Saw The Lives of Others - the Oscar-winning foreign film from Germany. Very powerful and note-perfect. Chilling how every room in your house could be bugged and you don't even know. Hard to believe it was all happening just over 20 years ago in East Germany - I was travelling through Europe in 1984 and later I was teaching kids who were born in 1984.
My friend's dad called it the best spy thriller he had ever seen. I loved the story and the character development. Definitely worth seeing (since I refuse to see 300 and already saw The Wind That Shakes the Barley and The Namesake at the Festival.)
Saw Kinky Boots on The Movie Network (TMN) - lots of fun (and quite experimental - thinking of our doc that's still under review). It's based on a true story of a British shoe factory that shifted production focus to stay afloat. Quite charming (and was at TIFF in 2006 I think).
Off to work to keep unpacking my boxes - our move wraps up next week but I've been in my new space for a few days. Quite a change from the old floor plan.
Went running with a friend last night (3km) and doing 6K on Saturday in preparation for next weekend's race Harry's Spring Run-off.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
IDC Judging
Out of 95 teams who entered IDC, 79 submitted films on time. Now the judging begins.
As films come in, IDC checks paperwork and digitizes and converts the films. These are put into an on-line judges' screening room where the Round 1 Judges (30 documentary professionals from across the world) watch and rate all of the films. The 12 top rated films from Round 1 will go on to premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival in Toronto on the evening of Saturday, April 28. At the screening, the Round 2 Judges (3 influential international documentary professionals who will be at Hot Docs) will select and announce the Grand Prize Winner from the 12 finalists. IDC hopes to announce the 12 finalists by April 2 to give the filmmakers enough time to make travel plans to Toronto. Each finalist will receive a free pass to Hot Docs and the Grand Prize Winner will receive $1,000 and a trophy.
Pretty exciting stuff! April 2 is less than 3 weeks away!!!
Both Joe's team (whoretoculture films) and our team (haikugirl) made it into the final 79. Joe wrote me such a sweet email last week I have to put in my blog:
MM,
I was just checking your blog and reading about your successful completion of the competition. Many, many, many congratulations! I am so glad you did it this year, and now you see what an exhausting but exhilirating experience it is. Based on the voice-mails I got from you, it sounds like you had a blast, and it sounds like you might be giving us a run for our money! I sincerely hope both our teams' entries will be screening next month at Hot Docs. Either way, I can't wait to see your project and to show you ours. Congratulations again on a major accomplishment!
--joe
GO TEAMS! Congratulations to all and good luck with the judging...
-haikugirl & creative ape
As films come in, IDC checks paperwork and digitizes and converts the films. These are put into an on-line judges' screening room where the Round 1 Judges (30 documentary professionals from across the world) watch and rate all of the films. The 12 top rated films from Round 1 will go on to premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival in Toronto on the evening of Saturday, April 28. At the screening, the Round 2 Judges (3 influential international documentary professionals who will be at Hot Docs) will select and announce the Grand Prize Winner from the 12 finalists. IDC hopes to announce the 12 finalists by April 2 to give the filmmakers enough time to make travel plans to Toronto. Each finalist will receive a free pass to Hot Docs and the Grand Prize Winner will receive $1,000 and a trophy.
Pretty exciting stuff! April 2 is less than 3 weeks away!!!
Both Joe's team (whoretoculture films) and our team (haikugirl) made it into the final 79. Joe wrote me such a sweet email last week I have to put in my blog:
MM,
I was just checking your blog and reading about your successful completion of the competition. Many, many, many congratulations! I am so glad you did it this year, and now you see what an exhausting but exhilirating experience it is. Based on the voice-mails I got from you, it sounds like you had a blast, and it sounds like you might be giving us a run for our money! I sincerely hope both our teams' entries will be screening next month at Hot Docs. Either way, I can't wait to see your project and to show you ours. Congratulations again on a major accomplishment!
--joe
GO TEAMS! Congratulations to all and good luck with the judging...
-haikugirl & creative ape
Sunday, March 11, 2007
The Illusionist
Cozied into the basement loft last night to watch a pay-per-view movie: The Illusionist. Edward Norton is Eisenheim the Illusionist who astounds them all in 18th century Vienna. His childhood sweetheart (Jessica Biel) is about to marry the evil (of course he is) Crown Prince (Rufus Sewell) who sends the chief of police (Paul Giamatti) to find out Eisenheim's secrets and arrest him. Only it doesn't quite go according to plan...
I enjoyed this movie - how it was shot, the era and the subject matter. Films like these remind me why I love Edward Norton. He's also recently in The Painted Veil and seems to enjoy slipping into these period roles with gorgeous co-stars. Unlike my uncle, I won't be going to Vienna any time soon (although I think the Czech republic might have sat in for Vienna on this film) but the experience was like watching a fable. A lot less dark than The Prestige, The Illusionist is a nice way to spend a couple of hours - rent it and let me know if there are good DVD extras I missed. MMM
Have to mention the latest Ebert & Roeper at the movies which I did not enjoy. While Ebert is recovering, Roeper has various guest reviewers and his latest was Kim Morgan an on-line movie reviewer. Richard liked her but she drove me kinda crazy. They both lauded 300 (which I will NEVER go see because it's by Frank Miller and it's all about the joys of war) and gave thumbs up to Chris Rock's I Think I Love My Wife (Chris Rock remaking Eric Rohmer - go figure) but split on Mira Nair's The Namesake. I saw it at TIFF and it was okay but Kim couldn't bring herself to give it a thumbs up (Ivana didn't like it either). Roeper and I were kinder agree the father's performance was excellent but both TV reviewers failed to point out that Kal Penn (of Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle - which was such fun) was the weakest link in the film and quite out of his depth with the other actors just as Cameron Diaz was in The Holiday.
Scroll down the page on Kim's website to find a review and photos of Black Snake Moan which looks like it's a big fat guilty pleasure. As Richard points out, why does Samuel L. Jackson only appear in movies with Snake in the title? Based on Kim's steamy review, I might be tempted to cut her some slack next time - or at least see this bizarre-sounding movie...
I enjoyed this movie - how it was shot, the era and the subject matter. Films like these remind me why I love Edward Norton. He's also recently in The Painted Veil and seems to enjoy slipping into these period roles with gorgeous co-stars. Unlike my uncle, I won't be going to Vienna any time soon (although I think the Czech republic might have sat in for Vienna on this film) but the experience was like watching a fable. A lot less dark than The Prestige, The Illusionist is a nice way to spend a couple of hours - rent it and let me know if there are good DVD extras I missed. MMM
Have to mention the latest Ebert & Roeper at the movies which I did not enjoy. While Ebert is recovering, Roeper has various guest reviewers and his latest was Kim Morgan an on-line movie reviewer. Richard liked her but she drove me kinda crazy. They both lauded 300 (which I will NEVER go see because it's by Frank Miller and it's all about the joys of war) and gave thumbs up to Chris Rock's I Think I Love My Wife (Chris Rock remaking Eric Rohmer - go figure) but split on Mira Nair's The Namesake. I saw it at TIFF and it was okay but Kim couldn't bring herself to give it a thumbs up (Ivana didn't like it either). Roeper and I were kinder agree the father's performance was excellent but both TV reviewers failed to point out that Kal Penn (of Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle - which was such fun) was the weakest link in the film and quite out of his depth with the other actors just as Cameron Diaz was in The Holiday.
Scroll down the page on Kim's website to find a review and photos of Black Snake Moan which looks like it's a big fat guilty pleasure. As Richard points out, why does Samuel L. Jackson only appear in movies with Snake in the title? Based on Kim's steamy review, I might be tempted to cut her some slack next time - or at least see this bizarre-sounding movie...
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
IDC is a WRAP!
After staying up all night Sunday to edit, Tamara and I grabbed a cab to the Fedex depot at Sherbourne and Lakeshore on Monday afternoon to drop off our IDC video. Our Fedex tracking number 854035815983 shows it was picked up at 4:51pm Monday, March 5, 2007 in time for the 5:00pm deadline. I just checked at fedex.ca and it's now at the local Fedex facility in St. Louis, Missouri waiting for delivery to KDHX TV, co-sponsors of IDC. Winners will be announced at the hot docs international documentary festival in Toronto April 19-29, 2007.
Our final running time was 4:43 - with the required colour bars & slate (Team Name, Genre, City & Country, Title) at the beginning we're at about a 5-minute running time. It was an intense weekend and we worked hard (I hadn't pulled an all-nighter since university days!) Tamara was our SUPASTAH editor and I provided feedback and ideas (and 24-hour craft services) and we had product we were proud of in the can by 1:00pm Monday and shipped by our deadline. I screened it for Richard last night and he thought it was great (very emotional) - we used his original music from Curbside Lapse for our score.
IDC's a wrap!
hooray for team haikugirl!
see us at hot docs?
Our final running time was 4:43 - with the required colour bars & slate (Team Name, Genre, City & Country, Title) at the beginning we're at about a 5-minute running time. It was an intense weekend and we worked hard (I hadn't pulled an all-nighter since university days!) Tamara was our SUPASTAH editor and I provided feedback and ideas (and 24-hour craft services) and we had product we were proud of in the can by 1:00pm Monday and shipped by our deadline. I screened it for Richard last night and he thought it was great (very emotional) - we used his original music from Curbside Lapse for our score.
IDC's a wrap!
hooray for team haikugirl!
see us at hot docs?
Friday, March 02, 2007
IDC
IDC, the International Documentary Challenge is ON! I logged in to the website to get our genres Thursday morning at 8:00am. We were assigned Experimental and Music and could choose between them. We fired off a question to the organizers and confirmed we could do an Experimental view of ANY topic so we're choosing female endurance athletes. Tamara and I will be heading downtown to the Y to interview runners Saturday before 7:00am!!!
We also have to work in the general theme of Faith. That should be easy with a topic like running. We spent Thursday doing preliminary production work on our topic and setting up our shoot for Saturday. Today, we're practicing with our equipment and scripting. Yesterday with the "storm of the century" brewing it was great to be home but weird to see the tons of snow that dumped down on us in TO.
This competition is INTENSE but fun! With our shoot all day Saturday and editing all day Sunday I will probably only have a chance to blog again on Monday when our short doc is in the CAN and off to FedEx. Wish us luck!!!
IDC is fun
five days to make a short doc
team haikugirl ROCKS!
We also have to work in the general theme of Faith. That should be easy with a topic like running. We spent Thursday doing preliminary production work on our topic and setting up our shoot for Saturday. Today, we're practicing with our equipment and scripting. Yesterday with the "storm of the century" brewing it was great to be home but weird to see the tons of snow that dumped down on us in TO.
This competition is INTENSE but fun! With our shoot all day Saturday and editing all day Sunday I will probably only have a chance to blog again on Monday when our short doc is in the CAN and off to FedEx. Wish us luck!!!
IDC is fun
five days to make a short doc
team haikugirl ROCKS!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
iPod NANO and Jeans Marines
Treated myself to an iPod nano (8 GB) YAY! It is slim enough to run with and still stores photos so I can have mini photo-slideshows with music on my iPod. AWESOME!
The International Documentary Challenge is 1 week away!!! My co-conspirator Tamara is on board and we are gearing up with discussion, research and equipment gathering. We get our topic on Thursday March 1 at 8am - then we'll know what we're shooting next weekend!
Meanwhile, I started running and joined Jeans Marines - an incredible and inspiring group of women. I run every Saturday morning at 8:00am but also need to fit in a run during the week (the hard part). Work is still insane but some of my co-workers are keeping me laughing.
Incredibly, I haven't seen all the Best Picture nominees before the Oscars (truly a break with tradition for haikugirl) - I will share my Oscar picks in another post. However, I will rent The Departed this week and may squeeze in a screening of the upcoming The Number 23 with Jim Carrey and Virginia Madsen.
The International Documentary Challenge is 1 week away!!! My co-conspirator Tamara is on board and we are gearing up with discussion, research and equipment gathering. We get our topic on Thursday March 1 at 8am - then we'll know what we're shooting next weekend!
Meanwhile, I started running and joined Jeans Marines - an incredible and inspiring group of women. I run every Saturday morning at 8:00am but also need to fit in a run during the week (the hard part). Work is still insane but some of my co-workers are keeping me laughing.
Incredibly, I haven't seen all the Best Picture nominees before the Oscars (truly a break with tradition for haikugirl) - I will share my Oscar picks in another post. However, I will rent The Departed this week and may squeeze in a screening of the upcoming The Number 23 with Jim Carrey and Virginia Madsen.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Happy Powrie Birthday!
February 20, 2007 marks a very special day. Richard's father Ted Powrie turns 80 and his grandson Brendan also celebrates a birthday. And 2 days later on February 22nd, Ted's daughter Jennifer (Rich's sister) celebrates her birthday. Ted was in excellent spirits when we talked to him on his day.
Happy Birthday to ALL the Powries and MANY MORE!
February is
Happy Powrie Birthday month
Celebrate today!
Happy Birthday to ALL the Powries and MANY MORE!
February is
Happy Powrie Birthday month
Celebrate today!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
SuperBowl ads
My brother Sam sent me this link to the the clever U.S. commercials on SuperBowl Sunday. Let me know which ones you like. I enjoyed the Moon Office (FedEx), Snickers, GoDaddy.com and couldn't believe the Toyota ramp (don't try that at home). Also enjoyed Prince at the halftime show. He did a great job in the (purple) rain...
http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/postseason/superads
Great to spend time with my book club - we reviewed Any Tan's Saving Fish From Drowning.
http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/postseason/superads
Great to spend time with my book club - we reviewed Any Tan's Saving Fish From Drowning.
Friday, February 02, 2007
haikugirl at the AGO
Met a dear colleague for beer o'clock at our pub downstairs. Then over to the AGO to take in the Ansel Adams / Alfred Eisenstaedt exhibition. The photos blew me away! Incredible to think that both were contemporaries but had such different styles and perspectives. Although Ansel Adams' work is beautiful I think I liked better.
Was thinking of going to see a movie tonight at Cinematheque: LA-BAS. - Grand Prize winner at the Festival International du Documentaire de Marseille. Thought it might get me in the mood for the International Documentary Challenge which I'm going to be doing in less than a month from now: March 1-5. The premise: script, shoot and edit a 7 minute documentary in less than 5 days - but you don't get assigned your topic until 8am Thursday March 1st. A very appealing prospect and I am very excited about taking part. In the meantime I'm recruiting my crew and building my Mac editing skills so stay tuned for updates.
Another project is to start jogging. Did a couple runs in sunny FLL - tomorrow morning I will run again but it will be MUCH colder... Still need to see The Queen and Dreamgirls before the Oscars. Looking forward to some schmaltz with Music and Lyrics starring Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant - starts Valentine's Day.
Was thinking of going to see a movie tonight at Cinematheque: LA-BAS. - Grand Prize winner at the Festival International du Documentaire de Marseille. Thought it might get me in the mood for the International Documentary Challenge which I'm going to be doing in less than a month from now: March 1-5. The premise: script, shoot and edit a 7 minute documentary in less than 5 days - but you don't get assigned your topic until 8am Thursday March 1st. A very appealing prospect and I am very excited about taking part. In the meantime I'm recruiting my crew and building my Mac editing skills so stay tuned for updates.
Another project is to start jogging. Did a couple runs in sunny FLL - tomorrow morning I will run again but it will be MUCH colder... Still need to see The Queen and Dreamgirls before the Oscars. Looking forward to some schmaltz with Music and Lyrics starring Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant - starts Valentine's Day.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Golden Globe predictions
Tonight I am picking who I think SHOULD win (but maybe not who WILL win). A few select predictions (don't have time or care about everything):
I love HEROES and vote for it as best TV series and the Japanese guy in that show MASI OKA for Best Supporting Actor in a TV series. I'd love Steve Carell to win Best Actor for The Office or even Alec Baldwin for 30 Rock but doubt they can beat Keifer.
Mrs. Harris was scathing but I wouldn't give Annette Benning the Golden Globe (even though husband Warren is picking up the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement tonight). I do pick Ben Kingsley as Dr. Scarsdale from the same mini-series. I would give Best Actress to Helen Mirren for Elizabeth I (she may also win for The Queen and pick up two statues). I don't think Julia Louis Dreyfus will win either of her nominations (although I heard her say in interview she wants both). For Musical or Comedy show and actress it's Ugly Betty all the way. Go America Ferrera! And maybe Sarah Paulson from Studio 60 for Supporting.
MOVIES: Brad will take it for Supporting Actor the Babel and Rinko Kikuchi will beat out Adriana Barraza both from Babel for Supporting Actress. I would LOVE Judi Dench to win for Notes on a Scandal (she was soooooo diabolical) but I think Helen will be triumphant again. Imagine winning 2 awards for protraying 2 queens (both Elizabeth) centuries apart? Too bad for Penelope because she was brilliant but I think Pedro will have to settle for Best Foreign Language Film.
Little Miss Sunshine SHOULD win for Best Picture Musical or Comedy but Borat WILL win (why I'll never know?) I would like to see Johnny Depp and Will Ferrell win but Sacha Baran Cohen will win for Borat (UGH!) I predict Leo will win for The Departed or they may give the sentimental vote to Peter O'Toole who looks like a walking skeleton from Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. I don't think it's Will Smith's year.
Catch all the action at 8 pm EST tonight (or online at
Hollywood Foreign Press Association / Golden Globe Awards
I love HEROES and vote for it as best TV series and the Japanese guy in that show MASI OKA for Best Supporting Actor in a TV series. I'd love Steve Carell to win Best Actor for The Office or even Alec Baldwin for 30 Rock but doubt they can beat Keifer.
Mrs. Harris was scathing but I wouldn't give Annette Benning the Golden Globe (even though husband Warren is picking up the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement tonight). I do pick Ben Kingsley as Dr. Scarsdale from the same mini-series. I would give Best Actress to Helen Mirren for Elizabeth I (she may also win for The Queen and pick up two statues). I don't think Julia Louis Dreyfus will win either of her nominations (although I heard her say in interview she wants both). For Musical or Comedy show and actress it's Ugly Betty all the way. Go America Ferrera! And maybe Sarah Paulson from Studio 60 for Supporting.
MOVIES: Brad will take it for Supporting Actor the Babel and Rinko Kikuchi will beat out Adriana Barraza both from Babel for Supporting Actress. I would LOVE Judi Dench to win for Notes on a Scandal (she was soooooo diabolical) but I think Helen will be triumphant again. Imagine winning 2 awards for protraying 2 queens (both Elizabeth) centuries apart? Too bad for Penelope because she was brilliant but I think Pedro will have to settle for Best Foreign Language Film.
Little Miss Sunshine SHOULD win for Best Picture Musical or Comedy but Borat WILL win (why I'll never know?) I would like to see Johnny Depp and Will Ferrell win but Sacha Baran Cohen will win for Borat (UGH!) I predict Leo will win for The Departed or they may give the sentimental vote to Peter O'Toole who looks like a walking skeleton from Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. I don't think it's Will Smith's year.
Catch all the action at 8 pm EST tonight (or online at
Hollywood Foreign Press Association / Golden Globe Awards
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Babel and next picks
Finally saw Babel on Thursday with Pavlina. We went up to Canada Square to get better seats and a bigger screen than the Carlton but in the end the seats were just as uncomfortable and screen was probably the same small size (just seemed a bit larger since the theatre was bigger).
I wanted to see it before the Golden Globes since Babel was nominated for 7 awards. I would give it MMMm because it was only okay. It was too long, a bit boring in parts, and the Director's technique of repeating scenes to show them from different perspectives (as in 21 Grams) got tiresome by the end. I think that either Rinko Kikuchi of Japan or Adriana Baraza of Mexico could pull off the Best Supporting Actress award. Guess we'll see when the Golden Globes air on January 15th (oddly enough a Monday this year).
Babel was okay
loved the story in Japan
the rest a bit slow
I need to see The Queen and have heard great things about Children of Men.
I wanted to see it before the Golden Globes since Babel was nominated for 7 awards. I would give it MMMm because it was only okay. It was too long, a bit boring in parts, and the Director's technique of repeating scenes to show them from different perspectives (as in 21 Grams) got tiresome by the end. I think that either Rinko Kikuchi of Japan or Adriana Baraza of Mexico could pull off the Best Supporting Actress award. Guess we'll see when the Golden Globes air on January 15th (oddly enough a Monday this year).
Babel was okay
loved the story in Japan
the rest a bit slow
I need to see The Queen and have heard great things about Children of Men.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Notes on a Scandal
Today was my first day back at work in 2007. Last night we went to see Notes on a Scandal with Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett. WOW! JUDI IS AMAZING! Or as Mary said, "she's diabolical". I still have to see The Queen but I think Helen Mirren has some stiff competition in Judi. Her character (Barbara) is deliciously evil and unbelievably manipulative, and she gets to utter the most scathing observations in voiceover, despite how old and dowdy they make her look. Cate Blanchett (Sheba) is your typical gorgeous art teacher who can't resist the advances of a 15-year old schoolboy. The relationship between the two women develops to protect Sheba's illicit secret and we see how far they will go to protect it.
I quite enjoyed this movie and recommend it in cinema or on rental: MMMMm. I will be anxious to watch the Golden Globes on January 15 to who is named Best Actress.
Notes on a Scandal
Cate is gorgeous but tarty
Judi plays a creep
I quite enjoyed this movie and recommend it in cinema or on rental: MMMMm. I will be anxious to watch the Golden Globes on January 15 to who is named Best Actress.
Notes on a Scandal
Cate is gorgeous but tarty
Judi plays a creep
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Last Friday of 2006
Last night we had a lovely evening out with friends. Started with cocktails at the swank Pantages Hotel on Victoria St. (next to the Canon Theatre)
Pantages Bar Lounge
Sleek, chic, yummy mixed nuts &
five-buck martinis
Yes, you read it right. Five dollar Grey Goose martinis no less. And who can resist bar nuts in the bar? Not me.
Then we walked to The Keg on York St. for dinner.
Hangin' at The Keg
Marci and Greg are the best
More good times next year
Pantages Bar Lounge
Sleek, chic, yummy mixed nuts &
five-buck martinis
Yes, you read it right. Five dollar Grey Goose martinis no less. And who can resist bar nuts in the bar? Not me.
Then we walked to The Keg on York St. for dinner.
Hangin' at The Keg
Marci and Greg are the best
More good times next year
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Merry Christmas from haikugirl!
Hope you had a great Christmas. We had a relaxing and enjoyable Christmas Eve Eve, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Lots of delicious food (R is out running it off as we speak!) and great conversations with family and friends.
This Christmas Santa was very good to haikugirl and bought her a MacBook Pro - so sleek and sexy. Now I have no excuses not to make my movie! Expect big things from haikugirl and her new Mac in 2007 - starting with a new email address and website.... Stay tuned!
What a lucky girl -
Now I have a MacBook Pro
Santa is the best!
Thanks again to Santa for the biggest and best surprise ever! Guess those Mac/PC commercials are effective (not to mention the constant barrage of pro-Mac emails from my dad ;-)
This Christmas Santa was very good to haikugirl and bought her a MacBook Pro - so sleek and sexy. Now I have no excuses not to make my movie! Expect big things from haikugirl and her new Mac in 2007 - starting with a new email address and website.... Stay tuned!
What a lucky girl -
Now I have a MacBook Pro
Santa is the best!
Thanks again to Santa for the biggest and best surprise ever! Guess those Mac/PC commercials are effective (not to mention the constant barrage of pro-Mac emails from my dad ;-)
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Casino Royale
Casino Royale was AWESOME! Everyone's favourite adjective to describe it is raw and I would agree. This is a back-to-basics Bond with great stunts instead of special effects and I am officially printing this retraction to my earlier post that Clive Owen would be the best Bond. Daniel Craig totally pulls it off and does a superb job. This high octane movie has lots of action (check the trailer), amazing locations, fast cars and very few gadgets. I say MMMMM - WAY TO GO!
Casino Royale
Daniel Craig is a great Bond
hip, raw and sexy
Casino Royale
Daniel Craig is a great Bond
hip, raw and sexy
Thursday, December 21, 2006
4 more days & Golden Globe nods!
Christmas is coming in 4 days and I'm ALMOST ready. Today is my last day of work for 2006 (yippee!) and then we're home for the holidays.
Plans for time off include everything haikugirl loves:
movies, music, food,
shopping, cooking, hanging out
waiting for Santa
Be sure to check out the Golden Globe nominations - with trailers and make your personal picks before the LIVE telecast on Monday, January 15, 2007 at 8:00pm EST on NBC. I hope Penelope wins Best Actress but she has stiff competition from Helen Mirren's stiff upper lip as The Queen.
Plans for time off include everything haikugirl loves:
movies, music, food,
shopping, cooking, hanging out
waiting for Santa
Be sure to check out the Golden Globe nominations - with trailers and make your personal picks before the LIVE telecast on Monday, January 15, 2007 at 8:00pm EST on NBC. I hope Penelope wins Best Actress but she has stiff competition from Helen Mirren's stiff upper lip as The Queen.
Monday, December 11, 2006
more haiku for haikugirl
Chris S (from the Hargrave) sent me another haiku:
MM partied large
today, is she less perky?
can she still haiku?
And of course the answers are: no, I'm fine and yes, definitely!
Work demands are high
Priorities always shift
Can't wait for time off!
gotta run... BYE!
MM partied large
today, is she less perky?
can she still haiku?
And of course the answers are: no, I'm fine and yes, definitely!
Work demands are high
Priorities always shift
Can't wait for time off!
gotta run... BYE!
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Volver - at last!
I can't believe I'm only getting to my review of Volver now. Saw it November 26 and was blown away. I think it is Almodovar's best film and definitely Penelope's best onscreen performance ever. She has this other dimension when acting in her native Spanish and she is truly outstanding. The entire female cast deserved the award for Best Actress at Cannes. Definitely deserves an MMMMM rating.
At lunch on Friday we were trying to think about potential nominees for best actress and actor for the Oscars and naming quality female performances was tough. Penelope tops my list, they'll probably nominate Cate Blanchett for Babel (haven't seen it yet) but most of the movies this year have focused on men's stories. They may have to nominate Kate Winslet for The Holiday because there's not much else to consider. Except Catherine O'Hara in For Your Consideration, which - true to its premise - already has Oscar buzz.
At lunch on Friday we were trying to think about potential nominees for best actress and actor for the Oscars and naming quality female performances was tough. Penelope tops my list, they'll probably nominate Cate Blanchett for Babel (haven't seen it yet) but most of the movies this year have focused on men's stories. They may have to nominate Kate Winslet for The Holiday because there's not much else to consider. Except Catherine O'Hara in For Your Consideration, which - true to its premise - already has Oscar buzz.
haiku at the Hargrave
Saturday night we made ourselves a delicious dinner at home: thick, juicy beef tenderloin grilled to perfection by Rich on the BBQ, with yummy sides by haikugirl: garlic mushrooms, roasted mini-potatoes and crunchy sugar snap peas. I should have been a snackerazzi and taken a photo it was so good!
Then we headed out to the Christmas Party at our local pub The Hargrave on the Danforth. Lots of fun, dancing, chatting, even penning a few haiku:
Party at the 'Grave
Mary Margaret got her groove on
she got it on, now
Christmas time again
Hargrave Party with our friends
Chris writes great haiku
The evening ended on a high note: in the 50/50 raffle we won a fantastic down parka (XL with a Guinness logo on it) Yay MM and Rich! Chris wrote:
Mary Margaret won
Richard got a new jacket
Richard owes her sex
Then we headed out to the Christmas Party at our local pub The Hargrave on the Danforth. Lots of fun, dancing, chatting, even penning a few haiku:
Party at the 'Grave
Mary Margaret got her groove on
she got it on, now
Christmas time again
Hargrave Party with our friends
Chris writes great haiku
The evening ended on a high note: in the 50/50 raffle we won a fantastic down parka (XL with a Guinness logo on it) Yay MM and Rich! Chris wrote:
Mary Margaret won
Richard got a new jacket
Richard owes her sex
Saturday, December 09, 2006
The Holiday and Pavlina's Birthday
Had a Girls Night for the Film Club on Friday: went to see The Holiday. A charming movie that put us in the mood for Christmas and New Year's. Kate Winslet is lovely and Cameron Diaz does fine as Amanda. I just want her job/life/LA home with built-in recording studio that she uses to edit movie trailers. Jack Black's at-home studio is the new model for ours upstairs (complete with Herman Miller chair.) He plays a guy who scores movies and he does this great bit in the film where he walks through the video store with Kate Winslet and points out all the great soundtracks. Lots of sweet moments in the film - especially for Kate Winslet's and Jude Law's characters. I sometimes felt Cameron Diaz was a bit out of her element with the other acting heavyweights but her wardrobe is da bomb.
After the movie we headed to Il Fornello on the Danforth to have dinner and celebrate Pavlina's birthday. She was sick all week so we were happy she felt well enough to come out for the evening. We had yummy food and even sang Happy Birthday with a candle in the creme brulee. Bonne Fete Pavlina!
After the movie we headed to Il Fornello on the Danforth to have dinner and celebrate Pavlina's birthday. She was sick all week so we were happy she felt well enough to come out for the evening. We had yummy food and even sang Happy Birthday with a candle in the creme brulee. Bonne Fete Pavlina!
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