Spring cleaning, and movie buzz

Yes, I revisioned the website again. It’s spring, so pourquoi pas? This lovely blue is #336699, and the art this time is Monet’s Bridge at Argenteuil (1874), one of my favorites. Now that the website is all dressed up, I need to do something about my own wardrobe. I’ll get on it next weekend.

Quick takes. Adaptation: very good. Quick, clever. Like one reviewer put it, it’s like a series of Russian dolls that fit one inside the other: a movie about a movie about an adaptation of a book expanded from an article. I don’t think Nicolas Cage will win the Oscar, given the competition, but still, an honest performance. Road to Perdition: a beautiful movie, but I just couldn’t get into it. At least not until late in the movie. And I don’t mean to detract from Paul Newman’s earlier work (because, well, I haven’t seen any of them), but his performance here was just okay. Not especially Oscar-worthy, I thought. An interesting thing about the DVD: director Sam Mendes’ very good commentary (as expected, given his great insights on the American Beauty DVD) is subtitled here, so you can watch the movie while reading his comments. Usually on a second viewing of DVDs, I listen to the commentary while reading the subtitled dialogue for reference, but here you can do the opposite, if your brain works that way. (Or it can all just be a bit distracting.)

By the way, I saw the trailers for Bend It Like Beckham and A Mighty Wind, the latest from Christopher Guest (Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman). Both look really good. In other news, why is someone making a live-action movie of The Jetsons? I don’t have anything against the space-age cartoon series—I watched it everyday as a kid—but didn’t anyone learn anything from the recent beloved cartoon-turned-movie dreck Scooby Doo? Granted, I’m not in the target audience demographic, and I never saw the whole thing, but I tried. Twice. Both times were on planes, and it was enough to make me glance at the emergency exit more than once. (Sorry, that was a cheap shot. I couldn’t resist.)

‘I’d like to thank the Academy…’ There’s a great piece in this week’s New Yorker called “My Oscar Speech,” or “notes on what to say if I win the Oscar pool tonight at Chris and Linda’s.” Check it out. It starts:

Thank Chris and Linda for the lovely spread. Say something like “Seriously, I would’ve thought the apple tart was from Balthazar—it was so flaky!”

Then remark on what a surprise this has all been, and how, when you lost best supporting actress so early in the night, you thought you were done for. (If you got that one, i.e., if Meryl Streep wins, pick a category you lost, like animated short film. Maybe say, “What was I thinking, going with Mt. Head over The Chubbchubbs!?”)

So, this inspires me: I’m adding a proviso to my Oscar contest. Each of the winners has to write an acceptance speech. Make it short and sweet, or else I’ll have the orchestra play you off. And the word “Iraq” or phrases “troubled times” or “recent events” may be used only once, if at all.

Less than 24 hours remain ’til showtime, so if you haven’t entered already, do it now!