definitely, possibly, maybe

funny story, so the while you were sleeping reference here is literally lifted from a conversation i had with my high school boyfriend. we watched it on our first date and that was literally the only scene he enjoyed. it remains one of my favorite comfort movies, so his dislike of it, and our eventual break up had no bearing on my love for the movie.

echoes  is like lost  meets the bourne identity  for teens. i should look up the deal notice on publisher's marketplace *  and see if that's what it was pitched as. i don't want to give too much away of the plot, because it's trippy and confusing and also this two-person-play/love story between fiona and miles as they try to figure out what's happening and where they are. like lost there are two separate timelines and both tell a compelling story and you wonder if and when they will ever intersect. and if you do finally figure out what's going on, do you know or is there going to be some new twist. it's well-established that i love lost , so this story was right up my alley. but if you don't like mind-bending, twisty stories you might want to skip this one, because echoes is all about the twists. *it was pitched as lost meets the maze runner . i don't know the maze runner to know what that means, which is why i went with the bourne identity...

what happens when you fall in love with a harbinger of death? what do you do when the boy you like is also a black bird who feeds off the energy released by death? and what can you do when you realize that his presence in your life means that sometime soon very bad things will be happening? black bird of the gallows is part romance, part horror story. there's a sense of foreboding and menace throughout this story that is woven into the teenage angsty romance between angie and reece. and you guys, i loved this story. it was unique and interesting and the imagery was so vivid. i'm not the most visual person but here i could see the crow to human transitions. i could see the blurry faces of the beekeepers. the writing is so cinematic and lyrical. i feel like the author spent some time watching the birds and candyman , which are two of the scariest movies of all time in my opinion. there is something about angie that draws the birds and bees her way, and figuring out what t...

caitlyn has a thing for cary grant . she wants a boyfriend who is silver screen worthy. her ex, she's come to realize was decidedly not cary grant. and her first date with ben is definitely not dreamy. though it's also probably more cary grant than she could have ever dreamed. i mean, in the philadelphia story or bringing up baby  it's definitely not love at first sight in her leading man   for either of the leads. ben does his best to make a giant ass of himself on their date. and then as luck would have it, he ends up being her sublettor. the thing is, ben isn't as gigantic an ass as he first seems. and the time they spend together begins to mean something. slowly they become friends. but they are also friends who have incredible chemistry. because that's the thing about cary grant. the man had incredible chemistry with his leading ladies. all that bickering was foreplay, and that's what cait and ben have going on. so when they do let go of their i...

slingshot cops  is the latest motern media film--it's the supernatural, buddy cop movie you never knew you wanted. recognizing its independent, low-budget origins, slingshot cops  is a fun-filled adventure. while it's entirely possible that i found this so funny because i actually know most of the people acting in this movie. my darling husband is the eastern european with the wildly varying accent. but you can see that everyone involved is having a good time, and that makes the absurd plot of a supernatural being who steals people's senses--like actual senses, sight, touch, smell, hearing--an entertaining ride. there's political drama, relationship drama, workplace drama, and at its center is rusty sinclair, the criminal concern officer turned slingshot cop who is prepared to keep the town of woodsville center safe from fireworks and losing their senses. i may be totally biased, but if you want to support some independent filmmakers and all-around good people, chec...

so i was researching what our eleven year anniversary would be, and it turns out it is our steel anniversary. and ever since i discovered that i can't get this out of my head: (obviously the blue steel look is the one i'm thinking of, but all of the looks are hilarious and worth taking a gander at.)

so i've never, ever been an angelina fan. but i have spent the last two days admiring her balls. this woman surprised her superstar husband with divorce papers on a tuesday morning . the man was blindsided. because the fact of the matter is that no celebrity ever releases shit like this on a tuesday morning. per the court documents the date of separation was september 15th. so this is recent, but that was a thursday, and there was plenty of time to bury the story on friday. especially since this weekend was the emmys and the story would have been lost amid the talk about who won or didn't win and who wore or didn't wear what. no, angelina fucking jolie releases her news on a tuesday morning because she wants everyone to know. and she tells us that this is for the kids. she entrenches herself in the position of hardworking mother and intimates that her co-parent isn't up to the job. she cuts him out of the picture so completely i just can't help but appreciate how ...

who doesn't love a good cinderella story? i'm that girl who loves the old school disney version and the more modern live action version and the one with drew barrymore and the one in the childcraft encyclopedia set  i grew up reading at my grandmother's house. i mean, ever since the grimm brothers first published the story people have been remaking it in some form or another. and i wanted to like the bachelor auction . i really did. cinderella story, yes please. pretty cover, awesome. but then you start reading and jane and brock are two of the biggest pushovers you've ever seen. so much so that instead of rooting for them you just want to shake some sense into them. their families were each going out of their way to be so epically terrible and jane and brock just took it. and it just didn't feel believable. who would let people treat them that way? i mean, it makes it clear that these two are perfect for each other. but one of the things i like about most rom...

growing up i was never a star trek fan. i thought the television series was boring and the one movie i recall seeing was super boring. it took place on earth and maybe kirk and spock were searching for something--but who cares? all i can tell you was that as a 10-year-old i found it beyond boring. i was always a star wars  person. never a trekkie. even when i heard j.j. abrams was relaunching the franchise  i wasn't all that excited about it. and i love everything j.j. abrams does. i think he's the bees knees, but was he going to get me to watch star trek ? i don't think so but when i was visiting my friend ian in l.a. a couple years ago, he suggested we go see the second installment in the new franchise, which was out in theaters. going to see movies in a theater is a treat to a parent of young children. and the night before we did that we caught up on the first installment. and i was  pleasantly surprised, while i wouldn't describe the movies as high cinem...

if you ever need a good pick-me up you should watch mr. bean's holiday . it is the best movie to watch if you are feeling slightly down. because mr. bean is both awful and utterly hilarious. there is no way to properly describe this movie. it's a road trip film. it's an odyssey. it's a story of unlikely friends. it's a story that shows how heroes can be found in the unlikeliest of places. mr. bean is no one's hero, but in the end he acquits himself nicely. and he is so, so funny while doing so.

so whenever i think of a perfect birthday scene, nothing tops this one from sixteen candles . definitely one of my all-time favorite movies. maybe i'll re-watch it tonight as a birthday treat.

i never went to summer camp, but i have watched wet hot american summer  and sleepaway camp  and the parent trap   so i'm pretty sure i know what summer camp is all about. daring the bad boy won't really change your mind about any clichés about summer camp, though there is 100% less murders in it than sleepaway camp . this young adult summer read tells the story of jacob fazio, bad boy extraordinaire, whose run-ins with trouble have condemned him to work as a lifeguard at his uncle's summer camp. jake has to keep on the straight and narrow, breaking the rules can land him in juvie. he's definitely made some mistakes, but he's also carrying around a lot of anger and grief. his mother died of cancer when he was fourteen, and his father handled this by pretending she never existed, moving them out of their home, and starting over somewhere new. this was not the best way for jake to handle his grief, thrust into an entirely new environment when his world had been...

other than attending the mandatory barbecues and staying up late to watch fireworks, the other best thing to do on fourth of july is binge-watch something ridiculous, like, wet hot american summer  and wet hot american summer: the first day of camp . even though the television series is technically a prequel to the movie, i don't recommend watching them in chronological order. the movie is what contextualizes the show. so watch that first and then the mini-series. it's amazing that either of these two things were made, and it's also amazing how everyone involved not only committed to doing it once, they've worked on it twice. and rumor has it that there is a second mini-series/television show coming at some point in the future. one can only imagine the jokes it can yet still mine from the source material. basically i can't say enough good things about this. it's amazing and hilarious and stupidly funny. and it's american so it's patriotic. you...

"it's a hell of a day at sea, sir" i have a confession to make—and i totally own my terrible taste in movies—one of my favorite movies of all time is overboard  starring real life couple kurt russell and goldie hawn. i can't explain why i love this movie so much, it feels almost anti-feminist for me to like it as much as i do. the movie is filled with tropes and stereotypes galore. plus the plot in general makes absolutely no sense. rich woman is condescending to backwoods hick and then when she washes ashore as an amnesiac he falsely claims to be her husband as petty revenge and then mistreats her until she falls in love with him and chooses to stay with him even when her memories come back. i mean, it is a garry marshall movie, so take what you will from that. you have to wonder who was in the pitch meeting that greenlit this movie, right? and it did totally bomb at the box office. because how do you word of mouth this? everything about this movie is preposte...

i've known matt farley for about 15 years, my husband has known him for much longer, since together they form the super rock group you've never heard about, moes haven . the first time i met matt i went up to his apartment in manchester, new hampshire for a 24 hour album listening party. since i've known them, and it's not just matt, it's also tom, charlie and the other matt. the guys have released these high concept albums. i didn't know at the time but there would also be shock marathon viewing parties--which amounts to an insane amount of movies to pack in a single weekend. a year's worth of albums, and then a best of from those albums. books recapping their insane horror movie watching habits. long walks that turn into the inspiration for a newsletter that is published monthly. movies that they write , produce , act and direct themselves. basically matt is the kind of guy who believes that if you are going to do something, you must do it to the p...

so in chemistry formulas are a good thing. in baking recipes are necessary. in construction following a set of instructions makes the difference between freestanding furniture and a pile of junk. sometimes we see entertainment follow a formula. like in a romantic comedy, where the two leads have their meet-cute and then shenanigans occur and in the end they end up together because that's what you're signed up for. i don't mind things that are predictable in broad strokes, especially if they are unique in the details. see for example the proposal   which is one of my favorite romantic comedies , and is unique in that the leads in some sense swap gender roles. but sometimes formulas are bad, in that even with different details they still feel tired or easy. things wrap too neatly. most writers follow some sort of formula, and it's usually okay. it's more common in genre fare, but even some literary folks fall prey to this. one recent example i've encountered i...

i was so bummed when sleeping with other people  was originally released and i realized it wasn't coming to my city. limited release sucks y'all. so the dvd came out and i used an amazon gift card to buy it. this movie stars jason sudeikis (jake) and alison brie (lainey), as two seriously damaged people who have no idea what it means to have a healthy relationship. he sleeps with any woman who lets him. and she is at the beck and call of her college crush (matthew)--adam scott playing against type--who is in a committed relationship with someone else. having lost their virginity to each other back in college, lainey and jake reconnect and decide to keep things platonic while also making a pact to make better choices in their romantic lives, jake by not banging every girl he sees and lainey by breaking things off with awful matthew. what happens is pretty much what you expect in a romantic comedy. they act like boyfriend and girlfriend and fall in love. except they are bot...

so i feel terrible. i really meant to post more before now. but a 16-day vacation overseas and craziness at work has really gotten in the way of my being able to write anything. but i promise i'm working on things and hopefully as this blog turns 1 year old, i'll be able to keep up with it more regularly. upcoming posts will talk all the usual, tv (especially glee and greys) and books (i've made a lot of progress on my grandmother's books, i just haven't written about any of it) and movies (i'm positive i've seen a few that i can talk about here), i'm also going to focus more on the romance aspect of things instead of plot, because that's my favorite part of it all. p.s. i did actually make platinum on my frequent flier program on this last trip. part of me is thrilled, the other part of me feels lame for traveling all the time.

so i recently watched confessions of a shopaholic , and well, it wasn't good. having read the books [at least the first three in the series] i knew that i couldn't expect too much of the story or the characters, but i love isla fisher, so i decided to give it a chance anyway. i often wonder at how popular this series is. i mean, the books themselves are not badly written, but rebecca bloomwood has to be one of the most singularly idiotic characters ever written. from book one she has a hard time managing money, goes to crazy lengths to hide the extent of her shopping addiction and inevitably ends up hurting the people she is closest to and then making it up to them. [even bridget jones exhibited some growth in edge of reason .] and then becky does the same thing over again in shopaholic takes manhattan and in shopaholic ties the knot . the thing is, if it were a novel about drug or alcohol addiction where the character struggles with relapses and destroys their life w...

i'm the kind of girl who needs to go to the movies with people. i don't like to go by myself. since most of the movies i enjoy don't require a big screen for maximum enjoyment, i have made a habit of watching things on dvd or on-demand. but every once in a while, especially when i have the rare opportunity to spend time with my best friend (we live in different cities), i actually make my way to the theater. over the july 4th weekend, while visiting her in manhattan, we decided to go to watch the proposal . most of the reviews i'd read were positive , but beyond that i had a feeling that this film would become a favorite. how could a movie with ryan reynolds , sandra bullock , and betty white not be enjoyable? i mean betty white is just plain awesome. ryan reynolds is a cutie and was so dreamy in definitely, maybe . and sandra bullock was in one of my favorite chick flicks ever, while you were sleeping . i don't know what it is about romantic comedies, but even t...