ME_Says Must List

Those who know me, know that I'm addicted to my iPhone. Almost always on it, checking facebook, checking-in using foursquare, updating my twitter feed through tweetdeck. But for these great apps that I use, there wasn't one I could write about in the blog. Until now. Entertainment Weekly just released a new app, based on their weekly column, Must List. All the pop culture that they are obsessed with weekly. Of course I got it immediately and added my own twist on their must list. Here is mine:

- The World Cup. It's been over for 2 weeks now, but it was so all consuming for a month that I think it still bears a mention. My pre tournament pick, Spain, won so I'm a very happy camper. Better is Kickette, a site that obsesses about sexy footballers. Thanks for keeping the world cup alive!

- The Kids Are All Right. Gets my vote for best movie of the year so far. I've said it all before.

- One Day by David Nicholls. What a great book. Compulsively readable.You just want to know what happens next for Dex and Em, who meet on their graduation day and we follow them for the next 20 years. The perfect summer book.

- Joan Rivers' A Piece of Work. Who knew the directors of the heavy drama documentaries "The Devil Came on Horseback" and 'The Trials of Darryl Hunt" had this funny movie in them? It follows Rivers for a year and it's a fascinating journey and a sobering look at the relentless drive and despair behind the glamour of show business. And it has my favourite line from a movie this year, uttered by Joan herself. "I live like Marie Antoinette.... if she were rich".

- The Bachelorette. Completely ridiculous. Absolutely unreal. But oh so dramatic and I'm hooked. I can't help but watch every week.

- The Daily Show. Smartest show on TV. Enough said.

- Somewhere trailer. Moody and surreal. It's like a dream that I'd like to be in. Certainly a better dream than the over hyped and so what Inception. And after "Marie Antoinette" and "Lost in Translation", I want to see what Sofia Coppola does next. I know it will look gorgeous. But beware great trailers sometimes lead to bad movies, last year "A Single Man" had the best trailer but we ended with a vile movie.

- Mad Men. Everyone knows it's the best show on TV now. The 3rd season was almost perfect. I might even get cable to watch it with the rest of the world instead of waiting for the DVDs on netflix.

The Kids Are All right is right on!

Proceed with caution, this entry contains minor spoilers.

The Kids Are All Right is the kind of movie I like best. A contemporary American comedy that comments on the way we are living today. It tells the story of a couple (Julianne Moore and Annette Bening) whose teenage kids (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) decide to contact their sperm donor biological father (Mark Ruffalo). What follows is a charming, funny, thoughtful and touching comedy. And it's a perfect gem of a movie. Full of real characters and relateable situations.

The script by Lisa Cholodenko (who also directed) and Stuart Blumberg is so spot on. There are elements of the story that I was apprehensive of (one of the gay mom's affair with the straight donor dad), but they felt right and were real. The writing is so good that all five main performances are almost perfect. Ruffalo is charming and sexy and makes you realize why people would be attracted to his basically overgrown kid. Wasikowska and Hutcherson are very believable and offbeat in different ways. And it's almost always hard to play a 'real" teenager, but they pull it off.

Moore plays the flighty underachiever with warmth and wit. She has a fantastic comedy moment reacting to a surprise kiss. Fantastically funny. And she gets a big scene where she explains her character, and she nails it. While I love Julianne, Bening was amazing in this. The way she butched it up in her walk and her voice. Plus she gets the best lines and the best scenes. And it's all subtext, just how she reacts. Watch a lifetime of marriage reflected on her face when Moore is talking about her "career". And in another scene towards the end, she punches the audience in the stomach with the authenticity of her feelings of betrayal. I loved how it got all quiet and it was all about Benning's acting and her face...wow. Not to mention her mini breakdown in the restaurant scene where she unravels and comes clean about being threatened. She may finally win that elusive Oscar.

Great great movie. The minute it ended, I wanted to see it again immediately. Best of 2010 so far.

Toy Story 3 is actually really good!!

I don't like animated movies. Don't know who Dorie nor Nemo are. Thought the Lion King was terrible, but the Incredibles were pretty fly.Last year I succumbed to peer pressure and ecstatic reviews and saw Up. Boring and predictable except for those wonderful 4 minutes that told a story of a lifetime of love and marriage with poetry and efficiency. I don't remember seeing the first two Toy Story movies but I must've seen at least one because the characters were familiar this time around.

Anyhow Toy Story 3 was enjoyable. It had a simple but funny and engaging story. Time flew by, I only looked at my phone a couple of times. And it had this one fantastic scene towards the end that tugs at the heartstrings. I found myself clutching my friend's arm with tears in my eyes. It was so moving and in a moment said a whole lot about life and one's mortality. Can't remember the last time a movie made me feel like this. Which could be a curious comment on my cynical heart. But I think it's because this movie is just good.

Full disclosure : It was not my first choice. I really wanted to see Cyrus, but it was sold out. And it was so hot that I was craving the A/C of the theatre. I would've seen anything.

Chris Colfer is an Emmy Nominee!

Are you a Gleek? I totally am. Love the show. It dominated with 19 nominations at this year's Emmys. But the one nomination that I absolutely love is Chris Colfer for playing Kurt. Very deserved. It is great to see on TV a young adult gay man portrayed with such subtlety and truth. His character arc was so moving dealing with coming out, his crush on a straight friend and his relationship with his dad. And Colfer was in turns heartbreaking, defiant, lost and triumphant in his characterization. Who else could bring such charm and laughs to a scene where he comes out to the whole world while singing Beyonce's "Single Ladies" in a football field in full gear!

Congrats Chris.

2010 Movies

Is this the worst year for movies in a long time? Feels like it. It is very hard to find a movie to go these. And even upcoming movies are not exciting me, only a handful.

I did manage to see some movies in the last few months. Very few though and I only really really liked two:




A Prophet -a masterpiece. Believe the critics and the hype. Fascinating character study of what makes a criminal. Circumstance or upbringing or are they just born criminals? It could also be viewed as an allegory to corporate success and how one climbs the ranks or rather obliterates the competition. The ultimate killer instinct story.

Splice - the best horror movie I've seen in years. It was smart and edge of your seat thrilling. Plus it tried to explore a long-term romantic relationship. Not entirely successfully but I appreciate the effort. What made this movie different is the fascinating character at the center of it, called "Dren". Not fully human, but a DNA-mix. You watch as "she" grows up and goes through different stages : childhood, love and even sex.





Other movies I've seen :





Sex and the City 2 - This was very disappointing, particularly because I loved the series which was so smart and funny while addressing real relationship issues. This was just dumb and unnecessary. However most of the audience I was with loved it. What I didn't understand was why the reviews were so harsh? Why all the hate? It's not a good movie but not worse than 80% of what comes out every summer. Certainly not worse than The Proposal from last year which started Sandra Bullock fantastic year. Is it SJP? She is a polarising figure and seems to elicit very strong feelings, particularly from movie critics.


Please Give - I remember tearing up a couple of times watching this story about neurotic New Yorkers and their messy lives. However I don't remember why, and a few weeks later nothing has stayed with me from it. Apparently forgettable.

Summer Movies?

For me this summer looks like a big snooze. There are hardly any movies that I'm anticipating. SATC2 is totally unnecessary although I guess I'll see it. Cruise and Diaz in an action rom-com, snooze. Another movie from the pretentinous M Night Shyamalan, please what is this 1999?

However I admit to looking forward to these 3 movies:

Splice : a sci-fi horror mystery about a newly created species/monster. Could be the worst movie ever made. Or could be so so great. With art house darling Sarah Polley involved I'm betting on the latter.

Inception : Chris Nolan and Leo DiCaprio. Not to mention Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ken Watanabe and Marion Cotilliard. {Plus the premise sounds trippy. I'm there.

The Kids Are Alright : Benning and Moore. Plus Ruffalo. Looks delightful. And it a major movie from a queer filmmaker. And deafening buzz from Sundance. I'm so there.

So slim pickings for me this summer season.

Happy Birthday Cate!

The luminous Cate Blanchett is 41 today. She bedazzeled at the Cannes Film Festival in a tribute gown to Alexander Mcqueen.

I love her so much, as Fergie says, like a kid loves their blanket. But do I love her enough to sit through Robin Hood this weekend? Crowe has become unwatchable and Scott has not made a good movie since Black Hawk Dawn.

Oh Cate why can't you make better choices. I know working with Scott and before that Steven Spielberg sounded like good ideas. But as a result you were in the lamest Indiana Jones movie and the reviews for Robin Hood so far have not really been that good.

Still love you, though.

Just because it's a joyful picture

Oscar Oscar - How was it?

Well first things first, my predictions. I got 19 out of 24 correct. Not bad, I won the pool at the my party.The short films totally tripped me. I was happy to be wrong about Adapted Screenplay and for Geoffrey Fletcher to be the first African American to win a writing Oscar. Hopefully in a few years race and gender won't matter but first they have to start winning. Which they did this year.


The show itself was not that entertaining. Neil Patrick Harris, who was fantastic at the Tonys and Emmys, was only so-so here. Martin and Baldwin brought a retro vibe back to the Oscars, particularly after Jackman last year totally pushed it forward. They had a couple funny jokes (...that damn Helen Mirren, and the snuggles) but mostly predictable and not funny enough. And the show felt like it went forever.

The emotional highlight for me was Oprah's intro of Gabourey Sidibe, calling her "a new American Cinderella" while Gabby was moved to tears. If only that was followed by her actually winning. Alas the Sandy train could not be stopped, but she gave the best speech of the night. Funny, emotional, humble...hit all the right notes. And while Mon'Nique was criticized for not being humble enough, I liked that she paid a tribute to Hattie McDaniel, both in her speech and her outfit. While I see why she mentioned the politics of campaigning, in winning she should've risen above that. But so happy to see her win, if one person deserved an Oscar this year, it was Mo'Nique.


The Hurt Locker won 6. I think the last time my favourite film of the year won was back in 1996 with The English Patient. Happy for Bigelow, Boal and all the other winners. As Nathaniel Rogers from Film Experience called it "The Sexy Locker", everyone's so damn hot! The best film of the year won. Still I was surprised by how poorly "Avatar" did. I guess you can't win without acting and writing nominations.
Just a quick note about the fashion. It was not that interesting. Most people (except Charlize Theron and SJP) looked good. Loved the outrageousness of the mullet dress that Zoe Salanda wore. Hot! Carey Mulligan wore another mullet and I applaud them both for not being boring. Of the men Jake Gyllenhaal looked the best. But the Sexy Locker guys were up there too.

Another year, another Oscar. When the next one? February 2011, here we come. Maybe the kids will be alright, then.