Clothes makin' the man

If you want a cool illustration of the difference that just makeup, clothes, and hairstyles can make, watch Lars and the Real Girl. Then check out an episode of Pan Am to see Kelli Garner as a total bombshell and... basically anything else with Ryan Gosling to see him very, very yummy. (The Notebook, if you've a high saccharine tolerance; Fracture was good too.)



I watched Lars last night, and man, that movie rocks so hard. Every single performance is impeccable, touching without being sappy; I love it. I keep it with our holiday movies because the setting is so wintery and cold, I can't ever get into it any other time of year.


Anyway, last night the first scene featuring Kelli Garner had me bolting upright on the couch: That's the girl from Pan Am. No way. Because she looks SO different, it's crazy. When I first saw "Lars," I never in a million years thought that actress could be done up to be the bombshell she is on the TV drama. In fact, though I've been watching the show all season, I didn't even recognize her from my favorite movie until I re-watched it last night.


It makes me wonder if eyeliner and red hair would work the same wonders for me!

Love, J

Some updates

1. Several emails this week have informed me that Blogger's being squirrely and only sporadically allowing people to post comments. I'm sorry. I don't know how to fix it, but hopefully it will be one of those problems that will just go away if I ignore it. (I love those kinds of problems.)

2. For all those sissies-like-me, my buddy Wesley sent over this link to tame Halloween movies. I think I'll for sure be checking out Idle Hands this year. Whatever cool points it loses for having Jessica Alba in it, it more than makes up with Seth Greene.

3. Little cousin was my first taker on the Owl. She's very excited to pick her own colors. I'm excited to knit something that giant. I'm also pleased to have this new way of getting to knit things I like without the chore of buying the yarn or having to figure out what to do with the damn things when they're done ; )

4. AAAND, the beans are flying off the shelves. We have a hit, people! I've only got one batch of quarts left, and fewer pints almost daily. It's crazy, and I am so, so grateful. Right now I'm getting a little bit of business coaching from a friend, and hopefully you'll soon be able to order my wares at a bar or two in town!

Love, J

Halloween movies for sissies like me

Here is a link to photos of people freaking out in a haunted house.

Let's play a game. I'll list four activities, you tell me which one doesn't belong:

1. Buying someone a gift
2. Going to the movies
3. Eating at a good restaurant
4. Being terrified shitless

Do you know why #4 doesn't fit with the rest of the list?

Because it's the only thing for which I'd never shell out $20. Nor can I understand why anyone else would. I love Halloween, but in more of a candy corn, jack-o-lantern, corn maze kind of way.

For example, no scary movies for me, no thank you. I had nightmares for about 3 years after I saw The Sixth Sense, and that's not even supposed to be *that* scary. (Yeah, right.)

But because fall is a time to hide from the rainy weather and cozy up in front of a movie, I'm always looking for good, non-scary autumn flicks. So far I have:

~ The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Disney)
~ Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
~ Practical Magic
~ All the Harry Potter movies
~ Rear Window
~ Wallace & Grommit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit
~ The Patriot (the hubs put this one on here because he finds if fall-y. I used to love it but haven't seen it since Mel Gibson went insane.)

And I love Nightmare Before Christmas, but I have trouble with it because it's too Christmas-y for Halloween and too Halloween-y for Christmas.

Any other suggestions are welcome! (And I know Hocus Pocus seems obvious, but for some reason I cannot stand it. It does have pretty scenery though.)

Love, J

Pop quiz

Question: What's the best Disney movie?

Answer: The Emperor's New Groove

Image found here

Bonus question: Where did I put our DVD of this movie?

...

Anyone?

(Sleeping Beauty comes in second, in case you were wondering.)

Love, J

'The Blind Side'

(I must preface this opinion by warning you that I have bad taste in movies. A lot of my favorites are loaded with cheeze. I have seen 'Fools Rush In' probably 100 times, and it stars Matthew Perry. So take this with a grain of salt.)

We met some friends downtown yesterday to go see 'The Blind Side.' Someone else picked it, and I went along because I wanted to hang out with everyone, not because the movie looked at all compelling. If I had my way, we would have gone to 'New Moon.' This is because the first Twilight movie was so phenomenally terrible, I still have tears in my eyes from laughing through it along with every other person in the theater. A good example of how something doesn't have to be quality to entertain.

But none of my friends yesterday could appreciate why I wanted to spend $7 to see a movie that I knew was going to suck (haha, vampire pun!) They preferred to gamble on the probable mediocrity of the latest Sandra Bullock vehicle.

And I'm glad they did.

Because I liked it. Even though it starred Sandra (who apparently can act - who knew?); even though it was a little bit about football (but less than I'd thought it would be, thank goodness); and even though it was based on a true story (which usually means BOR-ing).

The movie had all of these things working against it, and it was still good. I laughed at a line or two in probably every scene, and I wasn't even laughing at the movie, but with it. It was endearing, and funny, and had a happy ending. And in my head, this is the Holy Trinity of what makes a movie lovable. I don't need suspense or drama. As long as each scene is interesting and there's some coherent plot-line, I'm happy.

Plus, it has Tim McGraw, who is completely adorable even with the goofy haircut they gave him.

And while I do cringe at the pathetically stereotypical poor-black-kid-turns-his-life-around-and-finds-salvation-through-his-athletic-prowess storyline, you can't come down too hard on this version of the story, because it actually happened in real life.

But I'm still waiting on a movie about an inner city kid who goes from the projects to NASA, instead of professional sports.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. But I am still looking for someone to go see 'New Moon' with me and not take it seriously.

Love, J

PS ~ After I posted this, I remembered that I did like Sandra Bullock in 'While You Were Sleeping,' 'Practical Magic,' and she was an awesome Harper Lee in 'Infamous.' For some reason when I think of her, I just always fixate on 'Miss Congeniality,' and 'The Proposal,' which I haven't seen, but just the trailer for it makes me shudder.