Let's talk about movies...and other stuff...

So despite what someone or other said, ("You didn't come to New York to watch a movie,") I did in fact see two movies while I was there. Man on Wire was showing up there, but I missed that. Instead, Becks and I saw Tell No One and Pineapple Express.

Tell No One is a French movie based on an American thriller, presumably by the same name and written by Harlan Coban. I find that fascinating. We saw it the same day we arrived, extremely tired, and for some reason thought the man on the poster was John Cusack. We were very confused for about 10 minutes when everyone was speaking French and it was subtitled. A recently review I read (EW, likely) described it well (let me paraphrase) when it said that the movie gets increasingly more implausible, but you don't mind terribly because the acting is top notch and the mood is just right. I'm fascinated that the French took one of our thrillers to make one of their movies. Don't know why, but I just can't let that go...

Pineapple Express was hilarious. Long, but worth it. I'm not really into drug humor, or idiot humor. But I AM into James Franco and occasionally into Seth Rogan. So it's really funny, a really smart dumb comedy. I kinda want to see Simon Pegg and Seth Rogan do a zombie movie with Judd Apatow. But that may be too much of a retread. I want to see James Franco in anything...Anything.

Then a neighbor loaned me The Heartbreak Kid and that was funny too, but I've rarely met a more obnoxious or despicable character than the one Ben Stiller plays here. Was not charmed by the end. Though I guess I can respect turning a genre on its head a bit and showing us a not-so likable guy fighting for love. Except I'm not sure that was intended. Yeah maybe, because of the end, but I still have my doubts. I've seen everybody involved do better.

And then there's Penelope, with Christina Ricci. Wow. Really loved this movie. It was smart, pretty, funny and had a lot of heart. And a certain kiss in it goes straight to the head of the class. With every movie I see him in, I'm falling just a little bit more for James McAvoy. He officially goes into the "would watch anything he's in" category. I'd even watch him in a horror movie and that's saying something, considering what a wuss I am.

Now I'm going to drop a lot of links on you of things I've been reading and following.

* The YouTube of Magazine articles? What do you think about this?

* I've always said Jon Stewart should run for president. I'd vote for him. He's somebody we can trust.

* It's Kafkaesque, all right. Also pretty dern operatic.

And more on the Sherry Jones/Jewel of Medina/Censorship? debate:

* Rushdie's 2¢ (really wish we had a cents key on keyboards, what does it mean about our economy that you have to search for the cents symbol if you want to use it? do our youngest generations know what it means, even? a rant for another time and place, I suppose.)

* Wha?

* Really, Which side ARE you on?