smart.  It was violent and yet bittersweet.  A fun find, and I think the best I have seen Colin Farrell in a long while. Just want to warn you though, there are f-bombs and c-words in this trailer: