Category Archives: Big screen, little screen

When it comes to suffering sickness, I have few needs:  my couch, freedom from the shackles of pants, and copious amounts of television.

Happily (or as happy as one can be in such circumstances) all of these things were available after coming home from Alt and commencing with the neverending Cold.  Meanwhile, The David was away for work for a week, which meant that I was all sickly, pitiful and alone – but also free to watch whatever I wanted on the television machine.  And I’d just had a timely recommendation from a lady friend…

Oh, the perfect chicken soup for my soul:  The Vampire Diaries.

44 episodes are available on Netflix streaming right this very minute.  And if you want to know if I watched them all in the past 8 days, the answer is yes.  Yes, I did.

Let me give you some snippets of why this totally trashy show from the CW is just so riveting…

Elena is the central character.  She is incarnate good-girl, with long straight hair.

Elena starts dating the new guy at school, Stefan, and learns that he’s a vampire.  There is some balking at this unexpected affliction, but she lurves him and it is all systems go for teenage-dream.

Stefan has a brother, the smoldering hot Damon, also vampire.

Damon drinks people blood and kills the local townies.  Stefan does not.  Arguments about vampire morality.

Behold!  The town is governed by a committee of vampire killers!  They are riled up about all the blood-drained dead people, but don’t know who the vampires are.  In fact, they invite Damon to join their committee.

Elena looks EXACTLY like this vampire, Katherine (very long curly hair), who was responsible for Damon and Stefan’s undeadness in Civil War times.  Both brothers were in love with her.  So there’s a fancy triangle with the two brothers and Elena/Katherine.

And Elena’s best friend has newly discovered that she’s a witch!

There are also werewolves, ghosts, and gay dads.  No zombies.  As of yet.

That’s just a teeny tip of a big iceburg, but I don’t want to reveal too much, just in case you’re tempted to indulge.

My cold is on the way out, The David is back home again, and I’m up to date on episodes.  Now that I’m free from the viewing frenzy, I’ve gained enough perspective to somewhat sheepishly concede the level of drivel that is this show. Which has nothing to do with what I’ll be doing this Thursday night…

I watched Julie & Julia today and it was just as endearing as everyone said it was.  Meryl Streep was vibrant and she sure did do a good job of sounding like the stereotype of Julia Child.  I loved the story of Julia Child’s success and her love of good cooking.

Amy Adams, as ever, was adorable.  And the concept of what the character did was, admittedly, neat-o.  I couldn’t help but identify with it.  I like cooking!  I write a blog!  Look at me!  I’m writing a blog entry right now!  So I admired her and what she did, but man, was I jealous.

Just like that stupid girl in P.S. I Love You, I was jealous of Julie Powell, who found a way to turn something she loved into a hugely successful career.  People were begging her to publish a book.  And then she became A Writer.  Or that she was A Writer all along.

I wish I were A Writer!

If it weren’t exceptional, they wouldn’t make a movie about it, I know.  There’s not some pot of gold waiting to be discovered for everyone.  But I feel so jealous I can literally taste bitterness at the back of my throat.  Which makes about as much sense of being jealous of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.  Except that the cooking blog turning into a book deal was a true story.  And also that Vivienne was a prostitute before she was swept off her feet.  But still.  I know it’s a movie.  And I have plenty to be happy about.  Unlike Julie, I’m never alone in the kitchen with an imaginary friend.  I have a gorgeous boyfriend who does all the cooking with me.

I didn’t mean to watch the Oscars, but I did.  I meant to see more of the Oscar nominated movies, though, but I didn’t.  Instead, I went to see He’s Just Not That Into You and Coraline.  And I fully enjoyed both of those, dammit.

Evidently, a good movie isn’t enjoyable.  Good means that it should be gut-wrenchingly dismal.  Nothing says quality like kicking someone when they’re down.  And if you can demonstrate a small ray of light and hope, followed by an utter squashing of that meager chance for happiness, then by golly, you should be nominated for an Academy Award! Consequently, I haven’t felt terribly compelled to go see ‘Revolutionary Road,’ ‘The Reader,’ ‘Doubt’, ‘Rachel Goes to the Wedding,’ or ‘The Wrestler,’ but I’ve been having this itchy nagging feeling that I should.

I’m not sure if I thought The Wrestler was good.  It was very, very bleak.  At points, it was disgusting.  It made New Jersey look like the place where Boredom and Bad Taste go to have bad sex in a cheap motel and then overdose on crack cocaine.  And Mickey Rourke is really weird looking.  Kind of like some kind of deep sea fish from the murky depths.  Or a lion with no fur.

I loved that he got into his job behind the deli counter, even though he’d completely dreaded it.  But then he had fun and he interacted with people in a positive, real way.  There was this hope that he could carry on, having a normal, although simple and modest existence.  Then he has a hopeful moment with his daughter, planting a seed that he can be a part of her life and try to have a relationship.  And then, sigh… as movies are wont to do, after showing us the path that could have been, they took it all away.  We’re left wondering if he even survived 5 minutes after the final scene.  And if he did survive, in as much as his heart managed to keep beating, what happened then?  What’s left for this guy?

Thankfully, the popcorn was free and the Kernal Season’s Popcorn Seasonings, were plentiful.

I just finished watching Once on my Netflix and am just charmed.

Very sweet Irish movie about a guy and a Czech immigrant girl who write and record some songs together. In week, they meet, tentative sparks smolder generating some wistful music, and then they go their separate ways.

The music is fantastic and you really get to listen to a lot of it. The love is unrequited and their tender hearts are both recovering from heartache. Kind of a chick flick with some indie singer/songwriter sensibility.