Wanderlust

When it comes to Judd Apatow productions these days, there are a few things to expect. There will be lots of adult humor in so many forms. This doesn't mean its always going to work. Yet there were parts of this movie that were quite fun.

Its the story of George (Paul Rudd) and Linda (Jennifer Aniston). A New York couple on the way to the top. But are suddenly stopped, right after finding that little studio of their dreams in the right neighborhood. Jobless and having to leave that life behind, they go to Georgia to move in with George's brother and his family. However, they find themselves at Elysium which is far more than a bed and breakfast. Its a free-spirited commune with lots of quirky characters.

This is where Justin Theroux steals the movie as hippie leader Seth. At the moment, in real life he's with Jennifer Aniston who knew each other..long before this movie. Here we have nudist  Joe Lo Truglio, which we see so much more than we want to of him. But, Kathryn Hahn and Kerri Kenney really live the commune life. Add the beautiful Malin Akerman to sex things up and you've got a very interesting commune.

Hahn makes an excellent hippie. She played Rudd's ex in OUR IDIOT BROTHER.

Some of the worst part of the story was living the dream with George's brother Rick (Ken Marino). That sort of comedy got old fast and made it quite unrealistic. As well, there were a few gross monologues, even from George who's trying to get himself ready for some free love that's not with his wife. Even in the after credits Rudd was making himself disgusted as he had to look in the mirror and pour this gross sex talk out of himself.

Although, the story was basically about the couple and what really makes a home, and can you give up rules when it comes to that kind of strange Free Love Utopia?

Lauren Ambrose was quite the scene stealer in the movie, too.

Yet, I did find a few laughs in the movie to keep it going. Although, Aniston's topless scene didn't make it to the last cut. But I found that she really is a celebrity. And she doesn't really act. Yet, Jennifer is always herself. Of course, you might find Paul Rudd does what Paul Rudd does best, too.

Still, there were some fun parts to this movie. Its a fun movie that won't completely gross you out.

STORYLINE: Rattled by sudden unemployment, a Manhattan couple surveys alternative living options, ultimately deciding to experiment with living on a rural commune where free love rules.

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Fiction Tuesday- Jack Holmes and his friend

 Edmond White has written 12 novels over the years, as well as nonfiction. He also teaches at Princeton, and has a long time partner. So it was a delight to pick up this novel set in the late 1950's about a mid-west college boy that moves to New York City who just so happens to be gay.

White is a master of prose and can whirl one into a world of what Jack sees and feels and how he's different. I really enjoyed the first part of this novel. Jack has always been in boarding school, then college. Boys, young men have always been around him. And he's been careful. His college days. Meeting college girls. He's a looker and can get along with anyone. Just one problem, he's never really been in love. Not until he meets Will, who's straight and really not nearly as beautiful in appearance sake, as Jack.

Garrett Hedlund would have most definitely been my Jack in the novel.

But the hard part is finding what does he really see in Will. I suppose its that way with all of us. We'll fall for someone that no one can quite understand, but you. Still, I would have liked to seen this flushed out more. His love for Will. Pining for Will. Of course, instead Jack just does the hormonal thing. Cruising gay bars and the like..and of course, never falling in love with anyone, except Will.

Blake Lively would have been Alex.

I guess what I was hoping to read about, were the trying times gays had during those days. Especially, in New York City. But as usual, Jack is unscathed. And as the first part ends so cruel for Jack. As the story becomes some what of an odd triangle between Will, Jack, and a very rich girl named Alex. ( I have a feeling this story might have been just too rich for my taste.)



"I don't believe in censoring my thoughts," she (Alex) said. - Jack Holmes and his Friend

Max Minghella would have made the perfect Will.

In the second part we get straight Will's side of the story, who in a sense has used Jack through conversations about Alex for Will's novel. Of course, in the long run, Will gets the girl, but gets major writer's block. I'd like the first part where Will seems to enjoy his own company. He's always writing. But soon there is the underbelly of Will, that is not so likable. This part of the story takes us on a journey of what not to do so you won't succeed in life. And I found all the characters rather unlikeable then.

Honestly, I was really hoping there would be a story..where maybe Will would take some vacations with Jack. That maybe he would lead a double life, but that didn't happen in the story. Instead, we get a mid-life crisis, and a Will I'd rather have not known. At the end, we get a very tidy conclusion.

Is it that we are not ready as readers to embrace a story where we could have some twist and turns between friendships and relationships of hetero and homosexuals? However, it was good to read a piece about a certain Americana and how we have and haven't changed over the years by our views from the foods we eat to how we live our lives.

'From an early age I had the idea that writing was truth-telling. It's on the record. It should be totally transparent'-Edmond White

Mark Ruffalo as Will got older

Matthew MacFadyer as Jack got older

"I meet Edmund White a few days before Christmas and a month after he has suffered a minor stroke; he is cautiously recovering in his Manhattan flat. On Christmas Eve, White, a little breathless but otherwise unbowed, is throwing a dinner party here for an unlikely group of people: “my first boy lover, my first girl lover and their respective mates”, plus his partner of many years, Michael Carroll. It is White’s contention, explored in his new novel, Jack Holmes and his Friend, that by and large gay men manage friendship, particularly with their exes, better than heterosexuals. “That’s the family,” he says and smiles".-Emma Brockes

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Tanner Hall

Tanner Hall

“Everything worth anything is both terrifying and beautiful. Like the first time you do something that you know is wrong? You know it’s wrong and yet you do it anyway.”-Tanner Hall

Tanner Hall is a vivid peek into the private world of an all-girls boarding school. In a cozy, but run down New England place, the knot of adolescent complexity is unraveled through the coming of age stories of four teen-age girls.

The movie stars Rooney Mara, Brie Lawson, Georgia King and Tom Everett Scott. Its American. Based in a New England setting. Of course, its full of what makes a private school story. Slutty school girls. Cheating husbands and horny teachers.

“Life doesn’t make sense until you decide to live it.”

—	-Tanner Hall

“Lose your way, find yourself.”

—

-Tanner Hall

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Notes from the closet

I have to wonder if the best films got nominated this year for the Oscars. It seems this season didn't give us quite the caliber of last year's fare. So much pain and agony from Black Swan to 127 Hours. True, there was some moving history that needed to be told, like THE HELP. I love the nostalgia of THE ARTIST, too.

Still there were a few movies I felt were over looked.

Curtis, a father and husband, is starting to experience bad dreams and hallucinations. Assuming mental illness, he seeks medical help and counseling. However, fearing the worst, he starts building an elaborate and expensive storm shelter in their backyard. This storm shelter threatens to tear apart his family, threatens his sanity and his standing in the community, but he builds it to save his family's life

Michael Shannon's Take Shelter. He's such an amazing actor. This was a drama and a thriller, but to watch his character unfold with his unique madness, shouldn't be over looked.

Martha has run away from an abusive hippie-like cult where she was living as Marcy May for two years. She turns to her sister and brother-in-law who take her in and want to help her. The problem is Martha is having a hard time separating dreams from reality and when haunting memories of her past keep resurfacing, she may need more help than anyone is able to give her.

Elisabeth Olsen in a startling film, Martha Marcy May Marlene. She plays a teen who shows she's so much stronger than she possibly knows. This is one film where we certainly take this actress, seriously.

A look at how the intense relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud gives birth to psychoanalysis.

Then the controversial film with Kiera Knightly and Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method.
Read more about their spanking scene here.

Anna and Jacob fall instantly in love when they meet as students at an L.A. university. But Anna is British and when graduation approaches, Anna decides to stay and violate her student visa rather than returning to England. After a visit home, she is then unable to return to the United States. While fighting customs and immigration battles, Anna and Jacob must decide if their relationship is worth the distance and the hardship.

I was hoping Like Crazy would get some sort of recognition at the Oscars. It was a very honest look at young modern love with some fresh faces, Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin.

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Ashley Greene

The other day it was about eleven and there was nothing much on TV, so I settled on watching this programme that I’d heard to be good called Pan Am.
It was an okay programme, but I couldn’t pay much attention because I was distracted by the fact that initially I recognized Ashley Greene (aka Alice from Twilight)-Love Come & Take Me

From Lucky magazine

 She's not just Alice from TWILIGHT. Ashley is certainly an icon of style.

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Tomorrow, When the War Began

Originally this Australian film came out in 2010, but its getting a new release for Americans in theaters.

Its a story of Australian teens out having fun on a campout, just to wake up to an invasion of sorts. Soon these teens are surviving. Naturally, there is enough eye-candy for everyone in this movie. Add some sci-fi and lots of things that blow up, and its a movie that has something for everyone.

The movie stars SECRET CIRCLE'S Phoebe Tonkin. Blond and bold. Along with more Australian sensations..like Deniz Akdentz and Caitlin Stasey. Also Rachel Hurd-Wood stars in the film, as well.

What starts out as a playful trip with nature comes the triumph of banning together with all their skills to fight the enemy.

Its the end of the beginning

The movie is based on a John Marsden novel.  The film won over fans in Australia, but who knows what it might hold for American fans. Much of it is a rural 90210(Australian style!). But don't we love our characters from that show? It might be a hit or miss movie for some, but I'm sure their a target audience it can deliver too.

Its the end of the beginning

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TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN 2 is in the works!

Sea of Cortez

It all started with their EP TESTING THE WATERS. Next thing you know, their music is on TEENWOLF. These guys are definitely emerging!

Kind of hard to explain their music. It definitely gives an amazing soundtrack to a movie or perhaps on your way to work in the car or maybe a walk in the park. This band certainly has a way of carrying you through the emotion. They are based out of L.A. Christian Thomas and Thomas Vincent.

"Their much anticipated full-length album, “Make It Sound”, offers 13 classic tracks that showcase their wide range of styles, each representing different influences and the merging of eclectic genres. Upon first listen, the seemingly minimal album is rich with complex harmonies and soundscapes, providing new experiences to the listener with each playback. Dive in head first."-Naakte Pop


Their latest CD is MAKE IT SOUND.
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Sea of Cortez
BUZZBANDS 

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

This June, get ready for a new movie by Timur Bekmambetov! Based on the sensational novel of Seth Graham-Smith who helped write the screenplay. This guy is also behind the new version of Dark Shadows too.

President Lincoln's mother is killed by a supernatural creature, which fuels his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers.

Benjamin Walker will star as Abraham Lincoln while Mary Elizabeth Winstead will play Mary Todd Lincoln.

Also staring is the wonderful Alan Tudyk and Rufus Sewell.

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Non-Fiction Tuesday- The work of Kadir Nelson

Celebrate African American History month with the beautiful art work of Kadir Nelson! Heart and Soul is one of Nelson's latest books. Its a soulful and thoughtful display of a rich history that we can not and must not forget. Kadir Nelson has a way of catching the moment of beauty and strength through his art!

The story of America and African Americans is a story of hope and inspiration and unwavering courage. But it is also the story of injustice; of a country divided by law, education, and wealth; of a people whose struggles and achievements helped define their country. This is the story of the men, women, and children who toiled in the hot sun picking cotton for their masters; it’s about the America ripped in two by Jim Crow laws; it’s about the brothers and sisters of all colors who rallied against those who would dare bar a child from an education. It’s a story of discrimination and broken promises, determination and triumphs.
Kadir Nelson, one of this generation’s most accomplished, award-winning artists, has created an epic yet intimate introduction to the history of America and African Americans, from colonial days through the civil rights movement. Written in the voice of an “Everywoman,” an unnamed narrator whose forebears came to this country on slave ships and who lived to cast her vote for the first African American president, heart and soul touches on some of the great transformative events and small victories of that history. This inspiring book demonstrates that in gaining their freedom and equal rights, African Americans helped our country achieve its promise of liberty and justice—the true heart and soul of our nation.-book description

“Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans”, a heart-felt tale about “the men, women, and children who toiled in the hot sun picking cotton for their masters; it’s about the America ripped in two by Jim Crow laws; it’s about the brothers and sisters of all colors who rallied against those who would dare bar a child from an education. It’s a story of discrimination and broken promises, determination and triumphs.”-Auburn Avenue Research Library

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