On Friday night, my boyfriend Beau went to a holiday dinner party for the company where he currently works. I am a nice girlfriend, because I agreed to go to a restaurant that I have actively avoided since it opened in this town: Buca di Beppo.
When Buca di Beppo first appeared in Austin, I knew nothing about it except that the signs outside seemed a bit garish. Well, so are the signs at Chuy’s and I love to eat there. After some friends ate at the new restaurant, I found out the scoop.
Buca di Beppo is a national chain. The restaurant serves only “family-style” meals—most portions are meant to serve 4-6 people.
In other words, single diners are not welcome there.
Month: December 2004
movies this week: ’twas the week before Christmas
‘Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the house, I went freaking bananas and tried not to stress out, while my boyfriend (who doesn’t celebrate Christmas) has been incredibly tolerant about it all. He’s just happy I’m not making Those Damned Calendars for gifts this year.
I am giving a couple of people DVDs for Christmas. I bought my baby brother The Forbidden Zone, because I know he doesn’t own that movie, since he doesn’t know much about it. Anything he wants on DVD, he usually runs out and gets for himself, so I either have to find an obscure movie or get him a nice film book. (Last year, I gave him an autographed copy of Profoundly Disturbing by Joe Bob Briggs.) I first saw this movie when I was his age and at LSU, so it seems like a very fitting present.
And I bought my married brother the first season of The Dukes of Hazzard on DVD, because he adored that TV show when he was little, and Amazon had the boxed set on sale so it was cheap enough to be a good semi-joke gift. As long as no one makes me watch it, I don’t care.
I still have to finish wrapping presents, buying ribbon and gift tags, picking up the odds and ends I’m using for my parents’ gift (a lot of coffee-related stuff), sending any last-minute Christmas cards, cleaning out my car, and packing for the trip next week.
I’m going to a Christmas party tomorrow afternoon, and on Sunday I hope to see Marcia Ball and Sarah Elizabeth Campbell at Armadillo Christmas Bazaar.
And in the middle of all this, there are movies opening this week. Who’s thinking about movies right now? Well, I kind of am (I got all excited to learn this week that Twentieth Century will finally be released on DVD in February) but I don’t know if I’ll have time to go to a theater. Which is too bad, because I’d like to see Sideways and Kinsey and a couple of other movies before they vanish from theaters. Although I don’t think Sideways will vanish anytime soon, because it’s starting to pick up national awards.
Anyway, if you’re fortunate enough to be completely unruffled by the holiday season, there are a few movies opening this week, and some nice special events too, seasonal and otherwise.
Continue reading movies this week: ’twas the week before Christmas
Random Ramblyng Perspicaciousness* About Weekend Plans
This is just a quickie to fulfill the Holidailies daily quota. Don’t want to fall under the horizontal line of Holidailies doom and gloom!
Tonight I made macaroni and cheese for dinner—out of the Kraft box, even—to go with the leftover chili as a kind of Build-Your-Own-Chili-Mac. Mmmmm. But I hope The Beau never learns what the expiration date on the box was, or he won’t eat a bite of the leftovers!!!
I have to make a to-do list of stuff I should be doing before this weekend, so I won’t forget:
- Research and write the Movies This Week entry, STAT!
- Remember to buy garbage bags later. You can never have enough!
- Get my final Christmas present shopping done for The Younger Niece, The Sister-in-Law, and the-child-of-a friend-who-is-throwing-a-Christmas-party-this-weekend that-Sweetiepantsbeausiebutt-and-I-are-attending.
- Figure out what to wear to the dinner party tomorrow night, which is a holiday party for my boyfriend Mr. Awesome’s office.
- Pick a new Netflix movie. I may bring Bad Santa home for my dad to watch. That movie totally rocks my world, but it’s not so much for everyone!
Have I hit 50 words yet? I don’t want to get in trouble with … er … me. Ha! Hopefully I can “write ahead” this weekend. Or is that cheating? Ooops!
*perspicaciousness (n.)—Acute discernment; shrewdness.
This entry is dedicated to The Usual Suspects, a group that has amply demonstrated their passion for various writing styles employed above. Enjoy.
Muriel’s Wedding (1993)
Muriel’s Wedding: 1993, dir. P.J. Hogan. Seen on DVD (Oct. 31).
Unfortunately, this movie caused a new agreement about DVD rentals to be established in our household, especially since I saw it not long after renting Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
The agreement: No more watching movies with ABBA in the soundtrack when my boyfriend is home. It shatters his poor delicate nerves. He has to play a lot of Warren Zevon and John Hiatt afterwards to recuperate.
Fortunately, I really liked Muriel’s Wedding even with the ABBA music. I am not the world’s biggest ABBA fan myself, but I felt the music was very appropriately used in this movie.
I am not the world’s biggest fan of “chick flicks,” either, and I didn’t even think of this movie as a chick flick until it was pointed out to me. (When I am queen of the universe, we will use the term “chick flick” to describe movies in which women kick some serious ass, and there will be many fine movies made in this particular genre. Movies where women sit around the table eating cheesecake until they bond and then start dancing to Motown hits will face my fiery wrath.) This was such a lovely little movie that I didn’t notice it’s chick-flick-ish-ness.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1983)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High: 1983, dir. Amy Heckerling. Seen on DVD (Nov. 6).
Fast Times at Ridgemont High finally got back in print on DVD, so I didn’t have any more excuses for never having seen it. That’s right. I had never seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High. My boyfriend had That Look that he gave me earlier in the year when I found out I had never seen Caddyshack, so the movie went to the top of our rental list and we got it immediately after the new DVD released. We had this beautiful shiny new DVD from Netflix that we may have been the first people to watch.
I don’t know why I had never seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High, except that I was too young to see an R-rated movie when it first came out in theaters. I don’t know why I didn’t include it in the paper I wrote on teen melodrama for a graduate film class—either it must have seemed like too much of a broad comedy or else it was entirely off my radar. I’ve seen scenes from the movie, and mostly what I knew about was Sean Penn as Spicoli, and that it was directed by Amy Heckerling.
(I used to keep close track of movies directed by women, back in the day. I ought to do that again … I noticed all the movies starting to be nominated for awards for 2004 and realized that women are entirely missing from the director and screenwriting lists, and the acting roles didn’t look that choice either. Greeeeat.)
The Getaway (1972)
The Getaway: 1972, dir. Sam Peckinpah. Seen on DVD (Nov. 3).
Sure, Ali McGraw was pretty. I won’t debate that. But why all the fuss? For one thing, her acting annoys the crap out of me. I haven’t seen Love Story and probably won’t unless there is a god of vengeance who will be very displeased in me for not believing in him and, when I die, will subject me to a continuous and unavoidable watching of the worst weepers in cinematic history. I’ve seen clips of the movie, as we all have, and it is enough to assure me that I am not missing some great performance by Ms. McGraw.
She is particularly annoying in The Getaway, and I don’t think we can blame it all on the usual misogyny in Sam Peckinpah movies. I think a better actress would have handled the role in a less snippy and whiny way. Faye Dunaway leaps to mind.
But yeah, all the roles for women in early 1970s American films were rotten, I won’t argue with that. The Getaway is certainly no exception. Sally Struthers plays this babyish chick who thinks nothing of throwing over one boyfriend for another man, and right in front of the boyfriend, too. I can’t think of a woman I’ve liked in a Peckinpah movie except for Ida Lupino in Junior Bonner. I can’t think of a woman I’ve liked in an early 1970s film except for Ruth Gordon in Harold and Maude.
If You Could Only Cook (1935)
If You Could Only Cook: 1935, dir. William A. Seiter. Seen at Alamo Downtown (Nov. 2).
I saw If You Could Only Cook on my birthday, which was also election night. I was surprised by the turnout. Who knew there would be so many people in Austin who would prefer an obscure Jean Arthur movie to watching election results? But apparently there are a lot of film geeks in town, or at least people who love charming little 1930s romantic comedies.
If You Could Only Cook is one of those charming little movies. Jean Arthur, a victim to the Depression-era economy, is trying to find a job so she won’t have to sleep on a park bench. You can imagine that this might have some relevance to today’s viewers. Herbert Marshall, a big-name automobile designer, somehow ends up on a park bench with her and is so taken with her that he pretends he’s out of work, too. They find a job listing for a married couple to work as cook and butler and decide to apply together.
You can see where this is going, can’t you? Of course you can. No surprises, and somewhat artificial, but delightful just the same. The dialogue is often sharp and funny, and the overall tone is frothy and lighthearted.
The Incredibles (2004)
The Incredibles: 2004, dir. Brad Bird. Seen at Galaxy Highland (Dec. 11).
As anyone who writes about film will tell you (and already has, because it’s a good excuse), it is much easier to write about bad films than good ones. You can do all sorts of imaginative and amusing things with a review of a big stinker. As a result, bad reviews are generally more memorable.
Good reviews … well, how many times can you say, and for how long, that a movie is good? You always end up using the same adjectives, and it is difficult to convey your extreme enthusiasm for a movie.
The Incredibles was very very good and you should all go see it, you will have a wonderfully entertaining time.
There. I’ve told you what I think. Am I done now?
movies this week: my sister got lucky
How can you tell my sister has a boyfriend? Because she didn’t realize that Ocean’s Twelve is opening this weekend.
If you know about my sister’s fervent and devouring love for everything even remotely related to George Clooney, you realize something major had to distract her. Like a real-life person to dote upon. I mean, she even saw the remake of Solaris, just to get a good look at Mr. Clooney’s bare ass. (She says no one’s ass was worth sitting through that movie.)
Her new boyfriend is a film geek, which amuses me to no end. My sister, whose favorite movies include Ever After and 10 Things I Hate About You (nothing wrong with those, either), has been calling me up to tell me they just saw Being There, or Blood Simple, or Adaptation. She liked Adaptation but I believe she fell asleep during Being There, much to her new guy’s disappointment.
dig those crazy clementines
I think there is a conspiracy to take over the world, in the manner of Pinky and the Brain or any James Bond villain, and it involves clementines.
That’s right, clementines. The seemingly harmless tiny oranges that are suddenly taking over all the grocery stores, at least in my neighborhood.
They look so tempting. Cute little oranges that are so easy to peel! Who could resist? But you can’t buy them individually, you have to buy a ton of them in a miniature five-pound crate or box that costs from $5 to $7.