Josh Glenn of the Boston Globe has pulled together an incredibly comprehensive list of what's happened with women and pregnancy in popular culture since ye olden times. Now in three parts! (
Part 1,
Part 2,
Part 3 - for reals, you'll need some time to read through it.)
Deeps suggested the list is worth reading for lots of context with respect to our discussion/review of
Juno on the latest episode of the
Big Red Podcast. From a storytelling perspective, Juno has to go through the birthing process and put the kid up for adoption.
But the story kind of ignores the whole question of abortion - in that it doesn't really explain why she chooses not to have one. Is it a religious reason? Is it a moral reason? Is she afraid? Is she feeling guilty? We have no idea.
Apparently bad lighting and paneling lead you to decide to give birth. It's not a big deal, but it is kind of a moment where you're thinking - what kind of girl is Juno? She's so articulate about a host of other issues that her silence on this issue is noticeable.
Anyway, the list is huge and makes for an interesting read about the evolution of the social and political attitudes about abortion and how they are reflected back to us in the mirror of popular culture.
Labels: 2008, movies, podcast
By: Alyssa | Tuesday, January 08, 2008 at Tuesday, January 08, 2008 | | 
Boston is apparently a
popular place to shoot movies - three different films are shooting (or about to shoot) in the metro area. For those who like to keep score the movies are
Bachelor No. 2, a remake of
The Women, and
Pink Panther 2.
America has really been clamoring for that last one.
Anyway, I spotted
The Women shooting while I walked home from the office a couple of days ago. Yesterday I was waiting in line to buy some yogurt at a little market on Charles St. when I overheard a well-dressed couple behind me discussing the action in the neighborhood.
She: I saw them shooting. I didn't see Meg Ryan.
He: What were they shooting?
She: Something on Newbury St. Except they had yellow cabs outside that said New York.
He: Really? So they are shooting Boston for New York.
She: I think so. That is just too bad.
He: I hate when they do that. That's just terrible.
She: It ruins the movie.
The 1939 version of
The Women is a
George Cukor classic about women, class, sex, and love. It's campy, it's funny, it's melodramatic, it has Joan Crawford.
Do you know who is playing the Joan Crawford - America's most terrifying actress - role in the update?
Eva Mendes.
If the movie is bad, I hardly think it will be the fault of shooting Boston for New York.
Labels: 2007, Boston, movies, weird stuff
By: Alyssa | Thursday, August 30, 2007 at Thursday, August 30, 2007 | |
Saturday it was around a million degrees, so we headed out to the local cinema to escape the heat.
I suggested that we see
Death at a Funeral since I'd read it was fairly decent.
The movie is okay - I called it the British version of
Superbad but with older folks.
Anyway, the point of my story is that this is the third weekend in the past month where we attended a movie with lots of chatters. But they weren't surly teen chatters, they were middle aged and senior chatters with unruly guts.
Death at a Funeral is a quiet film, despite being a "mad cap comedy" - there isn't a lot of loud incidental music or sound effects. So during the quiet times we were treated to the delicious cinematic analysis of our fellow film-goers.
This happened when we saw the restored version of
The Long Goodbye several weeks ago and then when we saw
Once just a couple weeks back. A herd of older ladies rolled in and chatted through the entire film.
Maybe people forget they aren't at home. Maybe they just wanted to escape the heat. Maybe they didn't notice they were in a movie theater.
Or maybe I'm just being ageist - apparently the AARP set can be just as clueless and inconsiderate in public as the rest of us.
Labels: 2007, filler, movies
By: Alyssa | Tuesday, August 28, 2007 at Tuesday, August 28, 2007 | |
This week Deeps and I talk about the
Big Red Blog’s Donors Choose campaign, Derek, and we offer up some listener shout-outs. Plus we talk about disappointing fights on Heroes, The Riches, the cancellation of Drive, LOST and sneaky ladies, a second look at Ugly Betty, and a documentary called
The King of Kong.
Plus I reveal my hatred for My Name is Earl and my horrifying past with decoupage.
Listen to this week's episode.Subscribe to the podcast with
iTunes or your favorite
podcatcher.
Labels: 2007, movies, podcast, television
By: Alyssa | Sunday, April 29, 2007 at Sunday, April 29, 2007 | |
Right - so we went to visit Deeps' parents this weekend to help them clean out their house. After 30 years, they're planning on selling and retiring.
They have 30 years of stuff. We did huge amounts of yard work and cleaning - I cut down half a pine tree. Deeps and I hauled about 400 tons of old junk out of their basement and then spread 60 cubic yards of mulch without a rake.
You should understand that after doing this, sleeping poorly and then driving five hours from Jersey back to Boston we still did a podcast.
Because we love you, podcast listeners. This one is a little more ... well, I say like a lot when I'm tired. I'm really, really sorry.
This week we talk about
Drive on Fox, The Sopranos, Supernatural (I even talk about the thematic similarities between their latest episodes), LOST, The Shield,
Acceptable TV, This American Life on TV, why TV is awesome, and we do a review of
Casino Royale and
Fountains of Wayne's latest offering
Traffic and Weather.
Whew!
Listen to this week's episode.Subscribe to the podcast with
iTunes or your favorite
podcatcher.
Labels: 2007, movies, podcast, television
By: Alyssa | Sunday, April 22, 2007 at Sunday, April 22, 2007 | |
This week Deeps and I (along with the cat) chat about a lot of television including resolving dramatic problems The Office, dirty cops on The Shield, women in chains on LOST, hairdos on House, Thomas Jefferson on 30 Rock and of course the problem with vampires (in Canada or anywhere else).
And we split out our discussion of movies into a bonus episode where we cover
Green for Danger,
Dead and Buried,
Spellcaster,
Days of Being Wild and some tangents about Uwe Boll – because I’m crazy like that (oh and the great piece I reference is found here at
Something Awful).
Listen to all the podcasts from this week:
The Cat’s Meow and
Bonus Movie Episode. Find old episodes at the
Big Red Podcast's site.
Subscribe to the podcast with
iTunes or your favorite
podcatcher.
*If you listen carefully, you might hear the cat meowing in the background. She was bored.Labels: 2007, movies, podcast, television
By: Alyssa | Sunday, April 08, 2007 at Sunday, April 08, 2007 | |
So we've sprung forward! Yaay! More light! Less dark!
And ultimately (at least for a few weeks) that means less sleep for me.
But I'm not alone. The National Sleep foundation released a study saying that about 60% of Americans suffer from symptoms of sleep disorders at least one day a week.
I've been an insomniac for about 15 years. As a kid I apparently slept like a log and had no problems sleeping long and hard all through the night. I slept in the car, at school, at home, in the living room, at my desk -- everywhere. Now I sleep lightly for a few hours each night. If I can get 4 hours without interruption I'm thrilled.
Insomnia, at least for me, is something I have learned to live with. I can manage it pretty well most of the time, but every once in a while I fall off the wagon and go through a prolonged spell of sleeplessness. It's not good. The fastest way to break a human being is to deprive her of sleep.
Anyway, about this time of year I get a little turned around for a few weeks. Daylight savings does that to me.
I blame Indiana for this phenomenon. We never had to change the clocks. The state decided to abstain from participating in Daylight savings and so half the year we were in the Eastern Time zone and the other half in Central.
I never had to change my clock until I went to college.
And so with a heavy heart I spring forward this year. In a week I'll be fine. But at least for this week, as my alarm sounds each morning I'll wish I could hit snooze for a few minutes more.
Movies, movies, movies!Over the weekend we rented a fine little film called
Session 9. It's creepy and atmospheric without being overly gorey or contrived. I think you can see where it's heading, but the journey is enjoyable.
This was clearly a very low budget movie, but I really liked the creative use of camera and lighting by the
director. I strongly encourage people who enjoy a suspenseful, psychological thrillers to check out this film.
We also went to the movies which is really becoming a challenge. The movie we wanted to see was sold out at 9:30 last night so we went to see it at 11:45 this morning. The jury is still out on my opinion of the movie. More on that later...
QueenieI’m not the only one voicing a little sadness over the loss of the Queen Mum. Now I’m disappointed she’s passed on because I’ll miss those lemon chiffon duds of hers. I think others might be
taking it a bit more seriously.
The last entry about my eyeballsMany people wrote in to voice their concern over my pending blindness. Happily I can report after a weird experience in dilated eyes – the peepers are healthy and happy. No worries and my prescription probably won’t change much until I’m about 40. Good news!
Labels: 2002, famous people, health, movies
By: Alyssa | Sunday, April 07, 2002 at Sunday, April 07, 2002 | |
All right, I said others who were smarter and wiser and more educated than me would surely write smart and reflective things about a ceremony I couldn't be bothered to watch.
I was wrong.
Cintra Wilson wrote a nasty little bitch piece about the Oscars which even one who is a snark-lover such as myself found a bit disturbing. Seriously, dial it back and if you hate the damn thing then just switch over the Food Network or the Cartoon Network like I did.
She is right about one thing -- her assessment of Tom Cruise is dead on. He's the stuff of nightmares, despite whatever Rosie O'Donnell may say.
Good snarkSo Salon isn't totally a bust because
Heather Havrilesky wrote a great piece about the Oscars -- kinda the average Jane's view of the extravaganza. She had much better snark going and plus Heather is very clever and has a very lovely little site called
the rabbit blog.
Pooper warsDana kitty was a cat that I kinda inherited from my roommates in college. We all agreed to get a cat, but I didn't think I'd end up with her after graduation. A few days after graduation my other roommates moved out and I realized that Dana was still in the house.
She was like, "What the hell are you still doing here?"
"What the hell are you still doing here?" I asked.
"You know...hanging," she replied in our mythical conversation.
"Dammit. I'm going to have to take you with me." So I packed her in the car with my other crap and moved across town to a horrible apartment on the corner of Crack Avenue.
And that imaginary exchange sums up most of my relationship with Dana Kitty - or Pooper, as she's known around the homestead. Anyway, I thought of this today because I bothered to re-visit
My Cat Hates You.
It's weird.
The Eyes Have itI've got a floater. Nope, not a floating kneecap, but a floater on "the jelly part of your eye that helps to keep the shape of the eye" as my optometrist said. I was just relieved to hear that I wasn't going blind. Apparently this is a totally normal thing that everyone has I'm just overly aware of it because it's in my right eye and I'm right eye dominant. Weird huh? I'm right eyed!
She also encouraged me to dump my beloved Daily Wear contact lenses and switch to disposable. She basically shamed me into it -- she said I was practically the last person in North America not using disposable lenses.
God, I'm such an early adopter of technology -- it's like she just found out I'm using a Wang or something. Anyway, I'm getting on horribly with the disposables. No wonder people want to throw them away! I swear that one of them has ruined my left eye. You know I use that eye.
I go back next week to see "how I'm doing" and to find out what the hell I've done to my eyeball.
Labels: 2002, movies
By: Alyssa | Wednesday, March 27, 2002 at Wednesday, March 27, 2002 | |
Today was one of those Spring days in Chicago that gives you a taste of the future -- a taste of the warmth and sunshine to come. Just, not right now. I think these days happen so that in February and March you don't just stick your head in your oven.
So I've enjoyed my little taste of Spring while I'm ever mindful that it will go away any second. Seriously, that' s how it is around here. One day, 61 degrees -- the next it's freezing rain and sleet and damaging gale-force winds.
Roger who?And what does this all have to do with Roger Ebert? Nothing. I'm done worrying about him. I still hate that Roeper guy.
Ugh.
What has he ever done to me? Nothing personally but he's smarmy, stupid and vile and takes every chance he can to plug that nauseating film "Notting Hill" as a fine and smart romantic comedy. It was dreadful and it's the only film that I can recall ever heckling openly with my parents. My parents -- that's really saying something if they don't like a big-budget star vehicle for Julia Roberts.
Sheesh.
Labels: 2002, movies, weather
By: Alyssa | Wednesday, March 13, 2002 at Wednesday, March 13, 2002 | |
