Category Archives: Movies

Currently

I gave myself a little treat yesterday and went to the movies. I keep talking about wanting to watch Step Up Revolution, but I decided that my $10.50 would be better spent on Beasts of the Southern Wild. I don’t remember where I first read about this movie, but once it got hyped up at Cannes, I couldn’t get away from the news blurbs (particularly since it’s loved by Vulture). It was a touching film, wonderfully visual and in your face in the best kind of way. Quvenzhané Wallis is a revelation, beautiful and fearless, and I hate that I looked her up on IMDB because I want to continue believe that she is Hushpuppy. As for Dwight Henry, who plays Hushpuppy’s father Wink, I kept trying to remember the fun fact I had read about him because the character he plays (and plays amazingly well) is so raw and I knew he was a nice guy in real life. Turns out that he ran a bakery and would bring donuts to set.

During the first half of the movie, I was wishing that I had dragged someone to the movies with me. By the end of the film, I was glad I was by myself (and definitely happy that I wasn’t on a date) because I had turned into a blubbering sad/happy mess. The film won’t appeal to everyone, but if you have an open mind, an open heart, and appreciate visual storytelling, you will enjoy the film. Um, bring tissues. Grown men were wiping tears off their cheeks in the movie theater.

I’m currently in Milwaukee taking a mini-vacation. We got here today, hit up a farmers market, walked around and ate dinner at a nearby mall, and then drove around looking for Lake Michigan, which isn’t far from our hotel. We drove for awhile, wondering if we were even going in the right direction, when we stumbled upon Klode Park. It’s a public area, nestled among some nifty real estate, with a really serene view of the lake. It was nice to be there right before sunset. I’ll post more trip photos once I’m able to transfer everything from my digital camera, but here’s a preview pic taken with my phone:

Music-wise, I finally heard The Royal Concept, had my “Wait, that’s not Phoenix?” moment, and ended up downloading their EP. Did I mention that I’ve been listening to Ice-T a lot lately? He somehow makes work more manageable, just as he made doing homework more manageable when I was in high school. Hmm, what else… I’m liking the latest Passion Pit and am eagerly awaiting the latest from Bloc Party. Finally, I downloaded Aesop Rock  and was listening to him with my older niece while we road tripped to Milwaukee. Then, both the nieces and I had a mini Aesop Rock dance party in the hotel room. It was pure fun.

Music-related: Tammi got me a Lollapalooza t-shirt for my birthday in addition to some kickass vegan chocolate bars that I can’t wait to try. Thanks, lady! Now I can pretend that I attended the festival. I absolutely do not regret not going, especially since they had to evacuate and all, though there are several artists I would have loved to see. After experiencing Pitchfork, though, Lollapalooza seems so damn huge, uncomfortably crowded, and overall way too much to handle.

In other birthday news, I must thank MK for taking me out for a drink to celebrate. Not only did I have a fun night with a good friend, I learned yet again that even a little gin makes me talk very openly about anything and everything. Or, maybe it’s just because Monika is super cool. Either way, gin for me totally equals veritaserum. It would behoove me to remember that lest I partake while in the company of people who really don’t need to know my secrets.

That’s all for now! I’m going to try and enjoy the next couple of days. Work will be insane when I get back from Milwaukee, and I want to relax while I can.

Currently

Hey. The title of the blog is i-cant-drive, so let’s talk driving for a minute. Driving complaints: bikes, scooters, trucks, slow drivers, fast drivers, honkers, buses, tire pressure light, oil change, need to get my car detailed. Oh, crap, need to go for an emissions test, too. Kids, if you’re reading this and are looking at the photo above, you will note that my hands are NOT at 10 and 2 on the wheel. Do not follow my example. Be a good driver. On another note, it’s obvious that one should not drive while under the influence. I wish I could hand the keys over to someone else when I’m having a bad day.

Are you watching the Olympics? I’m not. I like keeping up with the highlights and results, and I even like reading people’s live tweets. When talking to a co-worker about it today, I realized that one of the reasons I’m not watching is because it stresses me out. Don’t get me wrong — I’m seriously impressed with the athletes and their abilities. But the pressure they must be under! It brings me back to my music competition days when I was a serious stressball and had a serious stick up my ass. It’s honestly gut-wrenching. Hearing about Gabby Douglas’s mishap on the uneven bars made me feel so nervous. Hearing about it. Not watching it. I can’t bring myself to watch it.

MK and I are prepping for our next quarterly party at work. I can’t help but think about how much has changed in the three months since the last one. The last three months, six months, one year… I still feel like I’m a boring, lame girl, but my life keeps getting better instead of worse. That’s good, right? Anyway, this quarter we’re doing a summer theme thanks to MK’s awesome ideas, so I’ve been listening to The Beach Boys tonight while putting a playlist together.

In terms of TV, I’ve been marathoning Lost Girl. I didn’t know what to expect from this show, but I’m fricken entertained. It’s good-looking people in supernatural situations with some sexy times and swearing (if you’re watching the uncensored version anyway), humor that I dig, and a mystery that keeps me invested but doesn’t cause me to lose sleep. It’s not campy but it ain’t Battlestar Galactica, either.

I’m pausing my reading of Everything Happens at Night and started reading The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris. It’s an easy read, which is just what I need right now, but I have a feeling that it’s going to break my heart.

Birthday weekend is coming up! I’m not that excited. I mean, I don’t really have any plans which is totally boring and lame. I thought I would be out of town all weekend but it turns out I’ll only be gone Sunday and Monday. So if anyone wants to go to impromptu dinner, drinks, and a viewing of Step Up: Revolution (because COME ON, I want to see something mindless and happy and corny plus DANCING), let me know. We’ll have a time, as Rayanne Graff would say. If you get that reference, we can be friends forever.

Moonrise Kingdom

Yesterday, I made time to see a movie in an actual movie theater! The geriatric set and I (this is not a joke; I was the youngest person in the theater) caught a matinee of Moonrise Kingdom:

Most of my demographic were probably getting their panties wet watching Magic Mike or laughing their butts off watching Ted. I really wanted to watch Moonrise Kingdom in the theater. Is it okay for me to say I’m a Wes Anderson fan even though I’ve only seen three of his movies? Two and half is more like it. I don’t really remember The Royal Tenenbaums because I was too busy wondering why Gwyneth Paltrow was there. I ADORE Bottle Rocket, though. I remember renting it from Blockbuster Video and loving its complete oddballness along with the Wilson brothers. OMG, Bottle Rocket. So genius! I have to watch it again. Anyway, I thought Moonrise Kingdom was charming, weird, funny, devastating, and smart. One of the old men in the audience LOL’d a bit too much for my taste, but there were a few times when I was the the only one laughing. That could be ’cause I’m weird.

Check out I Babysat the ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ Kid

The movie is filmed in that Wes Anderson way. Everything is real and beautiful and visually appealing. The actors are gorgeous. Let’s talk about the actors for a sec. I am not an actor nor have I ever aspired to be, but I get so damn jealous sometimes when I watch actors in movies like this. For one thing, any actor in a Wes Anderson movie has to be brilliant. His films require talent, a certain look, but also a really deep understanding of the character. How unfair is it that these actors at the ages of 13 or 14 or whatever can be so damn brilliant?

Oh my goodness. Cut it out, kids. And say no to drugs.

If you’re into Wes Anderson and love precocious kids and weird romances, watch this. If you don’t… why are you even reading this?

Currently

Happy Sunday! Wait. Happy Monday! Oh, how I love and hate Monday holidays. I know I should be glad that I will only have a four day work week (and I only had a four day work week last week since I took Friday off), but the weeks where we get Monday off seem so long. Anyway, here’s what’s been happening.

Turning Veganese turned celebrated its six month anniversary which also means that I’ve been on my way to being vegan for six months. I feel great and morally superior to omnivores. Just kidding about that last part. But, I do feel great. I have had to shop for new clothes to go with my slightly new body. A better diet isn’t everything, though, so…

…I’ve decided to start working out again. My reasons for wanting to exercise are mostly superficial. Like I said, I feel great, but I would like to look great. I would also like to be more physically fit. I walked up seven flights of stairs at work a couple weeks ago and sounded like I was having a panic attack afterward. A guy at work does it everyday and said he started out the same way, but now it’s pretty much effortless. That’s good motivation. We have an on-site gym at work, so all I have to do is drag my ass in there. I dusted off the old gym bag (I literally had to dust it off) and packed it for tomorrow.

Another thing I’m going to try doing is bringing my lunch to work. I spend so much money on coffee, breakfast, lunch and snacks at work. It’s icky and it’s putting me in the poor house. Anyone got any recommendations on a good French press? I have one but I’m thinking of buying a nicer one and keeping the old one at work.

As part of my lazy Memorial Day, I thought it would be nice to watch a movie while laying in bed. I guess I could have watched it while working out in front of the TV, but I didn’t, OK? I watched a modern-day classic, the 2011 version of Footloose.

Watching this movie did not change my life and I bet you are rolling your eyes or laughing at the fact that I watched it. Well, I enjoyed it! I thought Kenny Wormald was charming. Shut up.

I also watch good stuff, like Mad Men. Ohmigosh, did you see last night’s episode, “The Other Woman?” Sooo good. So disturbingly good. Quietly shocking and thought-provoking. I just love Jon Hamm. And I love Ginsberg. I think Ben Feldman is cute and I love him in Drop Dead Diva and that Hillary Duff movie he was in and I swear to you that I am an intelligent person with good taste in television and movies.

Music-wise, I’m liking the new record by The Walkmen. I also can’t get Rihanna and Carly Rae Jepsen out of my head. Why am I admitting this on my blog? That’s my cue to end this post and go to bed.

 

Happy Hunger Games

There’s a lady who sits near me at work who seems to be on personal phone calls all day. She’s kind of loud, but I’ve learned to tune her out unless I’m in the mood for some entertainment; listening to her like listening to a soap opera. Yesterday, I heard something that piqued my interest:

Did you say ‘Hunger Games?’ Wait, girl, let me rephrase that. Did YOU say ‘Hunger Games?’… Yeah, I saw it at midnight… Listen, it’s gooood, but (sigh) it’s unsettling and… No, no, girl. It’s entertaining and I loved it, but… how can I say this… it’s not a feel-good movie, okay? You won’t walk out of the movie theater feeling good. You might want to watch something else instead.

I’m a fan of the books so this was good to hear. The books can be pretty disturbing and really drained me emotionally. I tore through The Hunger Games and Catching Fire very quickly. I finished Mockingjay in a day but I had to put the book down and walk around between chapters to decompress. I read enough blurbs to know that the movie was faithful to the books–almost to a fault–so I was glad to know that it wasn’t a feel-good film.

I considered going to a midnight showing of The Hunger Games (it was released yesterday), but I needed to be 100% at work so I hit up the first show at my favorite movie theater today. The rest of the audience was mostly made up of young boys with their mothers. I opted to go alone. It was a smart move since I was a bawling mess 10 minutes into the movie and then throughout. This is NOT a date movie, people.

I don’t want to say much besides this: I loved the movie. It really is very faithful to the book. All the elements and feelings that needed to be conveyed or visualized were there. I’m not that nitpicky with adaptations: there is only so much that you can translate to film and even then, only so much that will translate well. In the case of The Hunger Games, I don’t think anyone who hasn’t read the book is missing anything. Gary Ross did such a great job with his direction, and Jennifer Lawrence is quickly becoming one of my favorite people. All the acting was great. I was especially pleased with Woody Harrelson’s portrayal of Haymitch. Nothing felt rushed or expositional. It was a well done movie all around.

I walked around the shopping center for a bit after the movie in an attempt to get it out of my head. Watching the movie took some energy out of me, though. Like the lady at work said, it’s really good, but it’s also unsettling (as it should be). I’m excited about the rest of the films being made, but I might need to bring a box of tissue and a blankie with me by the time Mockingjay is released. Oops. I may have said too much!

May the odds be evah in your favor!

I Love You, Internets

This weekend, I watched I Love You, Man starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segal. I didn’t think I was gonna like this movie so much, but I found myself relating to Paul Rudd’s character (minus the projectile vomiting part). I love the friendship that he ended up having with Jason Segal’s character because it reminded me of one of my friendships, specifically my friendship with someone I met on Twitter. Anyone who has a friendship like that, one that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, is super lucky.

Okay, if you haven’t watched the movie, this post is cryptic and nonsensical. So watch the damn movie. Here are some outtakes from the movie for your pleasure.

Another Note on Harry Potter Exhibit

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Fans of Robert Pattinson will also enjoy the exhibit as it features the Quidditch robes and formal wear (see above) worn by the actor in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Sorry, girls. It’s safe to say that everything’s been dry cleaned, so none of RobPatt’s essence will rub off on you. Plus, you’ll probably get kicked out if you try and touch anything. May Cedric Diggory rest in peace.