Saw two movies onTV this weekend. Actually, saw 2 and finished a third. (I love my PVR — run out and get one now if you’re a loser like me without a social life).
1) Saw Mona Lisa Smile on Starz at 3 (or 5?) AM Saturday morning. Maybe it’s just because I watched it with the volume on low since Gene was sleeping but while I know this was a Julia Roberts movie, it didn’t really register with me that she was in it. The movie featured a strong group of younger female actresses (Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhall, Kirsten Dunst, etc) and I was very impressed with their performances. ***
2) 13 Going on 30 — saw it on DVD with the boy Saturday night (since Gene plays poker on Saturdays, I hang out with the boy those nights). While Big is still the leader in this genre of films, I thought it was enjoyable. Mark Buffalo (Ruffalo? something) was the romantic lead — am I the only one who noticed that Jennifer Garner is gorgeous and he’s way out of her league? Oh, well. Got to torture the boy with a chick flick (I hear Mean Girls is coming out soon!) and at least it was only 98 minutes long (16 minutes longer than The Tigger Movie) so it was harmless enough. **1/2
3) Lost in La Mancha — a documentary about Terry Gilliam (the animator for Monty Python)’s attempt to make a movie of Don Quixote (note to self: key-ho-tee, not quicks-oat). The effort failed and I gotta say it was a heartbreaker since Python is cool and I hate to see someone’s dream die like that. Hopefully he’ll figure out a way to make the movie in the future. In the movie’s best scene, Johnny Depp (who was to star) and the French gentleman who was to play Don Key-ho-tee (note to self: definitely NOT Donkey Hotey) were sitting together reading the script (rehearsing? maybe). The French gentleman was wearing a dress shirt with a sweater tied around his shoulders (he could have eaten lunch at Panera, come to think of it…) and they pan to Johnny Depp, who’s wearing a winter cap with “The Viper Room” emblazoned upon it. The movie was also going to star Johnny’s girlfriend (and baby mama) Vanessa Paradis (I thought she was a French pop star, not an actress?). Vanessa had a minor, minor US pop hit in the early 90s with a song called “Be My Baby”. I know all the words. Sounds a lot like the “Love me, love me, say that you love meeee” song that we liked so well at college. Anyway, Lost in LaMancha gets a rockin’ ****.
Night!