Girl Detective

OMG! I just finished reading issue #5 of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’s comic Criminal. Please pardon my slippage into jejune exclamation, but I can’t contain myself; it was that good. Wow.

Issue five is the conclusion of storyline “Coward,” about a thief named Leo. Leo’s never been caught before, but his latest heist might prove the exception to his many rules. There’s a good cast of characters, though many of them don’t survive the storyline. Brubaker has created a good canvas to work from. This is dark and violent; it owes a lot to noir. Its violence isn’t gratuitous, though. Each incidence serves the story.

My husband G. Grod highly recommends Brubaker and Phillips’s other collaboration, Sleeper, and I may not put off reading it.

At the end of Criminal #5, Brubaker asked a bunch of friends and comic-book creatives to share their favorite noir movies. Some I’d seen, some not. The ones I own, I’m going to re-watch. The ones I don’t, I’m going to seek out. And I’m not going to list them; go to your local comic shop and buy all five issues of Criminal for yourself. What? Your shop doesn’t have them all? Well, give my two favorite shops a try: Big Brain Comics in Minneapolis MN and Showcase Comics in Bryn Mawr PA. The trade paperback is due next month.

For a while, I felt bored with comics, and didn’t like anything I read. I think I see the light at the end of the ennui tunnel.

Little Darlings was another book I read surreptitiously as a teenager. It had a pink cover with a white bikini bathing suit on it, so it was not inconspicuous. “Don’t Let the Title Fool You” was the tagline. Little Darlings, was originally a 1980 movie with Tatum O’Neal as idealistic rich girl Ferris and Kristy McNichol as streetwise poor girl Angel. Each bets that she will be the first to lose her virginity.

#15 in my 2007 movie challenge was MI3. In my defense, this was my husband’s pick. I was in the mood for an entertaining action movie. This couldn’t even fit that generous bill, though Cruise is strangely more believable as Ethan Hunt than he is in real life married to Katie Holmes. Hunt must rescue two damsels in distress, a colleague and later his fiancee. Phillip Seymour Hoffman does nothing special with the role of villain. Midway through this movie I turned on my computer so I could at least get some work done. When the twist at the end came, I didn’t care, and I was very annoyed at the plot device of getting the man emotionally involved by putting “his” women in danger. Woven into the movie were homages to roles from Cruise’s career. This felt gimmicky and annoying. Overall, this movie by J.J. Abrams, the creator of shows Alias and Lost, felt like an overlong, merely OK, TV episode, not a blockbuster action film.

#14 in my 2007 movie challenge was Little Miss Sunshine, which I rationalized buying at Target because:

1. I wanted to see it before the Oscars
2. It was on sale for $16.99, which is
3. Lots cheaper than two tickets, popcorn, candy, a drink, and a babysitter

It was funny and bittersweet, and owed at least a little to National Lampoon’s Family Vacation. The performances were strong all around. It brought back memories of my youth, when my family got in a van and drove hither and yon, inspiring adolescent horror of being stuck with “these people”.

#13 in my 2007 movie challenge was Dark City, another entry prompted by this list of Fifteen Geek Movies. Literally and figuratively very dark, Dark City is a precursor of The Matrix that examines some of the same themes of individuality, society, and choice. Where The Matrix had Keanu well cast as the none-too-bright Neo, Dark City has a badly coiffed Rufus Sewell, sporting what looks like 80’s rock-star hair. I did, though, appreciate Jennifer Connelly’s strong eyebrows. I found the fight scene at the end silly and overlong, but the film itself is definitely worthwhile.

#12 in my 2007 movie challenge was Nine Queens, an Argentinian film that had been on our Tivo forever. This heist film is clever and charming. While I knew that someone was scamming someone, I thought it did a good job of spinning things out till the end.

#11 in my 2007 movie challenge was The Departed, in a theater with good popcorn. I thought this film was well worth the effort and expense to see away from home, and also that it deserved the Best Picture Oscar. All the performances were solid, particularly those in smaller roles. I was also very impressed by DiCaprio. Scorcese took a Hong Kong action film and adapted it to South Boston. Some griped that he simply remade a movie. I think it was an impressive transposition. My only quibble was the very last shot of an animal–alright, already, I got it.

I don’t like memes–way too much me, me, me. Yet the movie one making the rounds reminded me why I love the movies and still go out to them even though it’s expensive and hard to do so. Thus, my responses to the meme I saw at GirlReaction and The Sheila Variations. You can see that Duff and I have some opinions in common. I’ll try to keep things brief.

1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.

The Breakfast Club

2. Name a movie that you’ve seen multiple times in the theater.

Branagh’s Henry V, and Cinema Paradiso; both were showing at a nice theater in DC in 1990. (It was a two-plex up Wisconsin Ave., I think, and may not exist anymore). My loves of movies, seeing them in theaters, and Shakespeare all sprang from here.

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.

Classic: Cary Grant. Modern: George Clooney

Added later: Don Cheadle

4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.

Never say never–I’ve seen great movies with actors I usually don’t care for, like Out of Sight with J. Lo, and Femme Fatale with Rebecca Romijn and Antonio Banderas. But OK, maybe Tom Hanks.

5. Name a movie that you can and do quote from.

I am terrible at quoting from movies.

6. Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs

Grease

Added later: And probably Xanadu. My sisters and I saw it in the theater and bought the LP. Olivia Newton John, Gene Kelley, Greek mythology, and ELO–awesome when I was a pre-teen, I’m guessing not so much, now.

7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with

I’ve blocked it out, but I’m sure I sang along to Dirty Dancing in college.

8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.

Henry V

9. Name a movie that you own.

Henry V

10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.

J. Lo in Out of Sight

11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?

Yes; a double feature of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Pretty in Pink. I drank pink wine coolers.

12. Ever made out in a movie?

Not that I remember.

13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t yet gotten around to it.

La Règle du Jeu. It’s been on our Tivo forever.

14. Ever walked out of a movie?

Yes, Grandview, U.S.A.

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.

Cinema Paradiso, every time

16. Popcorn?

You betcha, as long as there’s real butter for it, and Junior Mints to mix in.

17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?

Even with two small kids, about twice a month.

18. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?

The Departed

19. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?

I’m equal opportunity, though I don’t like horror and violence.

20. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?

The AristoCats

21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?

Dead Presidents

22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?

Tapeheads, which I saw for the first time last weekend

23. What is the scariest movie you’ve seen?

Poltergeist, which I saw in the theater and probably also saw more than 10 times.

24. What is the funniest movie you’ve seen?

A Fish Called Wanda

Remember how at college you could follow the mystery meat’s many incarnations through the week? It usually started on Monday with meatloaf, then tacos, spaghetti sauce, chili, and by Friday there were some scary lookin’ huevos rancheros on the suspiciously invented “Mexican Night”. Maybe you went to a college that had better food than mine did, but that’s what I thought of when I read about Thursday night’s Office remix on A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago. NBC is airing 2 reruns that have been re-edited and mixed into one hour-long show, with new bits added. Unlike mystery meat, The Office is funny, so I’m interested to see what they do. It’ll be like sitcom casserole, and the new bits are like added cheese!

After this recent column on olives by City Pages food critic Dara Moskowitz, I went haring off for some to go with my other current food fixation, cheese. I’ve long been a fan of the picholines from Surdyk’s mentioned in the article. My current favorite pizza from Punch is a margherita with mushrooms and picholines. Kalamatas have long been a staple in our house and cooking. I always get ones with pits; those without are mushier and less flavorful. I don’t mind pitting olives. I put the ends of the olive between my forefinger and thumbtips, then squeeze. The olive opens like a coin purse and gives up the pit.

A fun find from our library, Looking for a Moose by Phyllis Root is one of our new favorite picture books. The text is repetitive and almost rhyming, similar to We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, so it’s fun to read aloud. It’s different from Bear Hunt because it’s a one way journey, and because it has a happier ending that teaches the plural of moose. Cecil’s oil paintings are clear and engaging, and several pages have hidden moose.

New Dark Chocolate Altoids. Drake loves them, too, and they’re a relatively guilt-free bribe, e.g., “Get in your carseat NOW; I’ll give you a chocolate mint.”

The Tiny Love Musical Stack & Play is from Drake’s babyhood. The rattly balls, the rings, and the toy itself can be used together or separately. Generally, I shun musical toys, but the music can be turned off.

The Whose House shape sorter was a recent gift for baby Guppy and he loves it. He puts the shapes in the box, he plays with the shapes by themselves, and he puts anything else that fits in the box. The box is soft, so it’s possible to put many things and different shapes into each hole, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. He’ll get the shapes eventually. Mixing and matching toys is part of the fun.

One thing that makes these toys so winning is that they’re adaptable, with many parts and uses that span multiple development levels. 3yo Drake and his peers still love to play with the elephant toy. 6M to 3+ is an impressive amount of time to hold their interest.

#8 in my 2007 book challenge was The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating by David Buss. I found it often repetitive, and occasionally interesting. Published in 1994 and relying on research up to twenty years before that, it’s old for non-fiction, and thus dated about things like sexual behavior in the face of AIDS. The author has an interesting premise, and one I didn’t find very shocking or surprising: men and women’s mating strategies are often unpleasant adaptive mechanisms that have ensured survival and propagation. These strategies are general and animal-like, rather than individual and emotional. Buss interestingly deploys many examples from the animal world to illustrate parallel points. His anecdotes of humans, though, never felt like they illustrated his scientific data well. They seemed more like stories (and often unpleasantly sexist ones) in the vein of “love’s a bitch.” Additionally, the scientific evidence Buss relies on was sometimes sketchy. He noted that lesbians mating behavior didn’t conform to certain of his theories, but didn’t explore this at any length. In one particularly egregious instance, Buss noted how the sexual revolution proved one of his theories, since it occurred during a time of more women than men, yet he didn’t mention another key contributing cause, the birth-control pill. The chapters had some slipshod endnotes that hinted at less than rigorous scholarship. One of the members of my book group recommended Jared Diamond’s Why Is Sex Fun? instead.

#10 in my 2007 movie challenge was Talladega Nights. Thank you, Will Ferrell, for making me laugh out loud. This was a silly, relatively plot-free movie that seemed more like two hours of improv scenes strung together. But it hung together well enough for me; I liked it even better than I did Ferrell’s Anchorman. The extras were fun to watch, and the movie was full of quotable lines like, “Thank you, baby Jesus…” and “Shake…and…bake!” And my husband G. Grod’s favorite: “Hakuna Matata, beetches!” One of the reasons for my annual book and movie challenges is to stay intellectually agile. I can’t say this film contributed to that. But it did make me laugh. And a good comedy is hard to find.

#7 in my 2007 book challenge was Evelyn Waugh’s Loved One. It’s a recommendation of my husband G. Grod. It was also my attempt to sneak in a short novel before I had to read two non-fiction books for my two book groups. The Loved One is, to borrow from Hobbes, nasty, brutish and short. It’s a bleak comedy about two Hollywood funeral homes (one for pets, another for departed “Loved Ones”), a dead Hollywood failure, and a love triangle among an aspiring poet, a head embalmer, and an idealistic cosmetician. I found it perhaps more clever than enjoyable. It has the kind of biting, mean-spirited humor that I’m not always in the mood for.

#9 in my 2007 movie challenge was Repo Man, which my husband borrowed from the library after finding this list of fifteen essential geek movies. I had seen 11 out of the 15, 8 of them with my husband. Repo Man is extremely weird, more so than other movies of its time that I did see, like Valley Girl, Better Off Dead, and the John Hughes canon. Emilio Estevez is a skinny young punk drafted into service as a repo man by Harry Dean Stanton. They inhabit a dark corner of the 1980s with generic everything, where there’s a ready supply of items to be reclaimed by people whose reach extended their grasp. The plot centers on a mysterious car that inspires warring factions, and there’s a truly bizarre ending.

#8 in my 2007 movie challenge was Stranger Than Fiction, which I saw at a discount theater. Good: ticket only cost $2, and they have good popcorn with real butter. Bad: film was mis-framed to start (could see the boom mike at the top of the screen), then out of focus throughout. I enjoyed the film anyway. Ferrell was funny, vulnerable and sweet as a boring IRS agent who suddenly starts hearing someone narrate his life. Maggie Gyllenhaal was charming, Emma Thompson was believably weird as the author, Tony Hale (Buster from Arrested Development) was ideal as a geeky friend, and Dustin Hoffman was kookily engaging as a literature professor. Only Queen Latifah seemed to be superfluous to the endeavor.

Not all the shows I watch are going through rough patches, as are Veronica Mars and Battlestar Galactica. Good things are happening on House, Bones (it must be the elevating influence of Stephen Fry), and Heroes. And The Office and My Name is Earl are still able to make me laugh.

Veronica Mars: so disappointing. Last week’s episode was pretty good. Logan snapping a pic of Veronica in jail, and the appearances of both Cliff and Vinnie all paid off. But the lame ending of the O’Dell death mystery? They killed off a good character for that? And I’d pegged the killer since the beginning of the season because of his bad fake hair. Why the fake hair? Was there a storyline there that didn’t play out? I’m about to bail on this show. Oh former favorite, how things have changed.

Battlestar Galactica: last week’s episode, Dirty Hands, about the fuel ship strike was terrible. I don’t like when writers change characters merely to further the storyline–suddenly Roslyn and Adama are fascists? And then by the end they’re nice again? And while Baltar is a master of manipulation, the sudden emergence of his social conscience still feels contrived. One of the writers of this episode was also the writer on the last filler episode that I hated, The Passage, about Kat. These filler episodes are NOT working for me.