MORNING GLORY

ANOTHER FINE MESS

PRIVATE ROMEO

I'll be the first to admit this movie isn't for everyone, but I was strangely drawn into the film because of the language.  I love Shakespeare and it's all Romeo and Juliet.  They don't even change the gender references.  Private Romeo forced me to hear the language as if for the first time and the actors all did a good job with it and they're all easy on the eyes.  The film takes place at all boys Military Academy over a break.  I was thinking of directing the play this summer for our Shakespeare Company, but unfortunately, one of the big Shakespeare Companies in the Bay Area is doing it this year and we don't want to be in competition or piss them off.  I then chose Macbeth, but then SF Shakespeare announced they were doing it.  Now we're keeping our fingers crossed that nobody is doing The Tempest.  I want to set it on a island in the Caribbean with a voodoo theme.  

MORNING GLORY

WET

ASS WEDNESDAY

MORNING GLORY

ANOTHER FINE MESS

CUP OF DREAMS

I recently watched the Julian Shaw's deeply personal and wonderful documentary, Cup of Dreams.  In the film he documents the painful loss of the All Blacks of New Zealand at the Rugby World Cup in 2007.  He also documents how he reunited with his father, a fanatical fan and how their relationship was so intertwined with the Rugby team and the national identity of New Zealand.  It explained a lot for me as I watched it.  I remembered watching the hopeful faces of the fans when the All Blacks won the RWC in 2011 and thinking how emotional and incredibly invested they were in that win.  It is available to watch on Hulu + right now.  It has some great interviews with team members and even the Prime Minister of New Zealand.  The clip below was put together after the film and the big win in 2011.  

WET

ANOTHER FINE MESS

SCORE!

MORNING GLORY

ANOTHER FINE MESS

SCRUMPTIOUS

BLACK JOCK ASS WEDNESDAY

Sorry this is so late, but I wanted to make sure I posted this before it wasn't Wednesday any more.  I realized I had a lot of black jock picture.  I guess I have a bit of a fetish.  I love the way a black jock frames an ass.  I went to see "Silver Lining Playbook" tonight.  I'm trying to see all the films nominated for Oscars this year.  I thought there might be a hard choice between Daniel Day Lewis and Hugh Jackman, but what Bradley Cooper does with this bi-polar character is incredible.  He nails it!  If you've ever been around someone with the disorder you will recognize those awkward moments when you wonder to yourself if this person is not the most brilliant, articulate and perceptive person you've ever met or out of their fucking mind.  And David O'Russell , although he  may be an asshole in real life does an amazing job with the direction on this film.  From what I understand his adaptation of the book is not so much a reworking of the novel as a rip off of the disease and the characters. De Niro does a great job as the OCD father of Bradley Cooper's, Pat.  Jennifer Lawrence proves shes got some acting chops and lives up to the promise she showed in "Winter's Bone".    

MORNING GLORY

AND THE PARKING WAS FREE.

I had a busy weekend.  Saw Les Miserables yesterday on "I Have a Dream Day" and loved it.  I was crying like a little school girl through most of it.  I loved Tom Hooper's direction and choice to have most of the song sung live.  It was the touch the filmed version of the Musical needed.  Eddie Redmayne as Marius was a revelation.  What a beautiful voice.  He broke my heart on "Empty Chairs."  Russell Crowe as Javert sounded like Elvis Costello on a bad day and he looked like he knew it.  Anne Hathaway as Fantine was astoundingly powerful when she sang "I Dreamed a Dream."  And Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean could do no wrong.  Aaron Tveit as Enjolras has the voice of an angel.  Samantha Barks as Eponine had the right edge and won the part over Taylor Swift.  There is a god. Amanda Seyfried was properly ingenue as Cosette and has a lovely coloratura soprano voice, having studied opera for two years and had a Broadway musical vocal coach for five. Les Mis is her favorite musical and is fast becoming one of mine.

Maverick's Invitational Surfing Contest was Sunday and our little coastal village hamlet was buzzing.  Congratulations to 42 year old Santa Cruz surfer, Peter Mel.  Although the waves weren't some of the largest that have been seen at Mavericks, some reached 20 to 30 feet and waited until the final heat to show up.  The website crashed with over a million people trying to log on.  It was broadcast live from an offsite location because they are not allowing fans to watch from the beach or the bluffs after a rogue wave did some damage two years ago.  

Sunday afternoon between sets at Mavericks, I watched Colin Kaepernick lead the San Francisco 49ers to a victory against the Atlanta Falcons that will take them to the Super Bowl.  It was a great game and we had a fun time at a local pub watching with locals.

This is pretty cool.  Too bad he didn't predict a win at the Super Bowl too.

CALL ME JIMMY

 There's a new footman at Downton Abbey.  Ed Speleers.  He prefers to be called Jimmy and all the maids and the ladies of the house are flitterpated over his twinkie looks.  He doesn't do all that much for me, but he seems to have gotten Thomas' taste buds salivating and just may be his undoing.  O'Brian is watching you, Thomas.  Ed seems to have quite the Twinkie background in England.  Just out of school he starred with Jeremy Irons in Eragon, a dragon fantasy film.