Adventures of a Tofu Slut

You may notice (okay, you probably won't, because you probably don't analyze what I watch, but if you did, you might notice) that there are a lot of older movies on this list, which is unusual for me. This is because of 2 things: 1, I have this giant Zip backlog, so I decided that rather than pick and choose movies, I'd just bump up everything on my list that's from before 1990. And a few TV things, because that's most what I want to watch these days. 2, I've been following the Popcorn Dialogues podcasts, which are Jennifer Crusie and another romance novelist watching and analyzing romantic comedies, 5 from each era (I think) that are supposed to be good. The podcast is quite interesting - they're rating them in terms of how good they are specifically as romantic comedies, with scores for romance, comedy, and structure, with the idea being to learn what makes a romantic comedy really work. It's intended for romance novelists, but I've been quite enjoying their commentary, and adding some of the highly rated movies to my Zip list - and since they started with the earliest movies, so did I.

( Movies )

I would like to talk about Doctor Who and entertainment fatigue. However, the two are not related. It's just that if I don't talk about them both right now, I'll forget everything that I decided I had to say last night.

( Doctor Who )

( Entertainment fatigue, or, what if I run out of movies? )

pink_vegan and I went to see Alice in Wonderland last night. I enjoyed it very much! Totally entertaining.

HOWEVER.

3D is so annoying. It's so awkward to wear the glasses when you're already wearing glasses - mine kept sliding down and pinching my nose, so I felt like I couldn't breathe properly. I ended up holding them up for the first bit, and then I just gave up and took them off entirely. Somewhat fuzzy, but much less frustrating. And on top of that, I find 3D is distracting, and takes me out of the movie. So no more 3D for me.

27 Dresses: I realize that general opinion is that this is a terrible movie, and I'm not saying it was actively good, but I enjoyed it. There's been a lack of romantic comedy in my life lately.

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay: I really do have a deep and abiding love for Harold and Kumar. And guest spots by Neil Patrick Harris.

The King of Kong - A Fistful of Quarters: A documentary on the rivalry for the top scores on Donkey Kong. Interesting, although it felt a bit overhyped (the rivalry, not the movie).

Mamma Mia: This was fun, but holy shit was Meryl Streep so far over the top she'd snuck up on herself again. Really not necessary.

My So-Called Life: Man, I wish I'd seen this when it first came out. I'm glad I saw it now, though. Although I really must say that the parental storylines haven't aged all that well.

Once: This was a lovely, lovely movie. Although it was so naturalistic that I felt a bit creepily voyeuristic.

Pushing Tin: The movie itself was nothing spectacular, but I was riveted (riveted!) by the scenes in the air traffic control tower. I think I could have watched two hours of them navigating planes into the airport.

Quantum of Solace: Please remind me not to see movies with any kind of fighting or action on the big screen, because my tiny brain just can't follow what's happening. Which basically meant that I missed most of the movie. The parts that didn't involve running or guns were fun, though.

Rent (the last Broadway show): A filmed production of the last night of Rent on Broadway (with the current cast). Totally awesome, reminded me of why I loved the show so much, also reminded me of how different attitudes are now compared to then. And when the original cast members came out for the curtain call I may have cried.

Apparently I'm on an every 6 months schedule with the movie posting. Um, oops? I think I'm going to try to bring that down a little.

( Movies. Many, many movies. )

Holy moley, it's September! I'm a little excited; I love September. And it's an absolutely gorgeous weekend so far. I'm currently sitting around in jeans (that I'm testing to make sure they won't stretch too much and get saggy* - I got them from the Gap for those who care), and I'm not even too hot. Later I think I'll have tea!

vestra was here last week, which was fantastic. We had three games nights (three!) and went to two musicals featuring people she knew, one of which was ridiculously silly but pretty entertaining (We Will Rock You), and one of which was excellently performed but a terrible, terrible show (Nunsense -- in Mississauga no less). I'm ridiculously excited for the production of Sweeney Todd this fall; I need some really GOOD theatre to cleanse my palate. Plus, Avenue Q! and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee!

(Speaking of musical theatre, I went to see Hairspray (the movie) this afternoon. It was totally fun. I love the show, so I was a little worried (plus fat suits are always bad news), but they did a great job. I totally wanted to dance the whole way through.)

And now vestra is gone, and that's sad. I need my friends to all move here.

You know, despite the fact that I'm not going back to school or anything, it totally feels like September. I guess it's because things are starting - I signed up for a bellydance class (at a different studio to avoid the guilt - that one moved anyway), and the French classes, and they both start mid-September. I never did get around to finding a choir to sing with, though. Oh well.

And now, dinner and finding recipes to use the half-can of chipotle puree I have in the fridge.

*I think the jeans will be okay - I read in a few places that the trick to buying jeans that fit properly is to buy them a little too tight, because they stretch, which is totally true -- my jean capris are very loose after wearing them for a day. So I was going to do that, but these ones seemed like they fit too well, you know? And they were a little expensive. But I think I have jeans, since they didn't stretch out of shape.

This...is a very long list of movies, some of which I saw so long ago I can barely remember them! Oops.

( Movies! And Teevee! )

Bring It On: All or Nothing: Better than Bring It On Again, not as good as Bring It On. Fluffy fun, perfect for a Friday night.

Junebug: This was pretty unmemorable, although Amy Adams was a joy to watch. There seem to be an awful lot of movies out there, though, about someone (usually a woman) going to meet her partner's family, and all the problems that arise. I think I'm bored with that particular storyline.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: This was awesome. Fabulous! I totally loved it. You should all watch it.

The Libertine: I have to admit, even the presence of Johnny Depp as a debauched fop in the era of Charles II was not enough to hold my attention. I've heard a lot of terrible press about this (although granted much of that was for the TIFF cut, which is not what was released theatrically), but for my money it was mostly just kind of boring. Maybe it needs to be experienced in the company of other Depp fans. :)

The Polar Express: I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO BORED. Which I think I might have mentioned.

Scrubs season 1: Heeeee. So much fun.

Stick It: Okay, I totally loved this. I mean, rebel skater girl being forced back into gymnastics? Complete with training montages and her skater boy friends? How could I not?

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story: I didn't like this as much as I expected to. Now, given that I expected to totally adore it, that still left lots of room for me to enjoy it, but although some parts were brilliantly funny, other parts definitely dragged.

Where the Truth Lies: This felt completely different than any other Egoyan film I've seen. It was an interesting watch, but somehow didn't completely fit together, partially because the switch between time periods wasn't well telegraphed. The woman all looked kind of the same, which was part of the problem, and Alison Lohman wasn't very good. But Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth were great.

The Wire season 3: If you ever pay attention to any one thing I say, please make it be GO WATCH THE WIRE RIGHT NOW. Although I would totally recommend watching season 1 first - even though each season is a self-contained case, many of the characters return, and everything is that much sweeter if you know the back story. Anyway, The Wire is the best teevee I have ever watched.

A Bit of Fry and Laurie season 1: Hello, funny funny funny. My favourite thing is how they'll have a perfectly normal, somewhat entertaining sketch, and then a completely off-the-wall hilarious last line.

Eddie Izzard: Unrepeatable: It's interesting -- a lot of the stuff that Izzard riffs on is pretty standard, but his delivery is just brilliant.

The Family Stone: I mostly watched this for Rachel McAdams, who was entertainingly bitchy. And the movie was fun. But Sarah Jessica Parker's character, were we supposed to like her? Because I got the impression that the screenwriter/director wanted us to think she was a bitch at the beginning, and then like her as she loosened up. But really, I thought she was uncomfortable, out of place, and not really trying at the beginning, and a nasty bigot by the end. Which I'm quite certain was not the point.

Ocean's Twelve: I don't think I even made it halfway through this, despite really enjoying the first one. I somehow missed the entire reason why they were doing the scam, and they all just seemed like they didn't even want to be there.

Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic: She's very funny. The best thing about her is how she totally owns everything she says. There's no sense of 'ha ha, I'm just joking'. Also, SONGS.

Slings and Arrows season 2: Do I even tell you how awesome this show is? BECAUSE IT IS JUST THAT AWESOME. Cyril and Frank are totally my favourite characters.

Titus: Ooh, this was neat. Directed by Julie Taymor, of Lion King fame, it's visually stunning and almost theatrical, without feeling like a film of a stage production. Her commentary was interesting, too, because every single thing she did had meaning, even if it clearly wasn't going to be obvious to the audience. Plus, Colm Feore, Alan Cumming and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers: a plethora of my boyfriends!

Batman Begins

I semi-enjoyed this for the people in it, but seriously, the game of Mahjongg on my computer held me attention better. Boring!

Deadwood Seasons 1 & 2

A co-worker foisted these upon me (and I mean foisted in the best sense, because I had totally been wanting to watch the show). So awesome! Excellent acting, mad plotting, more occurrences of "cocksucker" than I thought humanly possible, all the mud in the world, and my secret pretend girlfriend Molly Parker. Sweet. And for real, all the acting is fantastic. I was amazed, too, when I watched some of the extras, to find out how many of these characters are based on real people. There's an awful lot of historical accuracy going on here.

Doctor Who Series 1

This got much better as the series went on. And "The Doctor Dance" was seriously awesome. Now the second series is showing on CBC (with the new Doctor, who so far I'm not nearly as fond of as adorable Christopher Eccleston, boo), which is exciting.

Field of Dreams

A different co-worker decided that what I really needed was an infusion of Burt Lancaster, so he gave me this and The Train to watch, despite my protestations that Kevin Costner and baseball are two of my least favourite things ever. It was not bad, though - I skipped through most of the overtly baseball-y bits, but I was sucked in by the end.

Little Miss Sunshine

Fabulous and fantastic, as I said before.

Mad Hot Ballroom

The premise of this -- a school district instituting district-wide ballroom dance classes resulting in a yearly competition -- would be completely unbelievable, if it weren't true. And right from the moment that I found out that this was an actual program, available to everyone, I couldn't stop watching. And maybe it's the magic of editing, but the kids seemed to be really interested, and involved. I thought that one teacher was kind of asshole-ish - she was far too obsessed with winning that trophy - but it was definitely enjoyable.

Murder By Numbers

This I watched entirely because of Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt, but actually it wasn't that bad. Not great, but not bad. It needed more of the two of them, and less of Sandra Bullock's mysterious past, but still. They were awesome.

Roll Bounce

Despite the familiar plotline, the sappy family bits, and the occasional far-too-current slang, if you like cheesy dance movies, you should see this. Seriously: dance movie on roller skates! With 70s fashions! Truly entertaining.

The Train

Now here is a movie I would never have picked up for myself. I mean, it's a 1964 action movie about the French resistance during WWII. And a train, of course. But once I got past the fact that all the supposedly French men spoke with American accents while all the French women spoke with French accents, it was actually pretty enjoyable. Almost caperesque. Although definitely too long -- after the nth bit of sabotage that stopped the train only momentarily, I really just wanted one side or the other to win.