Happy Trick or Treat

Had a really nice Halloween yesterday - we got a LOT of trick-or-treaters - I was afraid we were going to run out of candy and had to start rationing. One of the kids said "Happy trick or treat" to me, and made me laugh for the rest of the day.

We had a Halloween party with the theme "Your Childhood Nightmare" and our friends had some great costumes - have a look:

M almost went as Santa as well. And then our friend G. came in dressed as a creepy uncle and I said, "OMG! I almost went as an uncle too!"

Purchasing Tickets for Football Game

Me: Hello, I'd like 4 tickets to Friday's game, please.
Her: Uhm, Friday?
Me: Oh, I was thinking of Friday Night Lights.
Her: That's high school, college is on Sat.
Me: OK then.
Her: I've got tickets on the 30 yard line and
Me: Listen, I don't know from yard lines.
Her: These are the best I have.
Me: What time should we pick them up?
Her: The gates open at 8.
Me: What time does the game start?
Her: Eleven.
Me: ELEVEN AT NIGHT?!?
HER: No, in the morning.
Me: Friday NIGHT Lights.

Zombieland

I never thought I'd be a fan of the zombie apocolypse genre (I wonder if anyone ever anticipated it becoming an actual genre), but there are some great movies out there dealing with the undead who crave human flesh! My faves include Sean of the Dead, 28 Days Later and I Am Legend^*.

Zombieland seems like a nice addition to the group and I quite enjoyed watching it. Jesse Eisenberg has made a nice transition from the horrible, unwatchable, awkwardness that was The Squid and the Whale into Adventureland and now Zombieland (both of which involve theme parks, what's up with that?) I think he's a very charming and likeable actor. How long he can milk his charming, virginal, nice-guy thing, I don't know.

Zombieland is fairly gross, in case you're wondering, and sometimes it really stressed me out because it glorifies violence in a sort of slow-mo heads-smashing way that's still really disgusting even if the person getting its head smashed is a zombie. But, it's also funny and actually has a good story. Woody Harrelson, who I usually find a little tiresome, is only slightly tiresome. V. funny guest star bit from Bill Murray.


^* I know this one's technically vampires, but, come on.

Cover Me

This weekend a certain husband and I went to Rockville, Indiana to visit his granny and go to the Covered Bridge Festival. My parents drove over and we had a really nice time visiting with everyone. Trips to Indiana are alway full of surprises - something I find infinitely amusing is how many tiny little towns with crazy names there are - this weekend Tangiers and Montezuma were on our radar. Who came up with those names, long ago? I'd like to know.
I found a pile of religious tracks and was also given one (seemingly without irony) by my own mother. No matter, I laughed heartily at them all!
(Dad, this one's for you!)

Bit sorry to miss my hometown's Fall Foliage Festival (leave a report if you went!) - but, maybe next year!

Whip It

I scored a couple of pre-screen tickets to Whip It on Thursday (I've never had so much advanced-movie-viewing play my whole life!) and I really enjoyed it.

Whip It is Drew Barrymore's directorial debut and features a slew of terrific actresses: Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, and Zoe Bell (a stuntwoman - check out Double Dare, it's awesome). It's about a young woman who joins a roller derby team. There's nothing revolutionary about the story, aside from the fact that the entire cast is about 90% women. At a time when women are becoming scarce characters in films, the sad but true fact is that watching this movie, with a bunch totally bad-ass women (that, here's the key: doesn't exploit them, but celebrates them), is a pretty rare event down at your local movie theatre.

If you ask me, there aren't nearly enough positive role-models for young women on tv or in the movies. Watching a movie where tough girls fall down and then get back up again nearly made me weep with joy. There are some awesome lines, like the one you probably saw in the trailer:

Bliss: You guys are like, my new heroes.
Maggie Mayhem: Put some skates on - be your own hero.

That - may I be so bold? - rings like a sounding bell for a new grrrl revolution.
I'd recommend seeing it with a gal-pal or a budding young feminist. The movie also inspired me to learn more about roller derbies - I'd like to watch a game for realsies. Here's the Chicago team - Windy City Rollers, and here's LA: Derby Dolls - check out the women's names, they're effing hilarious.

Where the Wild Things Are

Last night M & I went to a pre-pre release of Where the Wild Things are at the Music Box theatre - it was a benefit show for 826 Chicago. It was very exciting because Dave Eggers was there and spoke about writing the screenplay, and then he brought out the kid who plays Max in the movie, and he was a cute kid, and people asked him dumb questions like, "Are you going to do more movies?" and he said - get this - "If the right project comes along." And then we watched the movie and afterward Spike Jonze and Catherine Keener spoke. Fancy, right?

As for the movie, I really enjoyed it. We are treated to a little back-story for Max and his family and (I can't imagine I'm ruining it for you) when Max journeys to the land of the wild things, it's a real visual treat. What comes across in the movie is the emotional fragility of the child - when Max is playing - one minute he's laughing like crazy, the next minute everyone's screaming and someone's crying. Oy, remember how that used to be?

The wild things throw rocks and trees when they play - Max is not only emotionally fragile, he's physically vulnerable. The wild things are dangerous, but they're innocent, like children, or the most immature adults you ever met. They quarrel amongst themselves and wear their insecurities on their uh, hairy gigantic sleeves.

It was beautiful, like watching a poem. I think if you're a big fan of the book, like I am, you'll be pleased. It doesn't try to recreate the book, but it very cleverly interprets it.

What to Watch

I finished a PBS documentary called Manor House that was filmed in England in 2001 (I think it was shown in 2002). It's a reality show where these people volunteer to live in an 1800 century Manor House, and some of them live as the "landed gentry" and the other work as the servants. It's a three month project, and it's pretty remarkable. The family that's chosen to be the temporary owners of the home are in hog heaven. I'm honestly not sure why anyone would have volunteered to be a servant - they literally must work for like 18 hrs a day, emptying chamber pots and lugging incredibly heavy things this way and that way. While the douche-y family talks about how special and pampered they feel, the servants downstairs are plotting the various ways they would like to murder them.

Something I find interesting is how it seems to be a natural inclination to assume that if we like, lived in another century, we'd be the owners of like, Versailles, but, it seems pretty likely that most of us schmucks would be the servants (if we're LUCKY!) The Manor House website confirms this for me with a lovely little quiz. I'm somewhat cheerfully informed: You are in Service in a Country House! AND! Not only that! But, apparently, I get PG out of wedlock and die alone in a work house. It told me that. For realsies.

If that's too erudite for you, you might enjoy Drunk History - a hilarious bit of comedy involving drunk people explaining historical events while actors like Michael Cera and Jack Black act them out. #3's my favorite.

And if even Drunk History requires too much thinking, may I offer you "Baby Dancing to Single Ladies"? You won't be disappointed.