Monday, October 26, 2009

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.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

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.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

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!

Sunday, October 04, 2009

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.