Mitch and Kathy Come to Visit

So my brother Mitch and his girlfriend Kathy came to visit me for the weekend. I was thrilled to see them, and thrilled for an excuse to have some fun.

Here are some of the things we did:

• walked through Central Park
• went to the Museum of Natural History to see the butterflies and the H2O exhibit
• had lunch in the Upper West Side
• went to Union Square, where a hungry squirrel ate peanuts out of Mitchell's hand
• toured my school
• went to the Build-A-Bear store on 5th where Mitch and Kathy added two to their collection
• took a pedi-cab ride down 5th
• ate BBQ in Times Square
• went to see Horton Hears a Who at the AMC on 42nd Street
• on Sunday, spent the morning at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, where we bought cactuses

Looking at some of the awesome plants at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

Don't Know Why

...the passing of Heath Ledger is bothering me so much. But it is.

Let's Go To the Movies

I've been going to see lots of movies lately (what with my break from school), which (if there's popcorn) may be my favorite activity of all time. Here are a few I've seen and my teensy-weensy review for each..

Enchanted
Love, love, love Amy Adams. It did a great job of spoofing the treacly Disney love stories. Plus, it had my husband, Dr. McDreamy in it. What more could a girl want?

No Country For Old Men
Subtle, terrific acting--I was a pretty big fan until the ending, which, frankly, I thought blew. According to friends who have read the book, the ending is a better fit in the book, and there was a subplot missing in the movie which would have qualified it a little better.

I Am Legend
As a good friend of mine said, "If the world's gonna end, I want to be in the same city as Will Smith." In Smith I trust to save us all. Seriously, though, thought he was fantastic. And seeing Manhattan in ruins was icing on the cake.

Sweeney Todd
Johnny Depp can do no wrong in my book. Though she had an endearingly high, mousy voice, Helena Bonham Carter was difficult to understand when she sang. Tim Burton is a genius. I've never seen London so dreary and otherworldly. It was really beautifully done all around.

The Orphanage
This is a Spanish film by a new director, but produced by Guillermo del Toro (who directed Pan's Labyrinth, one of the best movies out there). This movie was great--it was a scary movie but not in a gory way (well, with the exception of one scene). It took a more classic approach--it depended on a things-that-go-bump-in-the-night element, and it was really effective. Interesting story, too.

Juno
This has been getting rave reviews. I liked it, but didn't absolutely adore it like a lot of people seem to. I saw it with Mike who rightly said that it seemed like the Juno character was almost too witty. She was, after all, 16, and pregnant. I liked Ellen Page, though, and the rest of the cast was great. I especially liked the Jennifer Garner character--she was very sympathetic and believable. . . and the movie was fun and entertaining. I definitely enjoyed it.

Atonement
It's been winning all kinds of awards and I am not anti-Kiera Knightley, but this movie just didn't do it for me. That's all for this one.

Go See It

So, I went the other evening to see the new Harry Potter movie with Mitch and his girlfriend, Kathy. I loved it. It is definitely the best one to date. Of course, it's always better to have read the books first, but this is the first movie in the series during which I didn't feel like I'd be a little lost if I hadn't read the books. My brother pointed out, "They gave you just enough information before leaving the scene," which is a really accurate statement. They switched up some details, but all in all, it worked. And! It's only about 2 hours and 10 minutes long--the shortest of all the movies to date--for a book that was more than 800 pages long. The director, David Yates, (who also did a great made-for-TV film called The Girl in the Cafe) did a terrific job.

Pan's Labyrinth

Go see it. Seriously.

This movie is one of the most magical, imaginative, disturbing, riveting, beautiful and heartbreaking movies I've seen.

Should have been nominated for Best Picture, but nevertheless, I'm hoping it will win Best Foreign Language Film.

Three of My Favorite Places

1. The Spectrum
2. The Bookhouse
3. Zabar's


What's your favorite place?

Really, It's a Guy Movie

Saw The Break-Up last night. It was funny in spots, but infuriating mostly. Gary (Vince Vaughn, who I really like, by the way) basically embodied most every trait that men possess that I hate. It was a very exaggerated role, obviously. But it really pissed me off. What pissed me off more than his attitude was that Brooke (Jen Aniston) wanted to get back with the vulgar, bad-mannered, inconsiderate dipshit.