The Office

A Fine Replacement

I apologize to fans of The Office, when it comes to this show, I’m a bit of a snob. I watched the original with the brilliant Ricky Gervais on BBC America. At the time it was sort of my wonderful secret. No one knew about this show in my circle of friends. I turned my brother-in-law on to it which turned out to be a good thing for me because he gave me the complete series on DVD a couple of years back.

The American version doesn’t work for me. There are so many actors on the show that I love. I’m a fan of Steve Carell, Ed Helms, and John Kransinski, but the show grates on me. With British people it works, what can I say?

Anyway, all the uproar about Carell leaving has really been of no interest to me until today. I’m sure it’s way too early in the game, but today Rhys Darby was tossed into the arena as a possible replacement. Darby was hilarious on Flight of the Conchords and I’m telling you, I would watch if he was on. If you don’t know him, or you think he wouldn’t fit in, check this out.

Song of the Week

Out Here On My Own – Irene Cara
While everyone was listening to the title track from the movie FAME, this is the Irene Cara song I was playing over and over. I still know all the words to this one. Her vocals are fantastic. I love to sing this song, but I doubt you’d like to hear me. Instead, pull out your old Fame soundtrack and give this one a spin.

Tell Me Your Favorite

I’m sorry to inform all of you that summer is quickly coming to an end. Officially, you probably don’t feel summer is over until Labor Day Weekend, but both my kids go back to school this month, so my lazy days are over.

Overall, it’s been a disappointing movie season. The only film that exceeded my expectations was Toy Story 3, and oddly enough, that’s the only one I didn’t write a review for. I find it difficult to put into words the joy that the Toy Story films bring out in me. From the opening train scene, where I had a ear to ear grin on my face, to the edge of my seat teeth gnashing during the trash site sequence, to my culminating sobs at the end; Pixar seems to know how to hit all the right spots on me. So hands down, Toy Story3 was the best of the summer and to date the best of 2010. It’s going to be pretty hard to beat it in my opinion.

Here’s a look back at my summer movie going experience.

Inception

Cyrus

Dinner For Schmucks

The Kids Are All Right

I can’t see them all. Unfortunately, no one pays me to do that. I may have missed a great gem. So tell me now, what was your favorite movie this summer?

Kick Ass

DVD Review

I really wanted to see this in theaters. I even tried to go. I took a vacation day when my son got his braces on. I took him back to school after his appointment and found myself with a couple of hours to myself. For me this always means, “Do I have time to see a movie?” I was soon standing in front of the theater only to see that Kick Ass already started. It wasn’t the worst thing to happen because I ended up seeing Hot Tub Time Machine instead.

Needless to say, I’ve been anticipating the DVD release for months. Invisible high school student, Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) wonders why no one has ever made an effort to be a super-hero. Fate does not step in here, and that is what makes this story refreshingly different. Dave does not develop special powers, nor does he have dramatic circumstances happen to him. Instead, he is driven, mostly by boredom, to begin to pursue his dream of becoming a super-hero named Kick Ass.

It doesn’t take long before Dave finds himself in a lot of trouble as he comes closer to the underbelly of the city. He also finds out that he’s wrong. Other “regular” people are becoming super-heroes in the form of Big Daddy and his pint-sized killing machine daughter, Hit Girl. However, these two have an ax to grind. Big Daddy wants to take down Frank D’Amico, the city’s Crime Boss, for ruining his life. Big Daddy has trained his daughter Mindy, aka Hit Girl, for this task. They have spent a considerable amount of time plotting and building their arsenal. After meeting these two, Dave begins to realize that he’s bitten off more than he can chew, but getting out may not be so easy.

During one of Dave’s “rescues,” he was recorded on someone’s cell phone. Kick-Ass has become an internet sensation. There’s Kick-Ass merchandise in the local comic book store, thousands of hits to Dave’s Kick-Ass website, and impersonators popping up like Red Mist (Christopher-Mintz Plasse).

Watching this movie made me immediately worry that parents took kids that were way to young to see this; this not some cutesy movie. This movie was super violent and the most relentless of them all was little Hit Girl. Chloe Moretz is taking over as the new Dakota Fanning. With turns in 500 Days of Summer, and the upcoming Let Me In, she’s certainly picking eclectic roles.

It’s also nice to see that Christopher Mintz-Plasse was not just a flash in the pan. He’s actually shaping up to be a halfway decent actor. Aaron Johnson was quite the cutie and made Dave/Kick-Ass a guy you could root for.

This film kept me thoroughly entertained throughout, unlike so many other movies lately. The story was interesting, I cared about more than one character, it wasn’t too long or too short, and basically, I totally want to be Hit Girl when I grow up! Who could ask more of a movie? I guess I’m not alone because I just found out they are making Kick-Ass 2: Balls To the Wall. I’m not sure they should do that, as it’s usually too much of a good thing, but maybe I could be pleasantly surprised a second time.

Lastly, it was pretty funny to see Clark Duke show up in this since he was also in Hot Tub Time Machine, which was the film I ended up seeing the day I planned to see this.

Cyrus

What I enjoyed most about Cyrus is what I think some moviegoers would hate. This film stayed in a very realistic realm. It never went over the line to situations that would not occur in real life.

This film played on the tiny nuances and irritations of uncomfortable circumstances. John C. Riley is trying his best to ingratiate himself with his new girlfriend and her adult son. The son, however, does not want his cushy situation disrupted in any way. Jonah Hill is truly an under-appreciated comic actor. He has so many layers to his character, Cyrus, that even the audience is not quite sure what is bubbling beneath his surface.

The one thing that bugged me in this film was the huge amount of eye makeup on Marisa Tomei. I know that sounds ridiculous, but she had these giant false eyelashes and heavy eyeliner on all the time! When she went to bed, when she woke up...come on, if you went to bed with that much eye makeup, you’d look like a raccoon in the morning! There was so much authenticity, it just seemed glaringly out of place. Regardless, Tomei’s performance was excellent. You may think it’s impossible to believe her as Jonah Hill’s mom, but she totally pulls it off.

In the end, you’d lose nothing to wait for this film on DVD, yet sometimes I enjoy seeing these smaller films in the theater. I went with my daughter and there was actually a pretty good turnout. It’s nice to see a crowd for something without explosions and comic book heroes.

By the way, if you don't think Jonah Hill is funny, see if this changes your mind.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Jonah Hill
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Hey Paul, love the hair!

Well this just made my day!

Paul Rudd: Bat Mitzvah DJ from Jewish Forward on Vimeo.

Counting the Days Till Conan

I just heard that November 8th is when Conan's new late night show will drop on TBS. I can't wait. Of course my kids will be back in school and I'm not going to be able to stay up so late...but hell, I'm a perpetual night-owl. What can I say? I'm sure I'll end up watching it every night instead of taping it like a good girl.

For those of you new to the couch, this whole Conan/Leno/NBC thing really got my panties in a bunch.

Here's a look back.

Conan vs Leno: The Beginning
Part Two
On and On
The Clip
The Sad Goodbye
No Leno
Conan on 60 Minutes

Am I a little obsessed?

5 More Things Not to Miss This Summer

The Kids Are All Right
In a sea of summer disappointments, this one’s a winner and will be a future winner come Oscar time. Catch it now!

The Kids Are All Right (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
While I’m singing the praises of the film, how about also recommending the soundtrack? With a quirky blend of old (Joni Mitchell) and new (MGMT), this soundtrack offers a little something for everyone.

To Kill A Mockingbird (50th Anniversary Edition)
Maybe you haven’t read this since High School, maybe you’ve always planned to read it (like me). Well now is the perfect time to throw this in your backpack or beach bag and revisit or finally discover this classic.

Hot Tub Time Machine
If you missed this in theaters, treat yourself to this hilarious, raunchy, time- traveling, 80’s fun.

Degrassi: The Boiling Point
Hey, if you can’t get enough teen melodrama, Degrassi is serving it up for you every weeknight all month long! Dang, they work those Canadian kids hard!

Bad Mother - Ayelet Waldman

Book Review

Ayelet Waldman’s new book of essays Bad Mother, will certainly get conversations stirring. Ms. Waldman is the sacrificial lamb for all mothers. She’s willing to put it all out there and be judged for her opinions and choices. Most mothers are only willing to put their toe in the water when it comes to saying how they really feel about a topic or situation. Waldman dives in head first, let’s the fur fly and never apologizes for her feelings. They are, after all, her feeling and it’s interesting how many other people seem to forget that.

To date, Waldman has faced harsh criticism for saying she loves her husband more than her children and how it would be much easier to have her son be gay so she wouldn’t have to suffer a daughter-in-law. As usual, those quick to judge miss the point.

Waldman is passionate about the things she’s believes in, but whet it comes to the foray of motherhood, she feels like all mothers today. If you only scratch the surface, you miss that heartfelt message underneath. Ayelet Waldman wants us mothers to work together and stop judging and holding each other up to unrealistic standards. Who better than her to lead the battle cry? Would any of us want our mothering skills under such public scrutiny?

Still, it all comes down to the writing and Ms. Waldman is one hell of a writer. Her humor is biting and she never takes herself, or her ever growing fame, too seriously.
From the laugh at loud essays “Sexy Witches and Cereal Boxes” and “Tech Support” to the soul searing “Rocketship” and “Legacy,” this collection runs the gamut of every happy, funny, horrible, challenging and life altering emotions motherhood has to offer .

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Ms.Waldman several times on her tour to promote this book. Each time, she was funny, smart, warm and approachable. She reads from a different excerpt of her book and she comes across as genuine. Plus, she brings the most delicious baked goods. She hardly comes off as a bad mother, maybe just a real one, treading the waters of motherhood like all of us. I never feel like I’m expected to agree with everything she’s putting out there, quite the contrary. By stripping away all of the taboo subjects we’re not supposed to talk about or even think about, if we’re “good mothers,” we can instead accept each other and offer an understanding shoulder to cry on when this whole motherhood thing gets too tough.

Dinner for Schmucks

Movie Review

I’m not a movie snob, I swear! I loved Hot Tub Time Machine. I never got around to posting my review of that, so I have nothing in print. I do love stupid movies, really. I wanted to like this movie so much. I was looking forward to it all week. Don’t get me wrong, it was funny. Unfortunately, it wasn’t funny enough, and it wasted a lot of talented people.

I’m sure you all know the basic premise by now. Tim (Paul Rudd) wants a big promotion at work, and in order to prove he’s “one of the guys” he must attend the monthly "Dinner for Winners." The dinner consists of bringing a companion who is the worst loser you can find. The snotty corporate bigwigs secretly make fun of the guests and they proceed to try to top each other the next time.

The film is based loosely on the French film The Dinner Game. I keep hearing from the critics that this is a much better film, and I plan to check it out just to compare and contrast.

Paul Rudd should be cast in a remake of The Picture of Dorian Gray. I mean, this guy never ages! He looks exactly the same as he did in Clueless! Rudd has the ability to be very funny, but he rarely gets a role that showcases his abilities. Once again, this role did not give him much to do.

Steve Carell is the resident schmuck and he does his usual, annoying-nerd-with-heart-that-you-cannot-help-but-love. He has some good scenes, but he’s falling into the Ben Stiller trap of playing the same role all the time. Stiller broke that streak with Tropic Thunder, and I hope Carell can also find something different in a future role.

Jermaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) was one of the bright spots. He’s poised to really explode soon. Flight of the Conchords only reached a cult following and now that Clement is free of his HBO show, I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of him. He has a great presence and everything he says and does is funny just because he’s saying and doing it.

This film was littered with small roles for great people, but they were unfortunately wasted. Larry Wilmore, Kristen Schaal and Chris O’Dowd were not allowed to live up to their comic potential.

I did laugh. Honestly, the mice dioramas were hysterical. Yet this film lacked the most important component for a comedy; there was nothing funny enough to make me ever want to watch it again.

**Postscript 8-23-10
I wanted to come back to this review and correct something I said. To me the most successful comedy film is one where you want to watch it multiple times to catch those great scenes over and over. Originally, I found this film mildly entertaining, but definitely a “one view only.” I have to confess that I have found myself bringing up several scenes in conversation and I enjoy seeing the commercials for it. I probably will watch this again at some point. Two films in my past, The World’s Greatest Lover and Wedding Crashers, failed to impress me the first time I watched them. Over time, however, I found “new” funny scenes each time I watched. It may be because I did not see either of those films in the theater. Maybe my expectations were too high after plucking down $10.25! I have a feeling this film could fall into that same category. I’ll let you know when it comes out on DVD.



Please enjoy this little taste of the best characters in the film...the mice