The Day Before the Fourth of July, 2009

Hubby had the day off.  We watched “The Proposal” in the downtown Century 20.  The movie was hubby’s choice, which came as a real surprise to self (Ryan Reynolds over Johnny Depp?  Since when???)

But, anyhoo, self enjoyed the movie.  Sandy Bullock was very funny (and actually goes full-frontal nekkid!  Shock!  It pleases self to report that this is one Hollywood actress who has apparently resisted the lure of having breast implants!)

Ryan Reynolds is cute as all get-out.  And he’s funny, too.  And has a great bod, as anyone who’s seen his Entertainment Weekly cover can attest (It was pretty hard to miss, in all the airports self found herself in, a few days ago.   No wonder he became Mr. Scarlett Johansson)

In addition, Mary Steenburgen, who plays Ryan’s mom, still has a great figure!

So, movie was fun.  Son declined to go with us, too bad.  Self got a large bag of popcorn and a tray of nachos.  There were five previews, including four for movies that are opening in September.  Now, that makes self sad, for that reminds self that Fall is just around the corner.  The previews were for “Julie & Julia” (Self didn’t like the book, but the movie looks like it could be better than the book?!#  With Meryl Streep playing Julia Child, and Amy Adams playing Julie Powell, how can the movie not work?), “Old Dogs” (Travolta and Robin Williams, making like real old dogs, but the movie includes as well Travolta’s real-life wife, Kelly Preston), “Fame” (the re-boot), and a really scary-looking movie directed by Martin Scorsese, “Shutter Island,” that has Leonardo di Caprio in an insane asylum (not, mind you, as an inmate).

After the movie, hubby and self did usual stroll to Peet’s, and then took a look at the menus of a few small places on Broadway:  found out that a taqueria sells lengua tacos!  Next to it was a Persian Kebab take-out place.  Pickles, the women’s clothing store next to Crouching Tiger, has a sale.  It was hawwtt.

Tomorrow is the annual Redwood City Parade (sure to be packed).  Self also heard on the radio that tomorrow night, the concert at Shoreline will all be music from such sci-fi movies as “Star Wars”, “Star Trek” and so forth and so on!  Super!

After getting back home, checked mail:  (form) rejection, from “Salamander.”  Self laughed, she couldn’t help it.  She had somehow expected it all along.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

Thoughts About Sam Rockwell, “Moon”

This movie was sad; it was funny; it was horrific.   Sam Rockwell was great in it.  (Son did a little googling and tells self that Sam was born in Daly City.  Oh.  My.  God)

Self had heard that he was the only actor in the entire movie and was wondering whether she would be able to stand looking at just his face for an hour and 40 minutes, but that isn’t quite right.  Although he plays the only man on a moon base, he is never entirely alone.  In an echo of “2001:  A Space Odyssey”, there is a computer named Gerty, voiced with deadpan hilarity by Kevin Spacey.  And there are people from his memories.

Self thinks that if she had to live all by herself on a moon base such as the one in the movie, self would drive herself crazy from fear of ghosts.  Self wants to know, if any blog readers have seen the movie, whether they too felt impelled to close their eyes at certain scenes?  Self found some parts of the movie so scary that she had to close her eyes no less than three times.  As soon as she could open her eyes again, she’d whisper urgently to son:  “Who was that?  Was that a ghost?”  Or, “Is this a horror movie?”  (Son endured all of self’s questions with a shrug and his usual stoic patience)

The movie was showing at Palo Alto Square.  There were only four other people in the audience.   Son asked self if the movies there were always this poorly attended.  Self said yes.  The other movie showing was “Cheri”, Michelle Pfeiffer directed by Stephen Frears, and as a matter of fact self overheard most of the people buying tickets for this movie.  But self is glad that she chose “Moon.”

Self also saw a preview of the latest adaptation of a Cormac McCarthy novel (he who unleashed the —  in self’s humble opinion —  awful, pointless “No Country For Old Men”).  This one stars Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron.  In the middle of the preview, self turned to son and said, “There’s one thing I can tell you right now:  Charlize Theron does not die.”  Ha ha ha ha!  There were also previews for two documentaries:  one about a Muhammad Ali match in Zaire, and the other featuring the musicians Jack White, Conrad Black, and Jimmy Page.  Is it just self’s imagination, or are there really a lot of good documentaries coming out right now?  Self really wants to see “Tyson.”  And the Jack White movie sounds pretty interesting.  Self doesn’t know why it is, but in some shots Jack White looks somewhat like Johnny Depp!!@##  Seriously!

Having Just Seen “Easy Virtue”

There were two reasons self wanted to see this movie:  1.  Jessica Biel was in it, and self was exceedingly curious to see how she would comport herself in a period drama (JB was good in “The Illusionist,” one of self’s favorite movies of 2006);  2.  In the May issue of Marie Claire, Caryn James called it a “stylish” comedy.

Alas, the comedic parts were not actually that comedic (some scenes were outright ridiculous, dear blog readers.  In one scene JB sits on a chihuahua —  of course, by accident!  —  and it unexpectedly expires, presumably because JB’s butt is so big.  If that sounds funny, self assures dear blog readers that, as presented in the movie, it was decidedly not).  The only real comedienne in the entire movie was Kristin Scott-Thomas (Good God, give this woman an Academy Award already!)

Spoiler alert!

Dis-connected Father-In-Law played by Colin Firth gets to run off with Jessica Biel (Talk about a male fantasy).  As Colin smokes and looks sour for 3/4 of the movie, we are given to understand that he is very very unhappy.  If self were his wife she’d have gotten the screaming meemies and cleared out ages ago.  But, self forgot:  Colin and his wife are members of the British upper class!  Therefore even when unhappy they must keep up appearances!  Must demonstrate famous British stiff upper lip and all that!

JB’s husband is played by a rather fetching young man named Ben Barnes.  Who is this guy? Self can’t recall ever having seem him before.  Even though there are practically no sex scenes between him and JB, in the two scenes where he appeared without a shirt, he looked good.  Mind you, he was thin.  But self hates guys with the popping-pectoral look of the Governator.  Thin is waaay better!

The setting was an English manor.  An old gardener is frequently shown trundling wheelbarrows across the grounds.  The house seemed oppressively rank.  Not, perhaps, as bad as Mr. Rochester’s place, but there was a lot of fog, the rooms had very high ceilings, and there didn’t seem to be enough servants to keep the place running.

This is perhaps self’s first “no-special-effects” movie of the summer.  Self is happy to report that Colin Firth is still handsome.  Self isn’t sure whether JB looks good with blonde hair.  In her final appearance, JB was wearing a white sheath so clinging she could practically have been naked.  Self mentions this last just in case there are any JB fans reading this blog.

Anyhoo, the afternoon was not a total wash, for right across the street from the Aquarius, where “Easy Virtue” was showing, is self’s favorite ice cream place, Clasico Gelato!  And self got to ingest glorious lychee and honey lavender gelato, for the first time this summer!

Moreover, self got to the theatre in time for the previews, and one of these was for an interesting documentary called “Food, Inc.”, which featured interviews with muckraking journalist Eric Schlosser (who wrote Reefer Madness) and author Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma).  Not only that, it received an endorsement from no less a personage than Alice Waters!  Unfortunately, self also had to sit through previews for Woody Allen’s latest May-December romantic comedy, “Whatever Works,” wherein Larry David gets to play Woody and gorgeous Evan Rachel Wood gets to play Soon-yi (instead of Scarlett Johansson, who must have been busy).

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.