I'll give you a shocker: I am not a big fan of David Sedaris' written work. Don't get me wrong - I think he is a good writer, great even, and he certainly strikes a chord with a lot of people, but i just don't connect with his work emotionally. I wish I did, and I know tons of people who do, but I just...don't. I wish I had an explanation for it so I can explain myself, as if I needed to. I found myself starting "Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls," and got into it quickly, and yes I found his essays kind of funny, but I wasn't laughing out loud. I liked this a little better because he talks a lot about his travels all over the world, and I found the anecdotes interesting: contrasting food between Japan and China was insightful, but I found it a little mean-spirited towards the Chinese. His exploits in the Australian wilderness was fun to read, but felt exaggerated. I liked his wry observation at airport behaviours, but I have heard them before, and as funny. This was an ok read for me, it kept me interested, but had to admit felt a little critical to enjoy it fully. And I am still trying to figure out the relevance of the title.
BC-32
Going into Baz Luhrman's "The Great Gatsby," I was uncertain about how I would feel. I know it is getting polarizing responses, and I have some investment in it because I love the F. Scott Fitzgerald book. This movie isn't the best interpretation of it, and I don't think there will be a great one in my lifetime, but as a movie, Baz Luhrman's take is a very engaging and entertaining one. What comes out in the movie is the book. It was weird to revisit the story now, a an older adult - the themes still resonate, even more so. Age, maturity, and experience make one appreciate the classic story of Jay Gatsby and his longings, his life, his greatest love. Ultimately, the book is a story of the greatest love, and for me, anyway, Luhrman was able to capture that. There are a lot of imperfections in the movie: Carey Mulligan's Daisy is a bit dowdy, and she doesn't seem to have the beauty, grace, and breeding that Gatsby was so obsessed with. Still, DiCaprio gives a winning performance, injecting the character with a lot of charm that you root for him, and mourn his downfall. But I was also very taken by Tobey Maguire's Nick Carraway, which the heart of this movie. I think his personal friendship with DiCaprio gave their characters an electric chemistry. I would even say the relationship bordered on homo-erotic, giving the movie an unexpected layer to peel. The parties are extravagant visual marvels, and beautifully captured, and the 3D expeirnce even heightens it. I especially liked the feeling of being in Times Square in the 20s. This is still a Luhrman production, after all, and so the garishness is there. I didn't mind, not even the mixture of hip hop scoring by Jay-Z. The segue from Gershwin to Lana Del Ray was seamless, oddly. I hope this movie finds it audience - it's out there somewhere.
Who can resist this adorable cover? Yes, I can be shallow and it influenced me in picking this book to read next, and boy, was that a good call. S.L. Amstrong's and K Piet's novel was irresistible from the start, and was a joy to the last page. Sure, I had to get myself used to the simple writing, and had to remind myself this is a Young Adult novel. I mean, it even had illustrations every couple of chapters or so, and I have to admit it helped in my appreciation of it. This is a story of a seventeen year old gay guy who gets a girl pregnant and ends up taking care of the baby. He is struggling making ends meet until he meets the perfect guy, and the guy is truly perfect. About halfway through the book, I kept waiting for a conflict - I mean, surely he cannot be that perfect - and then the conflict does show up, though it seems like it is from a 50s melodrama. It works, though, and got me more invested in the novel. This is a book that whiled my time away perfectly, and at the end I felt like I knew and liked these characters enough that I missed them after I finished the book. I usually try to shy away from books written by more than one person, but in this case the partnership worked.
BC-31
SMASH was technically cancelled yesterday. It was the longest of all long shots, but I still hoped. Now we have three episodes left of a show I totally loved and looked forward to watching that it was #1 on my DVR list. But tonight we still have "The Transfer," and it was a good episode, considering it was about that other show I despise. I still don't get it, and it's 'edginess.' Though I must say that there is a dance song that McPhee does here that wasn't bad at all. I actually did like her a lot before SMASH, and thought pop albums were quite good. But here, she just wasn't presented in her best element. This pop song serviced her well, I have to be honest, but that confrontation scene with Derek tonight showed all her limitations as an actress. And compared to Hilty, there was no comparison. And Hilty was on fore tonight, especially on her number "Grin And Bare It" which while did nothing for the plot, was a smashing production number. God, she really is good, and I know there are fantastic things in store for her after this show. I just know it. (A CAN-CAN revival with her is in the works) Even good ol Debra Messing gets to sing tonight, "The Right Regrets" and it was tenderly touching. I think she did great work here, and I don't really dislike her as an actress. She has been at the very least competent in everything I have seen her do. But the clincher here is the last scene, where Ivy founds out that she is pregnant. I had heard that someone does get pregnant, and I don't really know if it serves the character of Ivy well. Are they setting it up so Karen wins the Tony over her? I really really hope not. C'mon, give the SMASH fans a bone!
Each one of us has a different perception of who is the perfect person to spend the rest of our lives with. I think that's the idea that Valerie Frankel wants to explore in her novel "The Not-So-Perfect Man." This is a story of three sisters living in New York City, and their eternal quest for happiness, with and without partners. Ilene is married to Peter, but she is unhappy because he has gained a lot of weight since they got married. Betty works at a chain book store and is falling for the guy installing audiobook booths. Freida is recently widowed, and is dipping back in the dating pool. At first glance, they have ordinary stories and that's not bad at all - we feel like we know these characters from the beginning. But the plots get a little too unbelievable, and yes I get the idea that we shouldn't settle and we should follow our hearts, but there's also a lot to be said for logical decision making. I didn't really dislike this book. It kept on going when I wanted it to, even if I had misgivings on where it is going. It's kind of dated, a lot of situational conflicts could be more easily dissolved if those were happening today. Who would have thought 2004 would feel like so long ago?
BC-30
I haven't thought about Viktor & Rolf's Antidote in a long time. I have had it, and it was one of my favorites, and still is, I guess. I remember years ago at my old office that a co-worker of mine asked a cologne recommendation for her husband, and I told her to get this. She, and her husband, was so pleased with it that she bought me lunch one day to thank me. Antidote wasn't a scent that stood - it wasn't very imaginative, or over the top, but it was very well made. As a matter of fact, it seemed to be old-school good: it wasn't flashy, it was thorough, and it knew what it was. And even though, it was marketed for men, I know a lot of women perfumistas who wore it. Its concept of citrus and spice wasn't ground-breaking, but it had a little something that give it a lift: mint. The opening, a cardamom, orange, grapefruit mix was bright, but it was cool and authentic, not the synthetic lemonies we smell nowadays. And yes, that mint added a bit of oomph that made you want to smell it over and over. The spices and flowers come in mid-note: I get violets, and lavender, and cinnamon, and nutmeg, but they are well-blended that not one note stands out, yet you smell each of the them. The musk and woods come in to give weight to the base, and you end up with it. It's kind of boring, but all the before scents peek in once in a while. It's a beautiful experience, and kind of reminded me of a more modern Creed fragrance. Why am I all o fa sudden writing about it? I read that Antidote has been discontinued. I guess V & R cannot justify its existence, amidst successes like Flowerbomb. I am glad I got to spend time with it, and my bottle isn't finished yet - I will cherish it. I wore it today and am basking in its beauty.
Based on this cover would you ever have thought that Jerry Sacher's "The Saint Of San Francisco" was a mystery/thriller? Nope, neither did I. But I realized that about a third into the book, and I was thinking that maybe this would be similar to Scott Sherman's Kevin Connor's Mystery series (I wrote about those here, and here) So I continue reading. And what was most striking about Mr. Sachs writing is that the main character is written in first person, while everyone else's is not. But they aren't separated by chapters, and in the beginning, especially, it got pretty confusing. It was a chore to start separating them because the points of view would sometimes change in the same paragraphs (or maybe it was the Kindle version formatting?) But I persevere. Even though I kind of figure out the plot halfway through, it was interesting to see it play out. And all in all, it wasn't bad. The Jeremy character can be endearingly annoying at times, but nothing that made me want to throw my Kindle up a wall. I liked the use of the San Francisco locale, giving it a specific flavour. I guess the title would refer to Jeremy continuing his sleuthing, and yes, it looks like there is a second book now in the series.
BC-29
Yes, I cried. For Kyle. As I had thought and predicted, in tonight's episode, they celebrated him. He is gone. This is a shame, too, because I liked Andy Mientus as Kyle. He was a great presence for the show, and thought in the end was much more likeable than Jimmy. And I lament what might have been: one of the best scenes tonight was Christian Boerle singing "Vienna," and he and Mientus had wonderful sweet chemistry. We all can't have happy endings, though, as the character of Andy pointed out (a little obviously) in the flashbacks. I liked the way the flashbacks were used to show how he connected with the other characters. It was really a touching tribute of an episode, and the final scene gave me goose bumps. Oh, if only he died for a good show. "Hit List" really does mirror "Rent." I mean, if the show was really good, it would have transferred even if one of its creator had not died. This shows how Broadway is produced nowadays - if there is enough hype for anything, it will have reason to run. I am unapologetic to the fact that I still do not like "Hit List," just like I still stand by my assertion that "Rent" is not a good show. But such is life, as it goes on. Now we have the ultimate battle of Bombshell vs. Hit List. I must say that I have really loved the past couple of episodes and am getting sadder of the thought that Smash will probably be not back next year. One last thing: I know I pick on Kat McPhee and her dead-eyed acting, but really watching this episode is testament to that fact. Her friend dies, her boyfriend gets missing, she's concerned, she goes to Jersey City (yes, it was by my old office!) to look for him, and yet she acts teh same old dead-eyed way the whole time. Look at it and tell me I am wrong.
Your mom's favorite singer is probably Michael Buble. Actually, he is probably also your aunt's favorite, as well as your older sister's. So it is probably a good thing that his new album, "To Be Loved" was released just before Mother's Day, making it the perfect gift. Buble doesn't break new ground with his eighth album, but he doesn't need to. Coasting though as he may be, his fans will eat this up hook, line, and sinker. The Great American Songbook snob in me may scoff at the uninspired repertoire, but there is enough here to keep anyone preoccupied. While, I think of him as more modern day Darin than Sinatra, he covers four songs associated with Ol' Blue Eyes: an almost by-the-numbers karaoke version of "You Make Me Feel So Young," a great Perez Prado-ish arrangement of "Come Dance With Me," an unfortunately timely duet with Reese Witherspoon of "Something Stupid" (I am sure she wasn't being ironic when she sang that, and then went on a drunk tirade in Georgia) and one of my favorite songs, "Young At Heart." I didn't her anything new and noteworthy there, but that was just me. A couple of spins into the record and I am warming up to the originals, like the buoyant "It's A Beautiful Day," and the light rock duet "After All" with fellow Canadian Bryan Adams. The whole thing is packaged perfectly, if safely and a bit too market research friendly. But for me, Buble's real talent is in his live performances. He brings life into these songs in concert, and most of the time, those give more resonance to his albums. But go ahead, give this album to the mothers in your life this Mother's day: it's the perfect compliment to that Hallmark card.
The premise of Sarah Pekkanen's "The Best Of Us" sounded so interesting that I couldn't wait to read it. A group of college friends decide to vacation together in a villa in Jamaica to celebrate one of their birthdays. My friends always schedule reunions during our birthdays so I can totally relate to the concept. (On a side note, I wish Ms. Pekannen didn't choose the homophobic country of Jamaica, but that's neither here nor there) I started this book a couple of times because found the first chapters a little slow. It finally gets its groove about thirty percent in, but I am thinking maybe the reason why I just can't get into the book is that the characters are unlikeable. Almost halfway through, I do not find myself rooting for any of the characters, and then they all start behaving badly while they are on vacation. I kind of understand that, but it just made me care less about them, and I even thought some of their actions were very reprehensible that they would be life-changing in the way that I would never associate with them again. But this is supposed to be a beach read and it gets the drama juices flowing, I guess. It was an effort to like this book, in my opinion.
At times, good movies with great performances get lost in the shuffle. "Any Day Now" was released during the crowded Holiday season and it didn't get any attention. This is a shame, because if for anything, this movie boasts of a great performance by Alan Cumming, an actor I have grown to admire more and more. I thought of him the other day because he was snubbed by the Tony nomination committee for title role in that Scottish play, and that's when I realized I had just seen this movie on Blu-Ray. I had a lot of problems with the film - the screenplay by Travis Fine and Arthur Fine seems all over the place, and some scenes were cringe-worthy. But that can easily be overlooked because of the fierce committed performance by Mr. Cumming. He plays Rudy Donatello, a gay man who tried to buck the system to try and get adoption rights for Marco, a mentally-challenged child abandoned by his mother. But this is 1979, and homophobia is still rampant everywhere, including the judicial systems. I would like to think we are way past that now in 2013, and indeed, signs are pointing that way - conservative Paul Ryan just stated the other day that even though he is against gay marriage, he is not against adoption by gay parents. But back to the movie, Mr. Donatello is an outspoken, loud gay man who claws and shouts his way, which helped and hurt him in his plight, with this partner, to get custody of the child. It's a marvel to watch Mr. Cumming's raw performance. You will not be able to take your eyes off him whenever he is on screen. Even though the film ends with such a preachy tone that made me want to hurl, your time will not be watsed just to see Mr. Cumming's performance.
The House Of Penhaligon makes scents that I associate with royalty. I think it's because a lot of the bottles have a coat of arms design. My bottle of Castile has one, exactly like the picture on the right. (I have seen later versions of the bottle without it, though) I think the juice smells like royalty, too. I can imagine Prince Charles wearing it. It's an orange perfume - neroli and orange blossoms dominate the scent. And there's something very noble about it: the scent lingers on you, but it never overpowers. It never overwhelms the wearer. I find that true with a lot of Penhaligon fragrances: they are mostly well-behaved and dignified. You know it's there, and it smells expensive (the raw materials are all tops) and you feel like you should be wearing a suit when you wear them. I sniffed Tom Ford's Neroli Portofino recently and that seems to be the sluttier sister of this. Castile is the well-mannered uncle, a little staid perhaps, but evoking the same spirit. Castile, in the end, is soapy. There used to be a time when I would always go for "clean" scents, but now I tend to go the opposite way. Still, Castile is a joy to wear. It is effervescent, and "sunny" without giving too much glare. I can happily wear this during the hot summer months. Even though I love the bitterest orange blossoms, here it is its sweetness that takes center stage. Nothing wrong with that.
Kyle is dead. And I am sad. Well, technically, we don't know if he has died yet, but I am sure he did. You see, I had read spoilers that a major character will die this season, and lo and behold here we are. I really thought it would be Jimmy, Jeremy Jordan's character, but I am not far off. And it comes in the heels of a major development: Jimmy reveals that Kyle is in love with him. So yes, it was one of those gay unrequited for a straight guy love, and yes, the gay guy is a martyr. It smacks of all kinds of stereotypes, but I must admit I was a little surprised, and very dejected about it. And I must say that the past few episodes have really been stellar. Yes, they have gone melodramatic, and soap-y, but that's what I wanted SMASH to be, and they were delivering in that sense. I wasn't looking forward to this episode, because I knew they were going to focus on "Hit List," but I found this really compelling. Well, I am still not a fan of the downtown show, and for the life of me cannot get the music, but the behind-the-scenes drama was awesome. Jimmy goes on a downward spiral and gets fired from his own show, and Jeremy Jordan has a cringe-inducing scene towards the end that I am conflicted on: on one hand, I think he did a very good job, but it was still a cheesy scene. And at least Kyle comes out on top, singing "The Last Goodbye" as he meets his fate. Oh love, you are a rotten rotten thing .
Updated: Kyle died for Hit List's sins
It would be too easy to dump on "The Big Wedding." The story is contrived, with sitcom situations that are barely believable, and the film seems to have been chopped up that I bet the original screenplay had a lot more meat in it. But what is undeniable here is that this is an all-stellar all-star cast, with four (count 'em) Academy Award Winners in it. (Plus a Tony Award winning one, too) So, there is not one bad performance in here, and they are all game, and you know what? Dare I say it, but they made it work. The whole cast here gave honest performances and the end result, instead of being an utter disaster, is more acceptable fun. I saw this on a sunny Saturday matinee, and I had a good time. It won't be remembered for all ages, but it was very pleasant, and it was great to see wonderful adult performance for a movie meant for an adult audience. The irony here is that these adults do act like kids, but that's not their fault, is it? It was great to see Robert DeNiro, Susan Sarandon, Diane Keaton ham it up. They look like they are having a good time. These roles may be too familiar for Topher Grace and Katherine Heigl, but they still give it their all. Ben Barnes is adorable and cute, and it was also nice to see Christine Ebersole on screen. And Robin Williams steals every scene he is in, even as he is somewhat more subdued here. Their wonderful performance are great to watch, making this not an entirely disaster of a time.
Maybe it's the recession, but I see a proliferation of "billionaire" romance, wherein billionaires fall in love with the help, or the financially challenged. I guess the M/M genre would not be immune to it. Dominique Frost's "The Art Of Touch" is a variation on that theme. A CEO who is so busy falls in love with his masseur. Fair enough. But Frost not only makes the millionaire character unlikeable, but she also does not present the case for romance. We are befuddled why these two people would fall in love besides the physical attraction. I didn't feel emotionally invested in any of the characters to care about what happens to them, never mind their relationship.
BC-27
