Monthly Archives: February 2007
Big Screen: Blood Diamond
Wow. For all my reluctance to go see this, I was pretty blown away when I finally did. Strong performances, intense storyline. Intense sadness. Quite the companion piece to any of the boy soldier books out now (including this one I read, as well as there’s another all over the front of bookstores right now).
As for the Oscars: Djimon Hounsou was robbed!! Robbed, I tell you. He’s amazing in this movie.
(For the record, I think Leo was robbed also…but in a different way: because he SHOULD have been nominated for “The Departed” and he should have won for that. While he was good in this movie, he was great in that one.)
Lyric of the Day
I was living in the past, but somehow you brought me back,
And I haven’t felt like this since before Frankie said “Relax”…
This is, bien sur, from “Don’t Write Me Off” on the “Music & Lyrics” soundtrack. A movie I quite liked; a soundtrack I quite LOVE.
Latest Cover I Am Quite Enjoying.
India.Arie singing Don Henley’s “The Heart of the Matter”. Go.
DVD: Imagine Me & You
My cousin had recommended this and then one day I was looking over the “to be watched” pile and found I had already bought it. Bride walking down the aisle toward Groom, exchanges glances with another girl and….Boom. Do you believe in love at first sight?
Good performances by both girls (Piper Perabo and Lena Headey [imagine Keira Knightley with more meat on her]) and a really lovely performance by Matthew Goode (Rachel, don’t read that article, he mentions his girlfriend Sophie incessantly!!), who you can also see as the brother in Matchpoint. You’d want to have him as your new celebrity boyfriend, but sorry ladies, my cousin’s already claimed him.
Quite a sweet little film. Enjoyed it.
DVD: United 93.
I was very reluctant to see this movie…until my Dad hit me over the head with a [metaphorical] 2 x 4, reminding me that the director is awesome…(An earlier flick “Bloody Sunday” is another brilliant piece.)
My dad went to it in the theater and recommended it at the time but I never got around to it.
A bunch of the air traffic controllers PLAY THEMSELVES in the movie. Hello, that fact alone should tell you how authentic it is. Really interesting to see how played things out / how the different air traffic centers had to try and piece together what was happening / how the military was trying to piece together what was happening / how the day slowly came together in people’s minds.
You’re ultra hyperly aware of the whole “hindsight being 20/20” thing the whole time you’re watching the film, of course, as knowing the outcome of that day makes even the most innocuous “random people making phone calls at the airport” scenes seem foreboding. Great use of background music in this flick; just enough to set you on edge.
Very powerful. Very moving. Not cheap. Not exploitive in the least. Highly recommended. But, yes, intense. Not for the faint of heart.
Netflix: The Covenant.
Oh, delicious young man eye candy. Stereotypical young “hot witches in distress” movie, only the witches are boys and one of them is “Tim Riggins”. Yes, that’s the whole reason I rented this. Totally predictable and bad. And sooooo yummy. The pool scene? Holy crap what a body. I think maybe I’ll watch it again today…
The Best Chinese Food I Personally Have Found in Chicago.
Lao Sze Chuan in Chinatown.
Kite in Lakeview.
And Joy Yee’s in either Chinatown or Evanston (which is usually where I get it) or Naperville, where I used to get it before Monica and Charlie moved away and left me all alone!!!
“Hail to the Chief”
Anyone else just loving the hip-hopped slowed-down marchy-march “Hail to the Chief” playing on all the GM commercials right now? After multiple searches, I believe it is NOT the instrumental by 3rd Bass which you can download here and I’m sure you’ll agree sounds very different / not as brass-y.
But to my ears, it DOES sound like the music behind Bun B’s “The Inauguration” if you watch/listen to this youtube version (you have to get past the intro to hear it start, at about 0:20). Now where can I get my hands on a version without the rap vocals?
(According to other searches, it was a remix made especially for GM and will not be released.)
Couch Potato Am I.
TV, how I love thee. My latest posts to ELSN on: Brothers & Sisters, Veronica Mars, Grey’s (parts 1, 2 of a horrible 3), Bones, Friday Night Lights.
Michelle’s written up Lost for ya which I also watched…and I’m hoping she or someone else will do last night’s Veronica Mars, which was NOT BAD, which given the season so far, is almost shocking!! And “good” in comparison.