If not for the inclusion of Orny Adams–a steaming bundle of neurosis and uncertainty who was painful to watch–this would have been a much better movie. I understand the dramatic contrast between the seasoned pro and the up-and-coming comic could have been an interesting one, but Adams was so unlikable that I mostly just waited for him to go away. There were some interesting and also delightful moments, like Jerry Seinfeld telling the story of the Glen Miller band tromping through a slushy Iowa field, but I’m not sure it’s worth watching the entire movie to experience them.
Poem for December 2011: A Song in the Front Yard
We are now 1000!
Three sentence movie reviews: Bright Star
Much like Paul Schneider(!)’s character I really didn’t get what John Keats saw in Fanny Brawne and so was befuddled for much of this movie, and thus missed tapping in to the star-crossed love. This was kind of slow, but I’m not really sorry I watched it. The director’s interviews at the end were nicely illuminating.
How did those 2011 resolutions go?
Well, it turns out I forgot one entirely. I was going to cook four different kinds of vegetables each week. That would explain why I had a separate “V” designation for chores accomplished (as compared to the “F” for anything to do with food. I did cook/prep a lot more vegetables early in the year and then less so the second half of the year.
Best movies watched in 2011
Best books read in 2011
Books read in December 2011
I finish my ten-title Mock Printz YA reading list and find some time for other things too.
Three sentence movie reviews: State Fair
Though I’ve only seen it one other time, this is one of my favorite movie musicals. The songs are good, the clothing is delightful, the story is hokey–but entertaining–and I love the idealized depiction of an Iowa State Fair. For those of you who would like State Fair in more forms, there is also a book by Phil Strong, a non-musical version from 1933 starring Will Rodgers and a 1962 version set in Texas starring Pat Boone.
Three sentence movie reviews: The Lion in Winter
I hadn’t watched this movie since high school, and near the end I had the thought, “This is sort of like the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, but the parents have four children! I didn’t buy the oh-so 1960s reason for Katherine Hepburn’s actions, but I loved watching her and the hunky Peter O’Toole as well as a very young Anthony Hopkins (and also Timothy Dalton!) There’s a scene near the end where a soldier is killed that I would guess is rather what hand-to-hand combat is like: quiet, desperate and takes much longer than one wants it to.