Movies and TV Show

DVD:

1. Once -- Great music! Two independent musicians met and made lovely songs together, on and off screen. There is a nice clip of them singing together at SunDance on YouTube.

2. Captain Corelli's Mandolin -- Plenty of blood from the captain and pouty lips from Penélope Cruz, not enough mandolin.

3. Joy Luck Club -- The more years I spend in this country the better I can accept these "let's tell them what being Chinese is all about" kind of movies and books. There is a fraction of truth in everything, but it's like saying America is all about McDonalds or Morman temple. You get the idea.

4. Who Killed the Electric Car -- As the proud owner of a 2002 Prius since the dark age that we had to pre-order the car sight-unseen, I can be ever so "green". There is much buzz about electric cars these days. They are supposed to be cheaper to run, and better for the environment. But would someone please answer my questions: What's the actual cost for generating electricity? Not out of consumer's pocket, but the cost of supporting the infrastructure if the demand multiplies because of all the new electric cars on the American roads; the cost of production, transportation, and maintenance of the expanded system; the cost to the environment due to the increased production -- burning coal? new dams? solar panels within eyes reach? Will we need a power plant in every city to meet the demand? What will the earth look like when it's covered wall to wall with power lines? Will you still want to live here?

5. One Flew over Cuckoo's Nest -- Mental illness, that's something I can't deal with, even with Jack Nicholson in it.

6. House of Sand and Fog -- Great movie, great performance of Ben Kingsley, nightmarishly dark.

7. Chariots of Fire -- Bill's pick. He was motivated to start jogging when he saw the movie the first time, in 1981. Not this time around. Uncle Dursley from the HP movies has a small part in one of the scenes at King's Cross. Love the costumes.

8. Bend it Like Beckham -- We've seen Parminder Nagra for years in ER (Neela) and finally catch up on her coming-out movie. Glad I don't have a daughter and glad my son fits in his boy role, thank you.

9. Capote -- One of the Oscar best picture nominees during my short stunt at Netflix. Strange man, strange movie, but very well made (the movie, not the man).

10. Must Love Dogs -- After Capote we decided romantic comedy is the only way to go. John Cusack is cute, so are the dogs.

11. Citizen Kane -- Lesley's pick for our bookclub movie night. Great movie!

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Movies:

(We went to see two movies in a row, a rare occurrence for us)

1. Wall-E -- The last real Pixar movie. The story board way of creating a screenplay is nice to a point. I'm a bit tired of the big chase and ultra idealism in every Pixar movie. They need fresh blood. Nonetheless Wall-E is very well made and an excellent ending to the Pixar era.

2. Mama Mia -- One of the best movies I've ever seen, on par with The Sound of Music and Chicago. Bill is in love with Amanda Seyfried, until she opened her mouth in real live (find her on YouTube).

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TV Show:

Swingtown -- Review of 70s life and fashion, and get busy analyze relationships. I wasn't here in the 70s, so it's fun to see the wacky nylon shirts and disco balls, not to mention the music they picked were pretty good. Let me know if you watch the show, we can talk about the characters. There is a group on Ravelry if you are one of "us".