Friday, July 31, 2009

This makes me giddy

My dad is getting more comfortable with technology. I showed him how to send text messages, so now I get frequent updates from him such as "I'm at the car dealership," "it's so hot outside," and "where are you?" The other night at dinner, he excitedly asked my mom and me if we'd heard of the "latest YouTube sensation." Which one, we said. He ran back to his office, we followed, and he showed us the JK Wedding Entrance Dance. Which I completely loved. It's so uninhibited and joyous.


Read a little more about it in this Washington Post article.

Added 8/3/09 One more reason to like these guys: due to the massive enthusiasm for their video and the sad circumstances regarding the song, they started a website where you can make donations to an organization working to end domestic violence.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Sweet Land


I just finished watching Sweet Land, an independent film written and directed by Ali Selim, and released in 2005. A simple, straightforward story told mainly in flashbacks, it concerns Inge, a German mail order bride in the 1920s, who arrives in a small Minnesota farming community to marry Olaf, a Norwegian man she's never met.

With anti-German sentiment following World War I still fresh, the community initially rejects Inge and her marriage to Olaf is delayed. Waiting for her official papers to arrive, Inge and Olaf slowly get to know each other through shared labor and tiny glimpses of poetry, music, affection for animals, and concern for neighbors.

It's not a flashy story and much of the dialogue is in German without subtitles, but the film quietly absorbs your attention and draws you into the growing relationship between Inge and Olaf. It's gorgeous to look at, too. Minnesota never looked so luscious.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Through the rabbit hole...

The first trailer for Tim Burton's live-action adaptation of
Alice in Wonderland was released today, and you can see it
here.

I am personally not a big fan of Disney's animated version -- as a kid, I thought it was creepy -- and love Tim Burton, so this could be very cool.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Adventures with Mom-Mom

On Monday afternoon, my grandmother surprised me by calling and asking if I'd take her to see The Hangover. I've been wanting to see this for weeks, so I said yes immediately, but asked her if she was really sure this was the movie she wanted to see. Yes, she insisted, her friend said it was hilarious and she didn't even need to know what it was about.

Turns out, she loved it, and so did I. There are drugs, booze, boobies, full frontal male nudity, tigers, Mike Tyson, and vomit, but that didn't deter my Mom-Mom in the slightest. Afterwards we went out for dinner and she asked me to write up a list of good comedies for her to get from Netflix. She remains the coolest grandma around.