NBC's "Marry Me" is another rom-com sitcom, this one from real life newlywed couple David Caspe and Casey Wilson. He was also a writer and she starred in "Happy endings," which was a mild hit on ABC. I remember not liking that show, but am giving this one a try. The pilot was a hoot. It started out by having Annie (Wilson) and Jake (ken Marino) arriving from a vacation in Mexico where she thought she was going to be engaged. Upset, she started to riff and insult him and his friends and family, not knowing that they were all hiding in their apartment for her surprise engagement party. After more mishaps, the couple finally get engaged by the end of the episode. But, where does the series go from there? I guess it would explore their relationship as they start to live together, until they get married? I was skeptical, and the second and third episodes weren't as funny as the pilot, though I am liking the supporting cast more (JoBeth Wiliams as Jake's father is a standout) I am also having likeability issues with the leads. While I like Marino, Wilson sometimes rubs me the wrong way, as I sometimes thinks she tries too hard. But I have seen worse.
It was my friend Dee who turned me on to the television show Beverly Hills 90210 years ago, and I became hooked. I mean pretty rich people falling in love and sleeping around., it doesn't get better.Jason Priestley played Brandon Walsh on that show, and he just released a memoir. I figured, it would be interesting to get a glimpse of his experience while he was working on that show. Well, we do get a glimpse of that, but he writes in such a hurried way that we really do not get to learn much. And even though he is forthcoming with a lot of juicy details (he writes how about and why Shannen Doherty was fired from the series) they are still sparse. And the most shocking thing in the book? That there really no meat to it after his days from the show. The book is strictly for his die hard fans.
Of all these rom-com comedies on television now, my favorite is NBC's "A to Z." Why? Bacuse of the charm of its two main stars, Ben Feldman and Christin Milotti. He was in "mad Men," and she was in the Broadway production of "Once," and here they have instant chemistry. Even Milotti's somewhat joyless aura serves her overworked lawyer here well, and Feldman's neurosis in Mad Men is toned down here to good use. But the two is not served well by the limiting premise - we know from the narrator (Katey Sagall) that they dated for x number of time. Plus, each episode starts with a letter of the alphabet, thereby limiting this series to just two seasons tops. Still, the pilot episode is one of those rare things: smart, funny, and yes, very romantic. Subsequent episodes pale in comparison. And, the second episode scenario (should one still go on a date scheduled before they have met) is exactly the same as the second episode plot of "Manhattan Love Story." (Do these writers just get their ideas from one pool?) By the fourth episode, things are more unfunny than funny. I kind of miss the vibe of the pilot, as it seems the writers have already run out of ideas! And lo and behold, this series is one of the early cancellations of the new season. Oh, well.
It seems like everyone and their mother have read Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl" and it has been on my TBR pile for two years now. Well, with the movie coming out, I told myself that I would finally finish reading it, as I have started numerous times but never continued. Well, it does start just a bit slow for me - the mystery part seems a bit too "set up" and manipulative. Though not uninteresting, it tested my patience. But once it hit the half-way mark, though, it sparkled. Then it became one of those books you stayed up in the night for. Last night, I zipped through the latter half of the book - a true page-turner. I couldn't wait to see what would happen to the characters, how the "mystery" would be resolved. I was torn between hating and admiring the character of Amy, while also sympathizing with her husband, Nick. And yes, the story is over the top and Flynn definitely knew how to get your attention. I don't know if I really agreed or not with the ending, but I understand it as a social commentary for today's society.
I don't know if it was a good idea to see the movie mere hours after finishing the book, but I just couldn't let go of the story just yet. As good as the book was, the film is better. Maybe it was an advantage that while I was reading the book, I was already picturing Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike as the characters, and I must say that they did perfect casting for the roles. Affleck is smooth and likeable, earthy with an edge, and totally relatable. Pike has a great mix of beauty and danger, and just the right amount of self-awareness as well as a wink-wink to not take herself (and the character) too seriously. And Fincher understands how over the top the book was, and playing this up without going too caricaturish. Flynn wrote the screenplay herself and while there have been changes and cuts, have stayed more or less faithful to the spirit of the book. I can't think of any choice I disagreed with. If for anything, the movie even broadened its message, on how relationships thrive, survive, and endure in the recession-riddled times of today. The mystery part of the story is just as satisfying - a man behind me was saying, "This is like Hitchcock" - but I found this more a love story- a sick and twisted one.
Natalie Cole started this trend, of singers duetting with dead people. But with Natalie, it was a great idea, since she was singing her father's songs, the duet highlighted the poignancy of the project. A lot of people have followed suit since, most recently Barbra Streisand singing with a young Elvis Presley. I always found this idea a little on the weird side, and when Barry Manilow employed this gimmick on his newest album, "My Dream Duets," I cringed. In an interview, he says that he did it because he wanted his duets album to stand out. Don't get me wrong, I am as big a Fanilow as anyone, but i have to admit his singing voice has really deteriorated of late: it's become raspy, and his key isn't what it used to be. On a duets album, it will be all about the voice, and I feel his can't carry the songs through. But Manilow (and his producer, David Foster) wisely makes the dead singers the stars of the tracks. What a fantastic line up. Manilow has great taste, choosing one great singer after another. Moreover, in a lot of cases, he doesn't choose the most cliched songs to sing with them. Any other singer, for example, would choose "Over The Rainbow" to sing with Judy Garland, but he opts for "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart," and it made for a zippy track. The best thing about this album is how on each track, the production has cleverly extracted the vocal tracks of these singers, and every single one of them felt like they were in the studio with Manilow. (Curiously, Streisand couldn't duplicate that chemistry on her album) Maybe because Manilow loves and knows these singers and the songs, and he chooses their songs. It may be unbelievable, but almost all the tracks work. There is great joy in him singing with Marilyn Monrow on "I Wanna Be Loved By You," and he weaves seamlessly with Frankie Lymon on "goody Goody." On some of the tracks, he adds verses and songs that make the track more meaningful. For example, he counterpoints "What A Wonderful World" with Louis Armstrong an original composition of his called "What A Wonderful Life." And on his track with Andy Williams, the predictability of "Moon River" is edged by him singing a verse from one of his other hits, "May Each Day." But what makes this project such a joy to listen to is it demonstrates a musician's love of music.
Once in a while, a movie just hits my core, and I feel like "Lilting" just had something in it that punched me, and I am still unable to recover, these characters and their situations are still with me, days after. This movie tells the story of a Chinese-Cambodian woman (Junn, stunningly played by Cheng Pei-pei) whose son, Andrew (Andrew Leung) suddenly dies, and she is left to deal with her son's "best friend" (Ben Whishaw) But Richard, is not only his son's best friend, he was Andrew's lover, though Andrew never came out to his mother. We get to see the complexities of what happens after (and what happened before, seen in flashbacks) Aren't mothers always the first to know, though? We see the questioning, the acknowledgement, and the despair all in Junn's eyes, and she is matched stare by emotional star by Whishaw, who gives here one of the finest performances I have seen in recent years (I do think he is one of the best of his generation) Junn doesn't speak English well, so Richard brings along an interpreter, Vann (Naomi Christie) to act as a middle mean. But, the more things are said, the more they get lost in translation, and Vann gets embroiled in the drama, because what is more important here, of course, are the things that are not being said. "lilting: is one of those textured movies that do better with multiple viewings - a raised eyebrow you may not have noticed the first time enhances a meaning of a scene the second time around. And these characters are all pained they will touch you before you even realize.
Chloe has a broken heart. Garth is a tortured soul (like, literally - it happened in Afghanistan) They meet cute, as they jump from a plane. So this makes their love story doomed, right? Yeah right. This is a love story, and it doesn't take a genius to see how these things will go. I mean, the author's name is Serenity Woods! This is a casual, mindless read, designed to be read by the beach or the pool. It may not be the most ideal time to read this book, but it does give me the illusion of still being summer. I miss summer sometimes.
Truth be told, Caroline Manzo isn't my favorite New Jersey housewife. Well, I actually don't have a favorite New Jersey housewife. Although I watch the show, I only do so out of force of habit. So when Caroline's spinoff show "Manzo'd With Children" started airing, I added it to my DVR because, well, why not, and since I enjoyed "Domn't Be Tardy For The Party," Kim Zolciak's spinoff, I thought this show might duplicate the energy of that. But, really, I have seen four episodes of this show, and all I can say is that it is boring, Caroline herself do not hold my attention, and her children, Albie, Christopher, and Lauren all annoy me. Plus, it's just so blatantly fake. I mean, I am no fool, I realize all these shows aren't really 100% authentic, but every premise here seems to be manufactured and I am not even interested enough to roll my eyes. I mean, who would really believe that her adult sons Chris and Al went back home to live with Caroline ( That has been disputed in this article ) And coincidence of all coincidences, their gay BFF Greg just happened to be in town the first week they started filming? I wan't born yesterday (Make mental note to delete show from DVR)
When I saw that Benjamin Lytal's novel "A Map Of Tulsa" was compared to Michael Chabon's "A Map Of Tulsa," I speed tracked the book to the top of my TBR pile. The novel tells the story of Jim Praley, as he goes home to Tu;sa from his first year of college. he gets smitten by Adrienne Booker, who is a descendant of a prominent rich family in town, and proceeds to have a summer fling with her. But she is some sort of a free soul, and while he doesn't forget about her, they go their separate ways. Years later, he comes back to town, because of a tragedy, and has to face his feelings for her. I wanted to like this book so much, and gave it several chances. But it just never caught my attention. I never believed the two of them together, and didn't really care what happened to both of them. While I appreciated the writing style, which was more observant than narrative, I felt it slowed the book a lot. But it did give me a sense of life in Tulsa, a place I have never been, and have no plans on visiting soon.
It's that time of the year again. Each year, I always make my first Christmas disc review a special. And this year, it doesn't get more special than "A Michael Feinstein Christmas." Feinstein is one of my favorite singers of all-time, and even though I sometimes think his past couple of releases have been uninspired, I still listen, and listen intently. This disc is one half of a two-disc release that was sold through QVC a couple of years ago, and it is worthy because this is its first commercial release. It's a doozy, one of the best Christmas music releases in recent years. Feinstein was the artist who got me seriously interested in exploring The Great American Songbook, and he will always remind me of a more innocent me. From the first here, he captures how, for me, Holiday music should be sung: with sensitivity, emotional intelligence, a whole lotta dose of melancholy. I cannot think of any other singer who can inject pathos into something like "Sleigh Ride," or "Winter Wonderland." And his lyrical interpretation is second to none: listen to the lesser known verse in "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,? and relish in its joy. When he tears into the Christmas ballad, he is tops. Even well-worn chestnuts like "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," and "I'll Be Home For Christmas" sound brand spanking new sung by him. I love how "Home For The Holidays," a normally somewhat cheerful song sounds wistful here, and his piano intro sets the mood spectacularly. I don't mean to make this disc sound like a slit-your-wrist affair. On the contrary, I think it's hopeful yet contemplative, joyous but inciting reminiscence. Just like the Holidays.
There are some books that start out with a premise that is so interesting and...it just takes turns to places that you just where you don't want to go. Annabel Scott's "Millie & The American University" starts innocent enough: a British girl goes on a student exchange program to an American University and then it becomes one of those raucous campus comedies that at times I wondered if I were reading a serialization of a Judd Apatow movie. While a lot of people enjoy that kind of thing, it just isn't my cup of tea. There were so many scenes where I just cringed, and some of the situations were tasteless. And I don't even think that Millie, the main character, ;earned her lesson in the end.
About a couple of minutes into "Men, Women, And Children," I see in the opening credits that this movie was based on a book by Chad Kultgen, whose books always interest me, even though sometimes those books disgust me (I actually thought I had read this book but realized I have not) Jason Reitman directed this movie, and I think he is one of this generation's most interesting directors, as his movies always say something. In this movie, he captures how we, as a generation, have becoem zombies attached to our smartphones, and how that translates into how we behave, misbehave, and connect with other human beings. Several stories of teenagers and their parents are interwoven - Don (Adam Sandler) and his son (Travis Trope) are both obsessed with internet porn, to the point that for they have distorted views of reality. Rosemarie Dewitt plays his bored wife who goes on a cheating website to connect with another man. It is nice to see Sandler toned down, and he displays enough pathos to be sympathetic. Jennifer Garner is brilliant as a mom who monitors her daughter's every single step online, and Judy Greer is fantastic as well as a mom who caters to her daughter's narcissistic whims. When these all backfire on them, your heart is broken. Ansel Elgort plays a depressive son who gets his kicks from online role playing games. There isn't a bad performance in this ensemble that even when the screenplay gets preachy, you go with the flow. About halfway through the movie, the stories become tiresome and exhausting, but you trust the actors enough that ultimately they win me over. I admit the characters stayed with me after, and made me think.. They may not be the most likeable bunch, but they certainly feel real, and in the end you will not be able to help empathizing.
"Bounjor 40," by Karen A Chase, is subtitled "A Paris Travel Log, 40 years, 40 days, 40 seconds," and for a wanderlust like me, seemed to be the perfect book to read. Chase, upon turning forty, planned on living in Paris for forty days, and she updated her friends via her travel blog, with each entry to be read in forty seconds. This book collates all her entries plus a couple of refection essays. Her premise is brave and innovative, and is something a lot of us would probably love to do (I myself would choose London) However, I found that there wasn't a lot of meat here. Chase writes well, and with a spirit of wistfulness. I just wish there was something else - a love affair, a revelation, a transformation - that gave this book a little bit of depth. Even the touristic locations she chose seem run-of-the-mill, and not distinctive from any other travel book out there. For example, she speaks frequently of Dorothee, a lady who owns a crab restaurant near the corner of her apartment, but we really do not get to know her. We don't even know how they met. Writing the book version gave the chance for Chase to expand on a lot of her entries, but she didn't. A missed opportunity, I would say.
There is a small trend of rom-com sitcoms this Fall season, and that's a good thing, right? The genre is right up my alley, so I will be watching. First up is "Manhattan Love Story," on ABC. The good thing about DVRing shows is that I no loner need to know when these shows are on. Also, I can watch these episodes right after the other, instead of making appointments to watch them. I have just seen the first three episodes of "Manhattan Love Story," and to be honest, I don't know if I would have kept watching after the first episode if these weren't recorded automatically for me. The pilot is cute enough, but too cute, even for me. Dana (Analeigh Tipton) has just moved to her dream job in New York (working for a publishing company) and she is set up on a blind date with Peter (Jake McDorman) and well, we are supposed to believe that they are meant for reach other. I guess every week we will be encountered with obstacles, and they will persevere. (On the second episode, she catches him on another date, on the third she retaliates by dating another guy, only to realize that guy is gay) It really is not a bad premise, but my main problem with this is that the chemistry between the two main characters isn't sizzling. It's not a dead end, for sure, and I do see it simmer a little bit better with each episode. Its main gimmick: the Mars vs. Venus thing, seems a bit dated and that concept has been served better earlier this summer in "You're The Worst." on F/X. But the show definitely picked up steam in the next two episodes, and I am glad I gave it a chance, for it has the potential to get really good. So I will keep on watching.
Christopher Daniels used to be a Las Vegas based male porn star and gay escort and in this book, "Money's On the Dresser," he writes about his experience as those hyphenates. It's a thin book (176 pages) because, presumably, it only covers a couple of years. And really, it even needs to be edited - some ideas and thoughts are repeated more than once and can really be trimmed. But, this is an honest book: it's insightful, and is told from a very specific point of view that makes it very readable. You may or may not agree with some of his choices. For example, he seems to have a self-destructive streak that can be dangerous, and we really do not see a lot of emotional growth from the first page to the last. But he is young enough to learn from his mistakes, and I do believe he needs to experience some of these trials for his emotional I.Q. As a read, it's a great and satisfying quickie, which is probably akin to one of his hourly sessions.
They say an artist's biggest fans could also be their harshest critics. When I first heard the album in its entirety, I honestly couldn't help but feel disappointed by it. It seemed so...derivative, and lazy. Another duets album? Everyone else have done, and she herself has perfected that formula, so why go back to it again? The choice of partners is mildly interesting, though ultimately predictable. I was most disappointed by the song selections. What is the point of redoing her biggest hits, and with her now-diminishing voice, the new interpretations would only lend to unfavorable comparison to the originals. And wouldn't it have been nice if Barbra had taken risks and ventured into her partners' musical genres? As much of a cliche as it sounds, I am salivating on the idea of her duetting John Legend's "All Of Me," or John Mayer's "Gravity," for example. Instead, we get them doing songs we've heard her do a million times already. But as I listen to the album again now, I can't help but like it more. I mean, here she is at &2 years old, still giving her fans music, and I can't help but just feel grateful. And sure, it's a lazy effort in a lot of ways, but it's still more than anyone else gives us. And yes, there are standout tracks. I am still enamored by the duet with Billy Joel, though they both oversing. Plus, you can sense a real connection with Michael Buble in "It Had To Be You," probably because it was one of the few (only?) tracks that were done face to face. And sure, there was a slight country twang in her Blake Shelton duet, though why she sould want to sing him knowing he is a homophobe baffles me. Still, there are a lot of tracks that did not satisfy me: there were nos parks with Andrea Boccelli, and Josh Groban seemed to be lost in his track with her. And the duet with Elvis Presley makes me cringe, though it really isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I thought I would never see the day when she would sing "How Deep Is The Ocean," and I am just thankful she sings it with her son here, though I would have preferred a solo version, to be honest. All in all, I am still entertained by it. It may not be the best Barbra album, but for me, it is still infinitely more enjoyable than, say, the new Ariana Grande album, which just sounds so bland to me. So in the end, it's all good.
I didn't know anything about Giulia Melucci before reading her book "I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti," and it seems like, after finishing this book, I still don't know her. File this book under "Self-Important Memoirs." I am sure Melucci is a much more interesting person than than how this book presents her. The idea seems fool-proof: her story peppered with recipes pertaining to what was happening in her life. But, there's just no there there. Melucci just goes from one dead end relationship to another, and there doesn't seem to be no emotional growth between her relationships, which really makes this book an untasty experience. Which makes me wonder how stories like these get published, until I realize she worked in the publishing industry and probably used her connections to get a book deal.
Tuberose scents are always tricky. As a note, either you love it or hate it. And, most people agree that the best tuberose perfumes have already been created (A toss up between Piguet's Fracas or Malle's Carnal Flower) Still, I am always interested with every new tuberose release. I remember a time when I didn't get tuberose at all (too heavy, too antique smelling) but I guess with age and experience, I have grown to love it. It could be hard to wear, and during hot weather days, it is almost unwearable. When I was at the Heathrow Duty Free store recently, I sampled Jo Malone's Tuberose Angelica on my wrist. I was on my way to Istanbul and when we got off in muggy weather, I remember sniffing my wirst and jokingly said, "this smells like cough syrup." Well, what a difference a couple of temperatures make. Here I am in the desert, on a crisp fall day,with weather in the high 70s, and as I wear this again, I can safely say that this ain't no cough syrup. Created by Christien Nagel for Jo Malone (one of her last ones before moving to Chanel) Tuberose Angelica is at once delicate and penetrating. It's more a a skin scent, it is more a whisper than a powerhouse, and that's just fine. It starts as a coconut-y tuberose, and is framed by jasmine, sandalwood, and amber. The over all effect is subtle before the herbaceous angelica kicks in, and the tuberose is very much tempered, though it never disappears. It's a very sensual scent, one that penetrates more than shocks, and I think it's very different from a lot of Jo Malone's safe but solid offerings. This lends to a more mysterious wearing, and the "cologne intense" aspect of it hugs you. If this scent were a personality, it would be more an introvert, but once you draw it out, you get to know its complex personality.
I always bring a fully-stocked Kindle during my vacations, but more often than not, I get so wrapped up in my destinations that I never get to really read. I started reading Lucy Robinson's "the Greatest Love Story Of All Time" and I just couldn't stop reading. Perhaps it's because I visited London and a lot of the scenes and locales used in the book sounded familiar that i got really engrossed. or maybe because the book hooks you instantly. The main character Fran just turns thirty and is dumped by her boyfriend, and is told to wait as to why her boyfriend, Michael, broke up with her. Even though you scratch your head with some of the developments, Robinson makes Fran likeable even if a lot of times you disagree with a lot of her decisions. The last quarter of the book is frustrating - you know that her decisions will come back to bite her in the ass. The final ending is unexpected, as far as these books go, and I don't know if I fully agree with it or not to be honest. But that's life. The book is engrossing enough to make me want to keep on reading.
On paper, "What If" seems perfect for me. Rom-Com? Check? Cute guy? Daniel Radclife, hello! Meet Cute? Corny, but I eat it up all the time. Yet all in all, What If didn't really satisfy as much as I thought it would. Or maybe I had too much high hopes for it? Or maybe, I am just much too old for these freaking things. Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan play would-be lovers. Do millennials fall in love differently than older generations? Of course not. Love is love, no matter what age or generations. But Wallace and Chantry (their character's names) from the beginning till the end suppress their feelings because of entanglements. I wanted to shout out to the characters to follow your hearts, you are still young, you can make mistakes. But as such, love is always heavy when you feel it, and when you think it is not working out for you. Radcliffe plays "puppy dog eyes" pretty well and yes he is charming and adorable here. It is nice to see him in a contemporary role, and even better that he speaks in his natural British accent. Here he is swoon-worthy, complete with an attractive vulnerability that will make you just want to take him under your wings. Kazan is initially an odd choice, and her character isn't the most sympathetic. But Kazan has great instincts and she wins you over ultimately. You want to root for these two but hey this is a rom-com, you know what to expect. I wish the movie touched me more, but I felt a detachment from it. Maybe I am too old and know that love is ultimately fleeting. but I do think "What If" is good for at least a lonely Saturday night. Your mileage may vary.
