O Sweet Lord. I'm Excited

What you thought I had big news? That I was about to reveal all that's been keeping me away from my blog... well, that may be coming friends... but first THIS!

I'm over the moon with excitement. God bless you, Wes Anderson. I knew 2012 was going to be a good year.

The 86 Days of Summer

Grand Beach, Manitoba

Some people create New Year's resolutions.

I create a list of...

68 things to do in 86 days of summer!

Here's the approximate breakdown:

10 items are food related
5 are related to exercise and wellness
17 of them are sports/leisure/hobby type activities
7 are literacy related
at least 12 of them involve travel
11 will help me build some mad skills
and 9 of the list items are purely indulgent

I'm sooooo looking forward to summer!

It's All Been Done Before

These are two parts of a four-part video series by Kirby Ferguson, a NY based filmmaker and it's a fascinating look at remixing, sampling, songwriting, films, and the like. He talks about the fine line between inspiration and original art and explores Led Zeppelin's music and later its influence in Everything is a Remix part one. Then in part two Ferguson explores the remixing of films and a closer look at Star Wars and Quentin Tarantino. It's worth the 15 minutes to watch both and worth waiting for the next 2 parts. I owe this awesome little discovery to Swiss Miss. Thanks!

Everything is a Remix Part 1 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

Everything is a Remix Part 2 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

Guilty Pleasures

This week I've been indulging...

Season 6 -- I could not stop watching. Thank you, Sidereel.

Everything's better with a little music.
The hard part is not singing along when others are present.

Sometimes a romantic comedy just hits the spot. I'd recommend this one.

And a Peanut Buster Parfait... well, what can I say?

Well, it's one louder, isn't it?

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.

from This is Spinal Tap
watch the scene here.

More than a Western.

I saw True Grit about a week ago as part of my Oscar prep and Coen brothers love affair. I'd been led to believe it was mind-blowingly good. and while I did enjoy the film, it didn't rock my world. I'd never read the book or seen the John Wayne film, but I don't care all that much for John Wayne, so I suspect that's not a problem. The Coen brothers picture has that elusive element that seems to be stamped on their films. Quirky in a more subtle way than Wes Anderson, perhaps (whose work I also adore). There's just "something" there in the cinematography, the costumes, the characterization (hard to say how much was Coen and how much was the novel or the early film).

I enjoyed the acting immensely and felt that the actors had rich characters to work with. I particularly liked Mattie Ross, but who wouldn't? Obviously, her assessment of Rooster Cogburn-- that he had 'true grit'-- applied more to her than any character. That fact was fairly evident right from the start by her willingness to spend the night at the undertakers in the presence of three dead bodies. I always love Jeff Bridges and I am starting to get the feeling that he's playing the same role again and again. Good thing, I love me a scraggly, foul-mouthed, drunken curmudgeon.

I just discovered an article in Slate (via Brooke V) that points to some mythological connections between True Grit and Indo-European mythology. I love Norse mythology and even "lightly" teach it to students, so I always enjoy seeing the references show up in pop culture. Even though the Coen brothers deny any knowledge of the old stories, it's still pretty dang cool. Be warned, the article is loaded with spoilers.

On the Way to the Oscars...

This article explains the rationale behind the expansion of the "best picture" nominees category and the origins of the Academy Awards overall.



"The Academy was concerned that the majors were concerned. No one expected any of the majors to take their marbles and go home, but still… The majors spent millions on Oscar campaigns every year, and big studio glamour was very much what made the Oscars The Oscars!!! If, at some point, the Big Guys began to figure all they were doing was putting out a lot of effort – and money – to support what had become, in effect, a publicity platform for a bunch of beret-wearing, pony-tailed, artsy-fartsy competitors… Well, really; what would be the point?"

Let’s look at the just-announced nominees for this year’s Best Picture field:

Black Swan (indie)

The Fighter (indie)

Inception (major)

The Kids Are All Right (indie)

The King’s Speech (indie)

127 Hours (indie)

The Social Network (major)

Toy Story 3 (Pixar – you call it)

True Grit (major)

Winter’s Bone (indie)

Check out the full article for the full analysis. Good stuff.

The Academy Award Nominees

So, I'm not sure why I feel compelled to post the nominees for each of these award shows and try to watch the films each year, but some habits are hard to break. I've seen a few more films in the past couple weeks so I'll mark them off (with red type) as I get them watched. I've already decided that Colin Firth deserves the Oscar for his performance in The King's Speech and maybe Geoffrey Rush, too. Well done!

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
127 Hours
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening (The Kids are All Right)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
James Franco (127 Hours)
Jeff Bridges (True Grit)

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale (The Fighter)
John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)
Jeremy Renner (The Town)
Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are All Right)
Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams (The Fighter)
Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech)
Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

Best Documentary Short Subject
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

Best Short Film (Animated)
Day & Night Teddy Newton
The Gruffalo Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
Let's Pollute Geefwee Boedoe
The Lost Thing Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary) Bastien Dubois

Best Short Film (Live Action)
The Confession Tanel Toom
The Crush Michael Creagh
God of Love Luke Matheny
Na Wewe Ivan Goldschmidt
Wish 143 Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Achievement in Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit

Achievement in Cinematography
Black Swan (Matthew Libatique)
Inception (Wally Pfister)
The King's Speech (Danny Cohen)
The Social Network (Jeff Cronenweth)
True Grit (Roger Deakins)

Achievement in Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland (Colleen Atwood)
I Am Love (Antonella Cannarozzi)
The King's Speech (Jenny Beaven)
The Tempest (Sandy Powell)
True Grit (Mary Zophres)

Achievement in Directing
Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
David O. Russell (The Fighter)
Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)
David Fincher (The Social Network)
Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit)

Best Documentary Feature
Exit through the Gift Shop Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)
Gasland Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)
Inside Job Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)
Restrepo Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films)
Waste Land Lucy Walker, director (Almega Projects)

Achievement in Makeup
Barney's Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman

Achievement in Film Editing
Black Swan (Andrew Weisblum)
The Fighter (Pamela Martin)
The King's Speech (Tariq Anwar)
127 Hours (Jon Harris)
The Social Network (Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall)

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Biutiful (Mexico)
Dogtooth (Greece)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Incendies (Canada)
Hors la Loi (Algeria)

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell)
Inception (Hans Zimmer)
The King's Speech (Alexandre Desplat)
127 Hours (A.R. Rahman)
The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
"Coming Home" from Country Strong Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
"I See the Light" from Tangled Music and Lyric by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
"If I Rise" from 127 Hours Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
"We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Achievement in Sound Editing
Inception
Toy Story 3
TRON: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

Achievement in Sound Mixing
Inception
The King's Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit

Achievement in Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2

Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours (Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle)
The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin)
Toy Story 3 (Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich)
True Grit (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
Winter's Bone (Debra Granik and Anne Rossellini)

Original Screenplay
Another Year (Mike Leigh)
The Fighter (Paul Attanasio, Lewis Colich, Eric Johnson, Scott Silverand Paul Tamasy)
Inception (Christopher Nolan)
The Kids are All Right (Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko)
The King's Speech (David Seidler)

The Golden Globes

I am usually much more on top of the whole film scene. Year by year, my ability to keep up with current films depreciates. Still, it wouldn't be right to ignore the Golden Globes this weekend, despite the fact that I've seen a mere handful of the films--literally FIVE of the films and three of them were animated. One of my new year's resolutions is to go easy on myself. Keeping up with the latest new movie should not a race, a competition, or even a reasonable goal, really. That said, here are the film nominees. I rarely get too excited about the TV portion and am focused mainly on the GGs as a preview to the Academy Awards, my favorite award show of the year. (films I've seen are highlighted in red--I don't pretend to have a clue who will win)

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Halle Berry – Frankie and Alice
Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence – Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman – Black Swan
Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network
Colin Firth – The King's Speech
James Franco – 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg – The Fighter

Best Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right
Red
The Tourist

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway – Love And Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie – The Tourist
Julianne Moore – The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone – Easy A

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
Johnny Depp – Alice in Wonderland
Johnny Depp – The Tourist
Paul Giamatti – Barney's Version
Jake Gyllenhaal – Love And Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey – Casino Jack

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams – The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter – The King's Speech
Mila Kunis – Black Swan
Melissa Leo – The Fighter
Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Christian Bale – The Fighter
Michael Douglas – Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Andrew Garfield – The Social Network
Jeremy Renner – The Town
Geoffrey Rush – The King's Speech

Best Animated Feature Film
Despicable Me
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Tangled Toy Story 3

Best Foreign Language Film
Biutiful (Mexico, Spain)
The Concert (France)
The Edge (Russia)
I Am Love (Italy)
In A Better World (Denmark)

Best Director - Motion Picture
Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
David Fincher – The Social Network
Tom Hooper – The King's Speech
Christopher Nolan – Inception
David O. Russell – The Fighter

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Simon Beaufoy, Danny Boyle - 127 Hours
Christopher Nolan - Inception
Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko - The Kids Are All Right
David Seidler - The King's Speech
Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Alexandre Desplat - The King's Speech
Danny Elfman - Alice in Wonderland
A. R. Rahman - 127 Hours
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - The Social Network
Hans Zimmer - Inception

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
"Bound To You" – Burlesque
Music By: Samuel Dixon
Lyrics By: Christina Aguilera and Sia Furler

"Coming Home" – Country Strong
Music & Lyrics By: Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey and Troy Verges

"I See The Light" – Tangled Music By: Alan Menken Lyrics By: Glenn Slater

"There's A Place For Us" – Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader
Music & Lyrics By: Hillary Lindsey, Carrie Underwood and David Hodges

"You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me" – Burlesque
Music & Lyrics By: Diane Warren

How Do You Know

How Do You Know (2010)

For the first time in a long time I saw a movie on its opening day and I really enjoyed it. How Do You Know's star-studded cast was only one level of appeal. The writing was great, which translates--somewhat quirky and unpredictable. Ebert didn't love it, but I thought it was 3.5 stars at least. I realize it's a bit shallow but there are such gems in the film that I forgive its weaknesses. Lisa's (Witherspoon) reference to Bambi, George (Rud) literally running away from bad news, Matty's (Wilson) unbelievable apartment fully stocked with all the amenities of the one night stand and the scene at the hospital. Watch it. See if you agree. If you, like me, have been waiting for a romantic comedy worthy of the Nora Ephron legacy this one comes close.

To Judge a Book By Its Cover

In recent years I've been amassing a collection of Bond books with a particular set of covers I so love, those put out by Penguin in the early 2000's with cover art by Roseanne Serra and Richie Fahey. I have ten of the 15 books (if you count the short story collection Quantum of Solace). I try to pick these up "used" when I'm at Half Price Books or some other reasonably priced book joint. Still on my must-have list are these: You Only Live Twice, Quantum of Solace, The Man With the Golden Gun, Diamonds are Forever, and From Russia With Love.

Today I discovered another edition that I feel I MUST own. Despite the fact that I've seen all the films and am a huge fan, I've only actually READ two books by Ian Fleming: Goldfinger and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Still, the new Penguin cover art blows me away. Good job, Michael Gilette. Take a look.


If you're curious about the order of the books. Apparently one ought to read them in the proper order and little attention has been paid to this by book publishers in the past. Not so, this time with the new Penguin editions. Seriously. Aren't these just yummy?

Nine

Nine (2009)

Ebert rates this film 2 stars and reminds us that this film " pays homage to a Broadway musical, and not Fellini at all." Having seen neither 8 1/2 nor the musical, for me it is what it is. And overall, it was a bit disjointed and blase. The ladies were lovely, especially Marion Cotillard. I loved the costumes. I enjoyed several of the musical numbers, despite Ebert's claim that the musical has no good songs. I liked the lighting and the colors and the sort of "style" that Stephanie (Kate Hudson) talks about... but the story, meh. I think Ebert explains pretty well, how it fell short.

Here are Ebert's parting comments in his review, I plan to follow his advice.

"Nine is just plain adrift in its own lack of necessity. It is filled wall to wall with stars (Marion Cotillard as the wife figure, Penelope Cruz as the mistress, Judi Dench as the worrying assistant, Nicole Kidman as the muse, the sublime Sophia Loren as the mother). But that's what they are, stars, because the movie doesn't make them characters. My closing advice is very sincere: In the life of anyone who loves movies, there must be time to see "8½." You can watch it instantly right now on Netflix or Amazon. What are you waiting for?"

Two Film Friday

What began as a plan to see either Inception at the theatre in town or Toy Story 3 at the Sky Vu Drive-In Theatre turned into quite a different movie night. We ruled out the drive in based on the fact that it was going to start much later in the evening and so we opted for Inception, only to find it sold out. This has to be the first sold out film I've attempted to see in YEARS. I guess I don't often make it on opening weekend.

After a brief jaunt around Blockbuster we picked up four choices -- Princess and the Frog, The Book of Eli, Leap Year, and When in Rome. We ruled out the two romantic comedies thanks to Rotten Tomatoes low ratings and opted for a bit of both worlds... Disney-rific and Post-apocalyptic.

Princess and the Frog

I don't have a lot to say about this one. It was heavily hyped by my animation-analyst sister, Ashley who was excited that it was hand drawn. I did appreciate some of those finer elements of the film, but overall it wasn't my favorite. Ray, the lightning bug, and his enduring love for Evangeline was probably my favorite part. I'd give this one 3 stars.

The Book of Eli

The post-apocalyptic novel/film is one of my favorite genres so already this one was a winner. I love Mila Kunis and Jennifer Beals so they were assets. Of course, I loved the message of the importance and value of literacy, but mostly I just loved the way the film could still surprise me even when I thought I knew what was going on. The elderly couple were a real treat, and while I didn't enjoy the violent aspects of the film, it was fun to see Eli (Denzel Washington) kicking butt. This one is a four star film for sure!

God Bless Dairy Queen!

It was my birthday today and I celebrated by helping my youngest sister break in her new grill. She's recently moved out of my mom's place into a house with four other girls, three dogs, and three cats. :)

Her roomies were so sweet and joined in the feast, provided mostly by my mom who knows how to do cheezy potatoes right. And since most everyone knows I do not like cake, my mom went the extra mile and picked up a yummy Dairy Queen number. Delish!

The best bit was Shade (Ashley's border collie) was back home and on the mend (will post more on him later).

Every year I forget to get my free movie rental on my birthday over at Hollywood Video and for once I remembered, probably because they've got "going out of business" signs up all over. Still, I stopped in to pick one out and discovered they aren't even renting anymore. Just selling everything off. Sad, sad day. Maybe they are out of business because they gave away too many free birthday rentals? Oh well, not to me, anyway.

Instead we watched 2012 which I picked up at the public library. As films go, it wasn't fantastic or anything, yet it was a bit thrilling and my geologist loving was kicked into high gear as I tried to imagine the south pole shifted into the space where Wisconsin once was. And of course, there's John Cusack.

I had a good night and a good birthday. Yay. Here's to an even better year!

Iron Man 2 Inspiration

My brother and I saw Iron Man 2 over Mothers Day Weekend and while he thought it was a bit slow, I really enjoyed it. I love Robert Downey Jr. these days and whether it's as Tony Stark or Sherlock Holmes he couldn't be sexier and more fun. I did leave the theatre with a different sort of inspiration, however. And that was a subtle pressure I felt to shed some of the extra pounds I've let accumulate in the past year. It was at this point a year ago I let things slide as summer school got particularly intense. I'm not gonna lie, Scarlet Johansson is smoking hot in this film, and I want to look like her.

Apparently she went through months of intense training to get that way and I'm guessing she was in pretty decent shape at the beginning of the process. I also know that the film poster we see is photoshopped too. I guess she lost too many curves getting fit and they wanted to emphasize curvy and lean. Oh well. I suspect I won't be losing my curves without some surgery so I'll just settle for some proper lean. I joined the gym again as of this weekend and I hope that by the end of summer school THIS year I'll be down at least 15 lbs. Wish me luck.

Bright Star -- a poetic movie

Bright Star (2009)

In honor of poetry month, I had to make a point of watching Bright Star, a film about the relationship between 19th Century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne. Lord, this was depressing. It was a beautiful movie and it got me digging into their stories after I watched the film, but ultimately I wasn't blown away or quick to recommend it to others.

Coming Soon... The 82nd Academy Awards

Can't wait for the Oscars... Check out the official site. Should be fun with Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin hosting. Though I will say, I think it's a bit silly that there are TEN nominated films in the best picture category--were there any films that DIDN'T get nominated for best picture? Oh well. I always enjoy the Academy Awards but I have to admit I've not seen enough of the films or of the films I've seen I've not loved them enough to feel passionately about any of them. As I write this, I have a copy of The Hurt Locker and Bright Star waiting to be watched so maybe I'll soon be eating my words. Happy Movie Month, friends!

A List of the Nominated Films
(minus the shorts which I rarely get to see)
(films I've seen are listed in green)

Ajami
Avatar
The Blind Side
Bright Star
Burva VJ
Coco Before Chanel
Coraline
The Cove
Crazy Heart
District 9
An Education
El Secreto de Sus Ojos
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Food, Inc.
The Hurt Locker
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Il Divo
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
In the Loop
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Julie & Julia
The Last Station
The Lovely Bones
The Messenger
The Milk of Sorrow
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Nine
Paris 36
Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
A Serious Man
Sherlock Holmes
A Single Man
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Un Prophete
Up
Up in the Air
Which Way Home
The White Ribbon

82nd Academy Awards Printable Ballot

Land of the Lost

Land of the Lost

This month seems to be full of me trying to recapture the media messages of my youth. I remember watching the original Land of the Lost on Saturday Morning TV as a child.

Of course, I don't really remember much other than the sort of silly effects and the creatures known as the Sleestaks. The 2009 film version is more a parody for adults of the original more adventure genre program for kids. I appreciated some of the humor and I always love the acting of Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies, Much Ado About Nothing), but mostly I thought this film was dumb.

Here's a bit of the original -- it's dumb too, and I think I even knew that as a kid, but it was still fun to watch:


LOTL - Chaka

Sid and Marty | MySpace Video

Fame (2009) and (1980)

Fame (2009)

I have fond memories of the TV series, Fame, from my childhood years in the early 1980s. I could recall Julie (Lori Singer aka Wren from Footloose) and some girl named Doris and a grumpy teacher named Mr. Shorofsky. The show dances (no pun intended) on the edges of my memory. I loved the theme song? Hmmmm.....



Well, I love dance movies. Surely that would be enough to make me love this new incarnation of Fame and yet it wasn't. I found this film disappointing and perhaps that is because I was mentally comparing it to the 1982 TV series of the same name and not to the 1980 film that is actually remaking. Somehow I doubt that is the only reason.

It felt like we never got to know the characters well enough to care about them and I kept watching for a Doris or a Leroy or a Julie or Coco and they never showed up. Watching the you tube clips of the 1980s stuff it all seems very white, classical music/ballet/violin etc. or maybe that's just the main characters. The current film has a much more rap-inner city-gritty feel. That's neither a criticism nor a praise, it's just an observation. The 2009 film did feature wonderful acting talent in the form of Fraiser and Lilith Crane... er, I mean Kelsey Grammer & Bebe Neuwirth. Oh, and Megan Mullally.



I think I would have enjoyed watching the 1980 film and reliving the memories rather than watching this new incarnation, but maybe that's just me.

************************

UPDATE: Searching for a video for the original theme song on You Tube led me to the 1980 film in 10 minute chunks which I got sucked in one at a time until I'd watched the entire film. Oops. Yes, this is definitely the superior film. And on a side note I didn't realize Sharon Cooper (Maureen Teefy) from Grease 2 played Doris in this film version.

Duplicity

Duplicity

One of my favorite genres of film is that of the "heist." The tag line for Duplicity reads "Outwit. Outspy. Outsmart. Outplay. Then get out." and that pretty much sums it up. Two spies, Ray (Clive Owen) and Claire (Julia Roberts) keep us, and each other, guessing through the entire film. It was clever, though a bit confusing. Overall, I enjoyed it 3.5 stars worth. Woo hoo!