1. Gave my parents the new Beatles Trivial Pursuit game for Christmas. I thought the 3 of us would have an easy time of it but they added six levels of difficulty to every category. Of course we got a lot of 5 and 6 level questions like where did John go to school or what street he lived on. Yikes! Get this there's a movie category and we watched Hard Days Night. It didn't help. It was good though as my father took an early lead before my mother took over. I ended up winning merely on a dice-roll.
2. Got two big music gifts this year. My parents gave me Tom Petty's Live Anthology which though it's set up as a long concert, it's actually several different concert clips spliced together. You really don't notice. I love it!
b. Meanwhile my cousin gave me the John Lennon Anthology which is analogous to The Beatle Anthology as it's a compilation of outtakes, parodies and live tracks selected by Yoko Ono who also wrote the liner notes. This is great too!
3. Saw many a movie the past few weeks including two versions of Little Women. I had forgotten Christian Bale was in the '90's version. I also saw part of Public Enemies yesterday where I think he's doing the same accent... Among the new ones:
a. Everybody's Fine-Deniro is a much more versatile actor than he gets credit for I think. In many ways his character was an extreme version of my own grandfather in his love of yard work and his deference to his now-deceased wife in keeping up with family news. I mentioned this on Twitter but Kate Beckinsale seems to get better scripts where she's forced to play an American. I don't know why that is. One othher note, Drew Barrymore seems almost typecast as a possibly bisexual single mother. Granted you have to go all the way back to Boys on the Side for a similar role but it was just a feeling I had. (Oh damn! I revealed a plot twist...) And yes, I promised my father I'd tell him if I ended up in a Mexican prison on drug charges...
b. Four Christmases-We had company earlier this week and she brought a few movies with her. This one was pretty good and had a great cast. Well, I say that but I really didn't buy Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon as a couple. (Who know that there was that much difference between Jennifer Aniston and Witherspoon since they convincingly have played sisters but there you go...) You know you have a messed up family when Jon Voigt is the most stable of the four parents. Finally, I dare you to eat when Witherspoon's grandmother ask for spiritual guidence. I pulled it off but...
c. Yesterday morning we watched District 9. It was definitely a more original way to handle first contact with aliens. I frankly wouldn't watch it with people that prefer their science fiction blantant and straightforward. For instance, if you feel Independence Day holds up as the greatest alien invasion film. I seriously think you'll hate this one. Finally, Sharlto Copley will be awesome as Howling Mad Murdock in the new A-Team film. He showed just the right amount of crazy in this one...
d. As part of our New Year's Eve celebration, we watched a movie my aunt gave my cousin (That is my aunt from the other side of the family...): The Cooler with William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin. I thought I had seen it before but I definitely didn't remember any of it. I thought it was a very good movie.
4. Last night was pretty low key. We snacked, had virgin cosmopolitans and watched A River Runs Through It in addition to the above movie. No similarities which was good.
2. Got two big music gifts this year. My parents gave me Tom Petty's Live Anthology which though it's set up as a long concert, it's actually several different concert clips spliced together. You really don't notice. I love it!
b. Meanwhile my cousin gave me the John Lennon Anthology which is analogous to The Beatle Anthology as it's a compilation of outtakes, parodies and live tracks selected by Yoko Ono who also wrote the liner notes. This is great too!
3. Saw many a movie the past few weeks including two versions of Little Women. I had forgotten Christian Bale was in the '90's version. I also saw part of Public Enemies yesterday where I think he's doing the same accent... Among the new ones:
a. Everybody's Fine-Deniro is a much more versatile actor than he gets credit for I think. In many ways his character was an extreme version of my own grandfather in his love of yard work and his deference to his now-deceased wife in keeping up with family news. I mentioned this on Twitter but Kate Beckinsale seems to get better scripts where she's forced to play an American. I don't know why that is. One othher note, Drew Barrymore seems almost typecast as a possibly bisexual single mother. Granted you have to go all the way back to Boys on the Side for a similar role but it was just a feeling I had. (Oh damn! I revealed a plot twist...) And yes, I promised my father I'd tell him if I ended up in a Mexican prison on drug charges...
b. Four Christmases-We had company earlier this week and she brought a few movies with her. This one was pretty good and had a great cast. Well, I say that but I really didn't buy Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon as a couple. (Who know that there was that much difference between Jennifer Aniston and Witherspoon since they convincingly have played sisters but there you go...) You know you have a messed up family when Jon Voigt is the most stable of the four parents. Finally, I dare you to eat when Witherspoon's grandmother ask for spiritual guidence. I pulled it off but...
c. Yesterday morning we watched District 9. It was definitely a more original way to handle first contact with aliens. I frankly wouldn't watch it with people that prefer their science fiction blantant and straightforward. For instance, if you feel Independence Day holds up as the greatest alien invasion film. I seriously think you'll hate this one. Finally, Sharlto Copley will be awesome as Howling Mad Murdock in the new A-Team film. He showed just the right amount of crazy in this one...
d. As part of our New Year's Eve celebration, we watched a movie my aunt gave my cousin (That is my aunt from the other side of the family...): The Cooler with William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin. I thought I had seen it before but I definitely didn't remember any of it. I thought it was a very good movie.
4. Last night was pretty low key. We snacked, had virgin cosmopolitans and watched A River Runs Through It in addition to the above movie. No similarities which was good.
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