Viva Las Vegas!

Leaving tomorrow morning for Las Vegas by way of Philadelphia and New York City with Rachel Wiener. I can't be more excited. I renewed my license today, and I passed the vision test (I was a little nervous, ha) and then I got a new picture taken, but they had me take my glasses off - weird, because I wear them when I drive - and it's going to be weird to look at my pic every time I take out my license for the next 5 years and I don't have my glasses on. Anyways, I digress...

Miss Alison Hay and I took in designer-cum-filmmaker Tom Ford's rookie effort, A Serious Man starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. Unfortunately, it was all style and not a whole lot of substance. Firth was incredible was George Falconer, a college English professor in 1960's Los Angeles dealing with the recent death of his longtime partner - but the rest of the film was just one gorgeous screen picture after another where not a whole lot happened or was said. Julianne Moore didn't really have a whole lot to do as his blousy neighbor/wannabe lover, but she made the best of a pretty thankless role. Expect Oscar nominations for both, as well as a possible adapted Screenplay nod for Ford and David Scearce. I was disappointed, I was expecting much more.
Grade: B- (Miss Alison Hay gives it a solid B)ˆ

Speaking of which, apologies for not giving Miss Alison Hay props for the Glee flash mob I posted in a previous update. PROPS TO YOU!

Viva Las Vegas!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I hope that you all had a wonderful Holiday, blog readers! Mine certainly was, even if it was a bit non-traditional. I naturally waited until last minute to have all of my presents delivered and wrapped, so that's what I spent most of the day doing. We spent Christmas Eve at the Johnson's - it was good to be among great friends.

Christmas day we went to my aunt's in Westminster. It's always a little ridiculous when the whole family gets together, and yesterday was no different. We do an Italian Christmas, which consists of homemade pasta, raviolis, meatballs and sauce. It's probably my favorite meal of the year. Of course. the liquor was flowing as well, so we did get a little loud and raucous.

Christmas night brought a first for me - I went to the movies! I always wondered why films were released on Christmas day (and not the day after), and if people actually went to the movies on Christmas. Well, a lot of people go to the movies on Christmas. Miss Alison Hay and I ventured to Cinemaworld in the 'burg to see Sherlock Holmes. It was quite good - Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law made a great duo as Holmes/Watson, and Rachel McAdams spiced things up as Holmes muse Irene. This time out, Holmes and Watson were out to thwart the evil Lord Blackwood from "altering the course of history". It was pretty slick, and the soundtrack by Hans Zimmer was excellent. The story was a little convoluted in the beginning and it took a little while for me to figure out what was happening, but once I was finally able to figure it out, I really enjoyed it. It was really cool the way you thought one thing was happening when it really was something totally different. Guy Richie did a really great job updating the Sherlock Holmes characters for the 21st Century but was still able to remain faithful to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original characters. RDJ was wonderful as Holmes. He is nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor, and if this year's Best Actor field wasn't so crowded, I feel like he could easily pull of a nomination. Same goes for Law as Watson - he was so good that he almost stole the show from Downey. I was a little disappointed with Rachel McAdams, she didn't really have a whole lot to do, and could have played up the sexuality a bit more. One question I had after watching it though - was it always raining in 19th century London? Every movie I've seen lately that's been set there, it's been rainy and dreary. When I went a couple years ago, it was beautiful! Over all though, this is a great film to end the year with, and I encourage all of you to catch it in the theater - the camera work and cinematography were quite good and should be appreciated on the big screen. Grade: A-

Santa didn't arrive at 39 Winnecowett Drive until this morning, but it was worth the wait! I got some new running clothes, a couple of dvds, and....drum roll please....a new camera! After I got back from Disney and uploaded my pictures to my computer, the quality was terrible, and there were spots on the lenses even after I kept cleaning them, so I asked for a new camera from Santa. And he delivered! I got a Canon PowerShot SX120 with 10x zoom and 10 mega pixels - hooray!

I'm excited to use it next week when I go to....LAS VEGAS! That's right friends, less then a week til my maiden voyage to Sin City and I couldn't be more excited. We're taking a day trip to the Grand Canyon, so I'm sure it will get all kinds of use. I also found out today that there are quite a few In-N-Out Burgers in the greater Las Vegas area, so you can be sure that I'll make multiple visits there. There is the potential of staying at Bellagio the last night we're there, in a room with a view of the fountains. This trip is going to be epic, I cannot wait. And even better? I'm spending Tues-Thurs with Rachel Weiner in Philly/NYC - huzzah!

Readers will know how much I enjoy Glee, so you can bet how excited I was when I saw this:

I want to be part of a flash mob, but a Glee flash mob?! A dream come true!

Greetings readers!

I've finally recovered from the visually spectacular Avatar screening last week, only to behold yet another incredible sight this morning! I got to the Museum at about 7 to do my daily run, and I timed it just right to see the sunrise over the Boston skyline as I ran along Memorial Drive. It was spectacular. The sun gleaming off the Hancock Tower and the Prudential, the snow covered Charles River - amazing. I wish I had had my camera to take a couple of pictures, but alas, I like to run carrying as little as possible. Maybe I'll do it again next week, and this time bring my camera.

I'll get my quick movie news out of the way - saw Up in the Air and Invictus last week, and both were good.

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), is a corporate hatchet man who loves his life on the road but is forced to fight for his job when his company downsizes its travel budget. He is required to spend more time at home, just as he is on the cusp of a goal he's worked toward for years—reaching ten million frequent flyer miles—and just after he's met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams (Vera Farmiga).

There is tremendous buzz around this film, especially for the performances of George Clooney and Anna Kendrick. Jason Reitman is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors (even though I didn't particularly care for his last effort, Juno, I adored Thank You for Smoking), he has a knack for writing intelligent, realistic dialogue and characters that audiences can identify with. This was an extremely well made and put together film. I think that it has particular resonance now because of it's subject matter (people losing their jobs) and how people cope with the loss.

As for the performances, Clooney was as good as all the reviews have said, but I personally felt that he was just George Clooney being George Clooney, a wryly charming playboy who has women eating out of the palm of his hand. The real breakout in the film though is Anna Kendrick as Natalie, the young executive that Clooney takes under his wing. She's a relative newcomer to Hollywood (I hear she's in those Twilight films) and she announces herself as a force to be reckoned with. Her performance is remarkable, especially as she starts to show vulnerability and that she really may not be as tough as she thinks she is. Vera Farmiga completes the trifecta, although she is the least developed of the three leads in what turns out to be, IMHO, a mostly thankless role.

This movie is probably like porn for travel agents, with American Airlines and Hilton Hotels, and their respective loyalty programs being advertised like whoa. There is a great scene in the beginning of the movie where Ryan and Alex compare their elite traveler status within various airlines and hotel chains. I expect this movie to do quite well at the Oscars, easily scoring nominations for Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress (could be x2), Screenplay and Editing.
Grade: A

Also saw Invictus last weekend. Don't really have the energy or inclination to write a lot about it. It was good, and if I had to describe it in one sentence: Rugby cured all of South Africa's racial tensions in the mid 90's. Ok, so it's a little more complicated than that, but that's pretty much what I walked away thinking. Morgan Freeman is in the role he was born to play as Mandella, and Matt Damon gives a fantastic performance as rugby team captain. Can someone PLEASE give him an Oscar already? Clint has the uncanny ability to make films meander when they don't really need to, but I think that it works for him here. The last 25 minutes or so is the climactic ruby match, which is expertly shot and, even though we know (or can probably guess) the outcome, it's still pretty thrilling.
Grade: B+

I spent 5 days at the beginning of the month with the Marching Spartans at Walt Disney World in Orlando. It was a really great time (even though it rained the first 2 days we were there) but it was nice to be on vacation for a little while. The kids performed really well, and they had a great performance in the Magic Kingdom before the afternoon parade. I love seeing the parks all decorated for Christmas - here's what the train station looks like right when you enter the Magic Kingdom:


Pretty nice, huh? And the holiday edition of Illuminations was also pretty great: Disney sure does know how to put on a show! I had this great idea of trying to post pictures of myself at all of the countries in Epcot, and it worked for about half, then it got dark. Beth was grateful, because she was getting pretty annoyed at playing photographer.

And for a Christmas treat, my roommate sent me this video this morning, it's pretty outrageous.



Happy Holidays!

Welcome to Pandora

So I know that I have been MIA for about 2 weeks, and I promise, I'll be back tomorrow with a full update, but I need to blog about this tonight before I go to bed. Tonight, I saw one of the most anticipated movies of the year (if not the decade), James Cameron's follow-up to his ubersmash Titanic (almost 12 years to the day), Avatar. I was skeptical about it, being all CGI and sci-fi, two things I'm not a huge fan of, but I bought my tickets to an opening day screening in Imax.

Avatar take us to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery as he leads an epic battle to save a civilization. The story's hero is Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a former Marine confined to a wheelchair. Bitter and disillusioned, he's still a warrior at heart. All Jake ever wanted was something worth fighting for, and he finds it in the place he least expected: on a distant world. Jake has been recruited to join an expedition to the moon Pandora, which corporate interests are strip-mining for a mineral worth $20 million per kilogram on Earth. To facilitate their work, the humans use a link system that projects a person's consciousness into a hybrid of humans and Pandora's indigenous humanoids, the Na'vi. This human-Na'vi hybrid—a fully living, breathing body that resembles the Na'vi but possesses the individual humans thoughts, feelings and personality—is known as an "avatar." In his new avatar form, Jake can once again walk. His mission is to interact with and infiltrate the Na'vi with the hope of enlisting their help—or at least their acquiescence—in mining the ore. Complications arise when Jake falls in love with a beautiful Na'vi female (Zoe Saldana) who saves his life, leading to an epic conflict that will decide nothing less than the fate of an entire world.

It was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen. Visually stunning doesn't even begin to describe this film. And let's get this out of the way first, a nomination for Best Original Screenplay was not among Titanic's record 15 Oscar nominations, and Avatar is not different, the script and dialogue is atrocious. But let's be honest, this isn't supposed to be about the writing. It's about the visual spectacle, and on that level, Avatar is astounding. The actual story is fascinating; humans having avatars to infiltrate an alien culture to learn and interact with them, so if some of the plot points are a little ludicrous, you can look beyond it because Cameron keeps you occupied with sumptuous visuals. The world that he created is visual eye-candy, with almost every color in the spectrum represented, in locales that range from mountain tops to rain forests to the desert. And it's inhabitants are equally as exciting. The Na'vi are incredibly lifelike (albeit a little cat people-esque), and when they interact with the humans, the lines between live action and CGI become extremely blurred - what's created and what's real?

There was more than one scene that legitimately left me breathless; the creativity of this film and Cameron and his associates is astounding. No wonder it took him almost 15 years to make this, the attention to detail is incredible. I had a few minor quibbles in addition to the horrendous script, but overall, this is one of the most enjoyable and satisfying films I've ever seen. It has gotten across the board rave reviews, and is doing fairly well early in the awards season. In a year that will have 10 Best Picture nominees, this will easily make the cut (I'd guess it'd even make it if there were only 5 slots), and Cameron is almost assured a nod for direction and a truckload of visual nominations.

I've never seen anything like this, such a life like and seamless melding of live-action and CGI. For months, this has been billed as a game changer in the world of film, and if this is the future of the American cinema, I can't wait to see what comes next. See this, and see it in Imax. Avatar is why films are shown in Imax.
Grade: A
It would have received an A+ if the script was better.

NBR Winners

Since I'm at Logan waiting to leave, might as well update you on the happenings with the NBR

Best Film: Up in the Air
Best Director: Clint Eastwood, Invictus
Best Actor: Morgan Freeman, Invctus and George Clooney, Up in the Air
Best Actress: Carey Mulligan, An Education
Supporting Actor: Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Supporting Actress: Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Foreign Film: A Prophet
Doc: The Cove
Animated: Up
Ensemble: It’s Complicated

Best Ten Pics:
An Education
500 Days of Summer
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Star Trek
Up
Where the Wild Things Are

Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

So what'd I miss? The last three. I didn't count on Up, and had actually written off WTWTA, but an PUMPED for Star Trek, could this mean that it could find its way to the Oscars? Maybe, and I hope so, the Academy needs a fun, well reviewed blockbuster since they instituted this 10 best picture nominees nonsense. I'd also venture to guess the acting winners could very well become Oscar winners, with Morgan Freeman just barely eeking out Clooney.

Surprises? Minimal love for Precious and zero for Nine...ouch.

Check out IndieWire for a complete list of nominees.

Leaving on a jet plane...

Greetings readers!

Today is going to be a long day (well, long morning anyways), I'm leaving at 2pm for the airport because - I'm going to Disney World! Seriously! I am! Oakmont is going down to participate in the Magic Music Days program, and since they need staff members to go, I naturally volunteered. I'm excited to go, and relax in some sun and heat. I'm ready to get away from work for a few days, dealing with the stuff here, the craziness of Harry Potter, the Marathon headaches. And of course, seeing Mickey Mouse is always kind of cool too.

Keen readers will notice I mentioned the Marathon above. I'm of course talking about the 2010 Boston Marathon, of which the Museum has 15 charity numbers and, hold onto your butts readers, I'll be running. Yes, you read that right, I'm running the 2010 Boston Marathon. 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Copley Square. With the encouragement and support from family, friends, and co-workers, I've decided to take on the biggest challenge of my life so far. I've run 2 half marathons successfully, and I think those are the building blocks for Boston. I know that a half marathon is completely different than a whole, but I feel that I have the strong base, and Coach Rick has put together an incredible training program that will prepare our entire team to run and successfully finish Boston. Here's where you come in--since I'm running for a chairty, I have a fundraising goal.

In the first year the Museum of Science has charity numbers, all of our funds raised will go towards Traveling Programs, a unique part of Museum outreach. For over 15 Years, Traveling Programs has helped bring science programs to more than 81,000 students annually in schools, community centers, and libraries. These programs provide a special learning opportunity for schools that simply do not have the resources, financial or otherwise, for a field trip to the Museum. Our team fundraising goal for 2010 is $80,000. Monies raised will go towards purchasing a new van and designing new programs to take to schools across New England. It's a lofty goal no doubt, but I'm sure that we can acheive it.

In addition to reading about my progress here on ...this is home..., you can also donate to to the team and help me reach my individual goal of $7,000 by visiting the 2010 Museum of Science team website and clicking on my name to sponsor me. All sponsors will get a shout out here on the blog, as well as a hand written thank you note - hooray! Thanks to my first few donors, my boss Pam, Uncle Paul and Sloanfish!

Also be on the look out for fundraisers during the Winter in the 'burg, Boston and mayhaps Amherst. I'd also like to welcome all the new readers to ...this is home... who are here to track my progress. Mark your calendars, April 19, 2010. Be there.

It sucks to be Tiger Woods these days - it always amazes me when celebs get into trouble like this...do they really think that no one is going to find out? Dennis and Callahan (who I normally disagree with on almost everything) posed an interesting question on the radio this morning, it was something like if you could have an affair that may or may not be discovered for a billion dollars, would you do it? I don't think I would.

Awards season shifts into high gear today - the NBR (that's National Board of Review for those of you not in the know) announces their picks sometime today. They name a Best Picture and then a top 10. Here's how I think it will shake out:

Best Picture
The Hurt Locker

Top 10
(500) Days of Summer
An Education
Inglorious Basterds
Invictus
The Lovely Bones
The Messenger
Nine
Precious
A Single Man
Up in the Air

I think a real wild-card could be The Hangover, they normally nominate a box-office success, and it has a real shot here, I also suspect that it will pop up again in a couple weeks during the Golden Globe noms. Other potentials for their list; Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, It's Complicated, A Single Man, and Where the Wild Things Are. I'll post their choices later this afternoon.

And finally, the Nine website has the entire soundtrack online. Check out #3, Penelope Cruz sining "A Call from the Vatican"...I almost wet myself. I think I might actually have to go to the movies on Christmas to see this. I don't think I can wait.

My upcoming screening schedule constists of: December 9 - Brothers, December 11 - Up in the Air, December 17 - midnight showing of Avatar and December 25 - Nine and Sherlock Holmes. I need to fit Invictus, The Lovely Bones and maybe It's Complicated (although I hated Nancy Meyers previous effort, Something's Gotta Give) somewhere in there too. And 2 foreign films, Broken Embraces and The White Ribbon will open in Boston sometime in January.

See you all when I get back next week!

Cinema Italiano

I'll be back later with a full post - but I needed to post this ASAP. What an incredible thing to wake up to.



have I said how much I want to see this?