Fetch w/ a Goldfish …Ziggy doesn’t even fetch!

All 2009 Movies in 7 minutes makes me realize how many movies I missed this year

What happens when you mix Dr. Dre, Sky Ferreira, and The Beatles…this (via Pigeons & Planes)

Don’t forget, starting at 8pm (EST) TBS starts A Christmas Story marathon!!!!

Shortly before deer season, Brigid loaned me the audio book, “Into The Wild” based on the true story of a modern (1990’s era) vagabond named Chris McCandless.  The book tells the captivating story based on journals left by McCandless and interviews with people he encountered during the two and a half years of his wandering adventure.  The picture described is a young, self-centered man from an upper middle-class family with an overinflated self-importance that was never-the-less charming and very personable.  A fairly typical twenty-two year old male with the belief that he alone truly gets it and that everyone else in the world is living a lie.

The 2007 movie of the same name is produced and directed by Sean Penn (yes, one and the same).  The movie is pretty faithful to the book, leaving out the stories of McCandless’ fellow wanderers, and adding a few touches that were not in the book including a few which contradict it.  For example, the movie ends with McCandless writing a letter with his final understanding of the truly important things in life and signing his name.  But the book details the difficulty in identifying his remains since he hadn’t left any signature other than Alexander Supertramp.  The movie also explains that he ate poison sweet pea plants where the book dismisses this theory and states that he ate the seed pods of the wild potato plant which were not recognized as poisonous by the reference book McCandless depended upon.

Still, the movie was pretty faithful to the book and enjoyable.  It had several art-house style touches without overdoing it to distraction.  While Emile Hirsch does a fine job and Vince Vaughn is surprisingly good, Hal Holbrook delivers a stand-out performance that makes the others pale in comparison.

Warning: there is quite a bit of profanity, some nudity (though not of a sexual nature) and a scene of McCandless butchering a moose that may affect those that get queasy over such things.

Anything with Jaden Smith I will see. Anything Smith related I will see. It will more and likely be good despite my bias for the love of the family (it’s my personal opinion they are the one couple in Hollywood that can actually make it).  So when I saw this trailer for the remake of The Karate Kid I was a little skeptical but given my infatuation with the Smith family I gave it a peek. Final Verdict: looks good

But really what else am I going to do while my body recovers from last night (thanks Annapolis, your always fun). That and the Jersey Shore just ended, omg I hate trashy TV but this one sucked me in. People without filters are always amusing but when you add the cameras,  the major ego boost from being on the cameras, and the lovely guido in its natural habitat, you’ve got comedy bronze. Your laughing at them, not with them.

So how does this demographic grow/procreate? You’ve seen the amazing Planet Earth video of the Bird of Paradise mating dance (seen here) well guidos can’t touch that but they come close. Here is some not so rare footage of the guido mating dance. Fist pumping is still regarded as the most common form of guido mating signals.

Family Stuff: Chipotle is always satisfying but apparently not for my brother. He needed dessert, which is fine (in moderation, nothing I follow) and choose the delicious, closest to a GS thin mint cookie, keebler grasshopper cookie.  He didn’t have just one grasshopper cookie though, he had the whole package. Apparently moderation is something he doesn’t follow either. He’s not proud, and he feels sick. Proves him right for not sharing.

Thought I would list my year for everyone. Not necessarily things that were released this year, but that filled my year. Here are my this years favorites:

Books:

1) The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church- Vladimir Lossky

2) In the Image and Likeness of God- Vladimir Lossky

3) The Institutes- St. John Cassian (never actually finished it)

4) The Four Scourges- Lanza del Vasto

5) Dune Messiah- Frank Herbert (and the rest of the series)

6) For the Life of the World- Fr. Alexander Schmemenn (and the rest of his books)

Movies:

1) Inglourious Basterds

2) Ninja Assassin

3) Revolver

4) The Fountain

5) Some Like It Hot

6) The Apartment

7) Sherlock Holmes

Television:

1) Fringe

2) Battlestar Gallactica

3) V

4) Lost

5) Dollhouse

Music:

1) Architects- Hollow Crown

2) August Burns Red- Constellations

3) Benea Reach- Alleviat

4) Oh Sleeper- Son of the Morning

5) A Textbook Tragedy- Rain City State of Mind

6) This Will Destroy You- This Will Destroy You

7) Poison the Well- The Tropic Rot

8 ) Means- To Keep Me From Sinking

My wife tried to pick up the new Harry Potter dvd this weekend, but since Target was sold out, she went to Blockbuster and rented it for our family movie night.  BB has a policy where you can rent a movie and if you’d like, buy it for a supplemental fee.  Since we’d earned a free rental, we could buy the rental copy for about $15 – a better price than we can get at the box stores.

So we sit down to watch it last night with home-made popcorn (made on the stove top with coconut oil, not microwaved) and found ourselves forced to endure 15 minutes of commercials for Harry Potter movies, video games and iPhone applications.  The dvd was locked out so that you cannot skip forward or jump directly to the menu.  I get annoyed at having to sit through the copyright notices on dvds, let alone 15 minutes (no exaggeration) of crap just to see the most mediocre film of the series.

A year ago, I probably purchased a minimum of 2 dvds / week.  This year, it’s been ususual for me to purchase 2 / month.  I suspect next year it will be even fewer.

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince will be going back to Blockbuster.

Well it should! Granny O’Grimm is a great animation but it also gives a great insight into Irishness!

Its so hard to describe Irish mentality and behaviour that I love when I find stuff like this that helps illustrate my points a little better.

Here is her Christmas wish to us all:

In the middle of the night, when I should be studying histology, I’m actually reading about the historical Jesus Christ and listening to “Bruises” by Chairlift. Anyways, I thought of something so momentous that it could change the fate of Christendom forever.

What if 2000 years from today, amidst the ruins of our decadent civilization, some cultists unearth Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings (and/or the movies) in a cave somewhere in the Levant and translate it into whatever language is in vogue then. Would they then revere it as the true creation story and propagate the religion?

8. Paramore in concert (again)

This made my Best in Fandom last year. What can I say? I really like Paramore. This time they opened for No Doubt, and the concert was incredible. The last Big Name, Big Venue concert I’d seen was Depeche Mode in, erm, 1989? And I had lousy seats that time. So the video effects and such of No Doubt were really damn awesome. And Gwen Stefani is astonishing.

My opinion of this tour, though, was unavoidably shaped by Twitter. I’d been reading Hayley Williams’s tweets all summer. I’d read her fangirling of Stefani, and how much she and the band were learning from an experienced band like No Doubt. I’d read which shows were great, and which she felt she could have been more on for. I read what it was like to do interviews in the afternoon, perform at night, and get up in the late morning to work out. I had a sense of investment in this tour, in Hayley’s experience of it — despite that fact that she doesn’t know me from Adam. The Twitter Effect.

But, anyway, when the first opener left and, after a bit, Paramore came out onto their set — much bigger than the year before, much fancier, and still NOTHING like No Doubt’s set still to come — I was willing this to be a great show. I whooped, sang along, hopped up and down, yelled when my section was pointed too, all the antics of a Fan.

No Doubt was also incredibly great. But I was there to see Paramore.

7. Big Finish Productions’ Seventh Doctor audioplays

I spent most of the first few months of 2009 catching up on the Seventh Doctor audioplays of Doctor Who, by Big Finish Productions. And by this I mean I didn’t listen to much music, I didn’t keep up with the podcasts I listen to, I spent my drives to and from work listening to Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, and Phillip Oliver save worlds. Save worlds, and mete out justice.

It’s fascinating to me, as someone who has come to Doctor Who fandom via the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, to see the Seventh Doctor taking on his role as moral judge. I don’t know exactly when this started in the Doctor’s various incarnations. I just know he didn’t start this way, but is a judge by the time we meet the Tenth Doctor. There seems to be some fascinating differences, though — Seventh Doctor relishes the role of moral authority. Ninth Doctor, we know, had recently seen the horror of that path. Tenth Doctor prefers to give people more chances than Seventh, but is still willing to make the extremely hard choices.

Anyway. I’m loving the evolution of Hex and Ace, their acceptance of The Doctor’s foibles paired with wariness of his secrets and manipulations. I’m loving the way the Doctor’s know-it-all-ness works for both good and ill. I particularly liked “Angel of Scutari” — excellent supporting cast, great plot, excellent acting. More Seventh Doctor from Big Finish is one of the things I am really looking forward to in 2010.

6. Dollhouse

This is not the best show I watch. It is, however, a fannish delight. It is, in the words of my friend Caroline, Big, Sexy Hospital. It’s a show starring lots of my favorite actors from different fandoms, with guest stars from other fandoms, written by some of my favorite writers, talking about important themes of identity and autonomy using inappropriately overly-sexual moments of tension. Plus, funny dialog. The show has not quite lived up to what I hoped it could be — it is definitely flawed. But in exchange for that, I get weirdly inappropriately sexy half-naked scenes where characters HAVE to cut each other FOR THE PLOT.

I feel like Dollhouse is trying to do two things, and the whipsaw between them weakens the show. On the one hand, I love the plot and the things the show is trying to say about autonomy and personal power. On the other hand, I also love the way the show is groping around in the dark of fandom’s collective subconscious, and serving up images from fanfic. River Tam vs. Faith. Wesley and Faith trusting each other knives. Helo and Faith sparring instead of screwing. I have always loved cross-over fanfic, and here it is, on Hulu, every week.

5. Jennifer’s Body

I reviewed the movie Jennifer’s Body here. I loved it. As I say in that review:

“Kusama, Cody, Fox, and Seyfried have put on the screen a movie about a kind of relationship between two women that I have rarely seen in film. That kind of relationship is called “complex”. So many times women’s relationships in film are two-dimensional, caricature, or merely serve as a prop in a movie about men. Not so here. The friendship between Jennifer and Needy is not perfect — they are occasionally thoughtless towards each other, or hurtful, and there’s a wealth of unseen history in the way Jennifer taunts Needy with their past sexual explorations together. But it is friendship.”

I still say this is the absolute best feminist horror film since Gingersnaps. After the no-buying-myself-things-near-Christmas ban passes, I am racing out to get this on dvd.

4. Batwoman, Greg Rucka, and J.H. Williams

In the pages of Detective Comics in the second half of this year, Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams have put out a comic unlike anything else out there. The story of Batwoman, of Kate Kane, is being told in art that is not groundbreaking, it’s genre-changing. Comic art should not be allowed to remain as it has been, now that Williams’s panel structure, narrative sequences, and color palettes have come to light.

But I’m always and forever a sucker for stories.

This story — the story of Kate Kane as Batwoman — is a story about family, and loss, and what a person finds in the world in order to make them get up in the morning. It’s a story about What Happened Next. Being Batwoman, it strikes me, is not Kate Kane’s goal in life. It’s the thing she does with her life after the worst things could happen to her. After she lost her mother and sister and career and relationships. It’s a story about the fact that one doesn’t conveniently die when one loses everything important, however much one might wish it. And, eventually, you get up and out of bed and have to do something. This appears to be Kate Kane’s story, told expertly by Greg Rucka, and it’s one of my favorite fandom things in 2009.

3. Plants vs. Zombies: Bedtime

This is all me, but I’m still damn pleased with what happened.

This summer I wrote a script for a four-page comic. My family was obsessed at the time with the PopCap Games’ “Plants vs. Zombies.” The idea hit me while I was sitting in the audience at the Como Park Bandshell, waiting for J’s dress rehearsal to get started. I wrote a little comic about a kid, about my son’s age, who lives in the house that is attacked by zombies in the game. The story was light and short and cute. The Best Moment in Fandom moments happened next.

What happened next is that PopCap Games agreed to let me produce this work. I emailed them, got reply, explained my project, and then — poof. They said go ahead. So what happened next is that Erika Moen agreed to draw it. Her art was fantastic — perfect for the tone of the story. And what happened next is that my contact at PopCap was so pleased with what he saw that PopCap included the comic in their Halloween promotional materials.

This was one of my personal best moments in fandom, albeit professional fandom.

2. Baltimore Comic-Con

I went to a few conventions this year — Microcon, Wiscon, CONvergence, Supercon. But the one I’d never been to, the one new to me, was Baltimore ComicCon. It was great. Not only did I get to meet all of the Fantastic Fangirls in person, I got to meet and see other friends from online.

But the thing that really, totally made the convention great for me was the generosity and friendliness of the creators. I’m not going to name them all here, for fear I might forget someone. But everyone had time to chat, however briefly. Even those with the biggest names/lines/crowds were extremely generous with their time.

1. Marvel’s consequences

I remember when Secret Wars II was playing out in the pages of Marvel comics. I never actually read the core books, the limited series in which all the heroes of the Marvel Universe tried to deal with The Beyonder come to Earth for a rematch. What I remember is that The Beyonder killed and resurrected the New Mutants. What I remember is that Rachel Summers was going to end the entire universe in order to kill The Beyonder, and that the love and compassion of her fellow X-Men stopped her — and then stopped The Beyonder from killing them all, right there, on the spot. What I remember, from that story and from all my most beloved X-stories from the late 80s and early 90s, is that the world of the Marvel Universe was a whole thing. It was all of a piece. When Kulan Gath (a Spider-Man villain) took over Manhattan Island for a couple weeks, the X-Men were trapped there, as were the Avengers. When two of the New Mutants got drugged by the same guy that attacked Cloak and Dagger, Tandy and Ty were there to help. I loved Mutant Massacre, I loved Fall of the Mutants, I even found Inferno fascinating — though frustrating. I loved the whole world of it all.

I later came to understand that the “world” events in Marvel tended to only apply within certain spheres. The mutant line, the heroes line, the spider-man line, the cosmic line. I grew, in the mid-90s, sick of crossovers that didn’t really affect anything except sales figures. I became disenchanted with the idea of a complete Marvel Universe. But I still remember how it felt, looking at Kitty Pryde in Uncanny X-Men as she mourns the death of her best friend, Illyana, who no-one remembers — wiped from the universe by the petulant thoughts of The Beyonder.

A new world lay in those panels. A complete world, rich and vibrant and alive and whole. And I could visit it any damn time I wanted to.

In recent years, Marvel has put forth a series of “world-changing events.” And I viewed these all with incredible skepticism, due to my feelings regarding the late 90s. But I read them. Avengers: Disassembled was good — I like it a lot. But I was profoundly and unexpectedly pleased when the Avengers stayed apart, the mansion was not rebuilt, and there were extended consequences. The Young Avengers formed. Isiah Bradley’s legacy as the black Captain America was retained and used. Character deaths — whether or not they stayed dead — had repercussions in the paths their friends and families took. And then, a bit later, we had House of M. In which the consequences of Disassembled unfolded to destroy a whole people. House of M was another world-changing crossover event — and we still haven’t seen it taken back. We still haven’t really seen Wanda, and there are still no more mutants. Civil War happened, and The Initiative came out of that. Not to mention Captain America’s death — long live Captain America. Events kept occurring, with consequence piling on consequence. The world of Marvel kept changing as a result of what had happened before. As Secret Invasion was about to launch, I was excited and pleased — this, this was the kind of Marvel storytelling I loved. A world at stake, really, with everybody’s fates on the line.

I wish Secret Invasion had been published as a single trade paperback — or released weekly until it was done. But that’s a quibble. I really liked the story. But more than I liked the actual plot contained in the issues, I liked how it changed the world. I loved Jessica Drew’s face being the face of the enemy, seen around the world. I loved all the “traitors” appearing on television to urge the world to embrace change. I loved the Skrull sleepers popping up in every title. I loved Marvel’s ad campaign – so reminiscent to me of the old “It’s 1984 – Do You Know What Your Children Are?” ads that appeared in the X-Men titles.

More than any of that, though, I loved What Happened Next.

The world changed. And I love Bendis and Marvel for it. The world of Marvel changed. And, sure, it’ll change back. That’s not my point — I don’t want Marvel to stay this way forever. But I want, I crave for the plots in these comics to have some sort of meaning. Repercussions. Consequences. If Norman Osborn saves the planet on international television, I want that to have an effect for more than one month. I want this, the Dark Reign. And then I want the Dark Reign to end as a result of Norman Osborn’s actions. I want his personal consequences to unfold as surely as Wanda’s did.

This current consequence-laden universe at Marvel fills me with joy in all sorts of ways. I love that Kieron Gillen’s S.W.O.R.D. is a result of Astonishing X-Men and Secret Invasion. I love that Jessica Jones shows up in Young Avengers and that the Young Avengers have been scattered into the other Avengers titles. I love that the Silent War of the Inhumans led into War of Kings. The interwoven, interconnectedness of it all makes me damn pleased.

I’m looking forward to The Siege, very much. I am not really invested in the “core Avengers,’ I don’t care much about Steve Rogers or Thor. But I am happily waiting to see what Marvel is going to do next to my beloved, much-abused, living Marvel universe.

Playing on the iPod right now: Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus

National Treasure (starring the fabulous Nicholas Cage) is one of my favorite action/adventure/romance movies ever. It and #2 are all I’ve been watching these last few weeks (when my 9yo loves a movie, he looooooves it.  All I can say is thank God for DVDs).

What’s there NOT to love? A treasure map, conspiracy theories, gripping action, bad guys, cute good guys, family conflict and romance.  It’s great clean fun, no swearing (I counted one ‘bloody’ in the first movie) so it’s a great way to involve my son in all that fab American history, which I adore.  He’s been googling “Declaration of Independence”, “US Presidents” and “American Constitution”, much to my delight.  He even pop quizzes me – “Mummy, who was the first person to suggest daylight saving?” (answer – Benjamin Franklin).  And yes, I also admit to a bit of a girly crush on geeky Riley Poole (aka Justin Bartha).  He has the best lines!

I’m doubly thrilled to see that they’re making National Treasure 3 in 2011.  I can’t wait!

The Inside is a tv series from 2005. It was canceled after 13 episodes. It is also, to no-one’s surprise, produced by Tim Minear and Jane Espenson. (Tim Minear is one of my absolute favorite show-runners. I want a network of shows by Tim Minear, John Rogers, Joss Whedon, Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffet, Jane Espenson, Laeta Kalogridis, and Ronald D. Moore. Thank you, television gods.)

So, it’s a Tim Minear show. It is deeply twisted and I love it dearly.

The gist is this: Peter Coyote plays FBI L.A. Violent Crimes Unit director Virgil Webster. For reasons never revealed before the show got canceled, he has free rein to run his domain the way he wants to. In the series premiere, one of his agents has died. Coyote’s character immediately hires a new agent, Rebecca Locke, played extremely well by Rachel Nichols. Locke has failed the FBI psych test, but was, unbeknownst to her, waived in by Virgil Webster. She applied for the profiling unit twice and was rejected. Why? Because at age ten, she was kidnapped by a man and held for eighteen months. She escaped on her own, and has never explained to ANYONE what happened, how she escaped, or what her captivity was like. Or . . . why she didn’t escape earlier. She is deeply emotionally screwed-up in an overcontrolled, tightly wound, brittle way.

The show revolves around Coyote’s manipulation of everyone on his team — he’s picked them all very deliberately, manipulating their strengths and weaknesses for his purpose. His purpose is to catch killers. But not mundane killers, no, those are too pedestrian for him. To catch the difficult or impossible killers. He’s just as obsessed as they are, and he has very few morals.

The relationship between Locke and her boss is one where they trust each other completely because they both agree that catching the killers is worth any damage they may take in the process. They both hold their lives to be tools in the service of something, not worthwhile ends in and of themselves. Locke is not suicidal, that’s not it — in fact, she’s got a hugely strong will to live. It’s more that she doesn’t register pain, fear, or discomfort in a normal way. And she’s willing to experience those things if it means she can save someone who was like her. If it means she can save herself by proxy. Because, as she says in the show, no-one helped her, no-one saved her — she had to save herself.

As Special Agent Melody Sims (adroitly and hilariously played by Katie Finneran) remarks in the last episode, Becca gets captured by the bad guys a lot. In fact, Sims points out that Special Agent Locke seems to move through the world as if life was simply something that happened to her between abductions. I deeply wish this show could have continued, for a whole host of reasons — why were Agents Sims and Love on the team? What was wrong with them that Wed wanted them? What was Web’s power over the FBI that gave him his free reign? Was Locke’s abductor really still alive? — and one of the chiefmost things I wanted to watch was Rebecca Locke’s slow development into a fully functional human being. Because her fellow agents are right to view her as a slightly freaky robot. The character is so utterly divorced from a normal spectrum of human emotional reactions, yet she clearly possesses those same emotions. And as her fantasy life reveals, she wants to be better at being a person. She’s just not sure how to do it, yet.

This show is not legally available in any damn format. I know, because I look for it every year. I WILL BUY IT AS SOON AS I CAN. But before you go investigating extra-legal means of acquisition, let me tell you of a few downsides to the show. The villains are a wee bit predictable. And while the team’s responses to them are a little unusual, it’s not unusual by the sixth time. I, personally, like the fact that the writers hang a lampshade on this by having the characters remark of Web and Locke’s predictability. But your mileage may vary. In addition, the dialog is pretty familiar-sounding to those who watch a lot of the Whedon-Espenson-Minear-Fury constellation.

I found these to be minor quibbles. The guest actors are great, the ensemble leads are wonderful — not a dead weight among them. And if stories of difficult roads out of darkness are your cup of tea, The Inside is well worth your time.

If you can manage to find a copy.

There were 17 things on my Sunday ‘to do’ list and all of them are now scratched out except ‘write blog entry’.  To tell you the truth, I am amazed I completed the other 16 items.  Whew!  So here I sit in my bed, all warm and comfy, under layers of blankets and quilts with MacLappy humming away and my fingers tapping on my final ‘to do’ item.

This weekend was primarily dedicated to ‘decking the halls’.  The trees were bought, decorated and making the entire house smell like sap.  Mmmm..  The wreaths are hung, the Christmas knickknacks are scattered, the Nativity scene is up (and has been played with) and I even have the Christmas cards stamped, sealed, and waiting for delivery.  We had our first holiday party on Saturday and the Ipod has been playing Perry Como and Dean Martin Christmas music non-stop.  (Dean is my favorite Rat Pack singer.)  So now I am ready to sit and watch Christmas movies.

The kids have their favorites which include: Muppets Christmas Carol, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, and Santa Clause is Coming to Town.  But I am much more interested in Christmas movies with fewer… um…. puppets.  Janna mentioned one of the movies on her Facebook update and I thought, “Oh!  I should make a list of my favorites and put it on the blog!”

So, here is my list of Christmas/ Holiday movies to watch this month….

A Christmas Story – I believe TBS plays this movie all day long on Christmas Day.  We use so many quotes from this movie, its ridiculous!

Love Actually – Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, and Alan Rickman in the same movie… yes, I am sooo there!

Elf – This is just one of those ‘cute, feel good” movies that our entire family enjoys.  (Mr. C. also enjoys it because Zooey “Whatababe” Deschanel is a co-star.)

The Holiday – Another cute romantic movie.  (The one Janna mentioned)

White Christmas – This is the movie I watch while I ..um… Santa is wrapping the presents on Christmas Eve.  Usually I am he is finished by the time the movie is finished.

Do you have any favorites to add?

Doctor Who.  It has entertained (and terrified) many a family since its debut in the late 1960’s, and its 2005 teams’ successors have continued that tradition exceptionally.  2005 saw the entrance and exit of Christopher Eccleston — here and gone with the Time Wind.  He was replaced by actor David Tennant at the end of 2005 and he has since played the Doctor’s role with enthusiasm.

But now David has announced his departure from the popular show to pursue his acting career with the Royal Shakespeare Company.  The BBC have announced his replacement to be Matt Smith — little-known footballer, well-known actor!

And so 2010 will see the era of a brand-new Doctor, brand-new companion, brand-new Tardis!  Oh, and also a brand-new logo!  Check it out:

Featuring a black background and 'DW' arranged in the likeness of the Tardis.

And so it seems by this style that the Doctor Who team are going back to the good old days of minimalism.  Not that it’s a bad thing, but the costume choice and image presented by Karen Gillan leaves something to be desired.  She leaves the distinct impression of Rose Tyler, companion to the 10th Doctor through New Who’s season 1 and 2.  And to be honest, Matt Smith looked much better in his promo photos with a dark suit.  Not tweed.

I was very surprised.

My wife dragged me to see The Blind Side.  While we both like Sandra Bullock, she’s more of a football fan than I am and the trailer for this film made it look like one of those movies on the Hallmark Channel.  I wasn’t very interested.  So she took the girls to see it while I was out looking at deer I couldn’t get a shot at.  When I got home empty-handed, she loaded me in the car for a movie date – just the two of us.  The Blind Side is not a Hallmark TV Movie.  It was very well done, with plenty of humor and drama.  Sandra Bullock nailed the role and I didn’t recognize Tim McGraw right away even though I knew he was in the movie.

The Blind Side is based on the true story of Michael Oher, the son of a crack-addicted mother, that sleeps on the couch at a friend’s house when the movie begins.  The friend’s uncle works at a private Christian high school and requests special admission for his nephew.  Michael is just along for the ride, but when the school football coach see this huge black teenager playing hoops, he persuades the school to allow Michael to attend as well.

Leigh Ann (Bullock) spots Michael walking in a cold rain one night and takes pity on the boy, inviting him into her home for the night.  Soon Michael is a regular member of the family.

During the closing credits, photographs of the real family are shown on the screen.  Michael Oher is now a NFL football player.

Jokes about New Jersey (“What Exit?”), like jokes about Wisconsin (“Cheese & Beer & Snow“), are easy to come by.

I’ve spent my first two and past 12 years in Wisconsin, but my mother was raised in New Jersey, and I still return (not as often as I’d like) to visit my cousins and friends who live there. I’ve enjoyed a few summer weeks on the Jersey Shore, as well as on Wisconsin’s middle-coast cheddarized version thereof. Perhaps that’s why I want to point out one or two more deep connections between what appear on the surface to be culturally distant states. Or a third:

This week, the entire country had a chance to learn “The lessons of Jersey Shore“ (courtesy of Fourfour’s precision brand of hilaro-snark).

Next week, I hope New Jersey will teach us in Wisconsin one more lesson. New Jersey Peeps: Contact your legislators today!

There’s no harm in making fun of either state. But this time I hope New Jersey gets the last laugh.

Update (12/7/8) : via Joe. My. God. “Victory In New Jersey! Marriage Vote In Full Senate Slated For Thursday”

The animated film Brendan and the Secret of Kells has a new press release out. It has been nominated for several awards including an Academy Award in the animation category. Among its awards so far is the first ever top prize at the Edinburgh Film Festival for an animated movie. It will be available nationwide in the US in March 2010.

Taylor Lautner on GQ. Photo Credit: Gossip Teen

I woke up to a horrendous display of advertisement–or really, it was a rerun clip of Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson interviewing Taylor Lautner in the “New Moon” premiere in Westwood a couple weeks ago. Robinson is seen showing off a shirtless Mattel doll version of Lautner’s character, Jacob Black, and asking him of his opinion. Lautner was embarrassed–seemed uncomfortable. The whole thing was sort of awkward. You could see it for yourself at the end of the entry. Over at Twitter, a female friend of mine joked about how she was counting down the day that Lautner turns legal. He is only 17, but in the words of Jacob Black, “Age is just a number, baby.”

Britney Spears was 17 on April 1999 cover of Rolling Stone, Photo Credit: Dolly Mix

I have to admit, I am interested in this Taylor Lautner phenomena, mainly because of the ramifications that who he is and what he’s done is steering the change of how we view masculinity and femininity today. Don’t quite follow me yet? Take for example this countdown that a fan made to countdown the days that Lautner turns 18. Now let’s go backwards in time–countdowns like this have been used to celebrate past “jail-baits” as Britney Spears, the Olsen Twins, and Lindsay Lohan. Grown men that counted down the days were seen as perverted and disgusting. Now, fast forward to 2009. It’s the women’s turn. Now, I’m all about equal opportunity, but are women getting as much flak ove their comments on Lautner and the fact that he is “jailbait?”

I don’t think so–and definitely not at the same degree as men. Actually, there isn’t much clatter about cougars eyeing the shirtless Lautner, except on sites like Just Mommies, a message board for moms. So apparently, it’s okay that a shirtless seventeen-year-old boy can pose provocatively, but when a seventeen-year-old girl (and she doesn’t have to be shirtless, i.e., Britney Spears) poses provocatively, it turns heads. Double standard?

And just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I discovered that they made a more realistic Taylor Lautner-Jacob Black action figure. And yep, you guessed it, he’s shirtless. I have to agree with fellow blogger,  Nobody Puts Baby in a Horner, when the blogger writes:

“I’m not saying that you can’t have him as your object of lust-eyes because you can do whatever you want, but I am saying it’s difficult to forget how, unless you’re another teenager, those lust-eyes are technically statuatory-rape-eyes.  Sure, the thought police aren’t throwing anyone in jail over the a few idle thoughts, but still: He’s only seventeen, so YIKES!!!”

Yes, big YIKES!!! With 3 exclamation marks means extreme warning. I don’t know whose bright idea it was to create such an action figure. Apparently, it was revealed in Comic Con for the Twihards (a term for die-hard Twilight fans). Poor Taylor Lautner. Poor Tay-Tay. Will he ever escape his identity of just being eye-candy instead of being an actor? I mean, that is what he wants–to be recognized for his acting talent. A Showbiz Spy article reveals Lautner’s ultimate desire:

“I worked hard to get in shape for this role,” Lautner explains. “My motivation was the movie and the fans, but I don’t want to become known as just a body. If I had to choose, I would never take my shirt off again in a movie, but I guess that’s not very realistic. I certainly won’t be asking to do it, though.”

Well, that’s a start. I’m no fortune teller, but I predict that the next few roles you’re going to get will continue to exploit you. Sex sells, eh?

Now you may be thinking, what’s the big deal? Am I advocating that it’s okay for older people–men and women–to lust over underage teens as long as there is equal flak on both sides? No. I’m just quite concerned that people forget that Lautner is still a boy with a man’s body–well, at least until February 11, 2010. People should stop and take a look at themselves. Let me repeat again, he’s 17!

Jacob Black action figure. Photo Credit: Twilight Book Addicts

Now, you might be saying for me to take a look at myself, that I’m just jealous that I don’t look like him. Heck ya I’m jealous–me and every guy that doesn’t look like him gets jealous. And the men of the world felt the same way when 300 came out. But that’s exactly how Lautner is changing, or rather, adding to masculinity. Men are running to the gym again, and cougars are on the prowl. Now, women are the ones with the “lustful eyes” and men are the ones “lusted after.” As 2009 comes to a close, we find ourselves at a changing landscape: the image of “jailbait” isn’t a girl; it’s a boy…a really buff boy at that.

What do you think?

“Do not get me upset. Things are gonna get very ugly!” – Jacob Black in “New Moon”

1. First, happy birthday to my brother! Hope the day is a good one.

2. Tomorrow, after Cavorter gets out of work, we’re driving to Chicago for a familial visit. We will bring birthday and Christmas presents for my various nieces. Buying adorable presents for infants reminds me of the more pleasant moments of my kids’ own infancy. But not quite enough to mask the memories of sleeplessness, poop, and spit-up.

3. Tern is giving the weekly music lesson to the kids as I type this. M is faintly adorable as he sings, and K’s piano playing is progressing nicely.

4. Last night Cavorter and I watched Jackie Chan’s Operation Condor. I could not, at this moment, tell you the plot. In fact, I’m not sure I could tell you the plot of any Jackie Chan movies. I sort of zone out and think about writing projects or look around the house, wondering what needs cleaning, when the plot are happening. But I love the martial arts set pieces. I would buy and love a dvd that was nothing but excerpted Jackie Chan fight scenes.

5. We still have not eliminated the mice. A friend of ours mentioned that she had to dig three feet down all the way around the outside of her foundation to find and plug the mice entrances. This thought fills me with despair.

“If you don’t like Twilight so much, why did you read the books? Why do you like talking about it?”

I have the answer.

Twilight, for some inexplicable reason, is a pop culture phenomenon. Eventually it’s going to burn out, but while it’s here it’s the big newz. People are talking about it, they’re into it, if you can’t keep up you’re out of the loop. And it’s as simple as that – I hate Twilight. That entire series is the most vapid, boring, worst ending-y horrible nonsense I have ever had the displeasure of reading or watching (except maybe for Charlie, who’s actually pretty likable). Yet I did both, I think, because it’s my way of being included in the fooferrah. If everyone is going to be talking about it anyway, I might as well go out of my way to do so, too. My talking about it just doesn’t happen to match what the fans are saying.

But yeah, I think that’s it – it’s just a way to be not left out of the event. It’s not that I cares so muuccch! that I have to talk about it. It’s that everyone is talking about it so I might as well talk about it, too…but, you know, with fun. Otherwise I might go insane from the prattle and have to lock myself in a box until after the last movie is released on DVD. That’s just not practical.

So in “honour” of New Moon, the crappy movie I have not seen yet (but I feel comfortable judging considering the source material), here are some Twilight-related links for those who’s vaginas don’t get wet (or penises hard) at the thought of sparkly vampires not boning us:

• Masala Skeptic reviews the latest movie on Skepchick.
• There’s this wonderful and concise synopsis in comic form.
• Here’s the original movie in 30 second bunnies. It appears they haven’t done New Moon yet. (Although admittedly lately these are less “hilarious synopses in 30 seconds” and more “30 seconds of random cuts”.)
• Ponder this abomination for a second.
• These products made the rounds the first time out, but they bear repeating just to illustrate how frighteningly bizarre these fans are and how much money they’re willing to spend on shit. Bandages? Really? Also, shadowy decals to simulate night stalking are, I think, completely unprecedented and extremely disturbing. And giant, disembodied “pay no attention to that man [on] the curtain” head is way creepy (in fact, go watch Wizard of Oz; that movie rules).
• Check out the podcast Read it and Weep that reviews Twilight and New Moon, among other crappy books.
• And of course, the ever objective website Twilight Sucks.
• There also various spoofs from both movies worth checking out.
• See Cracked’s take.

I might have to see New Moon just for the “so bad it’s good” hilarity it’s sure to provide, but I’m not sure I can take it without the Rifftrax. Although I’m fairly sure I can take it if I have unfettered use of the pause button and am free to laugh my face off when appropriate (which, if the movie is anything like the book, will be often).

But there you have it, folks – I just want to fit in! (Apparently.) So let me have my fun.

UPDATE: Moar. Even moar.

It may be old for some, but I have just discovered the BEST cooking show in the history of cooking shows: BBC’s Two Fat Ladies, starring Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright. It ran from 1994 to 1996 in the UK, so it’s quite old, but I had never heard of it until now. Unfortunately, the show ended because of Jennifer’s death.

In every episode, the two ladies drive across the UK with their old sidecar and cook lavish and mostly traditional English meals on location. They cook two dishes each, visit locals to get their ingredients fresh from the garden/sea/farm/whatever, and use LOTS of butter. Their small talk in between is hilarious and they often burst out singing while cooking. Especially Jennifer makes me laugh every time, with her rolling r. Oh, and the theme song is brilliant. I’m a fan!

RRRRRavishing!