And I half expected it to suck.  But I really enjoyed it!  I had asked earlier this week if people thought Scarlett Johansson would be believable as a nanny.   Variety had commented that Scarlett was “too voluptuously beautiful for the job”.  I thought Scarlett filled the part perfectly, and did a great job acting.

I was really surprised to see Paul Giamatti – I didn’t even know he was in the movie!  Scarlett’s character was great – but I found Laura Linney’s character so much more interesting.  Laura Linney is one of the finest female actresses these days (in my opinion) and she nailed the part of the Upper East Side wife/mother role perfectly.

Anyways – did any of you guys make it to the movies this weekend?  What did you see?

PS: I also saw “Mr. Bean’s Holiday” with the boys on Friday – and I laughed so hard.  (I didn’t know they even made G rated movies anymore.)  In fact I was the only one laughing in the theater.  That could have been because I was surrounded by senior citizens, and I’m pretty sure they were all asleep.  Oh well…Mr. Bean kicks ass.

I don’t want to ruin the book for those of you that haven’t read it…so I’ll put the rest behind the cut.  Click on more if you wanna talk about it with me.  SPOILERS AHEAD! (more…)

I get ALOT of CD’s because of the site. Most of it I don’t care for, but I’m telling ya, this CD ROCKS! A Fine Frenzy’s debut album “One Cell In The Sea” is amazing. It’s totally my kind of music! I really, really like this CD. I think you guys should really check it out – watch the video.

And another reason to love her? She’s opening for my OTHER favorite, Brandi Carlile this fall on VH1’s “You Oughta Know” Tour. Check them out!

“her music is haunting” Selma Blair/INTERVIEW MAGAZINE

“A Fine Frenzy is a blend of sounds and influences. Where there’s Ella, Aretha and Louis, there’s also Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Aqualung and Keane” HARP Magazine

A Fine Frenzy is the music of 22 year-old Alison Sudol.

Born in Seattle to dramatic-arts teacher parents, Alison moved to Los Angeles at the age five. With her newly single mother, Alison moved frequently around the city. She developed a strong love for the fantastic literary worlds of CS Lewis, EB White, Lewis Carroll and Charles Dickens, while becoming a passionate author in her own right.

Alison also immersed herself in classical music, Motown, Aretha Franklin, swing bands, Ella Fitzgerald, Elton John, Louis Armstrong, the Beatles, Technicolor movies and classic 1950’s television.

After teaching herself to play piano, Alison increasingly invested her internal narratives into song form. She found solace in the melodic melancholia of new global British bands Aqualung, Radiohead, Coldplay and Keane, etc… She was also moved by the diatonic minimalism of Philip Glass and the transportive allure of Icelandic music (Bjork, Sigur Ros.) Inspired, Alison developed the sound of A Fine Frenzy – hypnotic piano arrangements under classic American melody fused into irresistible, atmospheric songs with the power to reach around the world.

Check out this video for my favorite song on her album “Almost Lover”

Click here to join A Fine Frenzy on Myspace!

And wow.  I mean that’s pretty much all you can say.  Trista and I were walking out of the theater…and we were just silent.  Finally – we both agreed that it was an AMAZING movie…just not one we could ever watch again.  It was so intense, that my stomach was in knots almost the whole time.  It was a remarkable movie.  Definitely all it’s hyped up to be.  And for me to say that – it must mean the movie is good.

Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchett make an AWESOME couple onscreen.  I can see why they’re filming another movie together right now.

Babel is TOTALLY worth your $8.75.  Go see it!

Okay, so I’ve seen both movies now.  I watched the Prestige in the theater – and I watched the Illusionist last night on DVD.  And my opinion? (Cause I know how much it matters) Don’t bother with the Illusionist… The Prestige is a MUCH better movie.

The Prestige: Starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale & Scarlett Johansson

While I thought this movie was totally predictable, I enjoyed every minute of it.  I love Christian Bale (in my eyes, he just can’t make a bad movie).  The magic in the movie is so fascinating – you are glued to every trick.  When Hugh Jackman first started making movies – I was NOT that impressed (think “Kate & Leopold”).  But he’s made some GREAT choices lately in movie roles.  I can’t wait to see him in “The Fountain”.

I’m not a huge Scarlett fan, but she was very believable in her role, being torn between Hugh & Christian. The ending of the movie was a shock to some, but not to me.  I didn’t really care – because like I said – the movie was so entertaining.  I really loved it.  And Christopher Nolan directed it (Batman Begins, Insomnia, Memento)- and hello, since when does he make bad movies.  Answer: Never!

The Illusionist: Starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti and Jessica Biel.

The thing that bugged me about this movie straight away was their accents.  They supposedly had Austrian accents, but it just sounded all muddled to me.  I thought the movie was absolutely STUNNING to look at.  I loved how the whole movie was filmed to look like a photograph from the 1800’s.  The thing that bugged me about The Illusionist was for one, the magic tricks were so far fetched it was comical.  You’ll have to see the movie to get what I’m talking about – but the “magic” was just Hollywood special effects. In a movie about MAGIC, it would be nice to see a trick that looks like MAYBE there was SOME possibility of it actually happening.

The writing was really – really bad. It was chocked full of cliche’d one-liners. As for the actors, Edward Norton did OK as the magician.  I have a hard time knocking Ed, cause I think he’s such an amazing actor.  Poor Paul Giamatti needs a good role, and STAT.  After the MAJOR FLOP and huge disappointment that was “Lady in the Water”, Paul better pick a good indie role (hopfeully along the lines of Sideways) and fast.  Jessica Biel is nice to look at and all, but she’s a horrid actress.

Bottom Line:

I know the Prestige isn’t out yet on DVD (it comes out on February 20th)…so maybe you can watch The Illusionist (if you must) now and will have forgotten all about it when you go watch the MUCH SUPERIOR “Prestige”.

And that’s all I have to say about that.  If you’ve seen both, I’d love your opinion.  What do you think?

I did – and I have to say, I DIDN’T LIKE IT!!  I don’t know what I was expecting, but I really didn’t think it was anything to write home about.  I’ll probably give it one more chance, but if the next show sucks – I’m out!

The whole crazy photographer - who’s cat talks to him - was a bit much.  And I thought Courteney’s acting was AWFUL!! I could have acted better than that!! She wasn’t believable at all!

So I give it a big THUMBS DOWN… What did you think?

…and it S-U-C-K-E-D!!!  Like really REALLY bad.  And I was so disappointed.  I thought it might be good – with that cast.  But it was really bad. Hilary Swank was totally miscast – she was totally unbelievable.  The movie was just total crap.  It now tops my list of worst movies for 2006.  Right next to Miami Vice.  Don’t EVEN get me started on that one!