1. I recently took Steph and Pete to see "Yours, Mine, and Ours." All I have to say is that Dennis Quaid is still awfully cute, and I still don't care for Rene Russo.
2. Stephanie is out of her mind with excitement that "Cheaper by the Dozen II" comes out on her birthday.
3. I did end up watching all of "Glengarry Glen Ross" again with Andy. Go ahead, try to name a more depressing character than Shelley Levine, played by Jack Lemmon.
4. "Office Space" was a terrific treat—a small, very funny riff on cubicle life. I don't know what was funnier, the whole bit about the TPS reports or Jennifer Aniston's "flair" problem at Chotchkies.
5. Another surprise was "Garden State," which was not a great movie by any means but certainly had some great moments. None of them involved Natalie Portman, unfortunately. Why is it that she is always given a ridiculously unbelievable script? The first time we ever saw her was in "The Professional," where she had to play this preposterously precocious (say that ten times fast!) little girl in the care of a hit man. Then, in "Beautiful Girls," she was a slightly older but still wise-beyond-her-years teen playing opposite Timothy Hutton. I absolutely hated her in "Closer" and couldn't find anything redeeming or believable about her character at all. She's cute as a button, so why can't someone give her a decent script? I bet she could act if given the chance.
6. When Annie Proulx's short story "Brokeback Mountain" appeared in the New Yorker some years ago, it absolutely knocked my socks off. I read it twice, which I pretty much never do. So I'm thrilled to hear that it's been made into a movie—one that Proulx herself is pleased with and that is getting great reviews.
Office Space is much fun. Never saw Jennifer acting better before and after that one... :)
Posted by: lawrence | December 14, 2005 at 06:38 PM
I thought she was good in "The Good Girl" -- I remember being surprised about that!
Posted by: Karen | December 14, 2005 at 06:49 PM
You failed to mention Star Wars I, II, and III. I assume because you never saw them ...? Anyway, the same story for Natalie: stilted dialogue and no opportunity to really act. So I wonder if she's a terrible actress or just gets unflattering scripts.
Posted by: pam | December 14, 2005 at 07:26 PM
I am starting to think that NPR is one big advertisment for "Brokeback Mountain". . . .
Posted by: Mquest | December 18, 2005 at 09:54 AM