Movie Round-Up

We saw several movies recently. My thoughts:

The Ugly Truth - Ugh. A week after seeing this movie, I both can't remember it and also kind of can't stop thinking about it. I can't remember it because there was absolutely nothing memorable about it - nothing funny or touching. Yet I also can't stop thinking about how Hollywood really just cranks out a lot of pointless drivel, and this movie is a perfect example of that. I'm also not a big Katherine Heigl fan, which doesn't help (I am so not one of those girls who's all into Grey's Anatomy).

Funny People - Good movie. Seth Rogan is thinner. He's still likeable, though. I think the last Adam Sandler movie I saw was The Wedding Singer, and it's weird to see him being rather serious and morose, and kind of a jerk. I remember when he was the young cute guy on SNL, so I felt a little old seeing him depicted as a middle-aged guy. Leslie Mann? Well, she certainly married well. She's guaranteed a role in every Apatow movie made. Though that's not such a great thing - I didn't like any of the women in this movie - all two of them. The female characters were just so flat and unsympathetic. Jason Schwartzman was in the movie - an interesting addition to the Apatow gang. Is he looking to branch out beyond the Wes Anderson circle, especially since the last couple of movies weren't so good? Final thought: I am just not very interested in watching home movies of the Apatow children.

Up - Finally saw it - this is the first movie I've taken the kids to. I thought it was sweet, touching, and a little sad. It was kind of intense in some parts -- this is really supposed to be a children's movie? I kept looking at Ben (8) & Bridge (6) to make sure they were OK. They were.

One of the best parts of Up for me: the picture that Ben drew of it afterwards. I really liked his carefully depicted balloons, and I LOVED how he included 4:15, the showtime we went to (we didn't see it in 3D though, so I'm not sure why he included that).

Ka-wow-ee!

THIS is where we're going to be in 80-something days!!! We booked it tonight! That's going to be us on those outside bar stools! Another pina colada, please!


Like most East Coast kids, I first heard about Hawaii from the Brady Bunch episode. Growing up, nobody went to Hawaii - people would go to the Caribbean. Hawaii was someplace you would maybe go on your honeymoon, but that was it. And now I finally get to go! That's called livin' the dream.

I'm excited because in the pictures, the rooms look very nice. No tacky flowered bed spreads here - it all looks clean, modern, tasteful. Maybe this will be our room? We did spring for an ocean view...


Sweetie found this place, proving once again that he has excellent taste in hotels.

I Am Turning Into the Biggest Sap

What is happening to me???

This is the kind of thing that I would have totally made fun of in the past, if I had even bothered to watch it. But now, I'm a little embarrassed to admit, I was almost in tears at the end because, well, they just all look so joyful.

OMG, this wedding/love stuff is just turning me into the BIGGEST sap. And I always thought of myself as such a Miranda!

No, wait, this kind of makes sense. I love movies that are not musicals, yet end with everyone singing and dancing (see The 40 Year Old Virgin and There's Something About Mary), and this is a little bit like that.

But still, um, no, we're not doing this at our wedding.

Simpsons parody of Mad Men

I'm currently in the middle of a Mad Men Season 2 Netflix marathon. Pure bliss.

Since none of the moments on the show are really YouTube worthy, here is the completely awesome Simpsons take on it. Maybe I should start watching this show again.

Matthew McConaughey's Best Role Ever

We've had cable for just over a month now. Before that, I lived sans cable for four years. And last night I experienced one of the forgotten joys of cable: flipping around and catching the last 1/2 hour of a movie you love. That just doesn't happen when you only have the major networks plus one Spanish and two Chinese channels (and the latter three get the best reception, natch).

Juno seems to be on every time I turn on the TV, but last night Sweetie and I caught the last half of Dazed and Confused, a movie we both love. And we got to experience the joy of MM's best role ever, the deliciously creepy Wooderson. He is SO much better here than in any of his subsequent rom-coms.

Saturday Night Lamb

I made lamb chops last night!


I've never made lamb chops before, and they turned out surprisingly well. I was inspired by a recipe in a recent W-S e-mail that can be found here. We skipped the wraps, but I'd like to try those another time.

Sweetie made the rest of the food, a Greek salad and tzatziki. Wow, tzatziki is really not photogenic, all white and blobby. But it's delicious. We decided that the next time we make this we'll add some sort of rice side dish, like a pilaf.

He taught me how to chop with the big knife. Now I can chop veggies in a somewhat proper manner, instead of just hacking away at them.

Green Kitty

It never ceases to amuse me how, when anything new is brought into the apartment, Petunia will sniff it, circle it, rub up against it, sit on it for awhile. And any twinge of guilt that I feel about never buying her a special $30 kitty bed is alleviated by the fact that she is content to cuddle up to anything left on the floor, like this re-usable Market Hall shopping bag. I like to think she's trying to show her support for the whole green movement here.