March 10th, 2010
Dear Sars,
I really admire your writing and your advice, so I wanted to ask you some etiquette questions that have been on my mind lately. Specifically, I had some questions about wedding engagement etiquette, and same-sex engagements in particular.
My boyfriend and I have been together for a little over a year now and we have been talking about eventually getting married (and we are Canadian so we are lucky enough to have that opportunity). We have also talked about getting a house together, and of the two, we have agreed that the house is the higher priority. Buying a house will probably be two or three years down the road yet, and I'm totally committed to that timetable.
But a lot of my friends have been getting married lately, or will be in the near future, and I find myself getting swept up in the romance of it all. I am eager to take a step towards building a life together and asking him officially to marry me.
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Tags: boys (and girls), cats, etiquette
Posted in The Vine | 30 Comments »
March 8th, 2010
You may have noticed a shift in the categories and tags on the blog; I'm preparing for another redesign. I know it feels like I just ported everything over from the last redesign, but this one should go more smoothly. I will have to shut the site down for a day or two when it's time to launch, but you'll have warning.
The Book of Odds has launched a new blog series called My Everyday Life; five blog subjects rotate each weekday, and coverage includes "a large spectrum of human experience; from a medical student detailing daily hospital life, to a solider documenting his experience in Afghanistan; a working mom adjusting to an instantly larger family and work/life balance; and two singles navigating the early stages of their adult lives and relationships."
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Tags: CoverGuess, local biz, sites, The Book of Odds
Posted in Culture and Criticism | 14 Comments »
March 8th, 2010
I've done worse — but with 50 of the nominees under my belt, I should have done better.
The scorecard is below.
Best Picture: wrong
I really thought they'd try to split the baby between Avatar and The Hurt Locker; I'm fine with the outcome, though. I do wonder how Avatar will be thought about in 5-10 years, and whether not having a Best Picture statuette will make a difference there. I also wonder whether some of the non-Avatar voters were correcting for a perceived mistake with Titanic.
Best Actor: correct
Best Actress: correct
I'll give it to Sandra Bullock: she gave a great speech, and I think she knows that win is crap. One of my poolmates cynically pointed out that she's had several awards shows' worth of time to perfect that "I'm not worthy" shtick, but on the other hand, 1) Bullock showed up to the Razzies, and 2) she admits to her Botox. I don't love the win, but props for the handling of it.
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Tags: ...Kevin!, Kathryn Bigelow, Mo'Nique, Molly Ringwald, Sandra Bullock, The Oscars
Posted in Culture and Criticism | 33 Comments »
March 7th, 2010
Well, friends, I gave it my best, but I couldn't manage to watch them all. The final score is Sarah 50, Death Race 8 (86-ish percent) and 20 out of 24 categories completed (83 percent). I'd hoped to cram in another movie or two today, but I had to act in a music video (…I know), so that didn't work out.
In case anyone cares, I've listed my recommendations for your Oscar-pool picks after the jump.
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Tags: movies, Oscars 2010 Death Race
Posted in Culture and Criticism | 12 Comments »
March 7th, 2010
A handful of nice moments — most of them from McAvoy, who isn't nominated — but one review I read called the movie an acting showcase more than a plot, and I'd have to agree. It's a little draggy, and many of the characters seem written without regard for the era.
Mirren is good, as is Plummer, but it's average work from each of them, and neither of them is going to win.
Sarah 50, Death Race 8; 20 of 24 categories completed
Tags: Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren, James McAvoy, movies, Oscars 2010 Death Race
Posted in Culture and Criticism | 5 Comments »
March 7th, 2010
This is a great movie. Here's how I could tell: the version I saw had, bar none, the worst subtitling I've ever seen, and I have watched a fair amount of bootleg kung-fu in my life. I guess it's nice to see the Chicago font getting some work, but good grief.
In spite of that, I was riveted, for many of the same reasons I loved Epitafios. It's got the leading man who's pretty average-looking, even lumpen, but is so charismatic that you want to make out with him after about an hour; it's got the Taking! It! Personally! feel, but played effectively and relatably; it's got the steady, but not spoon-fed, build of information that culminates in "what the…wow, holy shit" at the end; it stays with you for days afterwards. Is this a thing in Argentine culture, dark procedurals featuring obsessed paunchy guys who call everyone "motherfucker," have tortured relationships with educated women with great hair, and put their indispensable sidekicks in grave peril? Because Argentina really does that well, and it happens to be Bunting-nip.
If you have seen it: Sandoval. Man. I felt like I knew him personally; pitch-perfect writing and rendition. If you haven't seen it, please go; I'm sure you'll get workable subtitles, but if you don't, seriously, you won't even need them.
Sarah 49, Death Race 9; 18 of 24 categories completed
Tags: Oscars 2010 Death Race
Posted in Culture and Criticism | 2 Comments »
March 6th, 2010
Everyone looks beautiful, the acting is good (with one semi-exception), and Nine successfully evokes Fellini, but I don't think I see the point of the exercise, here or in the stage original. That the dialogue exists almost entirely in English with hammy Italian accents (Dench apparently refused even to bother, which is refreshing) doesn't help, and when it's added to the built-in contrivance of the musical genre, the result is forced.
Penelope Cruz is quite genuine and appealing, and it's in contrast to Nicole Kidman, who presents as very artificial. The movie isn't going for realism, obviously, but everyone else is committed to the concept. Kidman seems primarily concerned with posing, reminding the camera that she's A Great Beauty, and she's a better actress than that, plus the implied smugness is off-putting. Perhaps this is the point, but it didn't integrate very well for me.
Pretty to look at, but ultimately unsatisfying.
Sarah 49, Death Race 9; 18 of 24 categories completed
Tags: Federico Fellini, Judi Dench, movies, Nicole Kidman, Oscars 2010 Death Race, Penelope Cruz, shut up musicals
Posted in Culture and Criticism | 3 Comments »
March 5th, 2010
Hi,
This isn't the typical book question, but I know that the readers are an observant and helpful bunch so hopefully this isn't too weird for them. Here goes.
I got a coupon off Facebook for free Starbucks ice cream, which is great, but I cannot find a single store anywhere in NYC or Brooklyn (I've been in like 5 or 6 at least already) that sells it! I've asked in Starbucks coffee stores and they are totally useless — they just say it is sold in grocery stores and then generally direct me somewhere I've already checked.
There must be some store in Manhattan or Brooklyn (Sunset Park area) that sells this stuff! I love free stuff and really don't want to waste this coupon. So I know coupons aren't the usual fare for Tomato Nation readers….but it's a recession so help a girl out 
.
I'm Screaming For Ice Cream, That's Who
Tags: Ask The Readers, free crap, rando, retail
Posted in The Vine | 14 Comments »
March 4th, 2010
This is, I believe, the presumptive favorite for Best Foreign Film, with good reason. I've only seen one of the other nominees, and it's good, but The White Ribbon is in another class entirely; it's like comparing apples to needles.
The narration invites the viewer immediately to draw parallels between the events shown and the rise of National Socialism in Germany, and it's interesting to see how events unfold once that's been put in your head, but what the movie really excels at is creating an uncomfortable, oppressive atmosphere. The director shot the movie in color but printed it in black-and-white, and some scenes turn out so dark that you can't see what's going on — and you find yourself both straining towards the screen and cringing away from it. Even sunlit scenes seem chilly somehow, cooled by an invisible shadow.
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Tags: Burghart Klaussner, Maria-Victoria Dragus, movies, Oscars 2010 Death Race
Posted in Culture and Criticism | 5 Comments »
March 4th, 2010
For my tenth birthday, my mother got me a framed copy of the front page of the New York Times from the day I was born. The big headline is about food costs pushing up the price index; other above-the-fold news included items about a summer-job initiative backed by Nixon, testimony on a fund alleged to have sponsored foment in Chile, and the conclusion of the siege of Rach Bap in Vietnam.
None of these resonates much today, not compared with two headlines below the fold: "Court Quashes Subpoenas on Watergate Reporting" (Nixon's team tried and failed to get reporters to turn over unpublished material), and "Ellsberg Backed On Access To Data" (the government did not own the copy of the Pentagon report that Ellsberg copied).
Even as a kid, I knew that the Ellsberg and Watergate headlines were the lasting news, but despite having that front page hanging in every bedroom I've lived in since 1983, I never learned the specifics of Ellsberg's case until watching the documentary, and it's quite amazing. The movie gilds the lily a bit with the tensely shot re-enactments and the Mission: Impossible-esque score, but it doesn't change the essential fact: that this one guy, after trying and failing to make the best of a bad job vis-à-vis the Vietnam "conflict," finally decided that no ethical option remained except to rat out five administrations for their cynical actions in Southeast Asia. And he assumed he would go to jail for it, but he felt he had no choice.
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Tags: Daniel Ellsberg, Henry Kissinger, movies, Oscars 2010 Death Race, Richard Nixon
Posted in Culture and Criticism | 4 Comments »