Great article from New York: "The Best Novels You've Never Read"

In the event anyone needs any more reading ideas - look no further!

I only have a moment right now so I won't be giving you my commentary today, just wanted to share this link:

http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/2007/32390/?f=most-viewed-24h10

Yes...it's from 2007 however I still think it's good mining grounds for those looking for new titles and/or new authors to curl up on the couch with.

Reading on the Vineyard...

or, President Obama's summer reading list:

* "Lush Life" - Richard Price
* "Plainsong" - Kent Haruf
* "The Way Home" - George Pelecanos
* "Hot, Flat and Crowded" - Thomas Friedman
* "John Adams" - David McCullough

Two of the five - "Lush Life" and "Plainsong" - are books I regularly pick up as I wander the bookstore in search of the next great read....will this be the impetus I need to read either one?

McCullough may sound familiar:the Pulitzer Prize winning author's book was adapted to TV as the very successful mini-series of the same name, starring Paul Giamatti & Laura Linney.

I'm a fan of crime novels so George Pelecanos' name rings a bell however I don't know if I've ever read any of his work. This endorsement from the Washington Post makes a compelling case for me to try his style - and soon: "His books will burn into your brain like no others". Powerful.

As for Friedman, here's a primer on his title far better than what I would give you, courtesy of his employer, The NY Times: http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/bookshelf/the-world-is-flat

Thanks to the Daily News for sharing Obama's ambitious reading list; I'm sure chain and local bookstores are changing their display tables even as I type!

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/08/24/2009-08-24_on_marthas_vineyard_president_obamas_summer_reading_includes_few_beach_reads.html

Tweet, tweet: not just for the birds

Earlier this year many high-profile celebs embraced Twitter: Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher and...the woman who only needs to be identified by one name...OP-RAH!! (And yes, I was typing this while having Oprah's introductory cadence in mind!)

So, it is only fitting that Oprah's book club's next pick will be rolled out via a tweet.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090825/ap_en_ot/us_books_oprah_winfrey

Good way to create buzz for her next pick, not to mention great marketing for Twitter. I've got to imagine that she'll still mention this hotly anticipated title via her broadcast as I don't think all her viewers are plugged in.

More Madness...

After some (okay - a lot) of viewing this weekend, we are now caught up on our "Mad Men"--we just watched the first two episodes of this season, which is the third season for the AMC hit show. So far, there are many questions this season and...few answers (I'm being purposely vague to avoid the dreaded spoilers!). However, my curiosity is piqued and I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment on Sunday night.

At the Movies: New Releases this week, zzzzzz

As you'll see - there are very few movies opening this week and the pickings are slim: "Halloween II" and "The Final Destination". Not only will I not be seeing either of these at the movies, you won't find either in my Netflix queue.

The one film of interest - "Taking Woodstock", which tells the story of a young man whose family is about to lose their motel...until he stumbles upon pre-Woodstock revelers who agree to rent out the entire motel, paying in cash. With talented director Ang Lee ("Brokeback Mountain", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "The Ice Storm") at the helm, I sense that he will capture the cultural zeitgeist as the Woodstock phenomenon descends upon upstate NY. On the fence, however, if this is theater-worthy or a solid Netflix viewing sometime this winter.

On the other hand, I'm super-excited about one of the new DVD offerings this week: the first season of "thirtysomething" comes out tomorrow!! It's at the top of my queue and I'm sure I'm not alone here. Another good new release: "Adventureland", a coming of age story for a young college grad whose summer plans are thwarted by his family's recent financial woes--trip to Europe cancelled and he instead winds up working for the summer at the amusement park, Adventureland (based on real-life park of the same name in Farmingdale, LI...going there is a rite of passage for Long Islanders, from visits with your parents when you're young to going with your friends when you're in your teens. As a former Adventureland-er, my one piece of advice: Stay away from Gravitron - if it's still there: you WILL throw up!). Thank you for indulging my trip down memory lane! Anyway, it seems like a movie that most will be able to relate to--working a job post-college that seems beneath you and that becomes enjoyable based upon the friends you make and the experiences you have. Jesse Eisenberg ("The Squid and the Whale") stars as the lead with Kristen Stewart of "Twilight" fame as his love interest.

Mad for "Mad Men"

"Mad Men" is the critically acclaimed darling that debuted on AMC in 2007. At the time, we watched an episode and liked it yet did not begin watching the show regularly. Flash forward to this summer, which like any summer is re-run central, and we ordered the first season of "Mad Men" through Netflix. The results: true love :)

We have zipped through Season 1 pretty quickly and are now awaiting our next installment that will detail the public & private lives of the staff at fictitious ad agency Sterling Cooper. Set in 1960, the show paints a picture of what the ad industry, which has always been known as Madison Ave, was like almost fifty years ago when it was predominantly a male industry. Women DID work in agencies but almost exclusively in support roles: switchboard operators and secretaries. In some ways, people were far more formal in the workplace than they are today - both with regard to attire as well as in the way they spoke - and yet alcohol flowed freely at the office and office trysts were a dime a dozen.

The show is well written and many of the lead and supporting actors are developed in detail, though this process is a slow one--characters like Don Draper, Betty Draper, Peggy Johnson, Pete Campbell are revealed to us over time, peeling back their true selves layer by layer. Allusions to future development are there - if you're watching closely - and double entendres abound, though again these don't always jump out at you.

Great writing and acting aside, the show is also noteworthy for its representation of the '60's as the attention to detail is terrific: from the fashion (particularly the women's wear) to the political climate (our nation on the cusp of its first Catholic president, a young Irish upstart by the name of JFK) to its depiction of these ad executives' home life - it allows us, in 2009, a way to be transported to 1960 Manhattan and the surrounding suburbs. Nice to visit, though I greatly prefer the current 2009 showing.

Anyway - if you're not watching this gem, what are you waiting for? When several friends heard I wasn't watching, they were surprised and said I'd love it. They were right.

And you build that wall....

Hint - it's not from a movie but a line from a song featured on a movie soundtrack.

Need another line: "Ooh, so typical / Love leads to isolation-nnnnn" (extra n's to hold the note!)

The year was 1985 and the movie was the beyond great "White Nights". I was 11 and saw it in the theatre: a Saturday matinee with a friend at the Huntington Shore (years & years before the renovation). It was, perhaps, light years over my head. And yet, I loved it. Something about it really moved me and it wasn't necessarily the dancing (which was, of course, magnificent): while I really like, even love, quite a few dance movies...I'm not one of those people that simply loves a movie BECAUSE it's a dance movie.

This movie has always stuck with me and I'm instantly nostalgic for it anytime I hear the theme song (quoted above), "Separate Lives", a duet by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin (don't know her? neither did I...have always remembered her great voice, never her name).

It FINALLY came to DVD - after all these years!! - last year. You're thinking that I got it right away...kept it for a while, watched and re-watched this old fave. Well, you would be wrong. Initially, "White Nights" did hold the top spot in my queue for a while before the release. But, I soon found myself bumping it lower and lower in favor of true, new releases. Part of it - I think - was that maybe, just maybe, I didn't want to revisit this cinematic favorite of mine that has lived in my memory for fear it would fall short...be just some cheesy 80's movie, in spite of the foreign setting, tough topics and the dancing. The love, the loss and the dancing. The dancing!

Well - I'm finally going to do revisit this old love (no need to worry, Sean!) very soon--in scrolling through the ol' queue (okay - QUEUES!) this eve...it jumped out at me. It's time. So, one day next week (once NF receives the slightly mediocre title I'm currently watching), I'll be reunited with Gregory Hines, Mikhail Baryshnikov and, of course, THE song (ahhh). Below is a link to the moving duet, courtesy of YouTube:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF0scfQ7_so


And yes, I'm quite sure this will be one I watch on my own - I won't subject you to this, Sean. However, if any of you girls would like to join me...let me know!

Pointers on "Funny People"

Sean & saw "Funny People" last night. Sean loved it. I loved it - well, mostly.

"Funny People" had moments of sheer perfection...moments of random funniness...and, moments that were, well, just a little random. I agree with some reviews I've read - both by professionals and by regular folk - that the movie was just a wee bit too long...it could have benefited by being 20 minutes shorter. (Others think it could have been edited down even further - shaving off 40-60 minutes of plot.) That said, I'm able to overlook these minor details as it was Apatow's most ambitious project to date and moved him in a different direction than than previous work. (I won't be more specific here as one of my pet peeves are reviewers that inadvertently spoil key plot points.)

Here are a few pointers:

1. Eric Bana is not funny...he's hysterical!! Some of you may know this - Bana is Australian and they use this real-life trait to play up the Ozzie stereotype to the hilt in his character...footy and all. Crike!

2. To see this movie - I recommend that you love most/all of Apatow's previous movies; if not, his humor may not be for you.

3. If you've never seen an Apatow movie before...DON'T start with this one. Should you wish to try his brand of funniness...rent "The 40-Year Old Virgin". And, prepare to laugh very hard! (Warning: there could even be an unsolicited snort or two involved.)

4. The attention to detail in this work is incredible...and in these details will be many inside jokes for those of you that are Apatow regulars, provided you're watching closely.

5. All of the key players (Seth Rogen, Adam Sandler, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzmann, Bana) are terrific...not to mention the 'funny people' cameos that appear throughout the film. Showcases some actors that may not be well known, yet - one that comes to mind is the actress that plays Daisy - small part but her work was good.



"Comedy is for funny people." This line is spoken towards the end of the film and it's one of those nuggets that jumped out of me - great way to slip your title into the dialogue...not to mention the many other ways that Apatow did this throughout the movie.

Comedy IS for funny people and Apatow is one of the funniest out there...cringe-worthy moments and all.

Foiled by Netflix? Maybe not...

Someone at Netflix does NOT want Sean & I to find out what happened to the former Fox River cons of the now defunct TV show, "Prison Break": I have kept it at the top of my queue since my excited post announcing it's release to DVD and...nothin'. NF is categorizing this as a "Long Wait" so instead I'm getting a rom-com "Chaos Theory" with Ryan Reynolds and Emily Mortimer. Ever heard of "Chaos Theory"? I'm guessing probably not...I don't think I would have either if I weren't such a movie geek. It's an '07 movie about Frank Allen (played by Reynolds), an efficiency expert whose world is governed adhering to his rigid planning and meticulous to-do lists. You can imagine that this world may be thrown in to a helter-skelter state when his precise & exact order are inadvertently compromised: his wife (Emily Mortimer) sets their clock back by ten minutes and...you guessed it...chaos ensues. Sounds cute and I figured I'd give it a whirl knowing how much I like Reynolds' comedic timing and how much I love to laugh :)

Will let you know if it's worth an add to YOUR queue!

P.S. Sean - I think you'd like this one, too. And, I promise to never tamper with your alarm clock...though if I were to tinker with it, I'd go with setting it ten minutes ahead, tee hee.

Rare for me to not finish a book...

For starters, wish I weren't still up at this hour...much as I love dishing on my latest read or movie viewing.

That said, I am awake - barely - so thought I'd write a quick post.

I'm sorry to say that yet another Elin Hilderbrand title has left me disappointed and I've made the decision to not finish it and return it to my local library. "Beach Club" started amiably enough as we get a quick sketch of each of the characters that populate the popular Nantucket beach club each summer, from the seasonal workers to the regular guests. I actually read part of it a few weeks ago on a local beach and thought, 'ah, this is the life'. And then the book stalled...and I realized that I just didn't care enough about the characters and their summer dramas to continue.

Was it as bad as "Nantucket Nights", the title I reviewed a few weeks ago? Absolutely not. However, coming off a bad title by the same author made me less inclined to want to finish, even though this book was more interesting. (I'm hoping this makes sense since my head may, in fact, be nodding as I type!)

I'm not writing her off the island - funny since her works are all centered around Nantucket Island, ha ha - but may need to take a break from this author for a bit. I do have one of her very recent books - thanks to my sis! - but I'll wait awhile before I jump in.

In the meantime, I'm reading a great espionage thriller but that will have to wait for another post...sleep is my very near future!!

Eric Bana DOES do funny!

This is a quick follow up to a post in the last week or two about upcoming "must-see movies" in which I was a little surprised by Eric Bana being a part of The Apatow's most recent movie, "Funny People", which opened this weekend. Many of the cast are Apatow regulars - Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Leslie Mann (also, his wife in real life).

Thanks to NPR on the way up to Oswego this weekend, I learned that Bana was a stand-up comedian in Australia for years before shifting to acting...go figure.

Just wanted to share this update with you, my loyal readers :)

Speaking of funny people...has anyone seen the movie yet?? If so - please share thoughts, either in comments or drop me an email. I had read a few mixed reviews and my excitement to see this film was beginning to waver until the ride home from Oz when I heard an interview with both Apatow and Rogen on the Stern show (yessss, you did read that correctly, lol).

We are just back from the three-day weekend with the fam so may not get to see it until next weekend...stay tuned...