Mother

Here are the reasons why my mother, who is 70 years old, is deciding AGAINST zip-lining on her upcoming anniversary vacation.

• She doesn't think she has the upper body strength to hold onto the zip line, and is positive that is the only thing keeping her from plummeting to her death.  She was GENUINELY surprised when I told her that I'm sure they have back ups to prevent that sort of thing.  Which makes it that much crazier that she was still considering it.
• She is terrified of heights. Which makes it that much crazier that she was still considering it.
• She watched documentaries about it and doesn't think it would be very fun.  Why would people have fun doing that? 

"My" Pinterest Boards

I got an email welcoming me (actually, someone named Derek Blanchard) to Pinterest.  Say hello to Derek. He looks awfully nice:

So far, Derek has created the following boards:

• "Halloween"
• Knives
• Guns
• Cars
• Love

Words

Words I Do Not Pronounce Consistently *

• Economic (eh and ee)
• Route (ow and oo)
• Caramel (car and care)

Words Some People Think It Is OK to Pronounce Either Way, But They're Wrong

• Mueller (miller always, never myoo-ler**)
• Lawyer (law-yer, not loyer)
• Pecan (pick-ahn, obvs)
• Syrup (not sear-up)

Words I Cannot Pronounce

• Muir (as in Woods)

*VOTE!

**It makes me cringe that I even had to type that out. Actually, all of those but "loyer" are pretty awful.

June 2014 MVPs

I'm so late!  It's already time to do July's lists. Who cares? This place is a ghost town :-(

With no particular criteria in mind, I present to you June's list of monthly MVPs. 

Gents of the month
Cary Grant (Bringing Up Baby)
Van Heflin (The Feminine Touch)
Arthur Kennedy (Bend of the River)
Charles Korvin (Berlin Express)
James Mason (A Star Is Born)
 
Ladies of the month
Kay Francis (The Feminine Touch)
Judy Garland (A Star Is Born)
Katharine Hepburn (Bringing Up Baby)
Anna Magnani (The Rose Tattoo)
Ann Sothern (The Blue Gardenia)

Movies I Watched at Home in 2014, List #6

I was on the road a lot in June, but I managed to get some movies in.  Here's my list -- chronological order of watching with a grade I gave it at the time and a comment or two about what I remember now.

• Toys in the Attic (1963) - C+ / You should know that I love Geraldine Page, and therefore this should be watched. But I think all you need to know about this movie is in this poster.
• Winchester '73 (1950) - B+ / I'm gonna watch all five of the Anthony Mann westerns with James Stewart. This is the first, and we're off to a good start. Rock Hudson's Young Bull is both a highlight and lowlight of this one. 
• Queen of Outer Space (1958) - A+? F-? Who cares?? / Oh, Zsa Zsa. You have to see this to believe it, especially in its restored beauty. 
• Bend in the River  (1952) - B- / The second of the Mann/Stewart westerns. Rock Hudson works better as a card shark.
• The Feminine Touch (1941) - C / I didn't think Rosalind Russell could be upstaged but both Kay Francis and Van Heflin managed to do it. 
• Bringing Up Baby  (1938) - A / Never gets old.
• A Star is Born  (1954) - A /  This is another one I always thought I would hate. And another that I got wrong, wrong, wrong. And I'm finally gaga for Judy Garland. All in.
• High Plains Drifter  (1973) - B / Somehow there is not one likeable character, but I liked it a lot anyway.
• Berlin Express  (1948) - C / I love the idea, but it doesn't quite work as well as I'd hope.
• The Blue Gardenia (1953) - B / Remind me to steer clear of Singapore Slings. This story is like watching one of my recurring nightmares play out.
• The Rose Tattoo  (1955) - B  / So much emotion! Sometimes it hits just right. Sometimes.... Crimson Tide.

Suzanne Sugarbaker's Morning Routine

I know y'all have heard me go on about how Designing Women isn't on tv at all while the far inferior Golden Girls can be seen 47 times a day. Well. LOGO to the rescue! A list from my Sunday marathon.

Charlene:  Good morning Suzanne.

Suzanne:  What's good about it? It's just another morning like yesterday morning and the morning before that...

• Take a bath 
• Do your nails
• Watch Wheel of Fortune
• Eat candy

Overheard at the Family Reunion, 2014

In chronological order


...and her voice is kind of annoying...
Oh, her voice is the FIRST thing that annoys you!

I'm not going to turn down a beer.

When you google stuff, are you actually googling it or safari-ing it?

Why not?
I've just never wanted to.
You should do it! Put it on your bucket list.
A bucket list is supposed to be shit you WANT to do.

Somebody called me to sell me something, so I started talking like Bobcat Gold-wait.

Terry's in jail?
Mmmhmmm. And that's probably why he's not on Facebook.

They've reopened the case. You know I kept that book all these years. I had it before anybody knew it was a book... Lori stole it.

[On a bet regarding his just-born daughter's weight with the doctor who had just delivered her] Well, Doc, you've kinda got an advantage. You're holding her. I'd have to hold her by the mouth over the side of a boat.

It goes for $400 an ounce.
[bat guano]

Hey, Julie. You wanna go fishing?

Old Leon W*****d's glasses didn't help, so he threw 'em away. One morning he got up in Houston to drive to Las Vegas. Said all he could see was the white line, so he followed that white line all the way to Vegas.

Now, listen to this shit (and I deserved it).

I love the smell of the woods. It's so...woodsy.

Nowadays people are defrauding their own self.

[Recitation of pi to the first 100 digits--he knows 547]

Movies I Have (almost) Watched Recently...

Unlike P. Jenks, I have lost all patience for movies.  Mostly it depends upon my mood but looking back at my netflix history I would say I'm in need of some Strattera or something..

Since May 9th...

• Bobcat Goldthwait: You Don't Look the Same Either - 4 minutes
• Full Tilt Boogie - 11 minutes
• The Pervert's Guide to Ideology - 29 minutes
• Stephen Fry in America - 9 minutes
• Company: A Musical Comedy - 39 minutes
• Best Worst Movie - 40 minutes
• The Hidden Hand: Alien Contact and the Government Cover-up - 2 minutes
• The Secret Village - 1 minute (no joke)
• Anatomy of a Murder - 160 minutes :)
• Machete Kills - 7 minutes
• Much Ado About Nothing - 9 minutes
• Evidence - 29 minutes
• Scarlet Street - 5 minutes
• False Witness - 4 minutes
• Call Northside 777 - 40 minutes (I do plan on finishing this one)
• Phantom - 4 minutes
• Hammett - 10 minutes
• Left Behind - 10 minutes

May 2014 MVPs

With no particular criteria in mind, I present to you May's list of monthly MVPs. 

Gents of the month
Robert Donat (Goodbye, Mr. Chips - 1939)
Jozef Kroner (The Shop on Main Street)
Fredric March (Executive Suite)
Christopher Walken (Pennies from Heaven)
Oskar Werner (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold)

Ladies of the month
Sara Allgood (How Green Was My Valley)
Judy Holliday (It Should Happen to You)*
Ida Kaminska (The Shop on Main Street)
Sian Phillips (Goodbye, Mr. Chips - 1969)
Vanessa Redgrave (Morgan!)

* I could watch the scene where she reads the cue cards every day for the rest of my life and not get tired of it.

Movies I Watched at Home in 2014, List #5

I did a little better in May. I'm continuing my list of movies I watched (from start to finish, no matter how boring). Same deal as before -- chronological order of watching with a grade I gave it at the time and a comment or two about what I remember now.

• Pennies from Heaven (1981) - B+ / I want to schedule a double feature of this and The Purple Rose of Cairo at a revival house.
• Marty (1955) - B / Never give up!
• The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) - A- / I wish I had been in the theater with all the folks who had not yet read this book back in 1965.
• It Should Happen to You (1954)  - B- / The movie never lived up to the easy charm and cheery sentimentality of the first 10 minutes. If it had --> A+! My favorite character was the male department store employee. (No kiddin!)
• The Shop on Main Street (1965) - A+ / Worldwide horror plays out on the smallest of scales. Someone please find and buy me either or both of these posters.
• Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) - B+ / There is no way you do not love Mr. Chips.
• Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) - C- / Unless it's this Mr. Chips which is Peter O'Toole for crying out loud but I just did not like this one. They should have made a different movie about Ursula!
• Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) - A / Life lesson: What would Judge Haywood do?
• Lilies of the Field (1963) - B+ / I had Jester Hairston's "Amen" stuck in my head for days. (And it's back.)
• Libeled Lady (1936) - B- /  It is incredible how much we have not only not changed as a culture but have just gotten so much worse.
• Now, Voyager (1942) C / I thought we were heading toward a Marty but in the end we got a Ms. Chips.
• Death on the Nile (1978) C- / I love this kind of shit but this was made like a TV movie with a lot of (amazing!) special guest stars. Oh well, time well spent for me but it is not very good.
• How Green Was My Valley (1941) A- / One thing I've learned watching all these classic movies: There are few things as evil as a gossipy old biddy.
• Morgan! (1966) B+ / Every character is simultaneously adorable and annoying. I am looking forward to watching it again and seeing which side sticks (I'm optimistic).
• Executive Suite (1954) B+ /  Watching now, it's easy to think of Mad Men with respect to both the plot (office politics) and the characters (especially the women).  Sidenote: I have found that Mad Men significantly informs my viewing of a lot of these films from the 50s and 60s, and vice versa. Anybody wanna watch some movies, get drunk, and talk about it?

Movie List: 1999

I'm posting a list of top 10 movies from each year in the 1990s: one favorite; and then 9 in alphabetical order; and one guilty pleasure, so to speak.

1. Cookie's Fortune
-----
2. Being John Malkovich
3. Dick
4. Election
5. Galaxy Quest
6. The Limey
7. Magnolia
8. Office Space
9. Ravenous
10. The Talented Mr. Ripley

Guilty pleasure: Deep Blue Sea

Movie List: 1998

I'm posting a list of top movies from each year in the 1990s: one favorite; and then 9 in alphabetical order; and one guilty pleasure, so to speak.

1. The Thin Red Line
-----
2. The Big Lebowski
3. Elizabeth
4. The Faculty
5. The Last Days of Disco
6. Next Stop Wonderland
7. Out of Sight
8. Rushmore
9. A Simple Plan
10. The Spanish Prisoner

Guilty pleasure: The Man in the Iron Mask

Movie List: 1997

I'm posting a list of top movies from each year in the 1990s: one favorite; and then 9 in alphabetical order; and one guilty pleasure, so to speak.

1. L.A. Confidential
-----
2. The Apostle
3. Bent
4. Gattaca
5. Hard Eight
6. Jackie Brown
7. Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion
8. Starship Troopers
9. The Sweet Hereafter
10. Waiting for Guffman

Guilty pleasure: Addicted to Love

Movie List: 1996

I'm posting a list of top movies from each year in the 1990s: one favorite; and then 9 in alphabetical order; and one guilty pleasure, so to speak.

1. Flirting with Disaster
-----
2. Big Night
3. Citizen Ruth
4. Fargo
5. Lone Star
6. Mars Attacks!
7. Secrets and Lies
8. Small Faces
9. Trainspotting
10. Walking and Talking

Guilty pleasure: The Long Kiss Goodnight

Movie List: 1995

I'm posting a list of top 10 movies from each year in the 1990s: one favorite; and then 9 in alphabetical order; and one guilty pleasure, so to speak.

1. Leaving Las Vegas
-----
2. Before Sunrise
3. Dead Man Walking
4. Dolores Claiborne
5. Living in Oblivion
6. Muriel's Wedding
7. Richard III
8. Safe
9. Shallow Grave
10. To Die For

Guilty pleasure: Tommy Boy

Movie List: 1994

I'm posting a list of top movies from each year in the 1990s: one favorite; and then 9 in alphabetical order; and one guilty pleasure, so to speak.

1. Quiz Show
-----
2. The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert
3. Barcelona
4. Bullets over Broadway
5. Ed Wood
6. Heavenly Creatures
7. Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
8. Nobody's Fool
9. Pulp Fiction
10. The Ref

Guilty pleasure: Wolf

Movie List: 1993

I'm posting a list of top movies from each year in the 1990s: one favorite; and then 9 in alphabetical order; and then one guilty pleasure, so to speak.

1. Short Cuts
-----
2. The Age of Innocence
3. Dazed and Confused
4. Groundhog Day
5. King of the Hill
6. Manhattan Murder Mystery
7. A Perfect World
8. The Piano
9. The Remains of the Day
10. Schindler's List

Guilty pleasure: Heart and Souls

Movie List: 1992

I'm posting a list of top movies from each year in the 1990s: one favorite; and then 9 in alphabetical order; and then one guilty pleasure, so to speak.

1. Howards End
-----
2. The Crying Game
3. Death Becomes Her
4. Glengarry Glen Ross
5. Husbands and Wives
6. The Last of the Mohicans
7. Passion Fish
8. Proof
9. A River Runs Through It
10. Unforgiven

Guilty pleasure: The Hand that Rocks the Cradle

Movie List: 1991

I'm posting a list of top movies from each year in the 1990s: one favorite; and then 9 in alphabetical order; and then one guilty pleasure, so to speak.

1. Dogfight
-----
2. Barton Fink
3. Let Him Have It
4. Life Is Sweet
5. My Own Private Idaho
6. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
7. The Silence of the Lambs
8. Soapdish
9. Thelma and Louise
10. Truly Madly Deeply

Guilty pleasure: Frankie and Johnny

Movie List: 1990

I'm posting a list of top movies from each year in the 1990s: one favorite; and then 9 in alphabetical order; and one guilty pleasure, so to speak.

1. The Grifters
-----
2. Edward Scissorhands
3. The Freshman
4. Goodfellas
5. Metropolitan
6. Miller's Crossing
7. Postcards from the Edge
8. Quick Change
9. The Russia House
10. The Tall Guy

Guilty pleasure: Tremors

Who Am I on TV?

...according to some online quizzes, and Jon:

 

And......
Parks and Recreation - 80% Ben, 10% Leslie, 8% April, 2% Chris

Movies I Watched at Home in 2014, List #3 (March) and #4 (April) and MVPs

Prepare to be underwhelmed. All those movies I recorded in February are still in(?) my DVR. I watched one this weekend so at least I am finally making progress.March and April were all full of TV, work, and drinking. Here are my tiny little lists:

March

• Dallas Buyers Club (2013) C / <shrugs shoulders> 
• Captain Phillips (2013)  B+ / On the edge of my seat at the beginning, in tears at the end.
• Morning Glory (1933) C / Katharine Hepburn playing drunk playing Hamlet is aces. 
• Of Human Bondage (1934) C / As cruel as the novel (kudos, Bette Davis), but not nearly developed enough.

April

• Zilch!  I mean I watch movies every night but I didn't watch them with focus/intent as this list requires.  No wonder I'm in such a bad mood in May.  I will fix this. I'm going to watch a movie tonight.

MVPs
Once again, not much from the movies, but here's what I got, off the top of my head.

Ladies -

• Amanda Abbington - Sherlock*
• Hettienne Park - Hannibal*
• Laura Simpson - Oscar attendee**
• Mary Steenburgen - Justified
• Laura - Naked and Afraid

Gents -

• Charles Dance - Game of Thrones 
• Kevin Dunn - Veep
• Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. - Morning Glory
• Captain Hook - Once Upon a Time 
• Jacob Pitts - Justified*

*   Marathon viewing in March and/or April
** https://myspace.com/discover/editorial/2014/3/4/feature-i-went-to-the-oscars-with-my-best-friend-and-then-i-went-viral

Sandwich Ingredients

I ordered a sandwich from Which Wich today and ordered toppings that I like without regard to whether they would taste good together. You know how you order there by checking stuff off on the bags? It makes me wonder if the part of my brain that enables me to write is completely disconnected from the part that can synthesize or the part that knows what is gross. My (hot) sandwich:

• Turkey
• Wheat bread
• Pepper Jack cheese
• Pesto
• Caramelized onions
• Spinach

The only thing I considered but ruled out was jalapenos.

Gelato World Tour

Austin is the only North American stop on the Gelato World Tour, a competition held in cities all over the world. This list is amusing to me--I feel the same way seeing my town listed with other Formula One cities.

Rome, Italy
Valencia, Spain
Melbourne, Australia
Dubai, UAE
Austin, North America
Shanghai, China
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Berlin, Germany
Rimini, Italy - grand final

Celebrity Sightings

In no particular order--

Don Henley in Brookshire's
Michael Chiarello in his Napa kitchen store
Johnny Knoxville on the Drag
Mario Lopez in a NYC steakhouse
Chris Messina on 7th Street
Stephen Dorff in LA
James Earl Jones* in LA
Jim Cramer in a NOLA art gallery
Matthew McConaughey outside the Paramount
Lyle Lovett at Las Manitas
Dan Rather on a street
Willem Dafoe** in Italy
Jimmy Fallon on a 6th Street pay phone
Ryan Hansen at Lavaca
Connie Britton at Belmont
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova at the Holiday Inn

*Probably not
**Definitely not (I was so sure but so wrong. And this was not just a glance, but this man and his wife were in seats FACING us for 2 hours on a train)

Happy Birthday Julie!!!

Things that Julie has introduced me to that will forever be a part of my life:

• Maker's Mark
• Veronica Mars
• The Decemberists
• Ice Skating*
• Choreography
• Aaron Sorkin**
• Arrested Development
• Country Music***
• Storytelling ****

* This will only forever be a part of my life in the sense that I will think of you every single time Ice Skating is mentioned or being done visually and hopefully especially when we get to watch together again. And by Ice Skating I think I may mean Ice Dancing?
** Specifically Studio 60 but I have gone on to enjoy his other endeavors very much.
***Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson and especially George Jones.
****In the sense that nobody tells a story quite like Julie Fitch.  And I love you for it.

Ads That Are Driving Me Crazy These Days

5. KFC

This is insulting on so many levels.  I couldn't find the most offensive one which is a douche bag eating his KFC in the "office" and talking to the camera while he eats and has food orgasms.  It is, needless to say, a turn off.  But the thing I hate most about these commercials is the fact that everyone likes KFC.  It's delicious.  No argument.  But I'm not so much a fan of the people who eat KFC (or any fast food) and it seems as though this commercial is trying to make me friends with them.  Gross.
4. Disney

I have nothing against Disney.  At least, I didn't until I was forced to watch this commercial 45 times.  And it's not the fact that it's stupid and annoying and doesn't bring out my "disney side" in any way, shape, or form (and I'm pretty sure I have one).  No, it's the fact that 6 seconds in, a grown woman looks over to whom I can only assume is her father because she refers to him as "papa", and realizes that he is no longer in his seat.  Now, I don't know about you, but when I look over to find someone and they aren't there, my brain makes the conclusion that they aren't physically present and therefore cannot hear me.  But this woman doesn't believe her brain.  She isn't quite sure what's happening so just to double check she asks again.. "papa?" she asks, as though he is just invisible and might respond.  Come on, Disney.
3.Lumia Icon

I really just don't like that guy.
2.Anchorman 2


This movie is horrible.  Let me extrapolate (wrongly used word, I'm sure).  I loved Anchorman.  But there was a very specific reason.  They had no fucking idea what they were doing.  They even edited two versions of the movie for the dvd release because they didn't know what the hell they had.  And (for me, at least) it was hilarious.  And then people caught on and it made tons of money and they waited a long time until finally someone greenlit a sequel.  Bad idea.  So bad, in fact, that I went to the theater opening day to see said sequel and yes, it was horrible.  And now I see ads for the dvd release and it just twists the knife.
1. Hulu

This one specifically.  I watch most of my new shows on Hulu.  Hulu knows this.  They know this because I am using their website to watch Hannibal.  Then why, for the love of god, when I'm only into the fifth act of the current episode, do they insist on showing me a teaser for the next episode which reveals a MAJOR PLOT POINT that I have yet to reach on the current show I am watching???  Ugh.

p.s.  THIS is how you do it...

Day 5: Books I Have Read in 2014

a.k.a. Maybe 90 posts in 100 days is more likely (even that will be a miracle)
a.k.a. The 600th List Anything Post!!!

• Moonlight Mile (Dennis Lehane) - A sequel to Gone Girl Gone, very enjoyable but probably not meant for film.
• Monster (Sanyika Shakur) - Autobiography of an L.A. gang member.*
• A Million Ways to Die in the West (Seth McFarlane) - I don't know why but it made me laugh for two hours straight.
• The Fault in Our Stars - John Green - Sad.
• Cross and Burn (Val McDermid) - The latest in the Tony Hill series (a.k.a. wire in the blood)
• A Place of Execution (Val McDermid) - One of the best mysteries I have ever read.
• Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs (Chuck Klosterman) - A compilation of essays.  Funny.
• Cops (Mark Baker) - An inside look at being a cop. *
• The Poet (Michael Connelly)*
• Angels Flight (Michael Connelly)**
• 9 Dragons (Michael Connelly)**
• The Closers (Michael Connelly)**
• Echo Park (Michael Connelly)**
• The Narrows (Michael Connelly)**
• A Darkness More Than Night (Michael Connelly)**
• City of Bones (Michael Connelly)**
• The Brass Verdict (Michael Connelly)**
• The Black Box (Michael Connelly)**

*Research
**Research and also Harry Bosch novels

Day 4: Movies I Have Watched in 2014

• Mud (B) - The kids were endearing and it was nice to see Kendal Crowe (Justified) a bit younger.  MM was convincing and it had a nice supporting cast but I kept feeling like I should be crying and I wasn't.
• Inside Llewyn Davis (A) - Just about perfect. 
• The Counselor (C+) - You would think a movie written by Cormac McCarthy and directed by Ridley Scott would be a wet dream, alas it is not.  It is brutal and it stays with you for a while after you watch it (mostly because it's just fucked up) but overall it falls short.
• Catching Fire (D) - There was one good scene and it was at the end.
• Thor: The Dark World (D+) - There was one good scene and it was towards the end.
• The Fifth Estate (B-) - Worth seeing just for Sherlock's Australian accent.  Also, a good story.
• The Way Way Back (C) - I don't know about you but I'm pretty tired of movies with Steve Carell where he plays a serious role (or a non-serious role for that matter).  They're all the same! Little Miss Sunshine, Dan in Real Life, and now this dreck.  Sam Rockwell saved it but not by much.
• Ender's Game (B-) - I am twelve.
• Enough Said (A-) - A very pleasant movie that moves at a normal pace with real characters and good actors.
• Gaslight (A+) - I haven't watched this one in a very long time but it still stands up.  I watched it thinking how I would remake it (I have some good ideas) but it really should be left alone.
• Escape Plan (F) - I will never understand how scripts get made into movies like this.  It HAS to be a relative of someone.  
• Promised Land (B+) - Solid.  Real.  Funny.  
• Captain Phillips (B) - Good.  I guess.
• The Family (C) - Ugh, Luc Besson.  Seriously, stop making movies.
• Prisoners (C+) - I kept waiting for something to happen and even though I didn't "call" the ending, I kind of wish I had.  I would have liked it better.
• 2 Guns (C+) - Ten years ago I would have seen this movie opening day in the theater.  But they don't know how to make them any more.  And why was this ever a graphic novel?
• Columbus Circle (D) - Written by one of my favorite screenwriters ever (well, he wrote Midnight Run).  This was dumb and you see EVERYTHING before it happens.
• I Need That Record (B) - A pretty lame documentary about a wonderful subject.
• Vanilla Sky (A-) - I saw this in the theater and HATED IT and then just revisited it after reading an essay by Chuck Klosterman.  I gotta say, it's pretty damn good.  I don't understand why people were confused by it.  It's very clear in its narrative and even though a remake, a very good one.  
• Twilight (B+) - No, not the vampire movie (although given the list above I wouldn't put it past me).  This was a detective movie with Paul Newman, Gene Hackman and Susan Sarandon.  This was kind of the opposite of Vanilla Sky.  I saw this in the theater and LOVED it and now I don't know why.  I give it a B+ just because they don't make enough detective movies (ahem, I Drink Alone).
• Jesse Stone: Stone Cold (B) - For a 'made for tv' movie this was actually quite entertaining.  I started watching for research and found myself continuing...
• Jesse Stone: Night Passage (C+) - Although I am a bit tired of the 'alcoholic' cop...
• Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise (D) - ...and...I'm over it.

p.s. This not drinking thing is super hard.  But this 'list anything' thing is actually working.  So we'll see if I make it another night.

Day 3: Reasons I am Not 40 Years Old

1. I just read The Fault in Our Stars.  And cried.*
2. I cannot wait to see The Veronica Mars Movie.*
3. I drink berry flavored herbal tea *

*Also reasons I am not a man

Day 2: Coast to Coast

East Coast: Clam Chowder
Texas: Chicken Tortilla
West Coast: Anything with avocado

East Coast: Pop
Texas: Coke
West Coast: Californians don't drink soda

East Coast: French Dip
Texas: Queso
West Coast: Guacamole

East Coast: Grinder/ Hoagie
Texas: Sub/ Po Boy
West Coast: Whole grain sandwich

East Coast: Wicked Awesome
Texas: Niiice/ Alright, alright, alright
West Coast: Dude

East Coast: Cod/ Scrod
Texas: Bass/ Catfish
West Coast: Tuna (sushi grade only)

East Coast: Ketchup
Texas: Hot Sauce
West Coast: Guacamole/ Balsamic Vinaigrette

East Coast: Eye of Round
Texas: Ribeye
West Coast: Filet Mignon

*** I do not really know what I'm talking about but this was fun to come up with

Things I Have Finally Learned to Differentiate

Shallots
Scallions
Scallops


F. Murray Abraham
William F. Buckley
Warren Buffet

Day 1: Television I've Been Watching...

• The Blacklist - After the pilot I thought this would quickly become one of my favorite shows.  It does so well what many others have failed to do - it makes a villain the protagonist.  And Spader does not disappoint.  Unfortunately, everyone else in the cast DOES.  I honestly hope in every episode that the other cast members will get killed off one by one.  But they don't.  And that's why this show isn't very good.  I'm 16 episodes in so I might as well finish the season but don't bother.
• Orphan Black - Wow.  I watched the pilot a few months ago and wasn't that impressed.  Then I picked up it up again and, needless to say, it's amazing.  And she is the best actress ever.
• Hannibal - Season two is, so far, much better than season one.  Less Will and more Hannibal I say.  I just hope they eventually get back on track with the books.  Maybe I'm the only one but it's distracting considering I know how the story is supposed to go.
• The Following - If you do not watch the Following you are doing yourself a disservice.  It might be the worst show ever that I can't stop watching.  Nothing makes sense or even remotely has an inkling of believability.  But for some reason I cannot wait to see what happens next.  And you kind of, without knowing it, do a mystery science theater in your own mind as you watch.  Doubling entertaining.
• True Detective - Perfect.
• Justified - I swear this show gets better with every season.  I hope everyone is watching this.
• The Walking Dead - I gave up on this show after season two and then recently picked it up again.  It's not my favorite but it's pretty damn good.
• Crossing Lines - A ridiculous show that's entirely watchable.  I can picture the pitch right now..."it's just like every other crime show except it crosses borders."  
• Brooklyn 99 - I LOVE this show.  That is all.
• Chicago P.D. - I don't know why.
• The Mentalist - I have no idea what they are planning on doing with this show.  He already caught Red John.  But hey, when you've been with a show for seven seasons, might as well see it through.

90 Lists in 90 Days (introduction)

I am tired of being disgusting.  Since moving back home I have been eating well and exercising; lifting weights and swimming a few times a week, and yet I am the exact same weight I was when I arrived here.  Of course, I've been drinking almost every night.  So, I'm going to do a little experiment and since I have none of you physically here to support me, I'm going to give myself a little accountability via this blog.
I'm going to attempt to go sober for 90 days and every day I am going to post a list.  The lists will have nothing to do with my experiment, they will merely be proof to myself and others that I have lasted another day.  And at the end of the 90 days I will check back in with you all and share my results.
And now, just so this is an actual list...
Things I want to accomplish in the next 90 days

• lose weight (goal = 30 lbs)
• finish my novel
• finish a screenplay
• watch a lot of movies
• read a lot of books
• come up with some good, healthy recipes to share

If anyone wants to join me, feel free.  The more the merrier.  Jump in at any time.  But I really have to do this for my sanity and so I don't die.  If I fail (which is likely) I may attempt to start over but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it (in two days).
Wish me luck!

People I Met in Savannah

I have never been on such a sociable trip in all my life. And even the annoying-sounding people were highly entertaining. We always seemed to cut them loose just as they were crossing the line to annoying.

SATURDAY
6pm. Chad and Carl - There were tons of people walking around in these green tshirts and St. Patrick's Day regalia, and we didn't know why. Then we met two army guys who had been on a pub crawl that started at noon. They were probably 22 and thought we were incredible. They invited us over for a "jam session," but we said we didn't have time. Chad, who had to look up about six inches to see them, was really into my beautiful eyes. "We seem to be very popular here with guys in green shirts." - Ginny

11pm. Two sisters and their husbands. There was a band playing in a street that was only open to pedestrians, and--did I mention you can take your alcohol to go in this city?--we decided to sit on a bench and drink beer and watch people walk/dance by. A lot of other stuff happened, but the sister whose 30th birthday they were celebrating decided to twerk in my lap. Her husband tried to follow but was dragged away.

SUNDAY
We spent most of Sunday on a tour and shopping, but then we decided to stop by a bar to get a beer to drink in a nearby park.
5pm. Randy - he was a loud little fella and recommended some horrible sounding strip of bars in Orlando near Universal Studios from which he had recently been thrown out for taking off his shirt. "Why didn't you take me there?" - me, to Ginny.

Spotted at same place: an older lady ordering a megarita, a margarita the size of a fish bowl.

7pm. That lady and her husband (Alice and Kenny), in our hotel lobby drinking free wine and eating free cheese. We were trying to take our glasses up to our room, but they insisted that we sit down with them. They were about 60 and had been married for 27 years, not including the four-year period in which they were divorced. They met at a bar and their friends went home with each other. G: "So they had sex and you got married?" Alice: "Oh, I f***ed him that night." Kenny, amazed: "You don't know how rare that was back then." They were the loudest people I've ever met, and although I laughed non-stop for our hour together, we made the right call when we went our separate ways after declining Alice's offer to go smoke some weed in the parking lot while Kenny was on lookout.

Spotted at 10pm at a bar projecting the Oscars onto a courtyard wall: Alice and Kenny, from whom we hid, and this handsome guy seemingly declining the advances of two attractive women--one VERY aggressive and one a little softer.

Midnight-ish. That guy, Matt, in our hotel lobby, all three of us disappointed that the bar had closed. We headed out together to find a new bar and became fast friends. Some better friends than others.

12:30-ish. David, a cute British guy traveling up the eastern US. He quickly became one of our little group of friends. Some better friends than others.

MONDAY
Shockingly, not one member of Band of Horses.

February 2014 MVPS

With no particular criteria in mind, I present to you this month's list of monthly MVPs (with assistance from TV* and the Olympics** because they took up so much time and the movie pickings were slim).

Gents of the month
Fabian Bourzat (French ice dancer)**
Montgomery Clift (The Search)
Gene Kelly (Cover Girl)
Joe Pantoliano (The Sopranos)*
Thomas Ulsrud (Norwegian curler and wearer of curling pants)**

 Ladies of the month
Eve Arden (Cover Girl)
Edie Falco (The Sopranos, Nurse Jackie)*
Yuna Kim (Korean figure skater)**
Jarmila Novotna (The Search)
Nathalie Pechalat (French ice dancer)**

Movies I Watched at Home in 2014, List #2 (February)

I didn't watch a lot of movies this month on account of the Olympics, houseguests, The Sopranos (season 3), Nurse Jackie (season 4), and the return of semi-compelling Sunday night TV.  But here's the few I got for you this month, and my DVR is 85% full of 31 days of Oscar for March catch-up viewing.

• From Here to Eternity (1953) C+ /  It's hard to deny the effect of showing the calm-before-the-storm (and knowing the storm is coming), but I'd prefer a less overwrought calm.  
• Charly (1968) D / Totally absurd. I wanted to turn it off when the opening credit montage included Cliff Robertson swinging on a swingset with his tongue sticking out.
• Blue Sky (1994) F / Every bit as shitty as I remembered. The horseride into the nuclear testing grounds (or whatever) has got to be top-5 in ridiculous movie moments.
• Cover Girl (1944) B+ / This story alone is probably an F. But add up the costumes (!), the production design, the singing, the dancing, Gene Kelly and his profile, and every, single, marvelous thing about Eve Arden and you get to a solid B+.
• The Search (1948) B+ / Tears in my eyes 8 minutes in (and sustained).

Live From the Red Carpet...Kathy and Steve

I wasn't planning on watching but then someone gave me the idea to write down what they said during the telecast.  I also wanted to see how long it would take before Steve mentioned American Idol.  These were written down, word for word.

• "I'm not used to seeing Ellen in black."
• "She is too much."
• "He was the bad guy?" (Kathy after recognizing Barkhad Abdi from Captain Phillips.  A movie she has seen.  Twice.)
• "Who's he?" (Steve asking whenever an actor appeared on screen that wasn't Leonardo DiCaprio)
• "He is too much."
• "Are these all clips from Toy Story?" (Steve asking when they played the compilation of animated films)
• "Channing Tatum.  Who's that?"
• "There's a big market for this." (Steve talking about animated films)
• "She is too much."
• "They all have teams.  Does it take that many people?" (Steve asking about visual effects nominees)
• "That would have been a cute number to do on American Idol." (Steve after the second nominated song - he then spoke for then minutes about how they sometimes do duets and how sometimes they are good and sometimes they are bad)
• "These are shorts?  How do you get anything done in forty minutes?"
• "Wow, there are so many movies."
• "What has Bradley Cooper been in?"
• "Jolie is probably her mom's last name.  Who's her mom?" (I then suggested that, perhaps, Jolie is a "stage name" and Steve insisted that usually stage names are the actor's middle name.)
• "He sounds Irish." (Steve when listening to Ewan McGregor speak.  But then he goes on to name THREE MOVIES that Viola Davis has been in!)
• "She has done some unusual movies." (Steve on Sandra Bullock.  You know...the risk taker)
• "This is a popular band?  His voice is awful."(Kathy upon seeing U2 perform)
• "I like the new logo." (Steve referring to the logo for the Oscars)
• "That's why they're sitting next to each other." (Steve after seeing a clip from August: Osage County and realizing that Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep were sitting close to each other)
• "Where have we seen her?" (Steve inquiring about Amy Adams)
• "Should have had Martina McBride sing it." (Steve after Pink finished Somewhere Over the Rainbow)
• "I told you, hon, that I was on a plane with Judy Garland, right?" (Steve.  He then went on to say it had to have been in the 70's some time.  Judy Garland died in 1969)
• "Who's that?" (Steve after watching clip from HER). "Joaquin Phoenix." (Me answering) "That's not Joaquin Phoenix." (Steve responding)
• "He's a great actor.  I mean, I remember the first time I saw him was that ocean liner movie." (Steve on Leonardo DiCaprio)
• "Oooh, Adele!" (Steve standing up and then being immediately disappointed that it was Idina Menzel)

January 2014 MVPs

With no particular criteria in mind, I present to you the inaugural list of monthly movie MVPs.

Gents of the month
Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
Robert Cummings (It Started with Eve)
Jack Kelly (To Hell and Back)
Burt Lancaster (Separate Tables)
Warren William (Lady for a Day)

Ladies of the month
Penelope Allen (Dog Day Afternoon)
Talullah Bankhead (Lifeboat)
Deanna Durbin (It Started with Eve)
Jean Arthur (The Whole Town's Talking)
Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront)

Movies I Watched at Home in 2014, List #1 (January)

I am continuing my list of movies I watched (from start to finish, no matter how boring). Same deal as before -- chronological order of watching with a comment or two. 

• The Master (2012) A-  /  I think I'd put Joaquin Phoenix on a list of all-time great performances. I went back and watched that "don't blink" scene three times at least.
• Dog Day Afternoon (1975) A+  / Thanks to my general aversion to Al Pacino yelling, I've repeatedly put this off. Well, I am an idiot.  As others have said, it is a masterpiece (so is he).
• Raging Bull (1980) B /  Fat Robert DeNiro lived up to the hype.
• I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) B- /  Could someone please find a way to guarantee that veterans have jobs when they return home?  This movie is 80 years old for crying out loud.
• Lifeboat (1944)  A / Like Rope, it is so much  more than the gimmick (but the gimmick works too).
• Donnie Brasco (1997) B / Two annoying but amazing actors being nothing but amazing.
• The Last Detail (1973) B+  /  Potentially annoying premise that is mostly amazing.
• The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) A+ /  Ticket for one, please.
• Patton (1970) B  /  See below.
• Saving Private Ryan (1998) A- / The bookends of this movie are everything I feared. And see further below.
• The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) C- /  I wish we had just gone to Tijuana with Madge.
• On the Waterfront (1954) A+  /  I'm gonna use the M word! 
• The Third Man (1950) A- / I have watched this at least three times in my life and my memory of it is always similar to how you can but can't remember a dream. So I will watch it again, and probably again. And enjoy it again. But then forget why.
• Side Effects (2013) B+    Preposterous, precise, efficient, fun. I was actually giddy.
• Interiors (1978) B+   Good grief, Geraldine Page is the best. Devastating.
• Tom Jones (1963) C-  / I think the lesson here is I do not enjoy romps.
• Stardust Memories (1980) B / Charlotte Rampling. Did anything else happen? I seriously don't remember. 
• The Whole Town's Talking (1935) C+  This started off cracking. Then someone left Jean Arthur at the office and it turned into a snoozer.
• Separate Tables (1958) C /  Oh man, Deborah Kerr was horrible! I can't get enough of that pathetic look she's working. And I can't believe David Niven (and I love him) won an Oscar for this. I should have gotten worked up over that old biddy and her bullshit but I've saved all that particular emotion this month for The Children's Hour. Let's have a redo: This whole movie should have been about fantastic Miss Meacham seducing Pat, while Burt Lancaster and Rita Hayworth sexed it up in the background. <-- A+
• My Favorite Year (1982) C+ /  Pretty much a romp. But a romp with Peter O'Toole. But also with the guy from Perfect Strangers.
• To Hell and Back (1955) A- /  To Hell and Back (50s) and Patton (70s) and Saving Private Ryan (90s) make for a fascinating trio in portrayal/perceptions of WWII.  Watch 'em!
• Lady for a Day (1933) B+ /   This movie could best be compared to standing in a long, sometimes slow-moving, frustrating line waiting for something entirely satisfying (e.g., Pork-Chop-on-a-Stick line at Wurstfest).
• Carnal Knowledge (1971) A- /  Rita Moreno, siempre viva!
• The Children's Hour (1961) A /  That little bitch has got to be an all-time top-10 villain. Flames.
• It Started with Eve (1941) A / To quote myself talking about Ball of Fire  last year --  "Considering my favorite movie ever is What's Up, Doc?, it's pretty ridiculous I just now watched this. Check it out and count the homages. With that fancy word I will conclude this nonsense."

Who We Are on P & R

Julie - 60% Leslie, 20% April, 10% Ben, 5% Ann, 5% Ron
Blaine - 80 % Ben, 10 % Leslie, 8% April, 2% Chris
Austen - 70% Tom, 10 % April, 10 % Andy, 5% Ron, 3% Donna, 1% Jerry, 1% Perd
Derek - 80% Ron, 10% Andy, 10% April
Karen - 70% April, 20 % Ron, 10% Donna
Candice - 40% Donna, 40% April, 10 % Ann, 10% Chris
D.J. - 50 % Ben, 30% Leslie, 10 % Ron, 10% Chris
Susan - %50 Ann, %50 Chris
Me - 35% April, 25% Ann, 20% Ben, 20% Andy
Mia - 80% Chris, 15% Ann, 5% Andy


* Susan, I do not know you very well but I did the best I could.  Also, I would love for anyone to correct me and, especially, tell me what my percentages actually are.

Things that are WAY BETTER and WAY WORSE than I thought they would be...

BETTER

1. The Book of Eli - On the surface this movie is a big budget action film in the same vein as Road Warrior - the preview looks as though we've seen this a few times before.  Post-apocalyptic landscape where a man does whatever he can to survive, bla bla bla....but oh no.  This movie is so much more than that.  Yes, it has Gary Oldman doing what he does best -- yelling at people.  And yes, it has an aging Denzel beating up multiple bad guys at once, but when you finally get to the end it makes up for any wrong doings that came before.   A clever twist doesn't hurt either.
2. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Yes, Julie sang the praises of this show way back when but I just re-watched it again (especially after watching The Newsroom) and it's really really enjoyable.  Better than a lot of shows on tv right now.  Interesting characters, the usual fast-paced dialogue from Aaron Sorkin (love him or hate him) and genuinely funny skits written for a show about a show that writes skits.  Yes, it has its moments of hitting you over the head but once you fall in love with the characters you go with it.
3. Juicing - I, like most Californians (said in the SNL accent), would buy the occasional juice for a few reasons; it made me feel better about myself and juicing places were EVERYWHERE.  But now that I'm living back at home, I started juicing here and it's great!  Now, it's true that I don't work and have time on my hands but it's fun to throw different veggies and fruits together and find out which combos work and which don't (ginger and pineapple work with everything).  But the real reason I like it is it keeps me on a routine where I take my vitamins and cut fruit and veggies every day so I have them to snack on.
4. Green Day - yeah, I said it.  Ever since I saw American Idiot (the musical) I think their music is pretty damn good.  I can't listen to it all the time but it's pure in the sense that they play their own instruments, write their own music, and it sounds good.  Better than what I thought it would sound like before I gave it a chance. * please note I am not recommending anything to the 'list anything' crowd since I already know you are all music snobs but rather, ahem, making a list.
5. Michael Connelly - I have a confession.  I have probably read 16 books by this guy in the past year.  You will most likely only know him as the author of BLOOD WORK (which was made into a Clint Eastwood movie - not a very good one) and THE LINCOLN LAWYER (which was made into a Matthew McConfxolefiuwfedf movie and a mediocre one),  but what got me started was his series on a character named Harry Bosch.  The Bosch books are great and a huge influence on this novel I started.  Also, in case you have Amazon Prime, check out the pilot for BOSCH.  It's pretty damn great.
6. Matthew McConaughey - I don't know about you people but this guy was THE WORST just a few years ago and for as long as I can remember.  We all loved him in Dazed and everything he did in real life made us laugh but his movie choices and his acting were...not good.  But then something happened.  He hit his head - I don't know.  He had a role in a small film called Bernie.  Not the first time he took his acting seriously (watch Frailty or Lone Star).  Then another indie film, Killer Joe.  Then another, The Paperboy.  And again, Mud.  Then he flexed his muscles in Magic Mike, now he's nominated for an OSCAR with the Dallas Buyer's Club, has another small but memorable role in The Wolf of Wall Street and oh yeah, stars in the phenomenal True Detective on HBO.  He will, however, go back to being a movie star in Interstellar next year but for now, he makes the better list.

WORSE

1. Elysium - Oh my god this movie suuuuuucked.  I loved District 9 and I think we can all agree that Jason Bourne is awesome.  But wtf? With every cliched minute I watched this movie you can picture my face descending toward the ground.  I started with a smile - my eyebrows lifted (not really but just go with it) and after thirty minutes I had to stop watching.  Oh, and further proof that it is a horrible movie, my mom loved it.  And Jodie Foster puh-lease.

2. The Killing - I know, I know, I was the only one of us who praised this show.  But to be fair that was only because, at the time, I put my faith in the writers and thought they would lead us somewhere great (i.e. the second season of Homeland).  But they didn't.  And to make matters worse they began season 3 with yet another tease of greatness only to piss all over my face by the end.  You were right.  I was wrong.

3. Neko Case's last album - barf.

4. Steve's wireless internet - I have to pause HBO go every few minutes just so it can buffer.  I cannot watch a single episode of Family Guy on Hulu without it constantly stopping to reload.  Horrible.

5. The Hobbit - Don't even get me started.

Things I Want to Happen...

1. Candice starts a blog about pop culture.

Pointless

My thoughts just now:

1. Oh, I'll just do that this weekend.
2. Wait. Why has every day this week felt like a Thursday?
3. Wait. It is only Tuesday.
4. Wait. Did I really think I'd thought it was Thursday more than twice?
5. Yes. Yes I did.

*UPDATE* How Well-Off Baby Boomers Have a Good Time

After our departmental Monday morning meeting, my boss made an announcement.  She's engaged! Here are some things she divulged about her beau and their relationship. My prior list began to make more sense.

• He is a doctor in Bryan and part time professor at A&M, but he lives in The Woodlands.
• They met on Match.com.
• He's from Iowa. Since she is from North Louisiana, she appreciates that he understands the farming way of life.
• He asked her 80-something year old mother for her hand in marriage.
• He's been married twice before.
• He has 3 kids. 1 girl from the first marriage and 2 boys from the second.
• Their first date was on November 22 - her birthday.  It was at The Houstonian.
• She's afraid everything is moving too fast, but they are "smitten" and realize they don't have years to beat around the bush. 
• He raised his 3 kids and made a lot of sacrifices for them, so he really wants to travel.  Unfortunately my boss has been everywhere he wants to go :(
• When he asked her to go to the Empire State Building for Valentines Day, he gave her a teddy bear like the one Meg Ryan found on the observation deck in Sleepless in Seattle.
• There is no ring yet. No diamond ring could live up to the one from 3rd husband, so she is thinking a Topaz stone. I've seen the 3rd husband's ring, and its a monster.
• They are both Scorpios
• He was in Vietnam
• He has agent orange scars on his body that she has seen (She hand motioned the chest area. Almost lost breakfast)
• He's Baptist like her. He attends Houston First, but she attends River Oaks. 
• He has a beautiful voice and was a singing Aggie Cadet
• She's not sure where they will live, but she can't imagine living outside the Loop.

 

How Well-Off Baby Boomers Have a Good Time

My boss decided at the beginning of the year that we should share our calendars for work. She doesn't realize that now her staff receives all her date requests from her new boyfriend, which come in the form of Google calendar invites. They come ALL THE TIME and at random hours. The other two staffers in our department have set up email rules to send it to junk, but I think they are hilarious.  Since 1/2/2014 (1 week ago!), here's all the invites I've received:

• Concert Jazz @ Sun Feb 23, 2014 12:30am - 4am
• Concert America @ Sun May 4, 2014 8pm - 10pm
• BVC Party @ Mon May 5 11pm - Tue May 6, 2014 1:30am
• Chris's College Graduation.  @ Fri May 9 - Sat May 10, 2014
• Empire State Building  @ Fri Feb 14 - Sun Feb 16, 2014 
• Robert Duvall Lecture Series @ Fri Jan 24, 2014 1am - 3am
• Betty Buckley @ Sat Jan 11, 2014 1:30am - 3:30am
• Diane Keaton @ Fri Feb 7, 2014 1am - 3am
• Moscow Trip  @ Sat May 17 - Sat May 31, 2014 
• Doctors Consultation @ Thu Jan 9, 2014 9:45pm - 10:45pm 
• TAMU Singing Cadets Concert @ Sat Jan 11, 2014 1am - 3am 
• Medical Staff @ Wed Jan 8, 2014 1am - 3am
• BECOMING FIRST TIME GRANDPARENTS @ Fri Jun 13, 2014 (his all caps, not mine)
• New Orleans Weekend w my love @ Fri Jan 24 - Sun Jan 26, 2014
• Aggie Muster @ Mon Apr 21 11pm - Tue Apr 22, 2014 2am 

Movies I Watched at Home in 2013, List #3

Well, it's time for the rest of my 2013 movies. I think I'll do this again for 2014. I like making myself try to remember what I thought (even if I forgot a lot of it). As usual, there are lot of As and Bs but again I'm trying to avoid the Ds and Fs.

• Cinema Paradiso - C- ;  Man, was this disappointing!!! (There was a lot of ! in this script I think.)
• A Passage to India - C- ;  I hope someone takes another stab at adapting this novel, cuz this one is chock-full of bad decisions.
• Born Yesterday - A- ;  I'd always avoided this movie because I was afraid to watch the pretty young thing that beat out both Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson for an Oscar. Well, that was dumb. Judy Holliday is fantastic. The movie is just about as good as she is.
• Adam's Rib - B ; See previous comments on Woman of the Year
• Before Sunrise and Before Sunset - A ; I watched these ahead of seeing Before Midnight. These movies make my heart swell way too big, just like the Grinch's.
• Female - B- ; This movie is pre-code and you have to see it to believe how free and easy they are with this lady's libido.
• To Rome with Love - D- ; The presence of Judy Davis makes it impossible to give this an F.
• Lady in the Lake C ; The first-person camera makes for a good reason to watch this, even when it's unintentionally funny.
• Front Page Woman - B+ ;  It's no His Girl Friday, but it's crackin.
• Melancholia - A ; I felt like I had watched The Tree of Life in a funhouse mirror.
• Detective Story - B+ ; Welcome to the movies, Lee Grant!
• The Wild One - D;   The whole thing seems sensational and ridiculous. I identified with the old people.
• The Virgin Spring - A ;  Mythical, touching, remarkable.
• In Bruges - A- ;  Hard to beat a good slow burn.
• Behind the Candelabra - B ;  Once again, I do not really go for these relationship-over-the-years movies.
• The Lion in Winter - A-;  Wowza! The story seemed to take a lot of sudden turns - but really, who cares? Get familiar with the facts on Wikipedia, and then watch Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole go at it.
• Shakespeare in Love - B+ ; Still not happy about those Oscars, but I watched this again to remember why I shouldn't dismiss it. Why? Tom Stoppard.
• Becket - B+ ;  Now, friendship-over-the-years movies?  I like those better, especially when the friendship has historically significant consequences.
• Tootsie - A+ ; Best acting ensemble ever? OK.....top 5?  I mean it. Watch it; let's discuss.
• Nothing Sacred - A- ;  Completely silly, and a pretty smart satire.
• It Happened One Night - A ; I am ashamed it took me this long to watch this.
• Silkwood - C+ ; I hate my job.
• The Dead - B+ ; I wish I were smart enough to appreciate the depth of this thing in one viewing.
• Minnie & Moskowitz - C ; There is this one scene near the beginning with Gena Rowlands and an  older friend talking and it is quiet and beautiful and got me really excited about what was to come. Then everyone just started over-reacting and yelling and I just can't stand it.
• Romeo and Juliet (1968)- A ;  It is too bad my 9th grade self was too obsessed with St. Elmo's Fire and the like to understand what all was going on here. 
• Happy-Go-Lucky - A- ; Slice of life and social commentary, with a little too much screaming. Did Mike Leigh make this? 
• Richard III (1995) - B ;  I love this shit.
• Elysium - B-;  It's no District 9, but no complaints. Except Jodie Foster. She's hilarious.
• The Rules of the Game ( La Règle du jeu)- A-; So many characters, so many relationships, so many conversations -- and I have to rely on the damn subtitles to pick up on any of it?  It's enough though. And those shots!
• Angel and the Badman - B+;  This would be a great candidate for a remake (maybe with less of a sledgehammer title).
• Get Low - B-; I'm afraid I nodded off somewhere(s), and as a result I think I missed the point.
• The Deadly Companions - C-; A Sam Peckinpah western with a female lead?! And the lead is Maureen O'Hara?  And Brian Keith is second billed?  Let me get this straight: a Sam Peckinpah western with the couple from The Parent Trap?!  Yeah, well, don't get too excited. This movie is a snooze.
• Love and Death -  A; There is nothing about this movie that I do not adore. Wheat.
• Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex -  B+  That last bit would be a hit if it were made tomorrow.
• American Psycho - B+ ; I watched this movie just so I could feel good about humanity after going to see The Wolf of Wall Street.
• Broadway Danny Rose - B+ ;  I feel comfortable saying that if I had seen this movie in high school, I would have been obsessed with Mia Farrow.