My Movie Reviews

I'm very particular about movies. Usually I'm disappointed with ones I rent. Out here in Suburbia there are only megaplex-type places that only show the mega-movies. You rarely get any independent films or foreign films. Don't I sound snotty & elitist. Too bad. My favorite movie reviewer is Joe Morgenstern with The Wall Street Journal (although he loved The Notebook...I was skeptical because the writer of the book, Nicholas Sparks, wrote another book called Message In A Bottle that could possibly be the biggest piece of tripe I've ever read....so I did go see The Notebook on Morgenstern's recommendation and was sorely disappointed. It was like a Lifetime movie. But I digress.) Last night I watched a terrific movie on DVD called Pieces of April. Katie Holmes is a wonderful actress. I never watched Dawson's Creek (is that the show she was in?) but she also appeared in a little movie called "Go" that was GREAT. I'm hoping that she turns into one of those actresses that chooses her roles so well you won't need a review. If she's in it, just go. (In many cases Gwyneth Paltrow falls into this category. See her in Sylvia, Emma, Sliding Doors and Possession and you'll see what I mean. Even Shallow Hal was worth watching because of her. I believe she'll also star in Proof, the film version of the prize-winning Broadway play. I'm looking forward to that!) Pieces of April is about a girl who has made lots of bad choices in her life but she wants her family to come to Thanksgiving as a sort of last chance to make things right. That's the plot...it is a beautiful story. My all-time favorite movies are.....Doctor Zhivago, English Patient (I love historical fiction when it is done well), Raising Arizona, Peggy Sue Got Married (Nicolas Cage is a bizarre person but his acting is superb in these movies), Fargo (how can you go wrong with the Coen brothers? Their first film, Blood Simple, was chilling), Field of Dreams (don't ask me why...it's pure fantasy but somehow the characters seem real...James Earl Jones is wonderful in this movie). Also excellent are Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Indochine, Three Kings (George Clooney & Mark Wahlberg...who knew George Clooney could act?), American Splendor (can't even describe it...just watch it! The character of Harvey Pekar's autistic friend is memorable) and Out of Sight (what? another George Clooney? JLo is also in it and she is terrific. I've yet to see her match that performance.) Yeah, there are also classics that I always watch if they happen to be on TV...Casablanca, The Graduate, When Harry Met Sally, Princess Bride, This is Spinal Tap (strongly oppose Rob Reiner on his political views but his directing skills & choice of material are right up there with the best), The Way We Were (ditto on Barbra's politics), and of course, Gone With the Wind. Another favorite actress is Emma Thompson...has she ever been in a bad movie? She was great, as always, in Love Actually, but watch her in HBO's Wit (the Pulitzer-Prize winning play made into a film, directed by Mike Nichols. How can you go wrong with that??)

Blue & Red States

So let's talk politics. I saw somewhere on the web today a map showing the states that are wrapped up for Kerry, the ones that are wrapped up for Bush, and the ones that are still in play. It's crazy. Right now Kerry has 9 states: Calif, NY, Mass, Ill., CT, Del., VT, RI & MD. Basically we're talking the liberal northeast, plus the big kahunas of Calif & Ill. Bush has 17 states, comprising a majority of the vast geographic portion of the country. People who want to junk the electoral college have to realize that NY & Cal. would basically be electing the president. The people in the heartland would have no voice. PA is a swing state. I'll be shocked if it goes republican but it would be nice to know my vote actually counted for a change. Kerry is so uninspiring and his wife is so condescending. They dwell in a world of such rarified privileges they couldn't possibly relate to your average american. Let's see either one of them start a business & be successful at it. She was handed a fortune when her first husband died; he's been living off his wives and the taxpayers for his whole career. They don't have the first clue what people in business face. Bush didn't exactly have an underprivileged life himself but at least he hasn't been living off my tax dollars. I have a lot of confidence that he is a decent, honest, hardworking person. He has chosen principle over popularity...let's hope he has taken us on the correct course. I have zero faith in Kerry. How can he pick a trial lawyer as a running mate??? We haven't seen Edwards since he was chosen as the VP pick. He may be a decent guy but qualified to be President? I don't think so. And all this nonsense about Vietnam and where was Bush and did Kerry serve honorably....it's just dumb. Those on the left forfeited their right to question anyone's service when they elected Clinton, who not only didn't serve, he actually dodged the draft. People's memories are too short. So I put my faith in Bush and his advisors. I don't know what the answer is on Iraq but they know more than I do so I have to trust their judgment. Of course a Bush win opens the door to the evil Hillary in 2008. She is bad news. Talk about condescending. It takes a village, my ass. It takes ME to raise my kids, not her, not the government. OK enough of that. Back to the stadium chair.

Glorious Fall

It's a glorious Fall day here in the Burgh. The leaves are showing hints of changes to come....warm sunny days, cool clear nights, good sleeping & spooning weather. Yesterday I got my hair cut and highlighted to go with fall.........red & blonde, looks good. I've been filling up my days with little projects that have been calling my name, furniture to be stripped & refinished, woodwork to be painted, closets to be cleaned out, clothes to be donated, gardens to be dug up and replanted. Mostly I've been working on that bleacher seat from Cleveland Stadium that's been sitting in my garage since 1996. I stripped all the paint off, about 6 layers of tan, blue & green over metal, sanded it and am painting it Browns colors for Jon's birthday. I'll bolt it to the deck so all the Steelers fans who come over can see it. It is a labor of love, I tell him, when he says I'm working way too hard on it. But when I ask what he wants for his birthday, I get "gym shorts" or "new socks"....I cannot in good conscience give my husband of 16 plus years gym shorts or new socks for his birthday. Also he doesn't want a cake (it's the low-carb thing) so I'm making him sugar free pudding. Sometimes the guy just doesn't know how to live it up. What else is happening? Got an email from Claire today that her divorce is final. She is somewhat melancholy over it I guess. I hate to see people with kids get a divorce but is it good for kids to see their mother be so miserable? The whole process took only 6 months from the time she told her husband (X-husband now) that it was over. I wonder if she realizes the gargantuan nature of this accomplishment...she went from being a non-working spouse of a doctor, living in a very upscale neighborhood, to working full time & living in a townhouse and sharing custody of her 2 teenagers. One can debate the wisdom of divorce when kids are involved but she deserves better than she got from her X. A nice enough guy but totally self-involved and clueless about his wife's turmoil, which was considerable. So I support her and wish her the best. And I thank my lucky stars that I have Jon. Dad tells Jon he won the lottery when he married me!

My Dad

I think I'll do a story on my Dad. There are so many anecdotes and "Dad" expressions, I need to weave them all together. Here's one: We're out for brunch. The waitress, a friendly girl with clear blue eyes, comes to take our order. Dad chats with her a minute, asking about her name (her nametag says "Charlie") and she explains how she's named after her grandfather, Charles. We order & the waitress leaves. Dad says, "Nice girl. She's bipolar, of course." Ummmm, OK. Here's another one: Dad, eating dinner: "Jack!" (my mother) "This is the best damn (fill in the blank: baked potato, corn on the cob, fillet, ice cream, apple pie....) I've ever had!!" In all seriousness. There is no in-between with him. No moderation. Growing up, whenever he heard a rock music song, he'd inevitably ask "When'd HE get out of jail?" He says he won the lottery when he married my mother (50 years next August). Since his heart attack last Fall he's exercising regularly for the first time in his life! He looks great and says he feels great. How can a doctor just be discovering the benefits of exercise!! When we were little he used to say we were "capolavoro", meaning "masterpieces." Now that I have kids I know what he means. I tell my kids they're my angels. He used to tell us we were "creme de la creme." No wonder we all have big egos. We all have kids, we all have long healthy marriages (as far as I can tell). I guess you have to give your kids a sense of self-worth and security so they make intelligent choices. What else? He's pro-hormone replacement & thinks the liberals are out to destroy this country. He holds people with PhD's in extremely low regard. He loves Italian cars & owns a bunch of them. People used to tease him that he named me after the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, but he claims he just loved the name "Juliet." They named me on day 5 after birth!!! My kids were all named before birth or on the day of. I do love my name. It makes me feel special!

Young Dubliners & stuff

After a busy day running around with the boys....Sam left at 6 a.m. for a cross country meet so I felt compelled to get up at 5:30 (on a Saturday???) and make him breakfast (what a good and devoted mother I am); got boys 2, 3 & 4 up so we could go to breakfast at 8:30 since they were closing our roads at 9 for a 5K race & we wouldn't be able to get out; after breakfast took Josh to his soccer game while Jon took Phil to his soccer game; took Noah to a bar mitzvah; returned to watch the 1/2 of Josh's game that I didn't miss; took Josh home for an hour; picked up Sam after his meet, picked up Noah from temple & finally got home around 1:30. So to treat ourselves Jon & I went out last night to see the Young Dubliners at the Irish Festival. They were really good & it was fun. My friend Beth is related by marriage to someone in the band so we met them all & bought a CD & they all signed it. I listened to it today & it is good so I'm happy. After the festival we tried to find a place to get some food but everyplace had a long wait....so being the dull suburbanites that we sometimes can be, we returned home & I had a lovely glass of port, watched a little TV & went to bed. Not a thrilling Sat. night but hey, we tried!!
Today I went computer shopping with Noah & Sam. Best Buy overpriced but we got some info & will probably get a Dell with the same specs. It's so quiet here now. Sam is at a picnic & the other boys must be at the playground because they are certainly not here. I guess Jon told them to get their tuchases outside because it's a beautiful day. Unlike the Caymans where hurricane Ivan is unleashing its wrath. That reminds me....I want to see if we can find a cheap flight to the Caymans for when the boys have a long weekend in Nov. We have lots of frequent flier miles & we haven't been there in a few years.

Get Stuff Done

It's hard to get stuff done. One of my projects is to make cushions for the new patio furniture. I could not bring myself to spend 80 bucks on the cushions (per cushion!!) they wanted to sell me. I'm not great at the sewing machine but how hard can it be to sew some fabric in a square shape. Silly me. I've been looking at patterns & fabric....the stuff is $25 a yard and up! After spending all this time at the local big box fabric store (after checking Wal Mart) I found an OK pattern ($7--KA CHING!!) & wrote the name & number of the fabric in my trusty palm pilot, which I cannot live without by the way. I googled & found what I want for 1/2 price & free shipping. OK now we're getting somewhere. I figure by the time I get the foam for the inside & all the incidentals, I'll probably be close to $80 but I'll have all the cushions I need and I'll have learned something (stay away from delusions of sewing??) Let's see, if I was practicing law (like my husband wants me to) I could probably make upwards of $1000 in the time it will take me to complete this project. But it's not about the money, I say!! Must have an outlet for my creative impulses! Maybe this will give me a story idea. Oh yeah, I should be working on my short stories. Here I go.

Notes from suburbia: Labor Day 2004

Notes from suburbia: Labor Day 2004
I just got off the phone with Matilda. I told her she should not feel alone and we all knew what a huge project this move is for her. I told her just call me anytime & I'll come down. I think she's frightened. Who wouldn't be? At 91 you'd have to suspect you're making your last journey. I've always thought she was something special. It's sad she never had children of her own. Her first husband couldn't father children because he was sterile, having had mumps as an adult, & he didn't want to adopt, even though a baby was available to them. In those days it was easy to do a private adoption. There was no legal abortion & if a teenager got pregnant, often they turned to adoption. You didn't have to worry so much about drugs & violence in the life of the unwed mother. But her husband wouldn't do it. He died at a young age of a sudden heart attack & Matilda was left a widow. I think she was in her 50's when she married her current husband. I was a child then but I remember he was divorced & had 2 grown sons who people weren't too fond of. They spent about 5 years in Japan (he was a bigwig at a fortune 500 company), then eventually moved to myrtle beach. They've been there at least 25 years, maybe longer. They're isolated, he's ill, she's alone. When they get up here I'm going to try to take her to lunch when I can. He can stay home & watch CNN, or whatever it is he watches.

Labor Day 2004

I guess today is the official end of summer. The pool closes today. The kids' work in school starts in earnest tomorrow. Lots of meetings this week for curriculum review, etc. Hebrew school starts. Soccer season, practices & games start. I'll be running around like mad but since I've become a free woman (no kids at home during the day!) I can handle it. Last year was very stressful. I felt like I got nothing done. We spent yesterday with my parents & a few cousins/siblings. Nice and uneventful. I suggested to Dad that I help him with his memoirs now that he is finally retiring at the age of 80. I think he's a little self-conscious about it & asked me what I thought about using a video camera or dictating using voice recognition software. I don't think he has the patience for the voice recognition thing but the camera is a great idea. Maybe I'll get him one for Xmas & set it up for him. I can color the record button bright green so he knows what to push, and I can set it up on a tripod. He's a treasure. We talked about Matilda, his sister who is 91. She's supposed to move to an assisted living facility next month from Myrtle Beach but is afraid to ship her stuff north, and afraid to leave anything behind. Meanwhile her husband is no help at all, he's a pain in the neck and very frail. He's obsessed with the stock market, even though at his age it's pretty irrelevant. No one thought he'd live this long with all his ailments. I wish Matilda would hurry up & move here so we can spend some time with her. She needs some outside stimulation...intelligent conversation. Love!!! I think I'll call her now.

A world gone crazy

Yesterday I was enoying my idyllic life, lingering at the pool at summer's end with my good friend on a flawless sunny day while our respective children toiled away at school. We were happy, carefree women, unfettered by job demands, secure in the knowledge of our children's happiness and safety as well as our husbands' devotion and support. We laughed over silly things and talked about books. But even as I floated in the sparkling water and soaked up the late summer rays, I thought about the innocents in southern Russia who were living through a nightmare. Chechnyan militants, including reportedly Arab mercenaries, had stormed a school (a school!!!) full of young children and parents, and were holding them hostage for what? Chechnyan independence? Islamist idealism? Our morning paper carried the story of a woman who was released by her captors but permitted to take only one of her children, forcing her to choose between staying with both children, possibly condemning all three to death, or taking one child and herself to safety while leaving the other, a six-year old, to an uncertain fate. What cause could possibly be furthered by the taking of children?? By the psychological torture of a mother who had committed no offense but to have taken her children to school that day? For all the militants knew, she may have sympathized with their crusade. By the time I arrived for my day of leisure at the club, reports had already surfaced that the Russian special forces had attacked in an effort to end the standoff and there had been many, many casualties. I closed my eyes as the sweat beaded on my forehead and said a prayer for the people of Russia and a prayer of thanks for my own idyllic life. Last night I turned on the news hoping for positive information about the crisis, perhaps news that the death toll was smaller than originally feared. The first shock was that the lead story on virtually every station I checked was hurricane Frances. OK, so much of the Florida coast had been evacuated but this is a story that hadn't happened yet. The hurricane was still in the Bahamas and it was weakening. This was followed by a lengthy discussion of Bill Clinton's heart problems. Huh? I admit that I'm no fan of Bill Clinton but come on people! His story deserved no more than an end-of-news footnote! The media reacts to his health problems as if a beloved deity was being snatched from our midst. Oh yeah, I forgot. To the media he is a beloved deity. Only then did television serve up any news about the crisis in Russia. I hate to hear stories about how Americans are uninformed about the world outside our borders but is it because the media fails to give priority to the really important stuff, or do they fail to give the news because there's no audience for it? The chicken or the egg. Today comes the horrific news about the bloody resolution to the school-taking. More than 350 feared dead, mostly parents and children. Some of the militants believed to have escaped. Photographs of bloody dead childen mourned over by their mothers. I checked the paper. It's another pool day in Pittsburgh. I'll say another prayer.