5 mar 2010

up early in the morning for a concall. had to be cancelled at the last minute. started watching (500) Days of Summer while eating breakfast.

breakfast

bagel w/ cc
banana
oj
coffee
iced tea

drove elizabeth to the vre. once again we just made it with about 30 seconds to spare. friday appears to be the only day of the week when you can actually park at the station. the lot is about half as full as usual.

siding ($50)
water heater (say $1100 installed)
driveway erosion (?)
new stove ($500)
whole house fan ($750?)
lawn tractor repair (?)

jeez

worked from 8:30 to 12:45 but i don't remember what i worked on. all stuff that needed doing.

lunch

turkey, swiss on a bagel
bread & butter pickles
orange
iced tea

i've been wondering if i shouldn't have some bread and butter with the bread and butter pickles.

i watched the 2nd half of Summer during lunch. more anon.

v. strong feeling of cabin fever in the arternoon.

dinner

two ruby sliders
fries
salad
iced tea

big salad! at ruby tuesday. really felt salad-y today. haven't been eating enough veg material lately. our waiter's name was adam. i kept wondering if cane was hanging out in the kitchen causing trouble. only now he probably spells is Kaine. he's got a tattoo that says "Free Tommy Smothers" and another that says "SHIFT KEY STUCK".

slept through an episode of Lovejoy when we enrived home. dead tired. good nap tho. i tend to get more restful sleep sitting up.

Taking Woodstock

this is an ang lee joint so it is damned pretty. the guy has a painter's eye and just about any seen in an ang lee movie will be beautifully composed.

the first half hour of this movie is so slow that you begin to feel that it is intended as some new kind of narrative screen saver. the exposition is painful. the introduction of characters amateurish. the unwinding of the plot sluggggggish. almost like ang lee making a bad m night movie.

if you can stick that part out it gets better. not great. better. you end up with a sweet little story about a young man who cares enough about his aging parents to give up his bright life in the city to help them keep their decrepit hotel/home. in the end he feels betrayed by his mother's pathological money lust (presumably related to the experience of the h. word) while his relationship with his father is renewed and affirmed.

henry goodman as the father is really excellent. very beautiful and loving performance. the great imelda staunton has a very difficult role to play. she is, basically, an unlikeable person and imelda staunton makes her feel like fingernails scratching on a chalkboard. an amazing performance but not one that you can say you enjoyed.

demetri martin is likeable but it is readily apparent, especially given the rest of the cast, that he is not an actor. (he reminds me a little of rosie o'donnell in a league of their own. acting in scene after scene with truly good actors while you are pretty much learning the rudiments.) he doesn't suck but he is clearly the weak link in the chain.

Emile Hirsch as Billy is, I'd say, uncomfortable in his early scenes but settles in well for his later scenes. Eugene Levy does a nice job as Max Yasgur. I've gotten so used to him as Jim's Dad in American Pie that it is hard to think of him as anything else. To finally see him in a meetier role is a pleasure. (I'll have to write about the redefined American daddy of the 90's one day: Eugene Levy as Jim's Dad in the American Pie franchise, Kurtwood Smith as Eric's Dad on That 70's Show, and Joe Flaherty as Lindsay's Dad on Freaks and Geeks.)

As to Liev Schreiber, I'll only say that he reminds me of Roberta Muldoon (John Lithgow) in The World According to Garp. Oh, and Roberto Muldoon is one of my favorite characters in literature.

(500) Days of Summer

After all of the effusive praise i heard about this movie i've got to say that i was disappointed.

credit where credit is due:

- the general premise is clever and pretty well executed

- the lead actors are charming and the supporting cast is generally quite good

- it's a well-made, well-written movie. certainly a solid B if not better

but, it ain't no home run. i think the key is the zooey d. factor. if she's still bumping the meter at "way cuter than sandra bullock" then this movie is probably a+ material. for me she was at that level singing in the shower in elf. i still dig her but she doesn't cause my circuit breakers to trip any more. (s.b. as a blond in that football movie. hubba, hubba.)

by the way, if i never see another movie with a profoundly wise 12 yr old i'll be a happy person.