in the common hours

And the winner is...

Brian:-) 

With seven out of eight correct (how did Tilda Swinton win??). Closest runner-up was my brother Kevin with six. I have a DVD for you, dude. I think I offended some people, specifically siblings of mine, by naming three of them that I wanted to vote. That was only because they are the 3 I know actually read this thing, that's all! Martin checked in but didn't vote:-(  And Erin, I expected you to be at the red carpet!

Such a good show. Seriously, I love Oscar night. It's crazy, but it makes me so happy. And Jon Stewart is wonderful---best moment of the night was when he brought Marketa Irglova back on stage to finish (start) her acceptance speech. I hate when they cut people off. Loved Marion Cotilard's reaction and her dress. My one complaint was the quick mention of each best picture nominee---I like when they give each its own moment throughout the show. So many black and red gowns. Only one bad dress the whole night. So many beautiful Irish accents---James, Daniel, Glen and more. Seems as though the Cohen Brothers and Diablo Cody may have been the only American winners all night.

No one guessed our new car's color correctly. I wanted a gray or green one, but as Bri pointed out to me, neither of those would be ideal during our hot summers. So light blue it is:

It looks like a bit of a monstrosity, but I like how it drives. And coming from a 1997 Subaru, you gotta love the 47 different cup holders in this thing, as well as the radio controls on the steering wheel. Both boys love the "magic doors" ---and I love being able to send them out to the car without worrying that Sean will get hit in the head by a side door:-)

I can't handle the comments thing. Typepad tells you how many "views" you've had of a post, and Clicky provides a google map of who came by that day:

87 different people visited the site since I put up the Oscar post and only 10 people commented. Which is completely their/your right---I read blogs via Google Reader and rarely comment. But the teacher in me feels like I'm standing in front of the room saying, "Anyone? Anyone?"

And I really wanted to know who some of those people are in states I don't recognize (okay, I recognize the states, just don't who living there might be reading...you know what I mean). My curiosity thanks two visitors, Heather and Jessica, for commenting on the car post.

For my sanity, I'll leave the comments off, but please feel free to email a comment. If I wanted to be really healthy, I'd boycott Typepad stats as well. I began this venture saying it was mainly for me, and it is...but it's still nice to know who is out there.

Finally, in honor of our winner, here are some photos of him trying to avoid being seen driving a mini-van:-)

Oscar

Look at this--two posts in a row with comments open!

In the home I grew up in, Oscars night was the equivalent of Super Bowl Sunday in other homes. For years, even after all but the youngest had left home, Kev would still send out ballots and tally the winner among us.

So, regardless of how few movies you've seen (we never let that stop us!), I want to know your vote. Especially Mimi, Liz and Kevin. Whomever has the most correct out of the 8 categories below wins a DVD and popcorn:-)

My picks, based on my preferences & random guesses, are in green. Please list yours under comments. Here are the main nominations (you have to guess in each of these categories to win!):

Best Picture: Atonement, Juno, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Michael Clayton

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett; Ellen Page; Julie Christie; Laura Linney; Marion Cotilard

Best Actor: George Clooney; Daniel Day-Lewis; Viggo Mortensen; Johnny Depp; Tommy Lee Jones

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett; Ruby Dee; Amy Ryan; Tilda Swinton; Saoirse Ronan (I realize she has no chance and zero buzz, but I think she was perfect in a difficult role that was so essential to the film)

Best Supporting Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman; Casey Affleck; Hal Holbrook; Tom Wilkinson; Javier Bardem (that last guy is expected to win, I'd love to see Casey win, but I vote for PSH because he's brilliant and the only thing I liked about "Charlie Wilson's War")

Best Director: Julian Schnabel; Paul Thomas Anderson; Joel & Ethan Cohen; Tony Gilroy; Jason Reitman

Best Adapted Screenplay: Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"; Sarah Polley, "Away from Her"; Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"; Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"; Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood" (Hardest category for me---I could see any of them win deservedly).

Best Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, "Juno"; Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"; Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"; Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco, "Ratatouille"; Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages."

And if "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (the song that has been playing on this blog since V-day, from the Irish film, "Once") doesn't win BEST SONG, then...well, I guess I really have no great threat to make the Academy. Having ignored all of Eddie Vedder's songs from "Into the Wild", they obviously aren't out to please me.

But hopefully you are! Give me your two cents and winners from the car game and Oscar game will both be posted on Monday. And here's to great montages and at least one surprise win on Sunday night. 

Recent showings

We saw a lot of movies this month, in thanks to Mary Alice (we're almost done, MA...package in the mail this week!). I finally put our Netflix account on hold since those dvds were just sitting neglected. Juno was easily my favorite...just look at that picture! Could Michael Cera have less of an ego? I'm sure all the hype will ruin it for many people, but I loved it---such a fresh take, with a female character that we rarely see in movies---smart, quirky, flawed and funny.

I didn't like the Mira Nair version of The Namesake, though several friends who hadn't read the book did--so maybe it works better that way. As with Hysterical Blindness, I enjoyed listening to Nair's commentary more than the actual movie. She is such a visual storyteller, and I love learning how decisions were made and that feeling of "seeing behind the curtain" of the wizard. My main complaints: the missing story of Ashima's preparation for her first return trip to India, one of my favorite parts of the novel; casting Kal Penn or at least losing the repressed and controlled nature of Gogol. And a minor point, but Ashoke would never have playfully whispered Ashima's name through the door as portrayed in the movie. While it later made sense as a scene straight from Nair's personal life, it didn't fit these two characters.

Enjoyed Atonement, but didn't LOVE it. My brother Kevin, who had to deal with older sisters all trying to brainwash him with their favorites, finally put his foot down when he was 12 or so and declared, "No more movies with British accents!" I got teased among friends, probably deservedly so, for prefacing my distaste for this movie by sharing that I went through a major Merchant & Ivory stage when I was in high school, but it was true, and at this age, I finally relate to Kevin's frustration. Lovely houses and grounds, lovely flowing dresses and tea being served, but enough already.

That said, James McAvoy (whom we enjoyed in "Starter for Ten" last year) was captivating as the housekeeper's son who attempts to cross class lines via an education. I could see what the movie was attempting to do in its Dante-inspired, seriously-long-one-take scene at Dunkirk, and if nothing else, the self-conscious technique led me to connect the essential questions of the movie/book (the power of storytelling and of lies, and the use of both to make right of wrongs...) with the great price England paid in WWII.

I really wanted to like Waitress, but didn't. Probably more a sign of my own limitations---I could see what the movie was trying to do, to play outside the box---of being realistic or playful or fantasy. But I couldn't make that leap and so wanted it to choose which reality it took place in. This isn't Austen's England or even America in the 1950's, so money is no excuse for staying with a  man you hate.

Loved The Great Debaters. With these two in it, how could I not?  

My favorite moment---when the youngest debater returns home after that drive through hell and runs into his father's arms.

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit we watched The Bucket List as well, and as MA put it, "the best thing I can say is that it's only as bad as I expected it to be." Actually I've always been fascinated by this idea of what you do when you know you have limited time. When I was in 8th grade, I wrote a short story---mostly plagiarized from the sappy "Six Weeks" with Mary Tyler Moore  as a mother whose daughter is terminal and they run around the world crossing things off her list. Only in my story, the girl had a younger sister who was being ignored while the family focused on the other one's list, and, of course, the youngest gets hit by a bus unexpectedly and everyone feels terrible (does that sound like a middle child's imagination or what?).

In our last year in Oregon, we lost two friends to cancer. I will always feel in debt to Richard and James because they gave us the push we needed to make changes. Not to jump out of airplanes (Bri already got me to do that when I was young and impressionable!), but to make more room in our lives for the things we cared most about. I'd like to share two links with you that contain more wisdom and inspiration that that movie even brushed on: Everyone Has a List by Leroy Sievers and One Month to Live, a post by Carrie Batt.

Ideally, if you ever received such bad news, you wouldn't do anything different really---just less of the things you "have to do" and more of things you love.

Best of 2007, Part I: Movies

One of my resolutions/goals for the new year is to be more in the moment, especially since I tend to focus on either the future or the past. So I'm anxious to finish my Best of list for last year and be focused more on 2008.  With my siblings and best friends living in five different states, reading their lists is always a highlight of the new year. Love that peek into their lives, as well as getting recommendations. And as the years blur, I like looking at the old lists.

MOVIES:

Brian and I saw more movies on the big screen this year than in any year since we became parents, thanks to finding a new babysitter, and even more so, in thanks to good friends and family who let us take advantage of every opportunity for some couple-time. When I look at these movie titles, I also think of where we were when we saw them and who was watching our kids…

• “Knocked Up”—in Texas, with Elizabeth and Gabriel watching over the boys. We were pregnant at the time, and didn’t know it. Can’t help thinking we would have laughed a lot harder had we known. Cute, with enjoyable actors, but not great.
• “The Departed” ---in Tucson, while the boys slept over at Carmen’s house with all the Rockow kidsJ  I enjoyed it, despite all the violence and bit of a let-down ending. Liked it even more after I saw “Babel” (which I disliked greatly). I wasn’t a fan of Leonardo until this one.
• “Breech”—in Utah, with Amy watching the kids for our anniversary date. We could not have picked a less romantic movie, but it is really good… in a depressing way.
• “Dan in Real Life”—in Flagstaff while the Rockows and MA once again watched over the boys.  Enjoyable actors, but annoyingly false at times. Steve Carell is a genius, and watching him play “Let My Love Open the Door” sent me into full pregnancy-induced crying.
• “3:10 to Yuma” –in Utah, with my favorite discovery of the year: our new babysitter Tori. Strong performances. Predictable and cliche-filled, but entertaining.
• “Michael Clayton”—Utah. Sharp and well-paced. Several great scenes---the horses, the scene in the hit-&-run-driver’s kitchen, in the car with his son. Clooney at his best, and Tom Wilkinson is always a favorite.
• “Golden Compass” ---Utah. After Brian’s Christmas work-party, we thought we’d go for broke since we had a sitter, and saw this. It was fun, but I can’t imagine how anyone who hadn’t read the novel got a sense of any of the characters---too much plot and too little character/theme development. We came home to find Tori fast asleep on the couch, poor kidJ
• “National Treasure 2”: --here in Utah, thanks to MA. I’m embarrassed to admit I chose this over “I am Legend” but sometimes you just know yourself too well. No zombies for me, thank you. Ridiculous plot and dialogue, but when your expectations are low, just enjoying fresh popcorn next to the guy you love is a great time.

All were fun in their own way, but the only two I'd highly recommend are "The Departed" and "Michael Clayton" ---neither were profound but both were expertly done and completely entertaining---a rare enough achievement.

DVDS

“Into the Wild”: This is still in some theaters, but thanks to MA, we saw it at home. I found it moving and sad, and it has stayed with me since then, evoking more thought than I would have predicted. An infuriating story in some aspects, but told so well, with great care and great music. One of the best of the year.

“The Wind That Shakes the Barley”: I loved this one so much. One casting mistake (the main female, in my opinion) but great acting, great plot, and the best dialogue. Haunting, realistic portrayal of politics and an illustration of how violence as a means to peace only begets more violence.

"Stranger Than Fiction":Everyone else saw it last year. We saw it in January and I’d like to see it again. Great casting, so original, just wonderful

"Children of Men": I knew nothing before hand. So much care, so much relevance to our time (with those bloody “illegals” everywhere). Love the anti-hero running in his bare feet. Love the plot turns. Brilliant.

"Talladega Nights": I'll forgive it for leading us to  “Kicking & Screaming” which was unwatchable, only because it made us laugh out loud. Great combination of stupid jokes with smart satire, without any of the snarkiness of Christopher Guest's movies. Favorite line: “If we wanted some wussies, we'd have named 'em Dr. Quinn and Medicine Woman!”

"Dear Frankie" : sweet, compelling, probably predictable but I enjoyed it fully. Good tunes and great acting. I recommended it to my brother Kevin, who declared it a chick-flick.

"Thank You for Smoking": Perfect satire

"The Painted Veil": Surprisingly effective. Makes me want to revisit Maugham

"Everything is Illuminated": Wish it came out sooner, some of the book's most original ideas had already been “done” by the time the movie was made. Again, great performances, well done, quirky movie..

"Away From Her": Julie Christie--wow. Touching portrait of a marriage and letting go.

"49 & Up" : Just love this whole series.

"V for Vendetta": On a big screen the comic-book-style violence would have been too much for me, but I was enraptured by it on DVD. It has silly aspects, but serious ones too and I thought it was original and smart at the same time. Great illustration of the power of media/spin.

“Blood Diamond”: strong dialogue and acting. Insight into the ugly world of diamonds. Leo's character reminded me of leading men from old movies---a role Bogart or Mitchum were never young enough to play, but which would have suited them as well.

"Long Way Round": BBC series with great music that captured the bizarre nature of adventure in the Far East.

“Once”: this one is growing on me with distance. I had way too high of expectations, having waited forever to see it. Modest in its intentions, which is part of why it is so endearing. Great acting, nice detail to scenes, very sincere, but ultimately, not that much there beyond the music and its portrayal of loneliness.

Honorable Mentions: Akeela and the Bee, Capote, Flags of Our Fathers, Half Nelson, Starter for Ten, Murderball

Worst: Running with Scissors, Holiday, Because I Said So, Pursuit of Happyness, Sicko (which might not deserve to be listed here, because it was good...but the wasted potential of being great if it had less of Michael Moore's ego and love of hyperbole infuriated me)

Kid Movies we saw on a big screen: My rating is based mainly on how much Aidan enjoyed a movie, and how much it stayed with him. “Bee Movie” and “Ratatouille” didn’t leave much of an impression, whereas “Robots” (which we saw at a public library in Wichita Falls, but it was a big screen) and “Meet the Robinsons” have had lasting influences.

Movies

We see so few movies these days that having a category for this topic might be overly optimistic.

But I still love them. Autumn is my favorite season, and added to that, the best time of year to be a movie-lover. Most Oscar contenders haven't opened yet; instead you have that wonderful sense of anticipation, in which the movies exist only in your mind and have yet to disappoint. It looks like a great year for movies, but then again it usually does in October.

Adding to my delight, Roger Ebert is back to writing reviews. Alleluia. Growing up just outside Chicago in a movie-passionate family,  I considered Ebert and Siskel part of our mental landscape. Watching the show, I always preferred Siskel, but once I was old enough to read Ebert, there was no competition. I don't always agree with him, and I'm not usually reading him for a recommendation, though I get many. I read him for his writing. As a long time fan, I love when his review becomes less about the movie and just a great essay, as they often do. I love when he gives  a glimpse into his days in Champaign, IL, as he does once again in his recent review of Music Within. With any critic, you need to know their weaknesses, and we used to joke that you had to subtract at least one star from any Ebert review of a movie that was animated, featured the relationship between a young boy and a dog, or contained a lesbian love scene. 

My brother Kevin recently emailed asking, "Is Ebert only watching films that he knows are probably better than the rest of the lot or is he just passing out 3-star and 4-star ratings like candy?" Our ever-resourceful brother Martin found the answer, directly from Ebert himself toward the bottom of this page.

Other movie notes:

1. "Away From Her" got a strong review from Ebert. It's at the top of our netflix list because a friend recommended 3 indie pictures: "The Treatment", "Sweet Land" and this. The first two have already disappointed. Both are the kind of movie that you enjoy more on reflection rather than while watching them. They contain good scenes and an element of loveliness (especially Sweet Land) but neither work fully. Bad pacing, awkwardness. So I was going to boot Away from Her, but now it's got a second chance.

2. "Dan in Real Life" ---this looks like the kind of sweet, unchallenging movie that is needed at times. And despite how simple they seem, they must be awfully difficult to make because I can't think of the last time I saw one we liked. "The Family Stone" had that potential last year, but didn't quite succeed. There are so many bad ones ("Must Love Dogs") for every "When Harry Met Sally." And then there is the golden child, the romantic comedy that actually does make you think, ala "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Dare I hope for one this year?

3. Casey Affleck in "Gone Baby Gone". I don't know if the movie will be any good. But I think Casey was the best thing in "The Last Kiss" and I'm just glad to hear he's in a starring role.

4. John Cusack in two potentially good movies this season: "The Martian Child" and "Grace is Gone". I so badly want to see him do well, but really can't handle another "Serendipity."

5. I want to see "My Kid Could Paint That", "Bella", "Into the Wild", "Michael Clayton", "Juno," "Atonement," and the Russian version of "12 Angry Men."

6. So sad that "Margo at the Wedding" looks bad.

7. So annoyed to see "Golden Compass" is being touted as "anti-Catholic" by people who haven't read the book or seen the movie. Not my genre of choice, but it was one of those books I had to read because so many students begged me to...and it does contain satire of organized religions and zealots. And, yes, the author is a passionate atheist. Does that mean a person of faith shouldn't read him? Newsflash: a great deal of good AND evil has been done in the name of religions.

8. So disappointed that what I thought for all of 30 seconds was a new Cohen brothers' movie based on the Irish book No Country for Young Men is really an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men.

9. "I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With": Before I knew it was set in Chicago, before I knew it starred Bonnie Hunt and Amy Sedaris, I loved it for the title.