Erin Writes

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

This is tough, as I saw several movies that I liked, although they’re all very different.

Even though I didn’t see it until this weekend, I think I’m going to have to go with Tangled.

I love Disney movies. I love musicals. I’ve been lamenting the fact that Disney went so long without making a musical. So, I wondered, why Disney took such great pains to NOT LET ANYONE KNOW THIS WAS A MUSICAL. (with music by Alan Menken, no less…who also wrote the music for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin among others)

At any rate, Tangled was fantastic. I loved it, and it will soon find a place among my favorites.

Last year was a great year for animated features…I also saw Toy Story 3 (sob!) and How to Train Your Dragon.

For non-animated, well, I haven’t seen a lot of the big ones, but I did see (and very much enjoy) The Social Network. Great writing, great performances, and a compelling story out of something that didn’t seem like it could make for such a compelling story. I also enjoyed The Kids Are All Right.

What were your favorites, and what do I need to see?

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

(lyrics probably NSFW, depending on your workplace…)

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

…why don’t you show
a little compassion for Michael Jackson
the poor guy never had a chance
of being normal…

in lieu of actually trying to say something about Michael Jackson’s death, I give you a live performance of F. People by Ookla the Mok.

And a link to what Andrew Sullivan had to say.

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

I remember back a few years ago, when I first heard that Aaron Sorkin was working on a project (at the time, it was going to be a movie) about the guy who invented TV. I thought, “Hmmm…really?”

Then it kind of went away. I didn’t really think about it again until a couple of months ago, when I picked up one of those free “things to do” weekly tabloids that was lying around, and I saw that the Kavinoky Theater would be staging The Farnsworth Invention this May. Even though I was initially skeptical about the concept, I am enough of a Sorkin fangirl that I knew I would have to see it.

Fortunately for me, Rand feels the same way, so I didn’t have to convince or drag him along! We saw it last week, and it was utterly and completely fantastic.

Rather than recount the plot, I will give you this description (from the Kavinoky webpage):

It’s 1929. Two ambitious visionaries race against each other to invent a device called “television.” Separated by two thousand miles, each knows that if he stops working, even for a moment, the other will gain the edge. Who will unlock the key to the greatest innovation of the 20th century: the ruthless media mogul or the self-taught Idaho farmboy? The answer comes to compelling life in THE FARNSWORTH INVENTION, the new play from Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing.

(aside–I started this post nearly a week ago)

The dialogue was as snappy and playful as I’ve come to expect from Sorkin. No, they didn’t really do the whole “walk and talk” thing (which was actually Rob Reiner’s idea anyway), and Gilbert and Sullivan didn’t make a single appearance. There were a couple of moments that we’ve seen before–the one (where I assume this whole idea came from) from Sports Night where William H. Macy talked about Philo Farnsworth’s brother-in-law learning how to blow glass so he could help, and another from The West Wing that had to do with space exploration.

The story isn’t 100% factually accurate. Some details are tweaked and adjusted to suit the dramatic structure of the play, and I’m fine with that.

And yes, in fact, I did cry. Sorkin has a way of doing that to me. See: every episode in the first season of The West Wing.

All of the actors did a beautiful job with their roles. This was my first time at the Kavinoky (despite having been a student at D’Youville, AND being married to a guy who happens to work there), and I loved the intimate setting.

The Farnsworth Invention is running for another week (through May 31), and I highly recommend it, if you’re so inclined.

Oh! And they apparently loved doing Sorkin so much that A Few Good Men is on next season’s schedule. YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH.

Clicky: The Kavinoky Theatre (for more info)

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

On day ten last year, I found out about a girl named Monique who graduated from law school a year before me. She kicked cancer’s ass long enough to graduate, study for and then take the New York State Bar Exam. She passed away soon after that, cementing her status as one of my all time greatest personal heroes. I regret that I never met her, but I’m a better lawyer today because I know her story. For BufBloPoFoMonique day, tell me who inspires you. Who is your hero?

Interestingly enough, Kelly tagged me in a “Women I Admire” meme a while back. I started a draft post and never finished it. So, I guess I’ll finish it now.

You can click on over to flickr to read my notes.

This is, of course, not a comprehensive listing. I could (and perhaps will) add to it. Just off the top of my head…there’s Margaret Atwood, Madeline L’Engle, and Anna Quindlen. Plus, there’s a whole host of other real-life ladies I’m lucky to know. But it’s late, and I’m getting tired.

Just as a bonus…a few women I wish were real (but can still admire in their fictional form):

CJ Cragg
Buffy Summers
Sydney Bristow
Veronica Mars
Jaye from Wonderfalls

And this doesn’t even mention any men. But it’ll do. Good night!

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

This is a photo of a house I pass by on my way to work. It reminded me of a hilarious Patton Oswalt bit about Halloween in the suburbs. I wanted to find a YouTube clip, or a transcript, but I had no luck. Basically, he talks about moving from the city, where Halloween was a cutout of a pumpkin on your door, to the suburbs, where people construct elaborate disturbing gruesome scenes on their lawns. It’s really funny, I swear.

In other sort of Halloween-related news, I’ve been watching the VH-1 reality show Scream Queens with Rand. Ten actresses (or in some cases, “actresses”) compete for a role in the next Saw movie. I about fell over when they said Saw 6, as I was unaware of the existence of Saw 3-5. Why are we watching this? Because one of the judges is Rand’s man-crush, James Gunn. You may know him as the guy who made Slither. Or possibly as the guy who wrote the Scooby-Doo movies. Failing that, you might know him as the guy who used to be married to Jenna Fischer (Pam on The Office).

Anyway, the show is pretty hilarious…but even better than the show is the fact that Mr. Gunn blogs about the show on MySpace. It’s fantastic.

I do have to go all feministy for a second and complain about the way all reality shows make girls look like horrible catty bee-otches. Really. I can’t stand it. Is it because we’re really like this, or because this is the way society/media want to see/portray us? Sigh. Probably a question for another time.

Enjoy your Halloween!

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

I was, as many were, very sad to hear of George Carlin’s death. I encountered Carlin’s standup more as an adult than as a kid, so one of my first experiences with George Carlin was as Bill and Ted’s most excellent guide Rufus.

RIP, George.

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

So while I was at home over the weekend, I learned that Bigfoot has been sighted in Elk County.

I also attended my cousin’s wedding. More on that tomorrow, but for now, some photos are up here.

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

On Saturday night, Rand, John and I did a superhero double-feature at the cheap theater. We saw Spider-Man 3 followed by Fantastic 4 2.

In conversation before the movies, I said, “I don’t know anything about the Fantastic 4.”

“Well,” John said, “There’s four of them.”

Har, har…

Ahem.

I had not seen the first Fantastic 4 movie. My major complaint has been that Jessica Alba looks terrible as a blonde. More on that later.*

I had seen the other Spider-Man movies, though. I think Tobey Maguire does a good Peter Parker, and I enjoy Kirsten Dunst.

I enjoyed Spidey 3, but I thought it was a touch on the long side. The whole business with Venom could have been left out and saved for another movie. It had no real consequence and seemed kind of wedged in.

The emotional stuff, though, was fantastic. I cried through the entire third act of the movie. The hits just kept on coming. The resolution of Harry’s story was very well done. (except for one little quibble–why didn’t the butler open his mouth sooner? ah well…)

As for FF…it was fun, but mostly forgettable. The Silver Surfer looked cool. I thought the scene where the team holds up the giant ferris wheel in London was pretty convincingly done. Rand keeps saying the FF would play better as a TV show, and I think I agree. This movie would have been much better suited to the small screen.

Thus ends my movie geekery for this week.

*If you insist that Jessica Alba must play Sue Storm, for crying out loud, find a better shade of blonde for her. It just looks completely artificial and awful.

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

This is all because of Eden…it’s a sampling of my favorite and most quoted movie quotes. I did not include any from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, because Eden pretty well covered that one.

There are also a number of hilarious exchanges from these movies that I didn’t include, just because they were too long.

So, what does it mean that my most favorite movies were made from 1987-1989? Hmmm…

Say Anything

One question: do you need… someone, or do you need me?… Forget it, I don’t really care.

I gave her my heart, and she gave me a pen.

The rain on my car is a baptism, the new me, Ice Man, Power Lloyd, my assault on the world begins now.

I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that.

Joe. She’s written 65 songs… 65. They’re all about you. They’re all about pain.

Why can’t you be in a good mood? How hard is it to decide to be in a good mood and be in a good mood once in a while?

You invade my soul.

“YOU MUST CHILL!! YOU MUST CHILL!! I HAVE HIDDEN YOUR KEYS!! CHILL!!

555-1342, that’s 5..5..5..1..3..4..2. 555-1342.

I don’t know, I can’t figure it all out tonight sir, right now I’m just gonna hang with your daughter.

I want to get hurt!

When Harry Met Sally

I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

Oh, but “baby fish mouth” is sweeping the nation?

You’re right, you’re right. I know you’re right.

You’re the worst kind. You’re high maintenance but you think you’re low maintenance.

No you didn’t. A Sheldon can do your income taxes. If you need a root canal, Sheldon’s your man… but humpin’ and pumpin’ is not Sheldon’s strong suit. It’s the name. ‘Do it to me Sheldon, you’re an animal Sheldon, ride me big Shel-don.’ Doesn’t work.

All I’m saying is that somewhere out there is the man you are supposed to marry. And if you don’t get him first, somebody else will, and you’ll have to spend the rest of your life knowing that somebody else is married to your husband.

Is one of us supposed to be a DOG in this scenario?

The fact that you’re not answering leads me to believe you’re either (a) not at home, (b) home but don’t want to talk to me, or (c) home, desperately want to talk to me, but trapped under something heavy. If it’s either (a) or (c), please call me back.

That’s it? Some faceless guy rips off all your clothes, and THAT’S the sex fantasy you’ve been having since you were twelve?

She’s supposed to be his transitional person, she’s not supposed to be the ONE. All this time I thought he didn’t want to get married. But, the truth is, he didn’t want to marry me.

And then one day I was taking Alice’s little girl for the afternoon because I’d promised to take her to the circus, and we were in the cab playing “I Spy” - I spy a mailbox, I spy a lamp-post - and she looked out the window and she saw this man and this woman with these two little kids. And the man had one of the little kids on his shoulders, and she said, “I spy a family.” And I started to cry

The Princess Bride

Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

Vizzini: No more rhymes now, I mean it.
Fezzik: Anybody want a peanut?

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha… [thud]

Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.

I’m not a witch, I’m your wife. But after what you just said, I’m not even sure I want to be that any more.

Have fun stormin’ da castle!

Let me ’splain. [pause] No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togevah tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wiffin a dweam…

Bull Durham

Your shower shoes have fungus on them. You’ll never make it to the bigs with fungus on your shower shoes.

Skip: You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Larry!
Larry: Lollygaggers?
Skip: Lollygaggers.

Well, fuck this fucking game!

*I also love the exchange when Crash yells at Nuke for getting the words wrong, but I think I’m misquoting it, and I didn’t want to get it wrong. I poked around online a bit, but I couldn’t find it (at least, not with any assurance that it was accurate). If anyone has it at their fingertips, please share!*