Coldplay at the United Center

Last night my husband and I were lucky enough to have been invited to enjoy the Coldplay concert at the United Center from box seats. If you imagine the stage being set up at the 12 position on a clock, our seats were in between the 4 and the 5 and just above the first raised section of stadium seating. I looked up at the poor souls who were where we were for the previous tour and felt a twang of pity-- three rows from the top of the arena and behind the stage is no place from which to see any concert. I'm glad that those bad memories have now been replaced with last night's experience.

We missed the first opening act, but saw most of Santogold, a reggae-sounding rapper from Brooklyn--she was pretty good. The Powers That Be at the United Center informed everyone that Coldplay would be filming during the show, so they turned off all of the TVs and lights in the boxes and everywhere else. All that did was make you realize how many people had cell phones, PDAs and camera phones, because screens were lit up all over the place for the duration of the concert. Technology: a blessing and a curse.

The other thing I just HAVE to mention before I get into the music itself was this totally crazy woman who was in front of us (in the first normal row of seats below the box) who "danced" non-stop the entire time. Luckily we were high enough that we could still see over her (though it should be mentioned that the rest of the stadium was on its feet for the full 2.5 hours the band played...). But I felt really, really badly for the young guy standing next to her. She was one of those people who had absolutely no rhythm, yet flailed about wildly to every single song, even the slow ones. I mean, she was totally hitting the dude to her left constantly (no one was on her right), and if I were him, I definitely would've resorted to violence. Instead, he kept looking back at us and making faces, as if to ensure we knew she wasn't with him. She appeared to be by herself, didn't have a drink in her hand and didn't move from her seat until the encore, so it's not like she was sucking down alcohol the entire time. All I could figure was that: 1) she just loved the music and wanted to express herself in that unfortunate way, 2) was hopped up on some sort of speed/crack/whatever, or 3) drank a lot before getting in her seat. People like this always seem to sit by me at concerts, I can't figure it out.

OK, so onto the band... Coldplay opened with, appropriately, the first song on Viva La Vida, "Life in Technicolor." I will list the entire set they played in the comments section so as to not ruin it for anyone who's catching them later in the tour... but be forewarned that I am going to comment on a few specific performances...

...Such as the fifth song they played, "Viva La Vida." I thought it was totally bizarre that they chose to place perhaps the most high-energy track in their repertoire in between two slow songs, and really didn't have any special effects going on during it or anything. At the end of last week, Coldplay performed VLV outside in some park in L.A.--broadcast live on The Tonight Show--and they had confetti bursting out of the stage to the beat and whatnot, but there was none of that in the show last night for this same song. I had been positive that they would either open or close with VLV, so I thought its placement at the end of the first third of the concert was not well thought-out.

Their stage set-up was pretty typical, but had two jutting "arms" that went out into both sides of the audience on the floor. Throughout the show there were also anywhere from one to six large orbs suspended from the ceiling, upon which various things were projected--sometimes a live feed from the stage and at other times still images or random videos. At other times they just glowed... guess what color they were during "Yellow"? About half-way through the night a huge screen rose up behind the band which greatly helped everyone be able to see the guys more clearly. While Chris Martin did his trademarked hop-dancing at several times throughout the night, the other guys pretty much just stayed in their spots. I must say that Mr. Paltrow was lookin' mighty fine, too... his hair was not too short and not too poofy. Why, oh, why is he married to her?!?!

By far the coolest part of the night, to me, was when all four band members finished up a song, jumped down from the stage, and then continued running through the stadium (followed by spotlights) and up a flight of steps and out an exit, like they were hightailing it to go get some hot pretzels or something. After they disappeared, everyone was like, "What just happened?" Then a few moments later they re-appeared on a small landing right in the middle of the crowd. If I had been in any of those seats nearby I would've been freaking out. They proceeded to whip out guitars, plug them in and perform "The Scientist" right there. I loved it.

I should also mention that between the show I was at last night and the one held the previous night (also at the United Center), they attempted to film their video for "Lost!". As you may remember from my write-up on the Viva La Vida CD, I liked the "Lost?" version of this song much better, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. They obviously plan to release "Lost!" on the radio as they've been performing it on late-night talk shows and now have filmed the video. Look for me when it comes out! I had on a gray shirt. You'll totally see me.

FINALLY we got some confetti (though it kind of slowly floated down from the ceiling rather than shooting from the stage) during the second-to-last number, "Lovers in Japan," which was accompanied by a hectic montage of images that fit the lyrics on the big screen behind the stage. When it was all said and done, the stage and stadium were blanketed with a rainbow of small colored paper bits. I'm sure the clean-up crew cursed the day Coldplay came onto the scene.

All in all, while I thought their arrangement of the set list was not ideal and some of the lighting effects temporarily blinded many people in the audience, Coldplay did put on a great show and I'm so happy that I got to go and observe them once again from a proper angle. Nothing will beat seeing them at the much more intimate Aragon Ballroom in the summer of 2001 before they became really popular... but now they have four albums to pick and choose from and I sang my heart out along with them for 2.5 hours, which I can't say I was able to do seven years ago.

If you see them on tour this year, I hope you enjoy the show as much as I did, and be sure to let me know if they played any different songs in the main set or in the encore.

- e

The 1998 X-Files Expo: No One Can Ever Blackmail Me with these Pictures if I Choose to Post Them Myself!

My dear friends, the time has come to fully reveal the extreme level of nerdiness that I have achieved in my lifetime. Those of you who have been following my writing for the past few years are already aware that I am quite the strange individual. But now, as the saying goes, I'm going to take it "to eleven."

Ten years ago, a series of conventions for über-nerds were held around the country. They brought together a group of people known as "X-Philes," whose common thread was that they had spent the better part of the past five years of their lives (at that point) obsessed with two fictional FBI agents known as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, the main characters on one of the best TV series of all-time, The X-Files.

It should come as no surprise that I was one of those people, and that I went to not one, but two of the X-Files Expos held a decade ago. In Chicago I went with my friend BP, fellow Internet geek and conspiracy theorist. He brought a yo-yo to the event, held at Navy Pier, and was the subject of intense jealousy when none other than Assistant Director Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) asked him for it during his speech in front of the huge crowd.

In Detroit, the convention was held at Cobo Hall, and I went with my friends JH and the infamous Nerdy P. The highlight of that one was most definitely a talk by Cigarette-Smoking Man, a.k.a. Cancer Man, played by William B. Davis. The newspaper at which I worked during college, The Michigan Daily, actually still has an article up about the Detroit X-Files Expo.

Besides hearing some of the smaller players on the show speak (others I saw included "X" and a few of the Lone Gunmen), we got to look at tons of props that had been used throughout the years, choose from more merchandise than you could ever dream of (I got the "I Want to Believe" poster, naturally), and watch a sneak preview of the upcoming movie, The X-Files: Fight the Future.

In addition, we got to take some crazy pictures with sets they had worked up for the event. The first two below were scanned from the physical photographs I've been saving since 1998, but the third picture, which is probably the funniest, was given to me on an old-school floppy disk and was never high-quality in the first place. So I apologize for its graininess, but hopefully you will still get the idea. All three of the pictures below can be enlarged when clicked upon so that you can see the details a bit better.

So without further ado, here we are with the car used in the first X-Files movie, fearing the approach of the alien mothership!



Below, I am taking over Mulder's office (notice how they even got all the pencils in the ceiling!).




And finally, I was stuffed into the trunk of a car by none other than the Men in Black! I totally missed my calling as an actress, don't you agree?




Ah, such great memories. I can't wait to be reunited with all my fellow X-Philes this Friday for The X-Files: I Want to Believe. It's been six long years since the series ended, and even I had to read back through a synopsis of all nine seasons to prepare for the movie.

I am SO ready to see Mulder's smirk again, it's not even funny. My enjoyment of the film will be directly proportional to how much screen-time Mulder has. And yes, I will be bringing my Mulder action figure to the theater with me. Pics on Monday!

- e

e's Favorite Things: Magic Shell

As you may remember from a post I wrote last summer about my love of Peapod's home grocery delivery service, I rarely go into a grocery store. Recently, however, we had a rental car and therefore made a quick stop at our local Treasure Island to pick up a few things.

That experience made me all the more certain that physically shopping for food is bad for your health! Because what did I spot in one of the displays at the end of an aisle? Magic Shell ice cream topping. I immediately picked it up and showed it to my husband, with a big smile on my face. "No," he said. I put it back.

But I could not deny that the desire to be reunited with one of my favorite childhood treats was overpowering my will to eat healthier.

I. Had. To. Have. It.

So I tacked a bottle on to my Peapod order last week and haven't looked back. I've eaten Magic Shell every day, sometimes twice a day, ever since. And I'm not going to stop.

If you've never had this most wonderful of inventions, it's basically just chocolate syrup that you pour over ice cream... but after a few seconds it hardens. Just like some of the toppings they have at Dairy Queen for soft serve cones. Anyway, Magic Shell just flat-out rocks. The chocolate is actually a little bitter tasting, but I love it. I used to eat it by the spoonful. I used to be a master at making designs over my ice cream with it. I am sure I will be again at the rate I'm going.

I was talking about my renewed obsession with my friend DY, and she informed me that Hershey's got into the game with these toppings that harden and offers not only a chocolate flavor, but also a Reese's Pieces and a Heath Bar flavor, which you can see at the bottom of this page. For now, however, I'm sticking with Magic Shell (made by Smucker's), because it has not failed me yet. But I did look to see if Smucker's made any other flavors, and lo and behold, they also have Caramel, S'mores and Turtle Delight in addition to two types of the traditional Chocolate topping. Good God, I need to get some of the S'mores kind RIGHT NOW.

Anyway, I don't mean to be a bad influence on all of you, but I highly recommend trying Magic Shell if you never have, because if you like chocolate, it is a great addition to the typical boring bowl of ice cream. Just don't tell your doctor on me... unfortunately they haven't made a low-calorie, low-fat version just yet...

- e

Does the World Really Need Another Dark Knight Review?

No. No, I dare say it does not.

But I will write one anyway.

As I mentioned last week, I got tickets for the 3:45 PM Friday showing at the megaplex in downtown Chicago. When I arrived on site at 3 PM, a HUGE line for my theater was already being let in--I couldn't believe it. Every show that day had been sold out with the exception of the 2:15 PM time slot, from what I could tell.

Anyway, I still lucked out and secured great "middle-middle" seats before the gigantic mini-stadium filled up. Fifteen minutes of previews played before The Dark Knight began, and let me tell you, as each trailer ended, I got more and more depressed. They were ALL about the destruction of the Earth or epic fights for survival. It was unbelievable. Where are the romantic comedies? Where are the slapstick adventure flicks? Between the somber previews and the even more unnerving main feature, I think I need therapy.

So... the movie itself. What is there to say that hasn't already been said? I'll give a brief statement on the major points:

- Running time: It's 2 hours and 40 minutes. It didn't seem like it. There was never a dull moment.

- Heath's performance: I will admit to being cynical and assuming that all the hype was simply out of love for a great actor who is no longer with us. But I'm pleased to say that you should believe the hype--it is warranted. I'm among the ranks who think Heath will get a posthumous Oscar nomination. He was indeed incredible. And while I can't lie and claim to have been a "fan" of Heath's from any of his previous work, there were definitely a few times over the course of the film that I caught myself tearing up when remembering that he is gone. It's a damn shame.

- The "dark" tone of the movie: While I have read reviews from many people who were seriously disturbed after the credits rolled, I wasn't so affected that I lost any sleep over it (perhaps I would've had I seen a later show, though... I had dinner and several hours before bed to get things off of my mind). That being said, this was not a happy movie in any sense of the word. I commented to my husband when we left, "This movie was way better than say, Iron Man, but I enjoyed Iron Man more." And he said, "Yeah, but you're not supposed to "enjoy" this movie."

What would've made me a lot happier is if Christian Bale were in the film a bit more as Bruce Wayne rather than as Batman. When he's Batman, his voice is just so ridiculous. When he's Bruce, well... he's quite a sight for sore eyes.

What stuck with me after I was back home was a moral question raised in the climax of the film. This is a movie that, at several points, makes you wonder, "What would I do in that situation?" I'll talk about it in the comments section (as well as a few other things that thoroughly surprised me) for those of you who have already seen it. My guess is that there are a lot of you, since The Dark Knight apparently broke every record known to man on its opening weekend.

Overall, I DO recommend the movie, but I caution you to be prepared to be depressed. I was glad that there were no nasty gory scenes, which there easily could've been. But then I realized that the movie didn't need blood and guts to be thoroughly disturbing.

The only question remaining is, will there be a third installment?

- e

Cooling Off with More Memories of Antarctica

When it's been 92 degrees out for the past few weeks in Chicago, with absolutely no sign of the heat letting up, what better way to cool down than to write another installment about my Antarctica trip, complete with pictures of huge icebergs?

For those of you who haven't been reading this site for that long, you can catch up on the past entries about my Antarctica trip with National Geographic in November 2007 here.

We last left off on November 24th. The ship was moving south again and on its way to Useful Island. The very cool thing that happened on the way was that a pod of about ten killer whales started swimming in formation around the boat. At one point they even swam straight at the ship, under it and then continued out the other side. There were a few calves with them, which could be identified by yellow/orangeish patches on their eye area, rather than the white patches we're all more familiar with.

Here's one picture of an adult killer whale by itself, and then a wider shot of a few of them swimming away from the boat.



Then it was time to disembark the ship for more exploring. They have a very organized process of getting everyone on their way... they'll call certain floors, or even vs. odd cabin numbers, etc., to have everyone line up in order rather than jostle for first position. They will check all of your gear in a little holding room as the Zodiac in front of you leaves, and then you just wait on this small platform by an open door to climb into the next raft (it is pretty bouncy, so they have two guys grab your arms and lead you to your seat. Here is one Zodiac leaving, and then me waiting anxiously for my turn in the shadows on the right.




The crazy thing, as you can see from the pictures above, is that you're just sitting on the edge of this inflatable Zodiac, and you only have a rope that is BEHIND you to hang onto. I seriously am still amazed that I did not fall overboard backwards, because I have NO balancing skillz and am totally clumsy. There were a few times when we would hit a wave where I thought I was a goner. To add to the fun, the wind can get pretty vicious as you are motoring toward land, so I usually looked like Michael Jackson while on the Zodiac.


Once we made it to Useful Island, we were of course greeted by more penguins chasing each other around.


My husband and I then followed one of the naturalists up to the tippy-top of this small mountain to have a look out at the bay. The reason I look unhappy in the picture below is that I am actually standing on a very narrow ledge... all that snow to the left is just covering a huge cliff. Once again, since I am clumsy, I was positive that I was going to fall off.


But we made it up there alive and stood by a few stray penguins taking in the view. It's a rockier area so it's not quite as pretty as the other places we visited, but it gives you a sense of how different the landscapes can be across the region. See how small some of our fellow passengers are down there by the shore?


We bid adieu to Useful Island and pulled up anchor once again. The next day of the trip was probably my favorite... it was brilliantly sunny out and we actually kayaked around a calm harbor. But until that post, here are two stunning pictures of ice--one of a massive iceberg that floated by, and the other of an "extreme ice close-up."





Ahh, I feel cooler already.

- e

Ah, the Memories of Working for The Man, Courtesy of The Dark Knight

So I finally got my tickets to see The Dark Knight on Friday. I was supposed to go to an IMAX sneak peek of the movie tonight, but those plans fell through (hello, bitterness!), so I had to scramble. Guess what? The show was already sold out from 5:30 PM to 10:45 PM Friday night! Yikes. It's going to be crazy.

Watching the final trailer for the film, however, I was reminded of days gone by when I used to work for The Man (11 months and counting...). That's right, not one but TWO of my old office buildings are featured in the movie, much of which was shot in Chicago. For those of you who are familiar with the city, just like in Batman Returns, many of the chase scenes were filmed on Lower Wacker drive.

And several of the "Joker confrontation" scenes were filmed at the end of the LaSalle Street corridor, where I used to work. The Chicago Board of Trade building, my most recent place of legitimate employment, can be seen at 21 seconds, 35 seconds, 1 minute 42 seconds, and then again about ten seconds after that when the truck blows up. Along that same stretch of city blocks is also the office where I used to work for JPMorgan Chase. I must admit, these buildings make great dramatic backdrops for a Batman/Joker showdown!

Unless you have been living in a hole, then you already know that the movie has gotten great advance reviews, and there is much buzz about Heath Ledger receiving a posthumous Oscar nomination. I still think it's going to be hard to watch him on the big screen, but I have faith that his performance will be incredible. Expect my recap on Monday!

- e

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (except the one about how Nic Cage gets his hair that way)

Every time I see Nicolas Cage, the first thing I think is, "He was engaged to a girl I went to junior high school with?!?!" (Her name was Kristen Zang, and she left Michigan to become a model in LA.) The second thing I think is, "What in the hell is up with his hair?" The third thought is, "He should be punished for naming his kid Kal-El." And lastly, I wonder, "Is his wife like 19 years old, and does she even speak English?" Seriously, this woman does not talk, it is freaky. She is just always seen standing next to him, smiling... like she's being forced to do so. He's kind of a shady dude, when you think about it.

But that didn't stop me from watching National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets. I am all about conspiracy theories and hidden symbols and treasure maps and all of that kind of stuff, and I liked the first movie, so I knew I would enjoy the sequel. And I did. It wasn't outstanding, but it was just what I expected.

The premise this time around was kind of weak, though. Cage, once again playing the modern-day Indiana Jones-ish Ben Gates, is desperate to clear his great-great-great-great-great-great-great Grandpa's name, after new evidence comes to light that he might have been involved in Lincoln's assassination. OK, so it was really just his great-great-grandfather... but my point is that what transpires in the movie seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through to clear one's family name, but I guess maybe I'm simply not that noble. I just can't believe there wouldn't have been an easier way to go about proving that the Gates family has always been comprised of a bunch of upstanding citizens, than to start flying around the world solving random cryptic puzzles hidden in famous statues and artifacts.

But anyway, for reasons I no longer remember, if Gates and his band of merry adventurers (made up of his way-too-good-looking-for-him ex-girlfriend, some computer geek who can magically hack into ANYWHERE, and his dad, who is much too old to be running around searching for hidden treasures) can find some long lost City of Gold, that will prove great-great-Grandpa's innocence. But to find the loot, they need the Book of Secrets, which is a book that is passed from President to President, which includes basically everything any conspiracy theorist ever wanted to know the truth about... like Area 51, the Kennedy assassination, etc., etc.

As I said before, I believe in all of this kind of stuff, and I do honestly think there's some sort of book like that in existence in the United States. The information in it may be a little bit more boring, but priceless nonetheless. So the idea of that kind of book and all of the cool things the group was able to find because of it more than made up for the lame "wronged ancestor" premise.

If you liked the first movie, you'll like this one, too. The trailer is below in case you're interested.

What I was disappointed about, however, is that we got no enlightenment as to how in the world Nicolas Cage keeps his hair in that weird mini bouffant 'do he's been sporting for years. He should just shave his head already, seriously. Maybe in National Treasure 3 they will realize that there is a secret map contained within a birthmark on his scalp and they can use that as an excuse to make him finally go bald. It could happen!

- e

Wonder Twin Powers, ACTIVATE!

No matter where you were in the world this past Saturday, if you are in tune with the cosmos, then you probably noticed a slight shift in the atmosphere... a faint quiver from the heavens... a collective sigh of wonder on the winds around the same time that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's twins were delivered in Nice.

Arriving three-and-a-half days before schedule, "for medical reasons" that will probably never be expounded upon, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline immediately became the subject of international news coverage, and speculation over how much their first pictures will go for is already in high gear.

Most estimates I've read are in the range of $11 - $15 million... meaning the lucky magazine that secures the pictures will have to dole that much out (to charity, apparently) for the honor of introducing the Wonder Twins to the world.

My bet is that People will win out, just like it did with Shiloh's first shots. The real question is, when will these pictures hit the newsstands?

While I'm surprised that more news outlets aren't reporting the origins of the two babies' names (most only mention the obvious--Vivienne's middle name is Angelina's late mother's first name), if you want to know the story behind the rest, read this. I find it pretty hilarious how all possible URL combinations for the twins' names have already been secured by the parents' legal team. Those are some quick thinkers!

Anyway, as you may remember, I am on Team Angelina, so I was happy to hear that the delivery went smoothly, and that she will most likely be staying in the hospital up to another week while the babies gain more weight (they are both only five pounds). If I were her, I would keep it on the down-low as long as I possibly could, because it is going to be MASS CHAOS once the family of eight sets up camp elsewhere. Now all they need is a dog named Tiger and a maid named Alice and they're all set.

- e

A Cure for Too Much Pizza

Over the last 19 hours, I took down 85% of a large pepperoni and mushroom original crust pizza from Domino's. I don't know what came over me, I just had to have it.

I had found a little flyer on my doorknob promoting the "Gotham City Pizza" earlier this week, so I think that put the idea in my head. The Gotham City Pizza is "cloaked" in pepperoni, which sounded like a little too much processed meat to me, so I didn't go for that option. You can see what it looks like, however, at the very end of this commercial:

So now I don't even want to think about artery-clogging food anymore... I'm feeling quite ill just writing about this. Instead, I'm focusing my thoughts on two lighter, healthier snacks I like to make, so I thought I would share them with you. As I've mentioned before, I pretty much don't cook anything, so these treats are extremely easy to pull together.

Fruit, Honey & Yogurt

The rest of the world has probably been enjoying this combination for years, but I never had it until I was in St. Maarten this past March and they served it at the poolside café. You just chop up a ton of fruit in a bowl (I use strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and big green grapes), and then pour a ton of honey (and I do mean a ton... but if you don't have a sweet tooth like I do, you could probably get away with much less) into the top of a plain yogurt cup. I mix the honey into the cup until it's a tan color, and then I pour that over the fruit bowl and mix it up. Voilà!

In St. Maarten they had the honey yogurt in a little side bowl for you to dip the fruit into, so that's an option as well. I'm not even that big of a yogurt fan, but this stuff is gooo--ood.




Apples, Oranges & Fizz

"Apples, Oranges & Fizz" is the not-so-creative name my friend SG and I came up with for this concoction back in elementary school. You just take a scoop or two of orange sherbet and plop it into apple juice. Trust me, it rocks. It sounds like it might be nasty, but I would not lead you astray. I should start selling this stuff down by the lake and see how many takers I get.

Ahh, now the unpleasant memories of last night's pizza are behind me. Until I get another flyer on my doorknob...

- e

I Am Slow

My friend Miss M yelled at me many times last fall, trying to convince me to watch Gossip Girl. Even some of you wrote in and told me that I was guaranteed to like it, so I should give it a shot. But I was desperately trying not to add any more TV shows to my roster, and after The O.C. went off the air, I didn't want to replace it with another angst-filled teen drama that reminded me of how old I was.

But... wow, there's really nothing on TV in the summer months. Even the late-night talk shows are currently in reruns! And dammit if my Tivo didn't record Gossip Girl as a "Suggestion." How could I fight with the little Tivo man?

So, I watched it. And then I watched another episode. And then I set it up for a season pass so that I can catch up in time for Season 2. To date I've only seen three episodes, and I definitely think it is nowhere near as good as The O.C. (the acting is WAY worse, sorry! Not like either show is Emmy-worthy...), but it is entertaining and fits my criteria of not requiring much energy or thought to process. Lost takes up way too much of my brain power during the normal TV season, so I can't waste energy on anything else that's "deep."

My take on Gossip Girl so far is that I like the Dan guy, but he's a blatant rip-off of Seth (with a little Ryan thrown in) from The O.C. Just as Serena is a blatant rip-off of Marissa (and has an awful voice, to boot). But I do like the sketchy Chuck Bass guy. And I find comic relief in the fact that anyone believes Chace Crawford likes the ladies. AND it's kind of confusing that the mom on The O.C. is also the mom on Gossip Girl, but I guess there are only so many ridiculously skinny and good-looking TV moms to go around.

In the last episode I watched, I realized once again how behind the times I am when I recognized a song that was played during the finale of last season's American Idol. I was like, "Oh yeah, I really liked that song! I have to get it from iTunes!" So I did. I remember how I used to make fun of my Uncle John when he started liking songs months (and sometimes years) after they were at the height of their popularity. And now here I am doing the same thing.

The song is "Apologize" by OneRepublic... here is David Archuleta singing it with them in the finale (the performance ends at 3 minutes 20 seconds). Channeling Simon, I must say that I feel that was David's strongest performance.

To wrap up this "things Erika discovers late in the game" post, last night I was flipping around on TV and came across Kathy Griffin's stand-up routine, "Kathy Griffin is not Nicole Kidman." I knew it had to be old because she was talking about her husband, whom she ended up divorcing a while back. But anyway, I always thought Kathy was totally annoying, but my friend Nerdy P thinks she is hilarious, so I decided to give her a shot. And lo and behold, I was laughing my head off. There is a part where she describes an awards show encounter with Ryan Seacrest that was priceless... I recommend it if you can find it anywhere.

Oh, wait, I found it (yay for YouTube)! It's actually from 2005 (yikes!)... here is the funny clip. The set-up is that she is presenting an award with Ryan Seacrest. The end part where she talks about Nelly (and his posse) is the part I was dying at:



OK, now I'm going to go put on my fanny pack, fire up the old Walkman and go roller-skating!

- e

ETA: I have since been informed by a few peeps that the moms are not played by the same person on GG and The O.C. They are apparently two different Fembots. My bad!

One Hook-Up, One Break-Up

I remember when I first saw Jude Law... it was over ten years ago on the big screen in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. He didn't have that big of a role, but I was instantly mesmerized. Unfortunately, not too much later he turned into a Certified Himbo, and I became officially disenchanted. In retrospect, Lady Chablis was totally the best thing about Jude's first major movie, anyway. (And to go even further off on a tangent, if you never read that book, you really should, it rocks. And to continue with the random comments, my favorite Jude movie by far is the fairly unknown eXistenZ... rent it if you like futuristic sci-fi stuff.)

Anyway, yesterday it was reported that Mr. Law is now dating a 20-year-old model. Yes, a young girl 15 years his junior. At this point he's looking pretty scruffy and he makes me sad. He's got a handful of kids and at some point they are going to be damn embarrassed of him, if they aren't already. Pack it in, boy! You look beat.

While Jude's mid-life crisis unravels across the pond, here in the States two of the perkiest celebrities alive have broken up: Drew Barrymore and that dude from the Mac commercials. I always thought they were a strange match, because, I mean, he's that dude from the Mac commercials. But he did seem fairly normal, so I thought that maybe after experiencing so much wildness in her life, Drew realized it was best to settle down with a Regular Joe.

Alas, it was not meant to be, as her publicist confirmed the split yesterday. The cynical side of me says that the two may get back together just in time to promote their movie, He's Just Not That Into You (a step-up from the Mac commercials for him, no?), which premieres next year. We shall see.

In the meantime, I predict a lot of annoying pictures and tales of her re-bonding with BFF Cameron Diaz... who is currently seeing Jennifer Aniston's ex, supposed druggie Paul Sculfor. I guess I can see why Drew went for the Mac guy... everyone else in Hollywood has been recycled.

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Hancock

First off, I hope all of you in the U.S. had a wonderful Fourth of July holiday weekend. We had the best weather we've had in years here in Chicago, but I did duck inside for a few hours Saturday evening to see Hancock. As should come as no surprise, it was the #1 movie at the box office, and Will Smith continues his reign as Master of Summer Blockbusters.

My husband felt that Hancock was "exactly what you'd expect"... but then again, as he always seems to do, he saw the big twist in the movie coming from a mile away, and I did not.

What everyone should already know from the previews is that Will Smith plays Hancock, an alcoholic superhero with a bad attitude, who gets a public relations makeover from Jason Bateman's character. That storyline takes up somewhere between the first 1/2 to 2/3 of the movie. I must admit that I really liked Big Willy in a more foul-mouthed-than-usual role. It was almost like he had this wannabe-gangsta routine built up and couldn't wait to unleash it at the right moment. Some people might think his swearing is gratuitous, but I thought some of the funniest scenes in the movie revolved around Hancock going off on someone.

Then things turned a little weird with a plot detour that I didn't like at first, but that actually grew on me after I left the theater. I will discuss this more in the comments section for those of you who have already seen the movie.

One thing I was hesitant to write about is how much the camera angles made me queasy. I suspect that maybe I felt so ill because not only had I read a review that highlighted the awful shakiness of the hand-held shots throughout the film (so I already had the idea I might get sick in my head), but I also had just left the Taste of Chicago, where I had scarfed down a huge slice of deep-dish spinach pizza, cheesy garlic bread, and chocolate fondue-dipped strawberries. But I digress. I honestly do think there were way too many jarring close-ups in the film and it was hard for me to watch... I actually closed my eyes a lot over the course of the hour and 40 minutes or so. My husband says he didn't notice the shakiness at all... so I hope if you go see it, I haven't put this idea in your head and you end up getting sick!

While I don't think Hancock is Will Smith's best movie to date, I did really like it and it was the perfect summer popcorn flick. I also enjoyed hearing all of the very old-school rap/hip-hop songs used throughout the film, like "Colors" by Ice-T. And as you may remember from my Juno write-up, I love me some Jason Bateman, so I was glad that he got a lot of screen-time as well.

If you've seen Hancock, check out my note in the comments section below... if not, here's the trailer for you:

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Trailer Bonanza

Last night I finally saw the official trailer for The X-Files: I Want to Believe, and now I'm very hyped up that the movie is only a few weeks away. Mulder and I will be reunited, all rejoice! I am going to have an extra-special post right before the movie comes out, and it will include some old-school pictures of myself from when I went to a few X-Files conventions (yes, you read that right) ten full years ago. So stay tuned for that... but in the meantime, here is the trailer. I tell ya, the theme song at the end still gives me the chills.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

Step Brothers

Another movie that's also premiering on July 25th is Will Ferrell's Step Brothers. The red-band (R-rated) trailer was much funnier than the one below, but all in all I still think it looks decent. But I won't be in line for it on opening night, though. I will have slept over at the theater waiting for The X-Files.





Tropic Thunder

One of the most controversial movies of the summer comes to us on August 15th. If you haven't heard yet, Robert Downey Jr. plays an African-American in it. When I first read about this film, I thought it was going to be horrible. But I must say, after seeing a few different clips and observing the very positive audience reaction when the trailer played in the theater, I think it's actually going to do quite well. Judge for yourself:





Quantum of Solace

And finally, the Bond trailer has been released! I think it looks AWESOME. And I was excited to see Mathieu Amalric (from the recently written-up The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) is in it... along with Daniel Craig, obviously. Judi Dench looks pretty creeptastic in it, too. My only beef is that this movie may just have the worst title ever--Quantum of Solace?!?! What does that even mean?!?!



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Iron Man, Finally.

After realizing that I was perhaps the only person left on Earth who hadn't seen Iron Man, I remedied that situation Saturday night. I wasn't intentionally trying to avoid it or anything... the timing just hadn't worked out. But it did qualify as a movie that I desperately wanted to catch while it was still at the theater, so I knew this was probably one of the last weekends I'd be able to do so. Or maybe not, considering that the show was still completely sold out two months after its premiere (although admittedly I was in perhaps the smallest theater ever built... but, you get my point).

The miracle is that despite crazy-high expectations for this movie--after everyone I know telling me how great it was and that they couldn't believe I hadn't seen it yet--I DID still love it. That's really saying something, considering that usually when my hopes are up so much I am invariably disappointed.

Although I am not a fan of Robert Downey Jr., you really can't help but like him in this movie--he did an excellent job playing Tony Stark, the genius billionaire who creates/becomes Iron Man. I also thought that Terrance Howard and a barely recognizable Jeff Bridges were good fits for their roles, too. Unfortunately, as I knew would be the case, Gwyneth Paltrow was totally annoying as "Pepper Potts," Stark's assistant.

First off, who comes up with these names for the women in all of the various comic book series? Oh yeah, dorks. That must be why most of the female characters' names are so ridiculous. But beyond the stupid moniker, Gwyneth's character--solely because she was played by Gwyneth--was definitely the worst part of this movie. She had absolutely ZERO chemistry with Stark, even though they tried desperately to act like there was something there. I also can't stand her lispy voice... she sounds like a ten-year-old girl. If it were not for the fact that 1) she is married to Chris Martin and 2) she was in one of my all-time favorite movies, Sliding Doors, I would absolutely despise Gwyneth Paltrow. AND she didn't deserve to win an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love. (End of random rant.)

I also thought it was funny how Jon Favreau, who directed the movie but also had a very small part as Tony's chauffeur Happy Hogan (who has a much bigger role in the comic book), suddenly just disappeared from the film. In the beginning he was rolling around as the limo driver, but then must have realized the movie was going to be harder to direct than he previously figured, and so he was never seen again on-screen. My husband and I both agreed that he's a much better director than actor, though. I love me some Swingers, but the bottom line is that Vince Vaughn made that movie, and Favreau's acting in it was pretty horrid. Let's not feel too bad for him, though, since Iron Man made about a gazillion dollars and the sequel is already planned for 2010.

My husband also pointed out that Tom Morello, the guitarist from Rage Against the Machine, was one of the bad guys. What's up with this dude making small appearances in a ton of movies?

Anyway, I won't officially recommend Iron Man because I know it's too late--you've already seen it. It was great and I'm glad I finally checked it off of my list. I do have a small question about the ending, though, so check the comments and help me out if you won't be spoiled. But also, regarding the ending, I must say that I think the final line in the movie was unexpected, but perfect.

Next up from Superheroland... Hancock this weekend.

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