Saturday, February 25, 2006

Awesome TV-on-DVD

I just saw that Action was released on DVD this week! I really enjoyed that show back in 1999 for about... 8 weeks. It was wickedly funny but pretty politically incorrect (there were prostitutes, lots of swearing, and killing of people, I believe! LOL) All this to say that FOX put the kibosh on it even before having aired all the episodes ordered. Damn you, FOX! I was looking on IMDb, and saw that Jim Vallely, one of the great writers of Arrested Development, as well as Will Forte were writers for Action. Awww, you guys! I loved your writing before I even knew who you were. LOL
This week, season 3 of NewsRadio is coming out on DVD as well. So so good. I am buying this for sure. I watched my S1/S2 set so much. It's so great because it is chock full of extras. Mmmm...extras.

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Oscars Spoiler!

Read at your own risk this spoiler for the Oscars... Anyone who knows me must know I am having very naughty thoughts right now although I doubt I am the only one. ;)

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Friday, February 24, 2006

Wheeeee...

I got an email today that seems to indicate I'll get the internship in Toronto that I wanted. I'll get the confirmation on Monday but it looks like I'm in. I'm so excited! :)

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Wednesday, February 22, 2006

My Top 10 Movies of 2005

I got the Entertainment Weekly Oscar issue, which got me all excited for the ceremony. I love movies and wish I could go spend a day on a set, to see how the crew makes the magic happen. Anyway, my love of movies is only rivaled by my love for listmaking. ;) Hence, a list of my top 10 movies of 2005. (Some I saw in January/February 2006 but they're still 2005 movies. LOL Some are 2004 movies I saw in 2005. It's my list so I'm fudging the rules a bit. LOL)

10. The Constant Gardener: I really enjoyed this movie. The plot is complex without being obtuse. You just need to pay attention. Besides, it's interesting to try to figure out where the story is going. It was shot for the most part in Africa, and the landscapes are beautiful. Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes are both very good.
9. Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room: I love documentaries and this was a great one even if I came out of the theatre so infuriated. I wanted to run down to Texas and jail the idiots myself. I thought Enron was a scandalous affair before I saw that movie; I now know it is even worst than I imagined it. Enough said.

8. March of the Penguins: I was impressed by all the work that went into making this movie. It was so beautiful that I could have stared forever at the screen. I am not necessarily a big National Geographic person but this is just so grand. It just showed the unbelievable steps animals will take to reproduce. Wow.
7. In Good Company: I love the duo of Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace as the old guy with experience who loses his job, and now has to work for the know-nothing-but-workaholic young guy. I thought it was a great script that toed the line between drama and comedy throughout the whole film. It just spoke to me somehow.
6. The Squid and The Whale: A movie set in the 80s about self-involved parents who are smart but so self-involved it is not funny. Their kids just act out, and they don't even notice. Good acting, great script. Funny, smart & twisted is my kind of movie.

5b. Maurice Richard: Great movie about a Quebecois hockey player who became the icon of a nation. He is the symbol of the awakening of the national/patriotic conscience within the French-speaking Quebecers.
5a. C.R.A.Z.Y.: I'm cheating a bit but I had to include the 2 best Quebecois movies I saw this year. C.R.A.Z.Y. was just so so so good. The movie is about a lot of things but mostly, it is about a boy called Zack growing up in the 60s/70s who realizes he is gay and does not know how to deal with it. Society in Quebec at that time was fairly conservative and religious so he tries to navigate wanting to please his dad and wanting to be himself. It is also a movie about the relationships between the 5 very different brothers in this family. It was a huge success in Canada. Unfortunately it won't be distributed in the US because the music clearance would be too expensive. It has hands down one of the best soundtracks ever: "Crazy" (and many other songs) by Patsy Cline, "Space Oddity" by David Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Stones, and a lot of French classics.
4. The 40-Year-Old Virgin: I love Steve Carell. I just do. I think he has a knack for finding the line between pathos and laughter. This was hands down my favourite comedy of the year. It was hilarious, funny, yet sweet. It was not a great movie but one of my favourite movies this years. I'm sure I'll rewatch for years to come, all the while still laughing.
3. Good Night and Good Luck: I love historical movies, and this one is really interesting. It recounts the showdown between Sen. Joseph McCarthy and Edward R. Murrow, which ultimately ruined McCarthy's credibility. Beautifully shot in black and white by the no-less-handsome George Clooney. The whole cast was great. I thought its message about our responsibility as citizens of a democracy to question our leaders and keep the governement accountable. My hat's off to you Mr. Clooney on a great directing, writing, and acting job.
2. In Her Shoes: I didn't have any expectation in regards to this movie. I figured it was going to be a light chick flick. Really not. It was sooooo good. The central focus of the movie is the relationship between 2 sisters and also with their grandmother. The sisters, played by Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette, go through a crisis, and both have to grow and develop independently of the other sister. I thought it was fabulous, and I was into it that it made me cry so much.
1. Brokeback Mountain: I am usually not a sucker for sad, tortured love stories but this one just got me. I empathized with the pain all these characters were experiencing (pretty much everyone in this movie is happy for fleeting moments and miserable for the bulk of the movie). The label of the "gay cowboy movie" just doesn't do this movie justice. That is so not the point. It is a love story between two guys but that is not even really the main point. A lot of the movie was dealing with the feeling of being an outsider in your own life. It was either feeling that you don't belong to society or that people you love and who should care about you don't. All the characters (the couples but also parents and children) love each other in a clumsy, and often, hurtful manner. This movie resonated with me so much that I saw it twice. Both times I left with my stomach tied in knots from the angsty finale. The acting was top-notch, and the cinematography was just gorgeous. Plus, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal aren't too hard on the eyes. ;)

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Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Yes, I Am Still Alive and Kicking...

Hee. I spent time in Montreal, far, far away from the computer. It was nice to spend time just mucking around with my family. On Friday, I watched the exciting skeleton competition with my dad, and watched crime shows with my mom. We had never realized we both love real crime shows so we spent a few hours on Friday night lounging on the couch. My mom likes to say it's to train for her future as a PI/cop. LOL

I spent Saturday with my friend Eve. We went shopping, which was fun except I got a bit lost driving (Not my fault! The road has been modified recently in a neighbourhood I'm familiar with & the new signs suck badly!) and I broke the necklace I bought ohhh... about 10 seconds after buying it. Yeah, I dropped the shopping bag containing said necklace, and the string of the necklace broke. Anyway, I bought some string, and I was able to fix it. :) Then, we went out for
dinner, and went to Eve's with DVDs. It was very cold (like -30 celsius cold) so staying inside (or insane as I first typed it! LOL) was a must.
We rented 2 movies, one in French and then, The Aristocrats. I believe Eve and I are unbelievably twisted because we laughed so much at that latter movie. The Aristocrats is a documentary/retelling by numerous comedians of the filthiest joke ever told. (Trust me, it is pretty much as unspeakable as it gets! Hee.) It's sort of the jazz equivalent of joke telling. The first sentence and the punchline are always the same but the riffing in between is unique to each person who tells it. Bob Saget has by far the most twisted version but my favourite tellings were probably by George Carlin, Steven Wright, Howie Mandel, and Paul Reiser. I know there were other good ones, one by a card magician who used cards to tell the joke. Eric Idle was just riffing and was hilarious. Jon Stewart was there (he was in The Daily Show's makeup chair while being interviewed) but refused to tell the joke! It was cute. Oh, and Eric Idle was funny just because he always is. Anyway, I recommend it only if you have a high tolerance for twisted humour. By the way, you may want to quit 20 minutes into it thinking there possibly be more. Stick with it, it does pick up again!

On Sunday, I did a lot of uninteresting things but then, I went to see my grandma, which is always a nice thing. My grand-maman is going to be 80 this year! Anyway, she gave my mom a big pile of trashy Quebecois star magazines (US Weekly/People-like magazines) to pass along to someone else we know. My brother and I cracked ourselves up so much thumbing through the pile. We love snark.
Monday, I went by my brother's office for some dental treatments. I have spots and bumps on my teeth due to too much fluoride growing up (took care a bit too much of my teeth growing up!) so I've had caps on my front teeth for 15+ years. They were old and needed to be replaced. Anyway, my brother removed them. He did such a good job polishing my teeth to get rid of some of the spots that I may not need new caps. Plus, my brother got me outfitted with this awesome bleaching kit, and if the spots are totally gone after that, no caps! I say wheeeee to that possibility.
Anyway, that is my life in a (long) nutshell! :) I promise not to disappear too much!

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Sunday, February 19, 2006

Stephen!

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

I Have A New Icon...

Just because it made me laugh. Not that I have any talent to make my own icons but some nice people like Schizofrenetic let people borrow their icons just for fun. Thanks, fellow Colbert Report enthusiast.

It Comes Out of My Brain...

and splashes onto the page for your pleasure! LOL I had a stressful day so I apologize if my thoughts are all over the place...
I borrowed America The Book in audio form from the library. It's nice to have Jon in my headphones as I try to wake up in the subway in the morning. However, it's always a little suspicious to other passengers when you can't help yourself but giggle on the subway. Hee.
Tonight, I went to get takeout at this nice vegetarian restaurant, and although I knew it was Valentine's Day, I had forgotten people go out to dinner on that night! LOL The restaurant was fully booked on a Tuesday night! Good thing I was only going for takeout; otherwise, I would have missed on the delicious, delicious food. Speaking of V-day, my roommate has a new boyfriend, and this weekend, she was complaining because she finds Valentine's Day much easier as a single girl. She was saying it was too much pressure when you have a significant other. By the way, I would like the record to reflect that I really didn't bring up this topic, and that I shrugged my shoulders when she started talking Valentine's Day plans, and asking me about mine. My exact words were: "Well, it's going to be like any other day of the year for me." But I leave it up to you to imagine my facial expression when she was saying to me I was lucky not to have a boyfriend on V-day. Clearly, I'm doing this for convenience's sake. ;) LOL Yes, for the 27th Valentine's Day in a row. ;) I'm batting a 1.000! LOL Anyway, there are a lot of things difficult about relationships. How to spend an evening with your guy on a (granted, commercialized and fake) holiday all about romantic love? I wouldn't exactly put it in the tough pile.
What else? Well, I'm going to Montreal for the weekend, which shall be really nice.
Oh, well, I found something interesting. While having dinner, I was surfing on a message board called Snarkfest (yes, you know, the name seemed to call out to me!). I have been there a handful of times so I don't know what kind of community they are but they have a thread about psychotic fans, which is fascinating/kind of scary. Clearly, I was aware there were weird people on the Internet, but I underestimated the level of fanaticism and craziness that existed out there. Then, I remembered some strange X-Files fans, way back when, and it all made sense. LOL
So that is the little bit floating around in my brain that is not work-related. LOL Mwah!

Friday, February 10, 2006

I Have Four Words For You...

WATCH ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT TONIGHT! Two hours (8-10 pm) of Bluth family goodness. So sad it is ending. I hope it is not the last of this show. Showtime, come on!

The Colbert Report was just ridiculously good last night. Probably their best episode yet. Try to catch it if you can. I don't want to give away the jokes but I can say that the middle segment on celebrity couples had me laughing so hard I was gasping for breath. Even Stephen was struggling not to laugh when he was delivering some of his lines. There was also a videoclip as the last segment that was wonderful. What an enjoyable half-hour!
I have started a post on my favourite movies of the year... I'll post that this weekend. :)

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

There's loving your iPod...

and then, there's LOOOOVING your iPod: iAttire. I can't decide if it is funny or disturbing. It's a bit of both.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Not Much to Say...

Kinda stressed and stuff but nothing too out of the ordinary. I just wanted to point out I have to meet a Dr. Rachel Green in my field, and it has just been making me chuckle. I need to get that out of my system before I meet her. It doesn't help I watched my Friends DVDs over the weekend. LOL