Category Archives: Entertainment

You might see yourself here

The best thing I saw at the movie theatre yesterday was an ad during the pre-show.

No offense to the movie.

I really enjoyed Oblivion, starring Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman. It had great action, an interesting conceit and an ending that I did not see coming.

But this commercial for Windows Phone made me laugh aloud.

Truth is funny.

Most Annoying Celebrity Rag

You know how some TV show plot lines are ‘ripped from the headlines?’ I’ve decided People magazine rips theirs from any handy movie premiere calendar.

Easier than workin.’

people gwynethTake their latest World’s Most Beautiful Woman issue featuring Gwyneth Paltrow.

Gwyneth is lovely — I’ll give you that.  But the most beautiful woman in the world?  Of all the choices in Hollywood and around the globe?

In the words of Jerry Seinfeld — speaking to his young son outside my brownstone one Saturday afternoon –

“Probably not.”

But it is far simpler — isn’t it People editorial staff — to crown Ms. Paltrow?   She has Iron Man 3 coming out in a theatre near you…plus, your rival Star magazine just named her Most Hated Celebrity (which is probably more accurate).

Your advertisers are happy!  Moms her age are happy!  And Star has been put in its place.

Who cares if it isn’t true?

Seven years or less

Can you believe The Rachael Ray Show has been on the air since the fall of 2006?

I moved to Manhattan that July; her show debuted a few months later.  And I signed up for free tickets on the website.

They arrived in my inbox today.

rachael rayCan you believe that??

I mean, I don’t watch the show anymore, so I don’t really care.  But how can The Rachael Ray Show have a seven-year waiting list?

I live right down the street, for cripes sake.  You’d think at some point they would have called me to fill in on a slow taping day.  Other more popular shows certainly have once I was on their mailing list.

Even Late Show with Jimmy Fallon reserves seats a month out.  I’ve been able to see Daily Show several times.  Saturday Night Live and Late Night with David Letterman are harder tickets to score, but even they have standby lines.

So what’s the deal with The Rachel Ray Show?

Maybe it’s her Oprah-esque giveaways that limit her tickets.  I want to think that.  Let’s think that.

Wonder what I’ll get…

Sheep schtick

It has been 22 years since The Silence of the Lambs won the Oscar for Best Picture.

Feeling old?

silenceThen come to New York City and see Silence: The Musical, the way funny parody of that award-winning horror story now playing on Broadway.

Clarisse is there…Dr. Lector, too.  And the wannabe transgender, his little dog and the senator’s daughter, ‘putting the lotion in the basket.’

But the lambs?

Well, they aren’t so silent in this version. They sing.  They dance.  They move set pieces.

Cast-of-Silence-The-Musical-650x433They even ‘clomp’ out a musical number using their little lamb hooves.  I had a major flashback to doing something similar during  a show at Martin City Melodrama & Vaudeville Company in Kansas City…

Just off-Broadway.

The noise, noise, noise

They began in movie theatres months ago, and now they’ve hit TV  –

Trailers for Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby.

robert redford gatsbyI’ll admit — I didn’t think this movie needed to be remade.  It’s a classic in my mind, as is the book.

And Leonardo DiCaprio playing Gatsby in place of Robert Redford?

Uh, no.

gatsby newBut now that I’ve seen the trailers — many, many times — the casting isn’t even the issue. 

This Gatsby is unrecognizable.  Luhrmann has — well — Luhrmann-ized it; the glitz and glitter is a visual assault.  The soundtrack, too, is so brash and overwhelming, I have actually checked for blood in my ears in the theatre.   Imagine the damage after two hours.

I’m sure Luhrmann has included that, too — in gold…with a dance number.

Safety is fun!

Move over, Southwest Airlines.  There’s a new contender for ‘funniest in the air.’

Delta Airlines

Their new safety video is filled with sight gags large and small.  I’ve seen it on two flights, and am still discovering all the little surprises they have left for the attentive viewer.

juggling chainsawscartwheelsMy favorites?  Bogus safety stickers featured on distant cabin walls.  Sure, we are used to observing “No smoking” and “No electronics”…but “No juggling chainsaws” and “No cartwheels”?

(The video version on my flight also featured “No comb overs”, which I sadly could not find online.)

A robot turns himself off when the cabin door shuts.  The main spokesperson changes clothing and accessories for no apparent reason. And remember the “cat lady” who did the previous safety video for Delta? She makes a cameo, too.

It’s worth a watch or two or seven.  I’ve never enjoyed a safety video more. Or, in fact…

Watched one.

Who is that masked Longbottom?

It has been two years since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II was released in theatres, bringing the decade-long movie franchise to its satisfying conclusion.  The ending evoked a lot of emotions from us all, one of the more surprising being –

Neville Longbottom is a hunk!

Neville before and afterAt the time, I celebrated the transformation of actor Matthew Lewis on many levels.

First and foremost, I like pretty things, and Matthew had become one.  But as a geek whose own awkward period extends even into today, I was gratified to see how far he had come during the 10-year span…and gave his movie connections no small amount of the credit.

But it turns out the studio’s efforts were actually in the opposite direction.

Matthew Lewis was never the chubby, ear-sticking-out, buck-toothed character that we saw on screen.  The wardrobe and makeup departments created Neville’s persona and ‘plopped it down’ — fat suit and all — upon Matthew’s more leading man frame.  They even used extra-large shoes because that’s how JK Rowling described him in the her novels.

That’s why Neville was such a ‘boy toy’ surprise in the final film!

Story, story

Today was the first really warm day of spring, so Rory and I headed to Central Park before dinner.

image

That’s when we saw the film crew.

I’m pretty sure they are students, based on their youth and minimal equipment. But they were very focused on their talent, who appeared to be writing in a notebook.

Clearly, it is a period piece.

Rory and I loitered for a bit, trying to overhear any dialogue, but no luck. Perhaps the camera was zoomed in tight on the words he was writing…something like:

Where the heck did I put my iPad??

But, seriously…

I spent my Friday afternoon at the movies. Today’s feature:

The Place Beyond the Pines

The-place-beyond-the-pinesHere’s a still from the movie.

Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes look kinda depressed, don’t they?

I was pretty low after the film was over, and I only had to watch it — I can only imagine how they must have felt living that story.

It’s a downer, no lie.  And it’s violent.  Plus, Ryan Gosling is only in the first third of the movie — I cry foul!  Thank goodness Bradley Cooper was there to pick up the slack.

That’s the positive hing tabout the movie.  Wonderful actors, moving performances.  But grim.  The previews were dark and violent, too.

If you go, be sure to get candy for moral support.

Wordvana

I learned a new word today…or, I should say, new to me:

HANGRY

As soon as I heard the word in conversation with a friend, I Googled it…and realized it was not just a word, but a phenomenon.

hangry

Hangry, simply stated, is that spirit-sucking irritability that results from being hungry.  I experienced it today when I had too many errands to run and not enough time to eat.

While I am all-too familiar with the feeling, I had never had the perfect word to describe it.

Until now.

So I am no longer hangry; instead, I’m simply happy.  ‘Cause the right word can do that for ya.