Old, forgotten review #3.
20. Beauty and the Beast (1991) - Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson. I rented a bunch of old Disney movies from the library, and decided that since they are full of singing and dancing, they count as musicals. In this one, as I'm sure you recall, a prince gets turned into a beast because he's a big fat jerk. There's a pretty girl named Belle, whose father stumbles upon the enchanted castle, and turned into a prisoner. Belle takes his place, and falls in love with the Beast, which ends up breaking the spell and they live happily ever after.
What I liked was nostalgia for my childhood! I watched this movie in the theatre with my family when it first came out. Also, when the Beast saves her from all the wolves, and also when he tries to eat porridge with a spoon. All the songs were fantastic, and since it was the Special Edition, I got extra songs! And, even though I was gasping and GASPING throughout the entire scene (even though I knew what was going to happen), the fight scene between the Beast and Gaston was pretty spectacular; especially the participation from the furniture. :)
There were some things I did not like, mostly because they didn't make any sense. First of all, the Beast got his curse in the first place for being unhospitable to a stranger. So would that not, therefore, make him inclined to assist all future strangers to appear at his doorstep? When Maurice goes to the castle to escape from those blasted wolves, the Beast completely rages out and throws him in the dungeon. If I was him, my first thought would be, "Hey, maybe this dude is another sorcerer trying to see if I've become a nicer person!"
Also, all the furniture is people now, because of the curse. There is no furniture that doesn't talk or whatever. My question is, did he not have furniture in the castle before the curse? Where is it all? There should be a great deal of furniture that does not talk, as it existed as furniture before all the staff was cursed into furniture. WHERE IS THAT FURNITURE?
Also, there's a bit of Stockholm Syndrome going on throughout the entire thing. Which, you know, is always creepy.
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
everyday you act worse, but today you're acting like tomorrow
Here is another old, forgotten musical review. Aren't you glad I found all these?
19. Roberta (1935) - Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. This one started with a struggling band ending up in Paris and a gig getting canceled over a confusion between "Indians" and "Indianians." One of the dudes in the band is all, "I know this lady from when I was a kid who lives here, but I can't remember what her name is." Another dude is like, "Well, my aunt is this super rich dress lady, so she can probably help or something." So the band goes to the dress shop, and the aunt is lovely and she has a pretty assistant that her nephew falls for. Then this screaming countess comes around, and it turns out that she's not a countess at all, but in fact the lady the other guy was looking for, and she's faking that she's a countess!
Then it switches tracks from the whole band thing, and the aunt dies and leaves the dress shop to her nephew, and the nephew and assistant become partners and clearly both really like each other. But then! The nephew's old girlfriend shows up and is all, "Why hello, former lover who is now rich and famous." He bumbles all over her, and the assistant comes in at the exact moment when they kiss! It's awful. I actually gasped in horror. But then it turns out the assistant is a princess or something, and the old girlfriend is a jerk, and everything is okay at the end.
What I liked was all the romance, and all the dresses, and how fantastic the ending was. I also liked that there was a bit less tap dancing than in the other Fred/Ginger movie I watched. Sometimes I think too much tap dancing is a little bit boring. It was weird that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were background characters, but they make really for a really good supporting cast. (They also make a really good central cast - either way they are fantastic.)
What I did not like was that the plot veered off into an unforeseen direction, and then it was as though they forgot what they started with. A struggling band? What? I thought we were making a movie about dresses. Oh, you say we started out with a movie about a struggling band? Pffff, nobody will remember that when they see all the DRESSES! And at one point I'm pretty sure the assistant is wearing a full-on rubber dress with a giant rubber bow right by her face. RUBBER. A RUBBER DRESS.
19. Roberta (1935) - Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. This one started with a struggling band ending up in Paris and a gig getting canceled over a confusion between "Indians" and "Indianians." One of the dudes in the band is all, "I know this lady from when I was a kid who lives here, but I can't remember what her name is." Another dude is like, "Well, my aunt is this super rich dress lady, so she can probably help or something." So the band goes to the dress shop, and the aunt is lovely and she has a pretty assistant that her nephew falls for. Then this screaming countess comes around, and it turns out that she's not a countess at all, but in fact the lady the other guy was looking for, and she's faking that she's a countess!
Then it switches tracks from the whole band thing, and the aunt dies and leaves the dress shop to her nephew, and the nephew and assistant become partners and clearly both really like each other. But then! The nephew's old girlfriend shows up and is all, "Why hello, former lover who is now rich and famous." He bumbles all over her, and the assistant comes in at the exact moment when they kiss! It's awful. I actually gasped in horror. But then it turns out the assistant is a princess or something, and the old girlfriend is a jerk, and everything is okay at the end.
What I liked was all the romance, and all the dresses, and how fantastic the ending was. I also liked that there was a bit less tap dancing than in the other Fred/Ginger movie I watched. Sometimes I think too much tap dancing is a little bit boring. It was weird that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were background characters, but they make really for a really good supporting cast. (They also make a really good central cast - either way they are fantastic.)
What I did not like was that the plot veered off into an unforeseen direction, and then it was as though they forgot what they started with. A struggling band? What? I thought we were making a movie about dresses. Oh, you say we started out with a movie about a struggling band? Pffff, nobody will remember that when they see all the DRESSES! And at one point I'm pretty sure the assistant is wearing a full-on rubber dress with a giant rubber bow right by her face. RUBBER. A RUBBER DRESS.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
you look like a mess of worms
All the kids are at school today for an hour, which means that even if teachers ARE sick they can suck it up for an hour, which means that I didn't get a call to work today. So instead I worked on my blog! And I found all these old reviews of musicals from earlier this year. I am confused because I can't remember if I posted them already, except that they're all patiently sitting in a row with "DRAFT" beside them. I'm sure blogger knows what's going on, so I'll just believe that I never published them. Probably because I watched way too much t.v. for a while back there, and didn't want you all to judge me. So I'll be posting them now. Like this one!
18. Funny Face (1957) - Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn. There's this girl who works in the BEST BOOKSTORE EVER, until a bunch of magazine people come in and take pictures. The photographer kisses her randomly, and then the magazine lady decides she wants the bookstore girl as a model, but the bookstore girl is morally opposed to modeling, except when it takes her to Paris, then she's cool. Except that she causes a bunch of problems with her morals, and then her and the photographer fall in love. It is unclear as to whether she continues to model or goes back to the bookstore or whatever.
What I liked in this one was the photo-shoot montage - I LOVE photo-shoot montages. Those were totally my favourite parts on America's Next Top Model. I also quite liked Audrey Hepburn in general, except the whole time I was trying to figure out if she had an accent, or was just enunciating VERY CLEARLY. (Turns out she had an accent - Belgian.) I also liked seeing Fred Astaire dancing, and listening to him sing. He does neat stuff with his voice.
Not as pleasant were the shape of Fred Astaire's head, which continues to bug me, and also the lack of a Dramatic Cinderella Make-Over Reveal Scene. I know women shouldn't have to be made over as models to be beautiful blah blah blah, but I really like a good Dramatic Cinderella Make-Over Reveal Scene. (See She's All That, Princess Diaries, Miss Congeniality.) Also, she kept going on and on about "empathicalism," which is a philosophy of life or whatever written by some French dude, but that's just REGULAR EMPATHY. You can't take something that already exists and make it into a new word and pretend you invented it. (Although this happened in a movie. Maybe it was supposed to be dumb.)
Overall, I liked it! Especially the photo-shoots.
18. Funny Face (1957) - Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn. There's this girl who works in the BEST BOOKSTORE EVER, until a bunch of magazine people come in and take pictures. The photographer kisses her randomly, and then the magazine lady decides she wants the bookstore girl as a model, but the bookstore girl is morally opposed to modeling, except when it takes her to Paris, then she's cool. Except that she causes a bunch of problems with her morals, and then her and the photographer fall in love. It is unclear as to whether she continues to model or goes back to the bookstore or whatever.
What I liked in this one was the photo-shoot montage - I LOVE photo-shoot montages. Those were totally my favourite parts on America's Next Top Model. I also quite liked Audrey Hepburn in general, except the whole time I was trying to figure out if she had an accent, or was just enunciating VERY CLEARLY. (Turns out she had an accent - Belgian.) I also liked seeing Fred Astaire dancing, and listening to him sing. He does neat stuff with his voice.
Not as pleasant were the shape of Fred Astaire's head, which continues to bug me, and also the lack of a Dramatic Cinderella Make-Over Reveal Scene. I know women shouldn't have to be made over as models to be beautiful blah blah blah, but I really like a good Dramatic Cinderella Make-Over Reveal Scene. (See She's All That, Princess Diaries, Miss Congeniality.) Also, she kept going on and on about "empathicalism," which is a philosophy of life or whatever written by some French dude, but that's just REGULAR EMPATHY. You can't take something that already exists and make it into a new word and pretend you invented it. (Although this happened in a movie. Maybe it was supposed to be dumb.)
Overall, I liked it! Especially the photo-shoots.
Monday, June 20, 2011
dites-moi pourquoi
17. South Pacific (2001) - Glenn Close, Harry Connick, Jr. This is about the navy (?) and nurses stationed in the South Pacific (hence the title) in WW2. Glenn Close is a nurse in charge of all the other nurses who falls in love with a French plantation owner after she meets him once and they sing a song together. Harry Connick, Jr. is a marine who gets sent to the island to go on a dangerous mission, and ends up falling in love with a girl from a mysterious island who gets pimped out by her mom. (Seriously.)
I have in my possession the 1958 version, but I watched the tv movie version with a friend of mine the other night. Before I write it off completely, I will give it another chance, because the whole time I couldn't get over the tv movie feel of the whole thing. Plus, I don't really like Glenn Close, and I really like Mitzi Gaynor, who plays the same role in the older version.
Anyway. What I liked were the songs, and the scenery, and that it was actually filmed in Australia, Tahiti, and French Polynesia instead of somewhere like L.A. (I always find that extremely disappointing.) Also, the French dude was fairly attractive and his kids were really cute.
What I did not like were several things. First of all, the racism came out of NOWHERE. Yes, Glenn Close mentions several times she is from the Southern United States, which is perhaps supposed to explain to the viewers that she is a Racist Hick from the South, but she treats all the non-Caucasian characters with affection and respect for the whole movie. And then she finds out that her French boyfriend has kids with a "coloured woman" and FLIPS OUT. All of a sudden she can't marry him, and finds his kids repugnant, and wants to move away. If you hate non-Caucasian people that much, that the thought of your boyfriend being married to one previously disgusts you enough to break off an engagement you were ecstatic about two seconds earlier, it must come out in your behaviour before that. It's like she was all, "Oh, right. I'm supposed to be a racist. Ew, your kids are gross."
Same with Harry Connick, Jr, and the lady he falls in love with. Maybe I just don't understand the racism of the time, and how it actually ended up affecting your behaviour - but he's pals with this lady Bloody Mary, and then he meets her daughter and has sex with her a million times (the daughter), but when Bloody Mary says he has to marry her he's all, "Oh wait, no, I'm a racist. I completely forgot I'm supposed to find you disgusting."
Another thing I disliked was that the navy asks the French plantation guy to go on this super dangerous mission for them, which will help turn the tide of the war, but he will probably die. The thing is, he's only just met Glenn Close, whom he quite likes. So he's all, "No way, man. I've got something to live for."
Which is fine, except that after she suddenly remembers her deep-rooted prejudice and breaks up with him, he changes his mind and decides to go on this suicide mission EVEN THOUGH HE HAS TWO YOUNG CHILDREN AT HOME. "I won't risk my life when there's the possibility of hooking up with a pretty girl I just met, but my kids? Psh, I've got an old guy who takes care of them. Bring on the probably death by Japanese soldiers!"
Also, I was confused by the lack of proper military protocol. All I know about military protocol I know from watching tv shows and from talking with an EA at my school who used to be in the military, but this I know: they are trained to show RESPECT. Like, forced to show respect. Like, when the Commander or whatever is on the stage before the half-naked girls come on, the rest of the navy would NOT be throwing things at him and telling him to get off the stage. And a bunch of young officers would NOT only get thrown in the brig for beating up a marine. COME ON.
Anyway. In sum, there were some good parts, but I didn't really like this version. A contributing factor was probably that Glenn Close's haircut did not suit her face at all. Hopefully Mitzi Gaynor made a wiser choice.
I have in my possession the 1958 version, but I watched the tv movie version with a friend of mine the other night. Before I write it off completely, I will give it another chance, because the whole time I couldn't get over the tv movie feel of the whole thing. Plus, I don't really like Glenn Close, and I really like Mitzi Gaynor, who plays the same role in the older version.
Anyway. What I liked were the songs, and the scenery, and that it was actually filmed in Australia, Tahiti, and French Polynesia instead of somewhere like L.A. (I always find that extremely disappointing.) Also, the French dude was fairly attractive and his kids were really cute.
What I did not like were several things. First of all, the racism came out of NOWHERE. Yes, Glenn Close mentions several times she is from the Southern United States, which is perhaps supposed to explain to the viewers that she is a Racist Hick from the South, but she treats all the non-Caucasian characters with affection and respect for the whole movie. And then she finds out that her French boyfriend has kids with a "coloured woman" and FLIPS OUT. All of a sudden she can't marry him, and finds his kids repugnant, and wants to move away. If you hate non-Caucasian people that much, that the thought of your boyfriend being married to one previously disgusts you enough to break off an engagement you were ecstatic about two seconds earlier, it must come out in your behaviour before that. It's like she was all, "Oh, right. I'm supposed to be a racist. Ew, your kids are gross."
Same with Harry Connick, Jr, and the lady he falls in love with. Maybe I just don't understand the racism of the time, and how it actually ended up affecting your behaviour - but he's pals with this lady Bloody Mary, and then he meets her daughter and has sex with her a million times (the daughter), but when Bloody Mary says he has to marry her he's all, "Oh wait, no, I'm a racist. I completely forgot I'm supposed to find you disgusting."
Another thing I disliked was that the navy asks the French plantation guy to go on this super dangerous mission for them, which will help turn the tide of the war, but he will probably die. The thing is, he's only just met Glenn Close, whom he quite likes. So he's all, "No way, man. I've got something to live for."
Which is fine, except that after she suddenly remembers her deep-rooted prejudice and breaks up with him, he changes his mind and decides to go on this suicide mission EVEN THOUGH HE HAS TWO YOUNG CHILDREN AT HOME. "I won't risk my life when there's the possibility of hooking up with a pretty girl I just met, but my kids? Psh, I've got an old guy who takes care of them. Bring on the probably death by Japanese soldiers!"
Also, I was confused by the lack of proper military protocol. All I know about military protocol I know from watching tv shows and from talking with an EA at my school who used to be in the military, but this I know: they are trained to show RESPECT. Like, forced to show respect. Like, when the Commander or whatever is on the stage before the half-naked girls come on, the rest of the navy would NOT be throwing things at him and telling him to get off the stage. And a bunch of young officers would NOT only get thrown in the brig for beating up a marine. COME ON.
Anyway. In sum, there were some good parts, but I didn't really like this version. A contributing factor was probably that Glenn Close's haircut did not suit her face at all. Hopefully Mitzi Gaynor made a wiser choice.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
let's make it the worst ballet ever. then let's make it THREE HOURS LONG. then let's kill everyone.
Holy crap, you guys. I am so traumatized right now.
16. Oklahoma (1955) - Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones. I finally wrenched myself away from Bloodhounds of Broadway and decided on Oklahoma. You know, since everyone is always talking about it like it's the best thing in the world. It's about a bunch of people in Oklahoma, and a girl and a boy who like each other but make things difficult for each other.
I liked it until the good guy (Curly) went into the bad guy's (Judd) house and tried to convince Judd to KILL HIMSELF. I guess Curly didn't get the memo that he is supposed to be the good guy? And then, Judd disclosed himself to be a big creepo by talking about his pictures of naked women and how he's tired of the pictures and wants a real woman. I knew he was a bad dude as soon as I saw him (I said to my dog, "He's a bad dude."), but from that point on I became uncomfortable. You know how there are problems in movies that are like, "Aw shucks, this is really unfortunate. Oh well, I'm sure they'll fix things by the end and everything will be fine!" And then there are those problems that are PROBLEMS that even when it's all over, nobody will ever really be okay again? That's what I started envisioning Oklahoma to be. At that point I realized that maybe it wasn't the movie I thought it was.
Then there was bizarro-world ballet sequence, which I'm sure was supposed to be neat but just added to the creepiness that beset me. Like, why are they all acting like dolls? WHERE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE? And then bizarro-main girl (Laurey) is about to marry bizarro-Curly, until she discovers that it's JUDD! And she tries to run away but everyone blocks her in and nobody will HELP HER! And then the music is like the normal music but creepier and plinky! This is the worst ballet I have ever seen. It's so terrible and scary. And why is it so LONG? How long do I have to watch people not helping her escape from creepy, evil Judd??????? I hate this movie.
When bizarro-Curly FINALLY tries to save bizarro-Laurey by shooting Judd a billion times in the chest and Judd doesn't die, and instead MURDERS BIZARRO-CURLY, I decided to stop watching. This movie is awful and unnecessarily disturbing. That'll teach me to watch a different movie from the best movie in the world. I am going to watch Bloodhounds of Broadway to cleanse my musical palate and also my brain from being so creeped out.
16. Oklahoma (1955) - Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones. I finally wrenched myself away from Bloodhounds of Broadway and decided on Oklahoma. You know, since everyone is always talking about it like it's the best thing in the world. It's about a bunch of people in Oklahoma, and a girl and a boy who like each other but make things difficult for each other.
I liked it until the good guy (Curly) went into the bad guy's (Judd) house and tried to convince Judd to KILL HIMSELF. I guess Curly didn't get the memo that he is supposed to be the good guy? And then, Judd disclosed himself to be a big creepo by talking about his pictures of naked women and how he's tired of the pictures and wants a real woman. I knew he was a bad dude as soon as I saw him (I said to my dog, "He's a bad dude."), but from that point on I became uncomfortable. You know how there are problems in movies that are like, "Aw shucks, this is really unfortunate. Oh well, I'm sure they'll fix things by the end and everything will be fine!" And then there are those problems that are PROBLEMS that even when it's all over, nobody will ever really be okay again? That's what I started envisioning Oklahoma to be. At that point I realized that maybe it wasn't the movie I thought it was.
Then there was bizarro-world ballet sequence, which I'm sure was supposed to be neat but just added to the creepiness that beset me. Like, why are they all acting like dolls? WHERE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE? And then bizarro-main girl (Laurey) is about to marry bizarro-Curly, until she discovers that it's JUDD! And she tries to run away but everyone blocks her in and nobody will HELP HER! And then the music is like the normal music but creepier and plinky! This is the worst ballet I have ever seen. It's so terrible and scary. And why is it so LONG? How long do I have to watch people not helping her escape from creepy, evil Judd??????? I hate this movie.
When bizarro-Curly FINALLY tries to save bizarro-Laurey by shooting Judd a billion times in the chest and Judd doesn't die, and instead MURDERS BIZARRO-CURLY, I decided to stop watching. This movie is awful and unnecessarily disturbing. That'll teach me to watch a different movie from the best movie in the world. I am going to watch Bloodhounds of Broadway to cleanse my musical palate and also my brain from being so creeped out.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
sort of politely swing and sway
I never like things like normal people - if I discover something I enjoy, I become instantly obsessed with it and it occupies my every waking moment until I discover something ELSE I enjoy, and so on. (See The IT Crowd, Community, pleated-jeans, Fred and Ginger, and so on.) Anyway, most recently that has been musicals. My wonderful friend Vanessa aided my obsession by lending me MILLIONS of musicals. Adding a furry infant to my life gave me less time for movies, which of course is completely acceptable, but recently I had a chance to watch one of the batch she lent me, and I'm pretty sure I've stumbled upon the best musical that ever existed. Certainly my new all-time favourite movie, which I know because I've watched it about eleven times, and I still love it. She may have trouble getting this one back from me. :)
15. Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952) - Mitzi Gaynor, Scott Brady. It's about this bookie Robert 'Numbers' Foster and his bunch of gangsters in New York who get in trouble with a crime committee, so they take off to Florida and leave Numbers' girlfriend, Yvonne, to give a fake testimony and get them off the hook. She does, and so Numbers and his buddy Poorly drive back to New York, but temporarily get lost in Georgia. There, they meet Emily Ann Stackerlee, who saves their lives but endangers her own by doing so. Naturally, the solution is for Numbers and Poorly to take her with them to New York. There, after she gets a New York make-over, it turns out that while they thought she was a kid, she is actually a pretty young woman. Numbers is flabbergasted by this discovery, and Yvonne is somewhat less-than-pleased. I don't want to spoil the ending, but it is fantastic. Extremely satisfying, which is rare for me because I have very specific tastes.
What I liked were all the songs, and how everybody's accents were legit, and how handsome Numbers was, and authentic the characters were. There was nothing I did not like, except that there's this one scene where a boy who likes Emily Ann rushes in to her cabin and shoves her aside, and Numbers flips out and is all, "You wanna belt me like you belted her?" Numbers, he did not belt her. He shoved her. Unless the word does not mean what I think it means. Also, there is a man who plays a guy named Curtaintime Charlie, and I am sad for him because even though he is very good-looking and extremely talented, he never really got a big break. Most of his credits on imdb are "uncredited" or "scene cut." That makes me sad.
Anyway, it's a spectacular movie. You should watch it! Only be careful it's not the one with Madonna with the exact same name. It's the other one. The one with Madonna might be good, too, but this one is the BEST.
15. Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952) - Mitzi Gaynor, Scott Brady. It's about this bookie Robert 'Numbers' Foster and his bunch of gangsters in New York who get in trouble with a crime committee, so they take off to Florida and leave Numbers' girlfriend, Yvonne, to give a fake testimony and get them off the hook. She does, and so Numbers and his buddy Poorly drive back to New York, but temporarily get lost in Georgia. There, they meet Emily Ann Stackerlee, who saves their lives but endangers her own by doing so. Naturally, the solution is for Numbers and Poorly to take her with them to New York. There, after she gets a New York make-over, it turns out that while they thought she was a kid, she is actually a pretty young woman. Numbers is flabbergasted by this discovery, and Yvonne is somewhat less-than-pleased. I don't want to spoil the ending, but it is fantastic. Extremely satisfying, which is rare for me because I have very specific tastes.
What I liked were all the songs, and how everybody's accents were legit, and how handsome Numbers was, and authentic the characters were. There was nothing I did not like, except that there's this one scene where a boy who likes Emily Ann rushes in to her cabin and shoves her aside, and Numbers flips out and is all, "You wanna belt me like you belted her?" Numbers, he did not belt her. He shoved her. Unless the word does not mean what I think it means. Also, there is a man who plays a guy named Curtaintime Charlie, and I am sad for him because even though he is very good-looking and extremely talented, he never really got a big break. Most of his credits on imdb are "uncredited" or "scene cut." That makes me sad.
Anyway, it's a spectacular movie. You should watch it! Only be careful it's not the one with Madonna with the exact same name. It's the other one. The one with Madonna might be good, too, but this one is the BEST.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
that's a pretentious way of saying i'm... unemployed
Two things happened at Save-On today. First: I was clearly waiting for a parking spot, with my blinker on and everything. But then some jerk in a pick-up truck swooped in and stole it! I shared an eye-roll with a lady who was walking towards me who almost got hit by the stupid truck. Why do people keep stealing my parking spots?!?!
Then, I went to the chicken section to feed my crock pot addiction, and there were NO chicken breasts! There was package after package of chicken thighs, but no chicken breasts. I've never had a chicken thigh before, so I didn't want to risk it, and bought pork instead, but I was so confused! There were a few of us standing bewildered by the where the chicken was supposed to be. 'What... how do I... I don't understand what's going on.'
Meanwhile, in the world of musicals...
14. An American in Paris (1951) - Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron. This one is about an American guy who used to be in the army, but when that ended he stayed in Paris to paint. He's not doing very well with his paintings until a glamorous lady decides to sponsor him (because she has a crush on him, although she's a bit of a cougar because I'm pretty sure she was a lot older than him), and then at the same time he meets and falls in love with a French girl who is engaged to someone else! It's all very dramatic.
What I liked was the super long ballet sequence at the end of the movie, and Gene Kelly singing a song with a bunch of French kids, and how tiny his apartment was! His bed was suspended from the ceiling, so when he woke up he had to crank it up to the ceiling so he'd have space to walk around, and his kitchen was hidden in a closet, and so on. It made me feel like I have all the room in the world! Also, one of the supporting characters is a failed concert pianist, and he has a fantastic dream sequence in which he is playing a concert, but he's also every member of the symphony, and the conductor, and also the audience. It's creepy and great, all at once.
What I did not like was how stupid Gene Kelly professed his love for Leslie Caron, and then she tells him that she's leaving with the French dude she's engaged to, so he right away goes to the lady who's sponsoring him (because she loves him) and kisses her and is all, "I love you now! Surprise!" So he takes her to a party, and she's ecstatic because finally he loves her back; but then, Gene Kelly meets the French girl at the party, and they dance a ballet together, and decide to run off together, and that's the end! I mean, I know we are supposed to care about the two main characters and be relieved that they finally got together, but I was left wondering what was going to happen to the cougar lady! Who was going to tell her what happened? Was she just going to wait around for ever and ever until everyone left the party and then she'd realize that he was gone and she had no way home? I was a bit sad about that.
Other than that bit, I liked this one! I think I would watch it again, especially for the ballet at the end.
Then, I went to the chicken section to feed my crock pot addiction, and there were NO chicken breasts! There was package after package of chicken thighs, but no chicken breasts. I've never had a chicken thigh before, so I didn't want to risk it, and bought pork instead, but I was so confused! There were a few of us standing bewildered by the where the chicken was supposed to be. 'What... how do I... I don't understand what's going on.'
Meanwhile, in the world of musicals...
14. An American in Paris (1951) - Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron. This one is about an American guy who used to be in the army, but when that ended he stayed in Paris to paint. He's not doing very well with his paintings until a glamorous lady decides to sponsor him (because she has a crush on him, although she's a bit of a cougar because I'm pretty sure she was a lot older than him), and then at the same time he meets and falls in love with a French girl who is engaged to someone else! It's all very dramatic.
What I liked was the super long ballet sequence at the end of the movie, and Gene Kelly singing a song with a bunch of French kids, and how tiny his apartment was! His bed was suspended from the ceiling, so when he woke up he had to crank it up to the ceiling so he'd have space to walk around, and his kitchen was hidden in a closet, and so on. It made me feel like I have all the room in the world! Also, one of the supporting characters is a failed concert pianist, and he has a fantastic dream sequence in which he is playing a concert, but he's also every member of the symphony, and the conductor, and also the audience. It's creepy and great, all at once.
What I did not like was how stupid Gene Kelly professed his love for Leslie Caron, and then she tells him that she's leaving with the French dude she's engaged to, so he right away goes to the lady who's sponsoring him (because she loves him) and kisses her and is all, "I love you now! Surprise!" So he takes her to a party, and she's ecstatic because finally he loves her back; but then, Gene Kelly meets the French girl at the party, and they dance a ballet together, and decide to run off together, and that's the end! I mean, I know we are supposed to care about the two main characters and be relieved that they finally got together, but I was left wondering what was going to happen to the cougar lady! Who was going to tell her what happened? Was she just going to wait around for ever and ever until everyone left the party and then she'd realize that he was gone and she had no way home? I was a bit sad about that.
Other than that bit, I liked this one! I think I would watch it again, especially for the ballet at the end.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
lobster with mayonaise and cucumbers in buttermilk
There is a monsoon outside my window. When I have my dog, I will be going for walks in such weather; I adore walking in the rain, so I look forward to this time. Meanwhile, I watched another musical.
13. Carefree (1938) - Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. Fred Astaire is a psychiatrist, and Ginger Rogers is a lady who was sent to him by her fiance because she kept breaking off their engagement. Naturally, she falls in love with Fred Astaire; naturally, he doesn't realize he loves her back until he's already hypnotized her into hating him and loving her fiance instead. Fred tries to get back into her subconscious to fix his mistake, but the chance doesn't arise for him until the fiance accidentally punches Ginger in the face and knocks her out. Fred plants the idea that he loves her into her subconscious, and they get married.
I was offended within the first five minutes - Fred Astaire is all, "I bet she's just another dizzy female with no brain," until he sees how gorgeous she is. Then he changes his tune and decides that she's wonderful. COME ON, Fred Astaire. A little more integrity, please. It was at that moment that I discovered that I am looking for modern values in an OLD movie. Everyone thought about women that way. It's ingrained in my mind that women don't deserve to be thought of only in that way, but that kind of thinking wasn't around everywhere in the 30s. Boo, 1930s. Being a Psychology major, I also disliked the poor representation of what a psychiatrist can do. Hello, ethics. You can't just hypnotize people at the drop of a hat to serve your own purposes.
What I liked was that there was less dancing here, and also Ginger Rogers continues to be fantastic. There was a long scene in which she is hypnotized to act impulsively, so she runs through traffic and throws a cop's nightstick into a giant glass window and tosses her shoe into someone's car. I also liked Fred Astaire's singing - he has an amazing voice. His small head continues to bother me, but when he sings I have something else to focus on.
In a lot of these old movies that I get from the library, they include a Special Features section with old animated short movies. One of the ones on this dvd was called "September in the Rain," and before it was showed there was an interesting note: it said that the following cartoon depicted racial stereotypes, which were wrong at the time and are wrong now. They do not reflect the beliefs of the production company (which is a lie, because if they didn't, then the company wouldn't have presented it - they should have said "do not reflect the beliefs that the company holds today" or something), but to not show it would be to pretend that these stereotypes never existed.
I think that is really interesting. It seems like something that should be in front of a lot of old movies, especially ones that are set in the South and always seem to include a few token joyous slave segments. Also, with all the hoopla about taking the N-word out of The Adventures of Huck Finn - to take the word out and re-publish it with a new word in its place is like saying that kind of attitude towards African-American people never existed. I think it would be a lot more conducive to discussion and stuff if they left it in, with that kind of note in front of it. I don't know, though. I'm not an expert on racism and how to deal with stereotypes.
13. Carefree (1938) - Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. Fred Astaire is a psychiatrist, and Ginger Rogers is a lady who was sent to him by her fiance because she kept breaking off their engagement. Naturally, she falls in love with Fred Astaire; naturally, he doesn't realize he loves her back until he's already hypnotized her into hating him and loving her fiance instead. Fred tries to get back into her subconscious to fix his mistake, but the chance doesn't arise for him until the fiance accidentally punches Ginger in the face and knocks her out. Fred plants the idea that he loves her into her subconscious, and they get married.
I was offended within the first five minutes - Fred Astaire is all, "I bet she's just another dizzy female with no brain," until he sees how gorgeous she is. Then he changes his tune and decides that she's wonderful. COME ON, Fred Astaire. A little more integrity, please. It was at that moment that I discovered that I am looking for modern values in an OLD movie. Everyone thought about women that way. It's ingrained in my mind that women don't deserve to be thought of only in that way, but that kind of thinking wasn't around everywhere in the 30s. Boo, 1930s. Being a Psychology major, I also disliked the poor representation of what a psychiatrist can do. Hello, ethics. You can't just hypnotize people at the drop of a hat to serve your own purposes.
What I liked was that there was less dancing here, and also Ginger Rogers continues to be fantastic. There was a long scene in which she is hypnotized to act impulsively, so she runs through traffic and throws a cop's nightstick into a giant glass window and tosses her shoe into someone's car. I also liked Fred Astaire's singing - he has an amazing voice. His small head continues to bother me, but when he sings I have something else to focus on.
In a lot of these old movies that I get from the library, they include a Special Features section with old animated short movies. One of the ones on this dvd was called "September in the Rain," and before it was showed there was an interesting note: it said that the following cartoon depicted racial stereotypes, which were wrong at the time and are wrong now. They do not reflect the beliefs of the production company (which is a lie, because if they didn't, then the company wouldn't have presented it - they should have said "do not reflect the beliefs that the company holds today" or something), but to not show it would be to pretend that these stereotypes never existed.
I think that is really interesting. It seems like something that should be in front of a lot of old movies, especially ones that are set in the South and always seem to include a few token joyous slave segments. Also, with all the hoopla about taking the N-word out of The Adventures of Huck Finn - to take the word out and re-publish it with a new word in its place is like saying that kind of attitude towards African-American people never existed. I think it would be a lot more conducive to discussion and stuff if they left it in, with that kind of note in front of it. I don't know, though. I'm not an expert on racism and how to deal with stereotypes.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
i'm at the susquehannah street jail and i want you to get me out
Today when I got home, the truck was back in my space. Instead of parking beside him, in what should be HIS spot, I parked in visitor's parking which is closer to the front door anyway. Then I stepped in dog crap on the way to my building.
12. Shall We Dance (1937) - Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. It's about this dude who is a ballet dancer, and this lady who is a tap dancer in comedy shows or something? I didn't quite get what she did. Anyway, he sees a picture of her and is all, "I'm going to marry her." She's all, "Meh." So he follows her onto a boat that's going from Paris to New York, and stalks her until she falls in love with him. (It sounds creepy, but it's Fred Astaire in a top hat and tails so it's charming.) Meanwhile, there is this strange lady who used to work with Fred Astaire who is obsessed with him, and to make her leave him alone he says that he's actually been married this whole time. She spreads the word around, and people assume that he's married to the tap dancing lady, since they've been hanging out on the boat. She, being Ginger Rogers, gets super mad about this and leaves. Then, in order to quell the rumors of their marriage, they decide to get married for real and then divorced for real, so people will leave them alone. Of course, instead of getting divorced for real, they fall in love for real and stay married.
What I liked was Ginger Rogers! She's fantastic. She's so pretty and funny and doesn't take any crap from Fred Astaire. (Except when he stalks her into loving him. I thought she'd be too smart for that.) I also liked the storyline, and the supporting cast was pretty great. There were lots of little funny bits, like when the floor manager of the hotel gets stuck in jail and he's trying to explain to Fred Astaire's manager which jail he's at but he ends up having to spell everything and it goes on for like ten minutes, of him just spelling things. It's way funnier than it sounds.
What I didn't like was that sometimes they danced for too long and I got bored. Also, the lady who was obsessed with Fred Astaire had no eyebrows. Literally no eyebrows. It was weird.
12. Shall We Dance (1937) - Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. It's about this dude who is a ballet dancer, and this lady who is a tap dancer in comedy shows or something? I didn't quite get what she did. Anyway, he sees a picture of her and is all, "I'm going to marry her." She's all, "Meh." So he follows her onto a boat that's going from Paris to New York, and stalks her until she falls in love with him. (It sounds creepy, but it's Fred Astaire in a top hat and tails so it's charming.) Meanwhile, there is this strange lady who used to work with Fred Astaire who is obsessed with him, and to make her leave him alone he says that he's actually been married this whole time. She spreads the word around, and people assume that he's married to the tap dancing lady, since they've been hanging out on the boat. She, being Ginger Rogers, gets super mad about this and leaves. Then, in order to quell the rumors of their marriage, they decide to get married for real and then divorced for real, so people will leave them alone. Of course, instead of getting divorced for real, they fall in love for real and stay married.
What I liked was Ginger Rogers! She's fantastic. She's so pretty and funny and doesn't take any crap from Fred Astaire. (Except when he stalks her into loving him. I thought she'd be too smart for that.) I also liked the storyline, and the supporting cast was pretty great. There were lots of little funny bits, like when the floor manager of the hotel gets stuck in jail and he's trying to explain to Fred Astaire's manager which jail he's at but he ends up having to spell everything and it goes on for like ten minutes, of him just spelling things. It's way funnier than it sounds.
What I didn't like was that sometimes they danced for too long and I got bored. Also, the lady who was obsessed with Fred Astaire had no eyebrows. Literally no eyebrows. It was weird.
Monday, January 24, 2011
when I look at you i feel wee tadpoles jumping in my spine
Report cards are due on Monday. So naturally, I watched another musical.
11. Brigadoon (1954) - Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse. Lord have mercy, the accents. The ACCENTS! I love a good Scottish accent (love, love, love), but this whole movie was an accent debacle. Did they not have diction coaches? I know such a thing existed at that time, because I saw two in Singing in the Rain.
Anyway, the plot is this: two dudes from New York end up in this magical, secret Scottish town (Brigadoon, if you will). One of the dudes is Gene Kelly, and he falls in love with this lady from Brigadoon, Cyd Charisse.
What I liked was the beginning, which was like an enchanted, misty, romantic Disney movie, complete with slow-motion sunshine spreading over a foggy land and a chorus of people slowly singing "Brigadoon." Also, the scenery was lovely, and there were HIGHLAND COWS! I love Highland Cows. They look so chill and charming.
They also did a really good job juxtaposing Brigadoon and New York, and including song flashbacks to convince Gene Kelly that he knows where he belongs. (Normally, I have no qualms about spoiling things because I like to have things spoiled - movie things, I mean - but I don't want to spoil it for you because unless you know what happens, it is a bit of a shock. I gasped aloud!)
What I did not like was the atrocious accents. Also, the whole town is shrouded in mystery, and there is this one scene where Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse are dancing and picking flowers. Gene Kelly sees some a bit farther away, and he tells Cyd Charisse, and she FLIPS OUT and is all, "NO! Don't go any further! There's nothing over there!" and then runs away. Gene Kelly is torn between chasing after her, or else seeing what she was so scared about that was a bit further away. I understand this, but it turns out that instead of doing either one of those things, he falls down a hill and sings about love. Dude, come on. I can't find out what is going on until you do, so GET IT TOGETHER.
Once I got past the accents, however, I mostly liked it. Especially because of how the ending was so satisfying, and also the cows.
11. Brigadoon (1954) - Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse. Lord have mercy, the accents. The ACCENTS! I love a good Scottish accent (love, love, love), but this whole movie was an accent debacle. Did they not have diction coaches? I know such a thing existed at that time, because I saw two in Singing in the Rain.
Anyway, the plot is this: two dudes from New York end up in this magical, secret Scottish town (Brigadoon, if you will). One of the dudes is Gene Kelly, and he falls in love with this lady from Brigadoon, Cyd Charisse.
What I liked was the beginning, which was like an enchanted, misty, romantic Disney movie, complete with slow-motion sunshine spreading over a foggy land and a chorus of people slowly singing "Brigadoon." Also, the scenery was lovely, and there were HIGHLAND COWS! I love Highland Cows. They look so chill and charming.
They also did a really good job juxtaposing Brigadoon and New York, and including song flashbacks to convince Gene Kelly that he knows where he belongs. (Normally, I have no qualms about spoiling things because I like to have things spoiled - movie things, I mean - but I don't want to spoil it for you because unless you know what happens, it is a bit of a shock. I gasped aloud!)
What I did not like was the atrocious accents. Also, the whole town is shrouded in mystery, and there is this one scene where Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse are dancing and picking flowers. Gene Kelly sees some a bit farther away, and he tells Cyd Charisse, and she FLIPS OUT and is all, "NO! Don't go any further! There's nothing over there!" and then runs away. Gene Kelly is torn between chasing after her, or else seeing what she was so scared about that was a bit further away. I understand this, but it turns out that instead of doing either one of those things, he falls down a hill and sings about love. Dude, come on. I can't find out what is going on until you do, so GET IT TOGETHER.
Once I got past the accents, however, I mostly liked it. Especially because of how the ending was so satisfying, and also the cows.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
it'll take me at least a week to dig up all my dolls from the cemetary
All within the past two hours I guzzled down a giant cup of juice, and then a giant cup of gingerale, and then a moderately-sized cup of milk with my cake. (The milk was with my cake; the rest were independent of the cake.) And yet, I am still thirsty! I feel like the roof of my mouth is leaking saliva to quench my throat's bizarre, desperate need for moisture.
Meanwhile, I watched another musical.
10. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) - Judy Garland, Tom Drake. This one was pretty good, except for something that was actually completely terrible. There's this one scene where the little sister comes in screaming, claiming that the boy that Judy Garland likes hit her and knocked out her tooth and caused her to get stitches. The whole family freaks out, and Judy Garland goes over to his house and punches him for attacking her little sister. But then, you guys, it turns out that the little girl was LYING, and instead he actually SAVED her after she pulled a prank that almost KILLED a bunch of PEOPLE. She gets found out, and doesn't feel bad at all, and everybody laughs about it and nobody punishes her!
Other than this scene, I liked the movie, but I hated that scene almost so much that it completely ruined the movie. Anyway, it's about this family who lives in St. Louis when the World Fair comes, and the two oldest girls are in love (one with a boy in New York, and one with the next door neighbour), and then the dad gets transferred to New York and everyone is devastated, and then the little girl pulls a dangerous prank and tells a HORRENDOUS lie and everybody laughs, and they don't move after all.
There were some good things, though: Judy Garland has a lovely voice, and I liked that she fell in love with the boy next door, only he didn't notice her at all, until she enacted a scheme to get him to fall in love with her back, and it totally worked. That never happens in real life! It was nice to see something I always wish to come true come true.
Meanwhile, I watched another musical.
10. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) - Judy Garland, Tom Drake. This one was pretty good, except for something that was actually completely terrible. There's this one scene where the little sister comes in screaming, claiming that the boy that Judy Garland likes hit her and knocked out her tooth and caused her to get stitches. The whole family freaks out, and Judy Garland goes over to his house and punches him for attacking her little sister. But then, you guys, it turns out that the little girl was LYING, and instead he actually SAVED her after she pulled a prank that almost KILLED a bunch of PEOPLE. She gets found out, and doesn't feel bad at all, and everybody laughs about it and nobody punishes her!
Other than this scene, I liked the movie, but I hated that scene almost so much that it completely ruined the movie. Anyway, it's about this family who lives in St. Louis when the World Fair comes, and the two oldest girls are in love (one with a boy in New York, and one with the next door neighbour), and then the dad gets transferred to New York and everyone is devastated, and then the little girl pulls a dangerous prank and tells a HORRENDOUS lie and everybody laughs, and they don't move after all.
There were some good things, though: Judy Garland has a lovely voice, and I liked that she fell in love with the boy next door, only he didn't notice her at all, until she enacted a scheme to get him to fall in love with her back, and it totally worked. That never happens in real life! It was nice to see something I always wish to come true come true.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
they are also all wearing pants
Driving home from work in the snow gives one a sense of accomplishment. "Check out how good of a driver I am!" one might say, after successfully backing in to a parking spot after acing the treacherous roads. "I'm amazing." (That's just what I said, except I said it to myself because there was nobody else around.) Then, when I was walking into my building, there was this lady trying to sweep snow off her van with a push-broom, and so I helped her. After that I felt like Superman! Sweet driving skills and an altruistic gesture. Fantastic.
Then I reclined on my couch because working all day after previously sleeping all day is HARD. I made it through my classes with lots of juice and tea and Vicks, but at the end of the day I felt a bit light-headed and I think I'll go to bed soon. Meanwhile, I watched another musical.
9. Guys and Dolls (1955) - Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Jean Simmons, Vivian Blaine. This is about gambling, two guys and their respective dolls, and various secrets and misunderstandings. The first thing I noticed was the odd lack of contractions in much of the dialogue. They will alternately say, "ain't got a grand," and "cannot believe they will not take your marker." It was very distracting, and caused me to dislike the movie until Marlon Brando and that lady went to Havana. Then it came about that I can definitely see why he had dozens of illegitimate children - that man is CHARMING.
What I liked was the beginning scene, where they showed how sleazy the city was in a fantastic dance sequence, and the costumes, and the romance between cad Marlon Brando and innocent Jean Simmons. Of course she reformed him, but he reformed because he WANTED to. Before that could happen, though, there was a terrible misunderstanding and they got in a fight and it wasn't his fault but she blamed him and I felt so bad for him! Jean Simmons, how can you fight with him? He is so charming!
What I did not like was the lack of contractions - it sounded SO WEIRD. Internet movie trivia tells me that it legitimately copies the writing style of the original author, so I guess that's cool. But it drives me bananas. Also, don't watch Marlon Brando's mouth too closely when he's singing - apparently all his songs had to be mashed together from a bunch of takes because his singing voice was somewhat sub-par, and he doesn't seem to know how a singer moves his mouth.
Something confused me, however. They sang a song about gazing into each others' eyes and seeing love and how wonderful that was, and it reminded me of a quote from The Sound of Music: "Nothing's more irresistible to a man than a woman who's in love with him." But then, you know all those other movies where the boys are in love with girls who won't give them the time of day, and girls fall for boys who are big jerks? Which one is real life? That's what I'd like to know.
I am starting to regret my thirst for movie trivia. While looking into this one, I found out that Frank Sinatra was insanely jealous because Marlon Brando (who never sang before) got the title part, so he called him "Mumbles" behind his back! That made me sad. Come on, Frank Sinatra - can't you see how freaking CHARMING he is?
Overall, I liked this one. It's a good story, and you will not regret investing your time in Marlon Brando.
Then I reclined on my couch because working all day after previously sleeping all day is HARD. I made it through my classes with lots of juice and tea and Vicks, but at the end of the day I felt a bit light-headed and I think I'll go to bed soon. Meanwhile, I watched another musical.
9. Guys and Dolls (1955) - Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Jean Simmons, Vivian Blaine. This is about gambling, two guys and their respective dolls, and various secrets and misunderstandings. The first thing I noticed was the odd lack of contractions in much of the dialogue. They will alternately say, "ain't got a grand," and "cannot believe they will not take your marker." It was very distracting, and caused me to dislike the movie until Marlon Brando and that lady went to Havana. Then it came about that I can definitely see why he had dozens of illegitimate children - that man is CHARMING.
What I liked was the beginning scene, where they showed how sleazy the city was in a fantastic dance sequence, and the costumes, and the romance between cad Marlon Brando and innocent Jean Simmons. Of course she reformed him, but he reformed because he WANTED to. Before that could happen, though, there was a terrible misunderstanding and they got in a fight and it wasn't his fault but she blamed him and I felt so bad for him! Jean Simmons, how can you fight with him? He is so charming!
What I did not like was the lack of contractions - it sounded SO WEIRD. Internet movie trivia tells me that it legitimately copies the writing style of the original author, so I guess that's cool. But it drives me bananas. Also, don't watch Marlon Brando's mouth too closely when he's singing - apparently all his songs had to be mashed together from a bunch of takes because his singing voice was somewhat sub-par, and he doesn't seem to know how a singer moves his mouth.
Something confused me, however. They sang a song about gazing into each others' eyes and seeing love and how wonderful that was, and it reminded me of a quote from The Sound of Music: "Nothing's more irresistible to a man than a woman who's in love with him." But then, you know all those other movies where the boys are in love with girls who won't give them the time of day, and girls fall for boys who are big jerks? Which one is real life? That's what I'd like to know.
I am starting to regret my thirst for movie trivia. While looking into this one, I found out that Frank Sinatra was insanely jealous because Marlon Brando (who never sang before) got the title part, so he called him "Mumbles" behind his back! That made me sad. Come on, Frank Sinatra - can't you see how freaking CHARMING he is?
Overall, I liked this one. It's a good story, and you will not regret investing your time in Marlon Brando.
Monday, January 10, 2011
i shall be a ditch-digger who once had a wonderful day
I have too much time on my hands today. I just ate soup and toast, and planned Math and Socials for tomorrow, and also watched another musical! I loved it. I've been re-watching the penultimate scene over and over again, because I love it so much. It made me smile between my hacking coughs.
8. Hello, Dolly! (1969) - Barbara Streisand, Walter Matthau. This one is actually not a musical about a musical, surprisingly enough. The plot is a bit confusing: there's this awesome lady named Dolly Levi, who can do all sorts of things, and she has THE BEST WARDROBE OF ALL TIME. Seriously. I looked for pictures to include here for you to gaze upon, but they were all in black and white. Sad face. Anyway, she is somehow involved in the life of this crotchety gentleman, Walter Matthau, while simultaneously being in love with him (secretly). She helps his niece elope with the niece's boyfriend, and then also helps his two store clerks escape to New York and fall in love with pretty milliners, and then at the end the two of them fall in love. How they get from A (dislike) to B (marriage) is unclear, but nevertheless, that is what happens.
What I liked was the lack of misogyny, and her incredible wardrobe, and how pretty she is, and her lovely voice, and the "Hello, Dolly!" song with Louis Armstrong! I re-watched that scene about five times because it's so wonderful and happy. Louis Armstrong sings his part with the most giant smile on his face, it is physically impossible for you to watch it without smiling.
What I did not like was how the plot wasn't very strong (how did they fall in love? Oh, they just did? Oh, okay.), and how apparently Walter Matthau hated Barbara Streisand so much that he REFUSED to kiss her at the end, so it was just a tricky camera angle that made it look like they were kissing! How could anyone hate Barbara Streisand?
Regardless of those minor infractions, nobody is really a jerk in this one (how refreshing!), and her dresses are PHENOMENAL, and she is so lovely. Also, there were so many wonderfully cheeky parts, like when one old guy comes in in the middle of a song and says, "I'm sorry, son, I came in late" and he sings the part of the song he heard, and the crowd fills him in; and also when Barbara Streisand is singing good-bye to Walter Matthau, she starts out in this weird, dramatic, fabulous way, and then tells him to stop interrupting her after he gives her a strange look for singing in such a manner. And if for no other reason, you should watch it to see Barbara Streisand and Louis Armstrong smile at each other.
8. Hello, Dolly! (1969) - Barbara Streisand, Walter Matthau. This one is actually not a musical about a musical, surprisingly enough. The plot is a bit confusing: there's this awesome lady named Dolly Levi, who can do all sorts of things, and she has THE BEST WARDROBE OF ALL TIME. Seriously. I looked for pictures to include here for you to gaze upon, but they were all in black and white. Sad face. Anyway, she is somehow involved in the life of this crotchety gentleman, Walter Matthau, while simultaneously being in love with him (secretly). She helps his niece elope with the niece's boyfriend, and then also helps his two store clerks escape to New York and fall in love with pretty milliners, and then at the end the two of them fall in love. How they get from A (dislike) to B (marriage) is unclear, but nevertheless, that is what happens.
What I liked was the lack of misogyny, and her incredible wardrobe, and how pretty she is, and her lovely voice, and the "Hello, Dolly!" song with Louis Armstrong! I re-watched that scene about five times because it's so wonderful and happy. Louis Armstrong sings his part with the most giant smile on his face, it is physically impossible for you to watch it without smiling.
What I did not like was how the plot wasn't very strong (how did they fall in love? Oh, they just did? Oh, okay.), and how apparently Walter Matthau hated Barbara Streisand so much that he REFUSED to kiss her at the end, so it was just a tricky camera angle that made it look like they were kissing! How could anyone hate Barbara Streisand?
Regardless of those minor infractions, nobody is really a jerk in this one (how refreshing!), and her dresses are PHENOMENAL, and she is so lovely. Also, there were so many wonderfully cheeky parts, like when one old guy comes in in the middle of a song and says, "I'm sorry, son, I came in late" and he sings the part of the song he heard, and the crowd fills him in; and also when Barbara Streisand is singing good-bye to Walter Matthau, she starts out in this weird, dramatic, fabulous way, and then tells him to stop interrupting her after he gives her a strange look for singing in such a manner. And if for no other reason, you should watch it to see Barbara Streisand and Louis Armstrong smile at each other.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Dear Howard Keel: I hate you.
Today I am sick. Well, I've been sick for a while. Yesterday, I did a bunch of dishes and then I had to take a nap. This morning I woke up and swallowing felt weird. Tomorrow, which is Monday, which is a work day, I am going to the doctor and then going back to bed. I called in my first ever substitute teacher! It's very strange.
Anyway. After I did some prep and stuff at school, I went to Save-On and this is what I had in my basket:
- 2 bottles of Gingerale
- 3 cans of soup
- sherbet
- yellow cake mix
- cheesies
- caramel rice cakes and also plain rice cakes
Meanwhile, I watched another musical. I hated it.
7. Kiss Me Kate (1953) - Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel. This is another with the plot of a musical within a musical, except this one spends way too long with the pretend musical. Usually they show snippets, but this one shows a whole act, which got really boring. It's about this ex-husband and ex-wife who do Taming of the Shrew in musical form together, and in the midst of it they fall in love again and then fight again and then fall in love again. I didn't really like any of it.
What I disliked was Kathryn Grayson's singing voice - it was wobbly and opera-ish, which I do not care for. Plus, I do not think I will ever watch another Howard Keel musical again, even though I have two others waiting for me. He seems to be synonymous with misogyny; in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers he was a big fat jerk, and in this one he actually SPANKS and humiliates her on stage, all because she got mad at him after she discovered that a nice note he gave to her was actually supposed to be given to his OTHER girlfriend. So yet again, he is completely at fault, and yet the woman takes all the blame. BOO HOWARD KEEL. (I should have known, though - the title screen of the DVD had an image of her over his knee mid-spank. I said, "Uh oh," but continued on nonetheless.)
Skip this one. Howard Keel sucks. And if you wait the whole movie for him to blow up in a horrible, stage-related accident, you will be disappointed.
Anyway. After I did some prep and stuff at school, I went to Save-On and this is what I had in my basket:
- 2 bottles of Gingerale
- 3 cans of soup
- sherbet
- yellow cake mix
- cheesies
- caramel rice cakes and also plain rice cakes
Meanwhile, I watched another musical. I hated it.
7. Kiss Me Kate (1953) - Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel. This is another with the plot of a musical within a musical, except this one spends way too long with the pretend musical. Usually they show snippets, but this one shows a whole act, which got really boring. It's about this ex-husband and ex-wife who do Taming of the Shrew in musical form together, and in the midst of it they fall in love again and then fight again and then fall in love again. I didn't really like any of it.
What I disliked was Kathryn Grayson's singing voice - it was wobbly and opera-ish, which I do not care for. Plus, I do not think I will ever watch another Howard Keel musical again, even though I have two others waiting for me. He seems to be synonymous with misogyny; in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers he was a big fat jerk, and in this one he actually SPANKS and humiliates her on stage, all because she got mad at him after she discovered that a nice note he gave to her was actually supposed to be given to his OTHER girlfriend. So yet again, he is completely at fault, and yet the woman takes all the blame. BOO HOWARD KEEL. (I should have known, though - the title screen of the DVD had an image of her over his knee mid-spank. I said, "Uh oh," but continued on nonetheless.)
Skip this one. Howard Keel sucks. And if you wait the whole movie for him to blow up in a horrible, stage-related accident, you will be disappointed.
Friday, January 7, 2011
he knowses his toeses aren't roses
What I do now, after a long day of teaching exponents and ecosystems and road rules and 1 Chronicles to a bunch of kids who don't want to learn about any of that stuff, is come home and watch musicals. I was never particularly fond of musicals before, but ever since a friend introduced me to White Christmas this Christmastime, I love love love them. Now I watch them all the time, and I will tell you what I think about them because I know you care deeply for my opinion.
1. White Christmas (1954) - Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera Ellen, Rosemary Clooney. I've already talked about this one a lot, but I will say it again: I love it. LOVE IT. Plus, even though it says "Christmas" in the title, it's totally not a Christmas movie until the end, so you could watch it right now. My favourite parts are Rosemary Clooney's face and how she smiles and also her singing voice, and how high the mens' pants are, and Danny Kaye's voice breaking when he's propositioned, and watching Vera Ellen dance.
What I dislike is how there is a misunderstanding and nobody TALKS about it, so Rosemary Clooney goes off in a huff for nothing because if she'd just SAID something to Bing Crosby before she took the train she never would have had to break up the act. I also dislike that I always get the "Sisters" song stuck in my head. Plus, isn't it weird that somebody's name is Bing?
2. The Sound of Music (1965) - Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer. I'd seen this one loads of times, but my mom got it for Christmas this year, so we watched it again, and I liked it even more since I like musicals now. My favourite is when they sing about what are they going to do about Maria, and then she runs in frantically because she's late, and then she sees them, freezes, sighs, and stomps off. I do not like the song the old nun sings, or the fact that Christopher Plummer was a jerk for the whole time they were making the movie, or that the movie is not at all what happened in real life.
Also, even though I dislike him personally, I enjoyed Christopher Plummer's singing voice, and then I found out it wasn't even him! One negative thing about me liking musicals is that initially I thought everybody was so talented, but then I discovered that in fact they are NOT talented, they just steal someone ELSE'S talent and dub it in as their own. Now I'm cynical; tonight when I was watching The Band Wagon, I was looking at the lady dancing and I thought to myself, "She's probably not even doing that dancing herself."
3. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) - Howard Keel, Jane Powell. This one was completely stupid. It is about this stupid, giant, cocky, mountain bear man who goes into town one day and is all, "I need some sugar, and a shovel, and some cheese, and a wife!" The people at the store are all, "Uh, we don't sell wives here." So he goes through the streets singing about the qualities he would like in a wife, which are of course, being pretty, and slim, and a good cook, and willing and able to do all the chores. He finds some girl who meets all the criteria, but first he's like, "I'm not going to marry her unless I like her cooking!" so he tries her stew and likes it, and proposes, and she accepts, and then she finds out that really he just wanted an un-paid servant/maid for all his stupid, giant, cocky, mountain bear man brothers. She's actually pretty cool, though, and flips the breakfast table over on all of them for being jerks, and they start to like her.
Then they decide that they should go into town and steal women to be their wives, so they do, and the women scream and cry and faint whilst being absconded, but guess what happens? THEY FALL IN LOVE. With the stupid, giant, cocky, mountain bear men who STOLE THEM FROM THEIR BEDS. Plus, a bunch of other stuff happens that prove the original guy to be pretty much the worst man ever to exist, but somehow it comes about that his WIFE is the one who has to apologize. Plus, all the songs are stupid. This is the worst musical ever. Do not watch it. (The Dutch title is the only good thing about it: "Zeven bruiden voor zeven broeders.")
4. Singin' in the Rain (1952) - Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds. I love this one. What I've been noticing is that a lot of musicals are like behind the scenes movies about making musicals, where they not only sing and dance in the musical they are pretending to film (the meta-musical, if you will), they also spontaneously burst into song and dance in real life. This is about Gene Kelly is a silent movie star who is in a fake relationship with his co-star for publicity, but she's not a very nice person and he secretly hates her. (Not secretly, actually - he tells her all the time.) Then he meets Debbie Reynolds, who makes fun of him and so he falls in love with her. Then movies start coming out with sound, so his studio freaks out and tries to turn Gene Kelly's newest silent movie into a sound movie, but it's a total disaster, until Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor save the day. It's super awesome. My favourite is when he sings in the rain, and how awful the mean girl is, and Debbie Reynolds' costumes. I do not care for the fact that apparently Gene Kelly was a big fat jerk in real life. But you still should watch this movie! It's great.
5. Once Upon a Mattress (2005) - Carol Burnett, Tracey Ullman, Zooey Deschanel. I rented this from the library because I was looking up musicals and it came up and I thought it sounded neat. It was okay - I like the old musicals better because of the dancing and the costumes. (Although the costumes in this one were pretty spectacular.) It's like the princess and the pea story, with Carol Burnett as the weird mom who makes it impossible for her son to get married, and then there's this lady, Zooey Deschanel, in the court who needs to get married because she is pregnant, but nobody can get married before the prince does. So she sends her boyfriend to find a princess who will pass the queen's insane test, and he brings back this crazy princess from a swamp, who is actually awesome.
I loved Tracey Ullman in this, and all the ladies had amazing hair, and the princess was great. I disliked Matthew Morrison's face and hair, but luckily he was not in it that often. Plus, there was a weird part at the end when the king got his voice back and he was being a jerk to the queen - even though she was a jerk to him first, I did not like it. I wish people would stop being jerks. You will probably be okay to not see this one.
6. The Band Wagon (1954) - Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse. I watched this one because when I was looking up trivia on Singin' in the Rain, there were lots of comparisons about Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, who were apparently buds with super different dancing styles. Also, whereas Gene Kelly was not always the nicest person to be around, apparently Fred Astaire was super awesome, so I wanted to see him in something. It was a little weird in this movie, because he looked so much older than the girl he was kissing, and he seemed so out of place in the movie with his high pants and his small head. Although, they might have done that on purpose because one of the points of the movie was that he felt too old to be in musicals and he used to be famous but people forgot about him.
What I liked was to finally see him in something, and watching him dance because he is awesome, and also Cyd Charisse in all her different personalities that changed with her costumes, and her white skirt that was my favourite. I disliked when they kissed at the end, because it was really awkward and I looked it up and he was 54 when they made the movie and she was 32! Which isn't so bad, not like she was 19, but they looked so far apart in age that it was weird. He was born in 1899, you guys! Before the 1900s! I know obviously people were born before the 1900s. But still. This one was not my favourite, but it was still pretty good.
Now you're all caught up on my opinions. Stay tuned for more! I got to borrow a bunch from a friend before I came back after Christmas break, so I've got tons waiting to be critiqued. Just you wait.
1. White Christmas (1954) - Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera Ellen, Rosemary Clooney. I've already talked about this one a lot, but I will say it again: I love it. LOVE IT. Plus, even though it says "Christmas" in the title, it's totally not a Christmas movie until the end, so you could watch it right now. My favourite parts are Rosemary Clooney's face and how she smiles and also her singing voice, and how high the mens' pants are, and Danny Kaye's voice breaking when he's propositioned, and watching Vera Ellen dance.
What I dislike is how there is a misunderstanding and nobody TALKS about it, so Rosemary Clooney goes off in a huff for nothing because if she'd just SAID something to Bing Crosby before she took the train she never would have had to break up the act. I also dislike that I always get the "Sisters" song stuck in my head. Plus, isn't it weird that somebody's name is Bing?
2. The Sound of Music (1965) - Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer. I'd seen this one loads of times, but my mom got it for Christmas this year, so we watched it again, and I liked it even more since I like musicals now. My favourite is when they sing about what are they going to do about Maria, and then she runs in frantically because she's late, and then she sees them, freezes, sighs, and stomps off. I do not like the song the old nun sings, or the fact that Christopher Plummer was a jerk for the whole time they were making the movie, or that the movie is not at all what happened in real life.
Also, even though I dislike him personally, I enjoyed Christopher Plummer's singing voice, and then I found out it wasn't even him! One negative thing about me liking musicals is that initially I thought everybody was so talented, but then I discovered that in fact they are NOT talented, they just steal someone ELSE'S talent and dub it in as their own. Now I'm cynical; tonight when I was watching The Band Wagon, I was looking at the lady dancing and I thought to myself, "She's probably not even doing that dancing herself."
3. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) - Howard Keel, Jane Powell. This one was completely stupid. It is about this stupid, giant, cocky, mountain bear man who goes into town one day and is all, "I need some sugar, and a shovel, and some cheese, and a wife!" The people at the store are all, "Uh, we don't sell wives here." So he goes through the streets singing about the qualities he would like in a wife, which are of course, being pretty, and slim, and a good cook, and willing and able to do all the chores. He finds some girl who meets all the criteria, but first he's like, "I'm not going to marry her unless I like her cooking!" so he tries her stew and likes it, and proposes, and she accepts, and then she finds out that really he just wanted an un-paid servant/maid for all his stupid, giant, cocky, mountain bear man brothers. She's actually pretty cool, though, and flips the breakfast table over on all of them for being jerks, and they start to like her.
Then they decide that they should go into town and steal women to be their wives, so they do, and the women scream and cry and faint whilst being absconded, but guess what happens? THEY FALL IN LOVE. With the stupid, giant, cocky, mountain bear men who STOLE THEM FROM THEIR BEDS. Plus, a bunch of other stuff happens that prove the original guy to be pretty much the worst man ever to exist, but somehow it comes about that his WIFE is the one who has to apologize. Plus, all the songs are stupid. This is the worst musical ever. Do not watch it. (The Dutch title is the only good thing about it: "Zeven bruiden voor zeven broeders.")
4. Singin' in the Rain (1952) - Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds. I love this one. What I've been noticing is that a lot of musicals are like behind the scenes movies about making musicals, where they not only sing and dance in the musical they are pretending to film (the meta-musical, if you will), they also spontaneously burst into song and dance in real life. This is about Gene Kelly is a silent movie star who is in a fake relationship with his co-star for publicity, but she's not a very nice person and he secretly hates her. (Not secretly, actually - he tells her all the time.) Then he meets Debbie Reynolds, who makes fun of him and so he falls in love with her. Then movies start coming out with sound, so his studio freaks out and tries to turn Gene Kelly's newest silent movie into a sound movie, but it's a total disaster, until Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor save the day. It's super awesome. My favourite is when he sings in the rain, and how awful the mean girl is, and Debbie Reynolds' costumes. I do not care for the fact that apparently Gene Kelly was a big fat jerk in real life. But you still should watch this movie! It's great.
5. Once Upon a Mattress (2005) - Carol Burnett, Tracey Ullman, Zooey Deschanel. I rented this from the library because I was looking up musicals and it came up and I thought it sounded neat. It was okay - I like the old musicals better because of the dancing and the costumes. (Although the costumes in this one were pretty spectacular.) It's like the princess and the pea story, with Carol Burnett as the weird mom who makes it impossible for her son to get married, and then there's this lady, Zooey Deschanel, in the court who needs to get married because she is pregnant, but nobody can get married before the prince does. So she sends her boyfriend to find a princess who will pass the queen's insane test, and he brings back this crazy princess from a swamp, who is actually awesome.
I loved Tracey Ullman in this, and all the ladies had amazing hair, and the princess was great. I disliked Matthew Morrison's face and hair, but luckily he was not in it that often. Plus, there was a weird part at the end when the king got his voice back and he was being a jerk to the queen - even though she was a jerk to him first, I did not like it. I wish people would stop being jerks. You will probably be okay to not see this one.
6. The Band Wagon (1954) - Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse. I watched this one because when I was looking up trivia on Singin' in the Rain, there were lots of comparisons about Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, who were apparently buds with super different dancing styles. Also, whereas Gene Kelly was not always the nicest person to be around, apparently Fred Astaire was super awesome, so I wanted to see him in something. It was a little weird in this movie, because he looked so much older than the girl he was kissing, and he seemed so out of place in the movie with his high pants and his small head. Although, they might have done that on purpose because one of the points of the movie was that he felt too old to be in musicals and he used to be famous but people forgot about him.
What I liked was to finally see him in something, and watching him dance because he is awesome, and also Cyd Charisse in all her different personalities that changed with her costumes, and her white skirt that was my favourite. I disliked when they kissed at the end, because it was really awkward and I looked it up and he was 54 when they made the movie and she was 32! Which isn't so bad, not like she was 19, but they looked so far apart in age that it was weird. He was born in 1899, you guys! Before the 1900s! I know obviously people were born before the 1900s. But still. This one was not my favourite, but it was still pretty good.
Now you're all caught up on my opinions. Stay tuned for more! I got to borrow a bunch from a friend before I came back after Christmas break, so I've got tons waiting to be critiqued. Just you wait.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
besides which you see
I'm very "home"-minded right now. I have these ideas for what to do with my mainland home, like paint my room purple and BUY A DOG. (That's totally the plan now. I'm going to buy a dog when I come back for good in June, except I want a dog NOW, especially since there are young Border Terrier dogs available for rescue and I want a Border Terrier because there is a Border Terrier-sized hole in my heart where my wonderful old dog used to be.) I was going to go to Scotland in the summer, since my contract at the high school is for twelve months even though I'm only working for ten, so I'm getting paid for two months of not working, which is probably never going to happen again. However, since I think (I think) I have a job as a substitute with the Surrey School District (!!!!!!!!) in September, I have re-evaluated my goals at this stage in my life and I think I should use that money to buy a car and a dog.
Also, I've been having some crisis thoughts about my work as a teacher. Am I too strict/mean? Am I leaving some kids behind? Am I actually teaching the Math kids any Math? Are they losing a whole year of education because I don't know what I'm doing? I don't know if these thoughts about work are normal. I went out for coffee with a friend who is newly an accountant, and she was self-conscious about her ability to account, so maybe my self-consciousness about my ability to teach is just something that goes along with you when you're new at something.
Last night when I was watching Maria swing her guitar around and sing about how she has confidence in herself, I was thinking how great it would be to listen to that song on repeat in the morning before the kids come. It will be like my "Rocky" theme, except about confidence instead of punching.
Also, I've been having some crisis thoughts about my work as a teacher. Am I too strict/mean? Am I leaving some kids behind? Am I actually teaching the Math kids any Math? Are they losing a whole year of education because I don't know what I'm doing? I don't know if these thoughts about work are normal. I went out for coffee with a friend who is newly an accountant, and she was self-conscious about her ability to account, so maybe my self-consciousness about my ability to teach is just something that goes along with you when you're new at something.
Last night when I was watching Maria swing her guitar around and sing about how she has confidence in herself, I was thinking how great it would be to listen to that song on repeat in the morning before the kids come. It will be like my "Rocky" theme, except about confidence instead of punching.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
apparently, we're both suffering from a deplorable lack of curiosity
Merry Christmas everyone! Now I'm watching The Sound of Music, except for at this moment because it's the "climb every mountain, ford every stream" song which I dislike on account of it being the most boring part in the whole movie. If anybody has any recommendations for wonderful, old musicals, let me know. Apparently I'm in a phase.
In my stocking I got a candy cane practically as big as my whole face. I love candy canes, as long as they're mint and ESPECIALLY if they're old and chewy. Everyone's always like, "Ew, old candy canes. Garbage!" and I'm always like, "Nooooooooooooooooooo!" and try to rescue them from the trash so I can chew them. Chewy candy canes > crunchy candy canes. I'm going to try and buy a bunch on Boxing Day sale tomorrow, and save them for next year so I'll have whole BOXES of spectacular chewy candy canes.
Lastly (the nun is belting out the final lines of that stupid song), I have new glasses! They are purple and lovely. Also, it's a new prescription finally, so I basically have x-ray vision.
In my stocking I got a candy cane practically as big as my whole face. I love candy canes, as long as they're mint and ESPECIALLY if they're old and chewy. Everyone's always like, "Ew, old candy canes. Garbage!" and I'm always like, "Nooooooooooooooooooo!" and try to rescue them from the trash so I can chew them. Chewy candy canes > crunchy candy canes. I'm going to try and buy a bunch on Boxing Day sale tomorrow, and save them for next year so I'll have whole BOXES of spectacular chewy candy canes.
Lastly (the nun is belting out the final lines of that stupid song), I have new glasses! They are purple and lovely. Also, it's a new prescription finally, so I basically have x-ray vision.
Friday, December 24, 2010
not so much as a "kiss my foot" or "have an apple"
Hey guys! It's Christmas Eve! I am in my pajamas and watching White Christmas for probably the seventh time, while simultaneously looking it up on imdb. For instance, did you know that Danny Kaye wasn't even supposed to be IN it? And that Vera Ellen doesn't actually sing any of her own songs? And that her waist was 21 INCHES??????????? And that part where Bob and Phil dance the ladies' dance in the ladies' costumes wasn't in the script, but Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye were fooling around on the set and did that for fun and they stuck it in the movie because it was awesome? I am a font of information. This brings to mind this internet comic that I saw which is amazing and completely appropriate for this situation, where the heading is "BEFORE THE INTERNET," and there are two people sitting on a couch. One person says, "Oh, no! I just thought of something I wanted to know more about!" and the other person says, "I'm so sorry." I wish I could find it for you. It is so perfectly suited.
The family went to the Christmas Eve service at church, and I give it an A+ for music and message, but a D- for punctuation on the power point slides. Every single slide was missing some sort of valuable punctuation, which distracted me because it occurred to me that without punctuation the songs either make no sense, or mean something different. For example, there's the old, "Hark the herald angel sing," which should be "Hark, the herald angel sing!" otherwise you think that Hark is the name of a herald angel. Also, whereas I always see is as
What Child is this who laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
it should be "who, laid to rest on Mary's lap, is sleeping." And "bring Him incense COMMA gold COMMA and myrrh," but I think that is a relatively new grammar rule.
(Actually, you probably don't care about any of that. Sorry. But I am the girl who owns a poster about when to use a semi-colon, and also about how to use apostrophes.)
The family went to the Christmas Eve service at church, and I give it an A+ for music and message, but a D- for punctuation on the power point slides. Every single slide was missing some sort of valuable punctuation, which distracted me because it occurred to me that without punctuation the songs either make no sense, or mean something different. For example, there's the old, "Hark the herald angel sing," which should be "Hark, the herald angel sing!" otherwise you think that Hark is the name of a herald angel. Also, whereas I always see is as
What Child is this who laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
it should be "who, laid to rest on Mary's lap, is sleeping." And "bring Him incense COMMA gold COMMA and myrrh," but I think that is a relatively new grammar rule.
(Actually, you probably don't care about any of that. Sorry. But I am the girl who owns a poster about when to use a semi-colon, and also about how to use apostrophes.)
Friday, December 17, 2010
losing your eye was your own fault. now what do you want.
Yesterday a friend and I went out for sushi and then watched White Christmas, which I had never seen fully up until this point but had always seen bits on t.v. and thought it was super boring. Turns out that when you watch the whole thing at once it's not boring at all, but is actually quite wonderful. When it got near to the end, I predicted that it was going to snow and they were going to kiss, and I was totally right. I'm smart about movies like that.
Speaking of movies, while my friend and I were waiting for our sushi we went to the movie store because they were having a buy 2 get 1 free sale, and I went a little bit crazy for $5 movies. This is what I bought:
- Penelope
- Corpse Bride
- America's Sweethearts
- Big Fish
- Royal Tenenbaums
- Igor
- Charlie Bartlett
- Nicholas Nickelby
- Elf
- Shrek the Halls
- Ever After
- Danny Deckchair
I'd never seen Charlie Bartlett or Igor, but it cost less to buy then than to rent them, and I watched them both today. (We had early dismissal at school, so I was a little bit bored.) I liked the former and disliked the latter. Also, two Christmas movies because as a teacher I think it's important that I build up my Christmas movie collection for early dismissal days before Christmas break.
On Sunday I'm driving home for two weeks, so I'm supposed to pack tomorrow. I started today, on account of being bored, and I discovered it's hard to pack for two weeks. I wish to put my tiny apartment in a box and bring everything with me. At least I'm taking the car, so I have space for the Christmas tree and half my wardrobe.
This is what I'm excited about:
- being back at home for more than one and a half days
- seeing my dog
- seeing everybody I know and miss!
- taking a break from wrangling hooligans all day
I'm going to miss the wind, though. Campbell River has spectacular wind.
Speaking of movies, while my friend and I were waiting for our sushi we went to the movie store because they were having a buy 2 get 1 free sale, and I went a little bit crazy for $5 movies. This is what I bought:
- Penelope
- Corpse Bride
- America's Sweethearts
- Big Fish
- Royal Tenenbaums
- Igor
- Charlie Bartlett
- Nicholas Nickelby
- Elf
- Shrek the Halls
- Ever After
- Danny Deckchair
I'd never seen Charlie Bartlett or Igor, but it cost less to buy then than to rent them, and I watched them both today. (We had early dismissal at school, so I was a little bit bored.) I liked the former and disliked the latter. Also, two Christmas movies because as a teacher I think it's important that I build up my Christmas movie collection for early dismissal days before Christmas break.
On Sunday I'm driving home for two weeks, so I'm supposed to pack tomorrow. I started today, on account of being bored, and I discovered it's hard to pack for two weeks. I wish to put my tiny apartment in a box and bring everything with me. At least I'm taking the car, so I have space for the Christmas tree and half my wardrobe.
This is what I'm excited about:
- being back at home for more than one and a half days
- seeing my dog
- seeing everybody I know and miss!
- taking a break from wrangling hooligans all day
I'm going to miss the wind, though. Campbell River has spectacular wind.
Friday, November 26, 2010
that's a curious name for a motorcar
Lately it's come about that every time I walk into the staff room at work I start singing the song "Truly Scrumptious" from one of the best movies of all time, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The first few times it didn't strike me as odd, because I watched that movie innumerable times when I was younger and probably also some of my students were singing it in the hallways to be obnoxious and get it stuck in everybody's heads. Eventually, however, it started to concern me. Why did it happen every time I walked into the staff room? Was somebody trying to subliminally control me into buying candy? Was somebody watching the movie on a constant loop in a nearby classroom? WHAT WAS GOING ON???
Today, I solved the mystery. For the past couple weeks there has been a box of those arrowroot-style baby cookies on the staff room table. In large white letters on the side of the box is the company name: TRULY. Obviously, since baby cookies are scrumptious, therein lies the connection. I don't know why I didn't put the pieces together sooner; I may have to rethink my side career as an ace detective.
Today, I solved the mystery. For the past couple weeks there has been a box of those arrowroot-style baby cookies on the staff room table. In large white letters on the side of the box is the company name: TRULY. Obviously, since baby cookies are scrumptious, therein lies the connection. I don't know why I didn't put the pieces together sooner; I may have to rethink my side career as an ace detective.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)