yes, the foodie also known as smockmomma and her more handsome half, smockdaddy, are off to chicago next week for fabulous food, a cooler clime and to celebrate fifteen years of wedded bliss.
*76-83 degree highs are expected in chicago versus the 94-95 degree highs in our neck of the woods. can somebody say yeeHAW?
i'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that next weekend is going to be an even bigger weekend for get smart if word-of-mouth advertising has anything to do with sales. smockdaddy and i, who both loved watching the get smart t.v. series as kids, took the "big d" (who is 12 years old and has never seen an episode of get smart) and joined hundreds of others to see the big screen version last saturday night and we, along with everyone else in the theater, laughed out loud from beginning to end.
mind you, i wasn't quite as impressed as everyone else seemed to be -- case in point: i was totally unimpressed, and actually annoyed, by the relentlessly persistent and overt pot-shots at the bush admin -- but overall i thought steve carell was perfect as a, shall we say, smarter and more sympathetic maxwell smart. the word "adorable" comes to mind. as for anne hathaway, whom i've always enjoyed watching play "herself" in movies, is still fun to watch as herself and is a perfect "straight gal" with great gams as agent 99. heroes geeks will be happy to see masi oka make several appearances as one of the agency's techno geeks.
several times during the movie i thought "big d" and smockdaddy were going to pass out because they were laughing so hard they couldn't breathe. and i'll admit that i had to dig my fingertips into my temples because i was laughing so hard i got a headache halfway through the movie.
bottom line: get smart is slapstick par excellence.
jeffery ely hit a miniature pinscher and then sued the owner for damages to his car, claiming the family is responsible for their dog's actions. i wonder if anyone has made this claim after hitting someone's child. you know, once you have them, you're responsible for their actions an' all. give me just a small break, people.
read the article here.
feel free to post this under "call me cynical" a-la mr. luse.
this week a 78-year-old man was hit by a car in hartford and left bleeding, but conscious and apparently immobile, in the middle of the street as car after car drove around his body and walkers-by gawked, but then just kept on walking. the city is "shocked" by the inhumanity of its citizens. one man saying, "like a dog they left him there." Bystanders Ignore Hit-and-Run Victim
well, i beg to differ, but i imagine if the man had been a dog, people would have stopped because (a) dogs and their families don't tend to sue "good samaritans" in this country, (b) we tend to be a contraception/abortion-minded country and have very little regard for human life in general, and (c) as a whole, we hold our elders in very low esteem, if not contempt, in this bountious land of ours. so the question shouldn't be why didn't anyone stop to help this man, but how can we think anyone would.
Here's an idea for all the hand-wringing GOP strategists in Washington wondering what it will take to win back disgusted economic and social conservatives: How about a Republican presidential candidate who will talk about the tax-subsidized abortion industry the way McCain talks about the oil industry?
In April, the annual report for Planned Parenthood Federation of America revealed that the abortion giant had a total income of $1.02 billion -- with reported profits of nearly $115 million. Taxpayers kick in more than $336 million worth of government grants and contracts at both the state and federal levels. That's a third of Planned Parenthood's budget.
read more here.
i really like liv tyler. i'm not sure i think she's an actress, but she's cute in that lil' lost puppy way and i'm guessin' that she brings out the maternal in me. anyway, i was really hoping to like her newest flick, the strangers, but i will admit with a heavy sigh that while it wasn't great, it is dvd-worthy.
first the good news. i would like to give big kudos to the writer/director, bryan bertino, for giving us one very intense thrill ride using -- hey, here's a novelty -- good old fashioned scare tactics with very little gratuitous sex and only moderate gore. i think the reason the film works to the degree that it does is because the setting is truly creepy for any audience. this couple is terrorized by three manson-family wannabees who have chosen their innocent victims completely at random. the reason for their punishment? "because you were home." to be tortured in your parent’s summer home, a place typically filled with carefree childhood memories? this makes for a downright terrifying experience.
...but only for so long. this movie unravels for two reasons. first of all, the director thinks his audience is stupid. rule number one of any situation involving masked terrorists: don't go out on your own. stick together no matter what. i think this is a natural instinct, undeniable on any rational human being's gut level. don't ignore it. ever. even if you're trying to make a scary movie, you simply must give your audience more credit or they, like the smock, will rebel. secondly, the suspense, which is the movie’s strongest feature, unfortunately gets overused. there comes a time in even the most delightfully thrilling movies that the viewer says, “okay, guys, enough already. pee or get off the pot.”
the bottom line:
smockdaddy says, "hey, it's a B-movie starring liv tyler."
smockmomma says, "as with any 'based on actual events' flick, wait for the dvd."
