Sick day

Kim was complaining on the phone about how nobody posts to this anymore, so I thought I'd give a stab at it, although I don't really have a whole lot to say, really. I took a sick day today, because I had a really annoying sinus headache, which only got worse in the morning after I called out and went back to bed. I got up at noon and took the bus about 20 blocks in a complete fog and went to the grocery store to get some cheese and a green pepper, then went back up to my apartment, took some Excedrin, ate a quesadilla and started to feel better. I watched some X-Files and read some of the new David Sedaris book and watched my favorite scene of Penelope about a frillion times.

I also got an email from my agent, who said that she's gearing up to send out my manuscript after Labor Day, because that's when all the publishers will be settling back into their routines after all the conferences and vacations during the summer. So I'm impatient, but I also know this is the best idea, so that the book doesn't fall through the cracks. I'm so lucky to have somebody behind me that believes in the project so much--I only hope that it all lives up to our expectations.

That's really all that's going on in my life. Sorry to be so boring, but oh well. My life is boring. Oh, also I saw Wanted, which stars the amazing James McAvoy, who was typically wonderful. The movie was violent, but for an action film it had quite a quirky, ridiculous personality--only a crazy person could've made it, but a brilliant crazy person. I highly recommend.

I'm gonna see some moovies!

Oh, Hollywood. You fill me with so much rage. But! I am not above escaping from the dismal boredom of my own life and into the romantic, tense, sometimes tragic, sometimes comic, drama of yours! Like how I can't stop watching Becoming Jane on DVD, and how I keep talking people's ears off about how much I love Atonement and TJM (That James McAvoy). Whatever. Just be glad you didn't know me during the Titanic/Leonardo DiCaprio days...it was a roughie!

Anyways, I'm excited about a smattering of upcoming movies and I'd like you to share in my excitement/provide you with an opportunity to mock me in private/on the blog!



Penelope: Premieres February 29th (that's this Friday!!!). Starring Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, and Reese Witherspoon, this Reese Witherspoon-directed modern fairytale is about a sweet young woman named Penelope who, due to a family curse, was born with a pig's face (read: nose and ears, she's still uber cute with the prosthetics FYI) and must be loved by a high society blue blood in order to break the curse. Her mother, played by Catherine O'Hara, has hidden her away from the outside world and is now engaged in the monumental task of finding a husband for her daughter, while a sketchy tabloid photog (Peter Dinklage) has dedicated his life to getting a snap of Penelope's face and selling it for lots of money. Enter James McAvoy, a little bit of a scoundrel with (I assume) some sort of debts, who agrees to help the photog by luring Penelope out of the house. His scheme both works and backfires, and Penelope leaves the house to see what the real world is like. See the trailer here. I'm so excited to see TJM with an American accent (we'll see how that goes), and can even forgive the mad fauxial hair he's got going on throughout. Seeing this on Friday.



Semi-Pro: Premiers February 29th. Bri and I are planning a double-feature on Friday night to go see Penelope and Semi-Pro. For those of you who haven't seen the trailer (I hadn't until two days ago!), the movie concerns one Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell), the owner/captain of a semi-pro basketball team that is getting shut out of their league's absorption into the NBA. So of course Jackie, being a Will Ferrell character, has a fit about it and then determines to raise his team's record so that they can get coveted spots in the NBA. Wackiness ensues.



Sex and the City: Premiers May 30. I'm ridiculously excited, even though the new trailer does reveal some sad plot lines: Big ditches Carrie at the altar, Miranda's husband Steve may have cheated on her, and Samantha's ability to commit to Smith (by far the vastest character growth on the show over six years, which is sort of sad but also sort of true--oh, wait, Charlotte ditches her "perfect" Park Avenue prince for a man who she can really love forever, that's growth) seems to be wobbling. The only person whose life rocks is Charlotte's, who has adopted her Mandarin daughter with Harry and then finds out she's pregnant. Which is awesome, because I feel like Charlotte was made to be a mom like Ms. Neely was made to be a mom (except Ms. Neely is real). Can't wait for this flim, it will be magical.



Untitled X-Files Sequel: Premiers July 25th. Do I even need to say anything about this? Except, have you seen the weird pirated trailer on YouTube? Who is that guy with all the hair? Bri: "Maybe it's just Chris Carter running around in a wig?" I don't know how I feel about this trailer. You see Scully and Mulder each like once and it looks very weird and, dare I say it, cheesy? Also, the Arctic? That's been done, bitches. Gah, who knows what this movie will be like? I hope it's good and that it's nothing like the "trailer". No, no, no, good thoughts! It will be wonderful.

Potent Quotables

I don't know how many of you have seen Juno, but Diablo Cody, the former stripper (really!) who wrote the screenplay, has a celebrity playlist on iTunes, and she picked Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man" for one of her songs. The commentary on the list goes a little something like this: "Neil Diamond is not even human. He is a very special genius alien from Planet Chest Hair."

I thought you'd like it, especially you, Glenn Coco!

Kim won't care, but for the rest of you

The Sex and the City trailer. I'm not going to go all too cool for school on y'all and pretend I'm not excited for the movie to come out in May. Speaking of movies, my review of Juno is up at my blog. Sneak peak: I loved it!

Post more people! (Thanks go out to you, Carrie, though, for being awesome.)

Tea Leoni and David Duchovny are SOOOOO copying me!

Uh, Cambria? David Duchovny and Tea Leoni are probably moving down the street from you, or something. Maybe we'll bump into them at the Buck of Stars and get to be lifelong besties!

The Jane Austen Book Club

I read this book a few years ago, that summer that I attended the Denver Publishing Institute--I even bought the novel at the Tattered Cover's now-defunct Cherry Creek location, and although I found that I could not remember anything that happened in it right before I went to see the movie last night, I did remember liking it a lot. Usually, books that are take-offs, sequels, or even slightly reference Jane Austen novels kind of revolt me--with Bridget Jones' Diary being the obvious exception. But I loved The Jane Austen Book Club. The six people in the book club do not neatly fit in to one of the molds created by the heroines of one of Austen's six novels--for instance, I like everybody in The Jane Austen Book Club, which means that nobody can fit the mold of Fanny Price (Mansfield Park). Despite its girly name, The Jane Austen Book Club is not chick lit--it's literary fiction, a polite, deferential homage to one of the greatest writers the English language has ever seen, but also a novel that stands on its own, with deep, complex characters and beautiful prose.



The movie is no less spectacular. Packed with quiet movie stars who shine in their appointed roles without taking up too much space, The Jane Austen Book Club was an interesting portrait of six people, some of whom aren't even friends, trying to figure out who they are and what their lives mean. Jocelyn (Maria Bello) is a single dog breeder in her late thirties/early forties who is constantly toeing the line between contentedly alone and desperately lonely; Sylvia (Amy Brenneman) is a married woman with three grown children whose husband (Jimmy Smitts) reveals his infidelity in the strangest way, by telling Sylvia they've had a good marriage and "might as well quit while they're ahead," sending Sylvia into a sad tailspin followed by a brilliant, bouncy comeback that has nothing to do with a new love interest; Bernadette (Lynn Redgrave) is an older woman who's been married six times and has no real plot line of her own besides being the energetic spirit that keeps the group together and providing counsel for the younger ones; Prudie (Emily Blunt) is a high school teacher who is considering having an affair with a student despite being married to Dean (Mark Blucas); Allegra is Sylvia's youngest child, a beautiful lesbian who tries to reconcile her parents' divorce with her own desire to love and be loved; and Grigg (Hugh Dancy), the only male member of the book club, a rich nerdy guy who works for a pittance as an IT guy at Sac State to have something do, bikes everywhere despite owning a jalopy that runs on donut grease, and lives in a shiny new development because his accountant told him to buy property, who has feelings for Jocelyn but is too polite to make a move.

The magic of The Jane Austen Book Club is all in the characters; they drive the story, and their chats about Austen are fun diversions that show exactly who they are.

Gives a new meaning to the song "Breaking Free", doesn't it?

So, I don't know if you know this, but Vanessa Hudgens from the Disney Channel's High School Musical and High School Musical 2 sent nude pictures of herself to her alleged boyfriend, Zac Efron, also of HSMs 1 and 2 (and, also, of Hairspray, in which he was delectable, don't judge me). [By the way, that link? Kind of not safe for work. I mean, it's not the real deal--the actual uncensored naked pics are available several places if you want to see them, but I'm a classy gal--but it's still indicative. Just a warning.] Okay, so not only is Hudgens a mediocre singer and talentless hack of an "actress", she's also completely stupid. Firstly, because she took the pics and didn't expect them to get out, and secondly because she admitted that the pictures were real to TMZ even when almost every single media, celebrity and pop culture blog in the universe was saying that they didn't think it was her! You were home free, you jackass! Now she's effectively killed her "career", because Disney's not going to put her in another movie again, ever, and that was all she had going for her, because while she's pretty, she's a bit dull and generic looking. I can just imagine the execs over at Disney reading The Superficial, shaking their heads and muttering: "Dude. We are so not all in this together."

just a little mid-morning movie recommendation

Last night I dug into the Netflix movies that'd come over the weekend I was at my aunt's. I watched about a billion episodes of Arrested Development (I need to just own the sets already), then stayed up real late to watch Miss Potter, that drama about the life of Beatrix Potter (creator of Peter Rabbit, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, etc.) starring Renee Zellwegger, Ewan McGregor, and Emily Watson. You know, I liked it. At times, I felt like Zellwegger can only play one sort of British woman, because I saw a LOT of her Bridget Jones persona in her portrayal of Beatrix Potter, and I think she may have gained weight for this role as well, although she only seemed to gain it in hre face because she remained quite slim everwhere else, which is...odd. Anyway, on the physical DVD they have a picture of Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellwegger in character, except that somebody in the marketing department said, "You know, Ewan is so much hotter sans mustache," so they put a cleanshaven picture of him on the DVD (and, I assume, the DVD case) when in the movie he's never cleanshaven. Whoever made that decision is my brother from another mother, because honestly I have never been so unattracted to Ewan McGregor, who I think is quite cute normally, but the mustache is very distracting. Anyway, other than the faux-Bridget behavior and the 'stache, this was a delightful movie that made me tear up a little bit. I really recommend it, if you're in the right mood.

Don't worry Joe, you're a superb manager

Hello everyone! I enjoy that people have been updating recently with ridiculously long posts updating everyone on their lives. I feel as though I have been so busy that I don't even have time to log on and update the blog. Scott- I too read the blog regularly and think that I should update but feel like I don't have the time. Sadly, this is often true.

My new apartment is great! I'm still working slowly to unpack, but I did a lot of work this weekend. Unfortunately, from the hours of 11am-3pm everyday this weekend I couldn't actually muster the energy to get up off the couch and unpack because it was soooooo unbearably hot! It was in the high 90's-low 100's all weekend, the humidity is higher than normal because of tropical storm activity down on the tip of Baja, I have no a/c, AND on top of it all on Saturday my block was victim to the infamous "rolling blackouts" California hasn't experienced since we were in high school. With no fans my apartment was ridiculous!

Although I do have a GREAT story about my time without power though. My upstairs neighbor is a very interesting character. He came by about three days after I moved in and introduced himself, TOTALLY DRUNK, at 10:30pm. And he came by on Saturday and asked me for a lighter. I had no problem with this, except that I had to dig through a couple of boxes to find one. Well, I handed him the lighter and watched him light his JOINT in front of my apartment. I was so stunned that I had no idea how to react. I didn't really know what to do. When I told this to Cambria she told me that I should have told him to share. "Puff, puff, pass!"

So yeah, I've been trying to keep myself busy. Last Thursday Dani came over and we walked down to the Subway near my apartment. It was an experience to say the least. First, this subway has plexiglass enclosing the sandwich making area. The employees have to put your sandwich and drink cup into a box and close the door before you can open a door and get your food. This makes me feel totally safe BTW. So, we go and the guy behind the counter is totally weird to us, he doesn't speak at all to us the entire time until we got to the register. Dani asked him why they had the plexiglass and he simply shrugged. He and his buddy who work there then proceeded to both leave the restaurant and stand right out front and smoke a cigarette. When they came back in they were totally weird to us as well...anyways, not as interesting as I write it.

So, after subway we decided to take an adventure and wander my neighborhood. We passed multiple eateries (including Jack, Taco Bell, Wendy's, Coco's, Denny's- I am totally set on drunk food) and wandered to this local bar and decided to pop in for a "night cap" (at 6pm). This bar was AWESOME! It's a total local dive bar, but the bartender (michelle) came by and introduced herself and told us that they do kareoke on weekends, DJ's during the week, and grill steaks out back on Tuesday nights. I'm totally going back. Well, I called Jenny and she stopped by. We drove Dani back to my place to get her car to go home and headed back to the bar. When we got back the bartender remembered my name and my drink (impressive since the bar was getting crowded) and Jenny and I stayed and chatted for a while. She's doing well. Her store opened almost two weeks ago and she's enjoying herself. She told me she dropped a tray of pearls and ruined like $14000 worth of merchandise, but her manager told her that "accidents happen". I can't even imagine.

So yeah, that is really the exciting update that I have for now. I'm super busy in the next 12 days so I will probably not be updating for a while. This Sunday I move into a hotel to live with the Sorority Recruitment Counselors for ten days. Get excited. I'm going to go crazy. Oh and on top of the insanity with everything at work (recruitment and such) the university decided to finish up our move with electrical repairs, etc. starting tomorrow. Groan, it's going to be a rough couple of weeks.

On another note, my mother is doing well and she sends you all her love. :) Oh, and Jennifer and Steve are moving to a two bedroom apartment in the next week. And they now have a joint bank account ::gasp::! Jennifer is enjoying her new job. I can tell you all about it if you want to know.

The end.

PS: The title of this post is simply because I watched Empire Records last night.

PPS: I watched Pan's Labyrinth this weekend on "watch now" Netflix. I would recommend it. It was complicated and at times tough to follow, but totally worth it for the deep meanings associated with the story.

The end. For real yo.

"A" "little" "precipitation"

Oh, Maggie. You want some preciptation? Check it out: we had the BIGGEST storm last Thursday. I mean, insane. I didn't really notice that much because I was at work, and for some reason (I think it's lake effect) the weather downtown is always different than it is other places in the city--I mean, it rained here, a lot, but it was nowhere near the kind of stuff I saw later when I went further out.

The storm was like a symphony (multiple movements). One happened while I was at work. It was particularly bad out in the suburbs where my aunt lives (and where I grew up), and on the northwest side of the city (where I live with my grandmother). Trees--big, old, stable trees--just crumpled and cracked open, blocking roads and falling on roofs and balconies (my friend Paul told me, "You step out on my balcony and immediately your face hits foliage"), etc. Power lines down, twisters, basement flooding--you name it, we had it. My grandmother's basement didn't flood, thank God, but there was a little bit of water in one small area, so of course she promptly freaked out.

By the time I left work, it had stopped raining. I got on the Blue Line to go home and, fortuitously, when I reached the California stop (the last elevated stop before the train goes underground for the Logan Square and Belmont stations) my friend Sandra called me, saying she was home (she lives about five blocks from the Belmont station) and did I want to hang out? I did, so I got off at Belmont and she picked me up and we were on our way to Target when another storm front moved in. It was raining so hard we couldn't see--buckets of water, and completely flooded roads. I was so glad I was in a car instead of having to wait the storm out in an uncovered transit center, looking in vain for a bus that would not come. Sandra drove me home, too. How awesome/coincidental is that?

In other news, my job hunt is still floundering. Many of you may remember me talking about that Mike guy (Kim, Bri, Scott, you met him briefly) who lived in my building and did the same internship as me at Ivan R. Dee? He was nice to me at work, but kind of a douche when we were around his friends? Anyway, he also wants to be in publishing, and he just moved to New York (he informed me on the email) but still hasn't heard back from any job prospects, same as me! So at least we're in the same boat. It's a leaking boat, but at least we're keeping each other company. I'll probably see him when I'm there in mid-September; I'm pretty much living for that trip right now.

I had a long talk with my mom yesterday and she said that if things aren't looking up after I get back from New York she will fly me home so that I can spend some time there (free of charge, free of grandma-related guilt), figuring I can apply for jobs from there same as from here. Which is so nice of her, and I appreciate how she's trying to be on my side about this New York thing now (she slips every once and a while, but she's been pretty good lately), but it's probably not the best thing for me to go home this early in the game. I feel like I'll just be sucked back onto the path of least resistance and start looking for a J-O-B in the Bay Area because I can (not that it's that easy there, either). But I know I won't be happy if I do that, even if most of the people I love live in California. So I don't know. Can I go out for a visit only? Will I be able to crawl back out of it if I do, or will I just cave to family pressure and move back home permanently? God, I hope it won't come to that--I hope things start picking up on the job front--but it would be nice to go home for a while. I don't know--torn! Like Natalie Imbruglia.

I actually disagree about The Nanny Diaries. I really liked it--I mean, I didn't read the book (wow, those words hardly ever escape my lips), but it seemed all right to me. I mean, I liked Scarlett Johanssen in it, and that's amazing, considering how much I've decried her acting talents and general likeability since Match Point. Plus, I mean, isn't Laura Linney amazing? The first thing I ever saw her in that I remember was The House of Mirth--remember when we went to see that in Berkeley? Wasn't Maggie on crutches? Good times! I mean, not the crutches part, but that was a good movie and it was fun to go see it together. Oh, but how gross was Paul Giammati in The Nanny Diaries? Ugh? He should not be cleanshaven, and I almost never say that about men. He did a great job acting--his character was supposed to be hiddeous--but still, when he leered at her? UGH. Anyway, I thought it was pretty good, although bogus stunt casting with Alicia Keys--that girl could not act her way out of a paper bag. Which is an expression I've never full understood.

I should stop blogging now. Even I'm getting sick of myself. Laters!

Superbad was just plain super

Hey, spoiler muffins, if you haven't seen it and don't want to know, steer clear of the post!

I've been watching so many movies, it's sort of absurd. I saw Stardust twice, and even though I didn't want to (for various different reasons) I saw both Becoming Jane and Superbad. Now, I liked the previous Seth Rogen/Judd Apatow vehicle, Knocked Up, enough to see it twice in theaters (and to add it to my Amazon wishlist--I will be purching when it comes out in Sept.). But, of all the characters in that movie, the one I disliked was definitely the one played by Jonah Hill, whose character was also Jonah. And I pretty much expected his character (Seth) in Superbad to be Jonah from Knocked Up except in high school. Expectations met! It really was the same character, except they imbued Seth with just a little bit more pathos than Jonah got, being a secondary character and all.

Superbad was WAY too long. But if you can get past that, it's pretty great. Very funny, and, like Napoleon Dynamite, appears to take place in a timeless zone where at least the fashion of all eras is completely up for grabs and not up for discussion. The shining star of the film is, of course, Fogell, a.k.a. "McLovin", who was the funniest character and also the only one of the three (including Michael Cera's adorable geeky Evan) to get laid.

But here's the thing, friends. I get that hot girls (even vapid, cardboard ones like Becca, Evan's love interest) would like Evan--he's sweet, and definitely cute. Hey, I'm attracted to him, but who am I not attracted to at this point, right? But Seth? Okay, Seth's problem is not that he's overweight, it's that he's shallow and unpleasant and disrespectful to women. At least Evan likes Becca enough to wrap his lust in sweet, sort of gentlemanly behavior.

And TELL ME when there's going to be another movie about a schlubby girl getting the boy of her dreams for no reason other than she's really determined and nice and funny and smart. The last one I remember is The Truth About Cats and Dogs, and I'm sorry, but that barely counts. Also, Hairspray doesn't . . . okay, maybe that does count, but Tracy and Link are such characatures that it doesn't even seem remotely realistic. Come on, Judd Apatow--if you're really about the "common man" winning out, how about you give the common woman a chance?

I'll get off my soapbox. I'm getting a little dizzy up here, anyway.

It's vintage!

Tell me that Natalie Portman (as Anne Boleyn in the upcoming film The Other Boleyn Girl) and America Fererra (as Betty Suarez from Ugly Betty) aren't wearing the same fugly necklace:





The people at Mode would be so proud. It's not every day that somebody's able to bring back a fashion trend from the sixteenth century!

Becoming Jane

Following my (apparent) summer tradition of attending the motion pictures on my Fridays off from work, I took in a showing of Becoming Jane today. I was a bit reluctant, mostly because I knew it wasn't going to end happily--I mean, it's a fact well established that Jane Austen did not, in fact, ever marry. So you know the flirtation with Tom LeFroy (which the film blew up into a full-fledged relationship, complete with clandestine kisses, a marriage proposal and a near elopement) isn't going to end well, or at least isn't going to end in marriage. I find this dismal, but I went to see it anyway, mostly because I cannot resist the charms of James McAvoy, whose IMDb photo is hideous but who is, in fact, extremely handsome (McAvoy, incidentally, was cast opposite the dreaded Keira Knightley in Atonement, which is a fantastic novel, as Robbie Turner and even though I generally am annoyed by Knightley I feel like they've both been excellently cast).

Anyway, I have to say that Becoming Jane was a LOT better than that recent Pride and Prejudice adaptation. Julie Waters, who I know best as Mrs. Weasley from the Harry Potter movies, was an excellent Mrs. Austen, although everyone in the world seems to think that Mrs. Austen should be a dead ringer for Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, which she certainly was not. At least she's less shrieky. I was less than enthused about Anne Hathaway's performance as the titular Jane, which is strange because I pretty much don't mind her, almost kind of respect her in a way, but she's A.) not British, and not convincing while playing one and B.) not nearly as charismatic as McAvoy, making their interplay vastly uneven. The emphasis this movie puts on particular relationships is strange--there is a lot of focus (far too much, I think) on Jane's brother Henry and his love affair with their cousin Eliza, the guillotine widow of a French comte. To what end this is, I do not know, except to highlight the fact that poor men (like Henry and Tom LeFroy) must marry rich women, just as poor women (like Jane and her sister Cassandra) must marry rich men, underscoring the idea that while rich men and rich women might marry each other, poor men and poor women (like poor Jane and poor Tom) must let go of each other and seek better unions, even if this goes against their every emotional inclination.

In truth, there is no overwhelming proof that Jane Austen and Tom LeFroy ever shared a serious attachment, much less aspirations of marriage (to each other, I mean). There are a few of Austen's letters extant that mention him, but only briefly and only as an object of flirtation, although she seemed to respect him a great deal. It is extremely possible that Austen's deeper or prolonged feelings for LeFroy (which can only be guessed at and imagined, not substantiated) might have been evident in letters Cassandra burned upon Austen's death (there were many, many of these). But, it's not extremely likely. Which is fine. I like the stretching of fact into fancy--it opens up new spaces for imagination. Plus, it's nice to be able to believe that a most beloved author, who wrote books that give pleasure to this very day, whose end was neither pretty nor uplifting, might have enjoyed a scintilla of true blissful happiness in her short life. For Austen, despite the fact that she seemed always to believe in love and the power of love until her dying day, was a spinster, sad and lonely and living with her mother, who died young, and who lived almost entirely in a world where her poor prospects would yield her neither luck nor joy in the arena of marriage. She had none of the good fortune of the Bennet sisters. She accepted one marriage proposal, from a Mr. Bigg-Wither, who was wealthy but whom she was not in love with--the movie changes the circumstances greatly, transforming Bigg-Wither into Mr. Wisley, the beloved nephew of a somewhat deranged Lady Catherine de Bourg-type dowager played by Maggie Smith, and set him in her youth rather than in her older age. I rather liked Mr. Wisley in the movie--sure, he was a bit dull, but he seemed as though he had hidden depths, and he certainly wasn't devoid of feeling or gentlemanly character, and he did work quite hard to make himself the sort of man Jane might like to marry. I was really irritated by her behavior towards him, but halfway through the movie I realized that this was something Becoming Jane had got right--because, according to her correspondence, Jane Austen was not the nicest or sweetest of people. She could be biting and ironic and cruel, which is what made her such a wonderfully sardonic observer of human nature.

The end of the movie was very sad to me, but I felt like Jane made the right decision in the end. She could not bring herself to marry a man who would lose everything because of her, and whose family, who he was helping to support, would sink deep into poverty if he lost the allowance his wealthy uncle provided him. Why they couldn't put off their union until LeFroy was out of law school and had established himself is kind of left unexplained, but oh well. Love stinks.

I have so little else to look forward to, it seems

Let me tell you about a movie that I'm really stoked to see come January (hopefully I can see it with Cambria, as I will have been in New York for months already--right????). It's called Fanboys, and it's an indie that got so much respect after it was finished that the director received additional funding to go shoot more scenes that they had to cut because of monies, etc. So that's good news. It's about a group of teenage boys (and, apparently, one girl) who travel to Skywalker Ranch to see Phantom Menace, that boring-as-hell first Star Wars prequel before it is released upon the request of their best friend who died* or something. If you check out the IMDb listing, you'll know why I'm really pumped to see it--not only is my new new fake boyfriend Chris Marquette** in it, but so is Kristen Bell (of Veronica Mars fame) and this kid Sam Huntington, who I didn't know by name but definitely by face. He was in two episodes of Veronica Mars during the first season, and they happen to be two of the best episodes in that season, and despite the fact that his character doesn't get tons of screen time and also is a drug dealer, he made him seem likeable and real. I was just watching those episodes the other day and thinking, "Why haven't I seen this kid in more things? He's great!"*** So now we know. Fanboys. January 2008. Who's with me?

*Actually, Linus is their former friend who is in the process of dying and who they have just reconnected with. They're going to Skywalker Ranch so that he can see the movie before he starts pushing up daisies. Chris Marquette is playing the not-long-for-this-world Linus, so y'all know there are going to be lots of tears coming from his corner, which is awesome because he is SO good at that (see: almost ever single episode of Joan of Arcadia). Sadly, he will probably not be the character to hook up with Kristen Bell's Zoe--I'm always so much more interested in characters when there's a 'ship I can board. It's a sickness, I know.

**Considering how long it took me to move from Shia LaBoeuf to Chris Marquette, God knows I'll probably have a new new new fake boyfriend by January, but who said exes can't stay friends? I know I didn't.

***I'm sure Scott was poised to correct me on this--apparently, Sam Huntington was that kid in Jungle 2 Jungle which, thanks IMDb, I was trying to forget that movie existed. More recently, he played Jimmy Olsen in that crapfest Superman Returns.

The Girl Next Door

And we're back to me being the only person who writes up in this piece.

So, in honor of my new new fake boyfriend Chris Marquette (who Kim and I decided I could never date in real life because he's too short, but in fake life he's a bit taller than I am), I Netflixed The Girl Next Door, expecting it to be one of those American Pie-esque jobbies, like Eurotrip or Van Wilder, that is funny in a crude, puerile way but that I sort of never want to see again or even admit that I actually saw. But it was not, friends! I mean, it was sort of crude and puerile at times (the most excellent moments of this came from my new new fake boyfriend, of all people), but it was also very sweet and smart and funny and interesting. Its soundtrack is a little predictable, sadly, but I completely enjoyed it and just added it to my Amazon wishlist, proof positive that I adore it if I want to own it.

The Girl Next Door, in brief, is about Matt Kidman, who is the unpopular class president who dreams of being the President of the United States one day. He's about one sixty-fourth of the way there--he's been admitted to Georgetown, but his 'rents can't come up with the cash for four years, so he needs a scholarship badly. Things start to go all pear-shaped for Matt when he falls for Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert), who Matt later finds out (from his horn-dog friend, Eli, played by my new new fake boyfriend) is an ex-porn star. When Matt insults Danielle by treating her like, well, a porn star, she jets off with her producer friend, Kelly, played to perfection by Timothy Olyphant to return to the biz. Matt pursues, blah blah blah, etc. The best thing about the movie is that it's NOT, as the title would suggest, about the girl next door--it's about Matt, and the fact that he's finally being released from fear and learns to live his life. Awesome. I love movies about that stuff.

So Netflix it, or wait until I buy it on DVD and then watch it with me, because it's great.

No news is bad news, but hey, that's what my life's become

So literally not a scrap of news on the job front, except that I applied for another one today. It's not an editorial position at a big house--it's a book scouting position for the company that scouts books for Harpo (that's Oprah's company, for those not in the know) and for foreign publishers, which I think I'd really like. I'm actually dying to get this job, and the company's probably pretty small, so at least there won't be a long drawn-out HR process, but it probably doesn't pay very well, so who knows? Even if I get the job I might not be able to take it, if I can't live on what they offer me. Anyway, let's hope they at least give me an interview--it'd be interesting to see how that side of the business is run. I mean, I have some experience in subrights just from my internship now, but it'd be interesting to hear about it from someone who only does that. Plus, it'd be nice to have a reason to go to New York.

In other news, I saw Alpha Dog last night, and let me tell you, that's a fine film. It's a really sad story, based on the true story (and not just "based on", although that's how they have to say it to keep from being sued, but really it's basically an exact transcription with names changed) of Jesse James Hollywood and the murder of Nick Markowitz. The movie stars Emile Hirsch (who, whatever), Justin Timberlake, and my new new fake boyfriend, Christopher Marquette (whose hair is HORRIBLE in this movie--total Snape hair). Justin Timberlake is so good in this film, which sort of blew me away, because I was like, "Yeah, right, Justin Timberlake can't act," but whoa, he so can. Another interesting thing about this movie is that Ben Foster is in it, playing the messed-up drug addict brother of the victim. Okay, the last thing I saw Foster in was freaking Get Over It, that high school romcom with Kirsten Dunst like a hundred years ago. And I was like, "Seriously? Same guy?" He's scary in this movie.

If you're looking for some good rap/hip hop music to put on your iPod, may I suggest "Night and Day" by T9ne (it plays over the credits and is really catchy) and "Say Goodbye Hollywood" by Eminem (off the Eminem Show album). Speaking of music, I'm annoyed that I cannot get the new Matchbox Twenty single, "How Far We've Come", legally on iTunes or illegally on Limewire. If anyone knows how I can get my hands on it, let me know, will ya? It's my new music obsession.

That's my life! Don't be jealous.

Messages

Kim! You took the time to write a blog post and you didn't even tell us what you thought about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? For shame. Did you notice that thing I told you that I didn't like about how they changed shit around? Inquiring minds want to know!

Okay, so I was thinking long and hard about when I was going to start applying for New York jobs, and people keep asking me, and I keep saying, "Oh, you know, like four to six weeks before I plan on moving there," which is . . . now, interestingly enough. So tomorrow on my day off I plan on going downtown to scam free WiFi off the Chicago Public Library (Dale's just isn't sufficient) to apply for jobs, and also going to Borders and Sephora to purch birthday gifts for Sandra and Nickie, whose birthdays inconveniently fall on the day Hairspray comes out (July 20) and the day Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out (July 21). I'm pretty much going to be off the grid that weekend, so I hope they don't mind delaying the gratification of spending time with me until the next weekend. I am also going to see Harry Potter while I'm downtown, because I love that AMC East theatre and I'd like to see it again with all the special effects.

Oh, and also? Add Harry Potter and Netflix to the List of Things I Love That My Grandmother Disapproves Of. I need to get out of that house so she'll stop trying to improve me.

Happy birthday Maggie!

Spending time away from the office with that guy from The Office

This weekend I escaped from the awkward that was living with Grandma (although it has gotten better since I agreed to learn some Polish and pray the rosary), I went to my aunt's house. On Friday, Emma and I explored her college options on Princeton Review and Ocean Careers, because she thinks she wants to go into Marine Biology. Shout out to Maggie! Emma, Alicia, my mom and my aunt actually went to visit CSUMB and Santa Cruz (and Davis) while they were all in California the weekend before last. I think the girls are very overwhelmed by this whole college thing, and I keep going, "Apply to a bunch of colleges in a range of selectivities! Don't make the mistake I made (twice)!" and so on. I'm a great older sister/cousin.

Anyway, on Saturday we went to see License to Wed starring (if you don't already know) John Krasinski, Mandy Moore, and Robin Williams. Now, in response to the inevitable, "How was it? It looked terrible!" questions, I have to say this: I would watch John Krasinski do his taxes. He's adorable. I also like Mandy Moore, and pretty much enjoy her every time she's on screen. Even so, I have to say, Robin Williams needs to retire. His schtick is so done--it makes me tired. His character in this movie is criminally insane, and the fact that Mandy Moore's character, Sadie, doesn't agree with me and John Krasinski's character (Ben) on this point means that it will not work out between them and Ben should change his name back to Jim Halpert, move back to Scranton, and just go on that date with Pam like we all planned.

The best part of the movie was the cameos by Krasinski's Office pals, although Steve Carrell was noticeably absent. Still, Angela Kinsey (Angela), Mindy Kaling (Kelly) and Brian Baumgartner (Kevin) were all present and accounted for. I was totally frustrated by the fact that License to Wed was supposedly set in Chicago, yet entirely filmed in LA (well, the parts that were supposed to take place in Chicago were filmed in LA), and they didn't even do a good job of covering it up. There was definitely a part (it was in the trailer) where Mandy Moore is driving blindfolded and everybody's freaking out and you can definitely see a billboard advertising the Spearmint Rhino Gentleman's Club. I'm sure it'll be hilarious in the director's commentary where they're like, "Oh, we never noticed that!", but it's just sloppy. Plus, with all the incentives Daley's office is creating for film companies to make movies here, why not just shoot it where you set it, or set it in LA? You know?

Other than that, my weekend was pretty tame by most standards. How about everyone else?