Drew Barrymore Couldn't Make It...

NYU had a free screening for Drew Barrymore's "ferocious" directorial debut yesterday at the Cantor Film Center.  My friend and I waited for two hours to see it, even when this stupid security guard told us we were wasting out time waiting. Well...look who's laughing now!!!! Well...no one actually but that's not my point. The point is that I saw 'Whip It' for free and got some SWAG. (Stuff We All Get).

When I first saw the trailer for for "Whip It" I was exceedingly excited/annoyed as I wished that I had written it first. Roller Derby is a fascinating subject and the costumes and names are so ridiculous and delicious. Ellen Page is perfectly cast as typical clueless teen Bliss who's overpowering mother is way too into the pageant scene. She eventually gets wrapped up in the fast-paced hardcore world of Roller Derby becoming 'Babe Ruthless'. Alia Shawkat is lovely in the best friend role...but when will this girl get a lead? She's so good! Oh well, at least there's the Arrested Development Movie to look forward to!

Drew Barrymore and Kristen Wiig are two of my heroes in the entertainment business (along with Tina Fey) and so they don't need to wear bad ass outfits and act tough to make me stand in awe of them. Every time Drew is onscreen as Smashley Simpson, she is beating someone up, sticking her tongue out or laughing in that nasally Barrymore way. I just love her and she unabashedly gave herself the best part in the whole movie.

Kristen Wiig is the voice of reason in the film acting as a catalyst for change in the film when Bliss confesses to her that she's her new hero. "Put some skates on, be your own hero" Wiig says as 'Maggie Mayem'.

The Roller Derby sequences were by far the best part of the movie, well choreographed, fun and nerve wracking, they made me want to jump back into my roller skates and do some figure eights in Union Square. The costumes and player names were all uber-creative and I can just imagine a bunch of silly gals sitting around trying to come up with them. I came up with my Derby name just now: Aphro Bite Me...like Aphrodite get it?

The love story in the movie was one of the weaker points in my opinion, Landon Pigg (Of 'Falling in Love in a Coffee Shop' Fame) plays Oliver, Bliss's tall skinny rocker suitor. She thinks that possibly maybe she's falling for him...but she's only 17 in the flick and he's obviously much older and not that cool and...whatever. Roller Derby rocks.

The only time I could tell that this was Barrymore's first time as a director was during the opening sequence which seemed a bit choppy to me. It took me a few minutes to get into the whole atmosphere of the film. I also became very wary when Bliss and Oliver began talking about their weird music taste...it started to feel a bit 'Juno'. Luckily, they snapped out of it as quickly as they snapped into it.

Well, I'm not a hardcore feminist by any means...I enjoy it when guys open doors for me and save me when I'm trapped in castle towers surrounded by fire breathing dragons and moats of slime. But in this day of Judd Apatow-male-dominated comedies, I'm super happy that Drew, Ellen, Alia and Kristen can make us laugh just as hard.

Kids, Time for Recess!

I wandered around for nearly an hour the other day trying to find something yummy. Eventually I stumbled into a new cafe called "Recess". I actually ducked in there because I was trying to evade this guy who was trying to get me to give him money on the street. I felt bad, but there is no way I'm giving out my card information on the street.

Recess is on University Place and it serves sandwiches, coffee, and fro yo. YUM. Everyone working there seemed a little confused but eventually I got my yummyness. The "Ham I Am" sandwich, (ham, pesto, tomatoes, provolone focaccia bread) and coffee. I think the place is more a yogurt/smoothie centric place but the sandwiches were excellent. I sat down awkwardly next to a lady and a dude because I wanted space to do some writing. The fellow who had brought me my food asked me how it was and told me that the lady I was sitting next to had invented it.

From then on I felt as though she was watching my every bite, daring me to make a face. However, I would go back, especially for the froyo...I would just sit somewhere else.

It 'Sucks' You In

I managed to get all of my roommates hooked on True Blood. Last year it was Twilight, this year we've matured a bit in our tastes as you can see.

Watching their reactions is the best part of re-watching the show with them. Sometimes I'd rather watch a movie kind of half facing the screen and half facing the audience so I can see how people respond to certain events, when they clasp their hand over their mouth in horror, smirk because they know what's going to happen next and tap on their friend's arm when they were right, when they tear up and sniffle but try to hide it and when they gasp at a strange turn of events.

It's even better when the movie they are watching is yours!

Taking Woodstock For A Walk

I have loved Demetri Martin ever since he copied Bret McKenzie's every move in the final episode of Flight of the Conchords season one. I promptly downloaded a couple of his albums and my sister and I chuckled to his comedic musical stylings (especially the 'grapes' song...they're so delicious).

Naturally when I saw that Demetri was the star of Ang Lee's new Woodstock film, I was happy as well as a little miffed, as I always am when my lesser known darlings become household names;
ie: Bret and Jemaine, Alexander Skarsgård, Muse, Edward Cullen (yes, there was a time when I was one of a small handful of sparkly vamp fangirls).

But I gave Ang Lee a try, having adored Brokeback Mountain and having hated the Incredible Hulk. No...I did not actually see the Hulk, but that doesn't matter, look me in the eye and tell me that it was a quality film.

My roommate and I trekked down to 30th street to use my free movie passes that I've had for more than a year now:

Ever since I heard about Woodstock when I was about yay high:

I wished I had been there. This film convinced me otherwise. I've always known that hippie culture was a tad romanticized, but I chose to ignore that shower-less fact and kept buying funky hair bands from Free People, speaking out against war and listening to whatever music made me feel happy in the moment. That is about as hippie as I'll ever get.

The film starts out with various peaceful shots of White Lake, an area close to the soon to be home of the most epic concert of all time. We meet Sonia, Elliot's (Demetri Martin) mother, a transformed Imelda Staunton. But as good of an actor as Staunton is, all I see are centaurs carrying her off into the forbidden forest... which is what I wished would happen to her at the end of this film.

Poor Elliot, a twenty something intelligent guy, is still helping his parent's out at their failing motel, despite his aspirations to be an artist. He's one of those guys who's parents need him more than he needs them.

The motel houses a hippie dippy troupe of stereotypical theatre bums in the barn next door. They are led by (a strange casting choice) Dan Fogler, who I only saw in (*dies a little inside*) Fanboys. I was not a fan. I'd like to say; "poor theatre kids! They are always being made fun of and portrayed as spaced out naturists!" But...as an NYU student, always surrounded by hoards of theatre kids who harmonize in elevators and in the laundry room, I think the portrayal is justified. Or maybe I'm just biased because of my awful theatre experiences in high school.

Anyways, Elliot organizes a little musical/theatre festival every year, and the players always outnumber the audience. This year though, the Wallkill music festival has been denied a permit and Elliot has the brilliant idea to expand his festival and allow the Wallkill people to use the land near his motel.

In steps Michael...a Marc Bolan look alike with a perpetually chill demeanor and a penchant for declaring things to be: 'far out'. He's the leader of this whole music festival idea and his leadership techniques are as follows: agree with everything and pay in cash. It seems to work pretty well for him.
I totally thought that he and Elliot would end up together by the end of the movie, but Mike was way too cool for worrywart Elli.

Gradually the hoopla surrounding the concert grows and hippies start flooding into the town, much to the dismay of the townies, who immediately turn against Elliot (and refuse him bacon).

You know the rest:
Janis Joplin, The Who, Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, acid, mud, grass, hunger, happiness.

Though there are hundreds of extras in this film about a grandiose event; essentially this is a coming of age film about a boy who doesn't know how to put himself before others. Ang Lee just uses the groovy Woodstock background to explore this commonly examined subject.

Don't expect a comedy when you see this. The trailer really plays up Liev Schreiber's drag queen antics, very special brownies and groovy 60's vibe, but it's really all about Elliot and family and how he finally learns to enjoy life with the help of a Marc Bolan look alike, a hot carpenter, Meryl Streep's floppy hat clad daughter and a blonde tranny security guard. The theatre I was in burst into laughter nearly every 10 minutes, not because it was funny, but because I'm pretty sure these people were there. How weird is it going to be to see young people portray the year 2009 thirty odd years from now?

Far Out...

Mad House on 7th Avenue and a Caffeine Interjection

Some guy was handing out flyers on 8th street as they always do, I was about to ignore this particular guy (and by ignore I mean...smile sweetly, avert my sunglassed eyes and mutter a nearly silent 'no thanks') but something told me 'don't!'

I didn't, which is good because the flyer was actually a 20% off coupon for Loehmann's. Fierce right? Loehmann's is where you find all the fabulous designer stuff that you wanted a month ago for less than half the price now. My friend, (who had indeed ignored Mr. Flyer Man) upon seeing my coupon immediately turned on her heel to demand one for herself.

Off I trotted to 16th street and 7th avenue to begin my fashion quest. It's...insane in there. People throwing things around, trying things on in the middle of the store, head butting girls who took the last size eight pair of hot pink stilettos (I'm sorry by the way), women leaving their children in corners so that they can gather as many cheapo cashmere sweaters as they can into their arms.

Despite the utter chaos, I could have spent all day in there. Four floors of cahrazy cheap stuff including my favorite brands, Free People and Betsey Johnson .

Moral of the Story: a) don't ignore every flyer dude you see on the street

                               b) go to Loehmann's

Here comes the caffeinated part of this entry:

71 Irving Place Coffee & Tea Bar is uber good. My friend from school told me about it last year, but I only recently went with my family because I wanted to seem cool and like I knew all the off the beaten path cuppa joe joints around the neighborhood.

With a soothingly dim atmosphere and reasonably priced coffee, tea and bakery items, I can't wait to go back...which I might...today.

My dad liked his cappuccino so much he asked me to find out what type of coffee bean they use and when my dad likes something, you know it's good.

The only negative was that it got super duper busy while we were sitting there and I can imagine it's usually very difficult to find a seat, as it's the type of place you go to sit and chill with friends for perhaps hours on end.

In the words a good striped friend of mine:
Tata for now!

Wasabi Ice cream?

I know I said I would talk about coffee and ice cream is not coffee. Except it kind of is, when you get 'moka chip'. Sundaes and Cones is located on 3rd Street and 10th Avenue in Manhattan and is pretty cute. They have a few whacko flavors like the aforementioned wasabi, and then tried and true faves like rocky road and hazelnut. Goodness, the sesame flavor was gray! Can you imagine eating a gray ice cream cone? Creamy and delicious and in a nice little area, go here when you're totally over Fro Yo and want the real thing.

http://www.sundaescones.com/home.htm

By the way...

Red Mango is better than Pinkberry in my humble opinion. Thoughts? They just seem so much more chill at Red Mango and give you a heck of a lot more for around the same price.

While we're on the topic of frozen delights in NYC, I'll throw this one in:

http://www.16handles.com/

Does anyone really needs 16 flavors of frozen yogurt and a self serving toppings station? The answer is yes. At 16 Handles, this dream comes true. You pay by weight and there are sooo many toppings ranging from fruit to...was that ginger I saw last time? I recommend the Euro Tart flavor instead of the regular plain one. It has slightly more tangyness to it.  I have a friend at school who refuses to go anywhere else for ice cream/froyo. Whenever my friends and I go anywhere for dessert, she'll actually go there alone instead of coming with us. That's how cool it is. Just be careful not to overload and end up paying $10 for your mountain of m&ms.

That's my unhealthy addition today!

Twilight...we get it. You're Cool.

The marketing team for the 'Twilight' franchise is getting out of control. I recently arrived at my lovely dorm room and was greeted by a bevy of Robert Pattinson posters on my roommate's side of the room. My roommate is wicked cool and has googling skills like no other. I'm pretty sure she is google. So she tells me that there are several new and exciting Twilight themed items on the market now. Take a peek if you dare.

This is relatively innocuous, just some lame makeup to maybe make you look pale like Bella. Because every girl wants to be pale like Bella.

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/38781800.html

But wait...

http://robpattinson.blogspot.com/2009/08/creepiest-merchandise-ever-edward.html

Now this is just plain creepy. Edward, you are heroic and all, but how can I feel safe when your shadow is hovering over me all night? No thanks. My Legolas cut out will do just fine for keeping me safe.

There are other items that I won't mention because my mom is currently my only reader and I think she'll be perturbed by the creepiness.

Also, this is my friend Rachel's awesome blog about her time in Russia, she goes to Bates but is studying abroad there this semester. She's a fab writer and is just super so read about her Russian adventures: 

http://rachkabobovna.wordpress.com/2009/05/02/im-going-to-russia/#comment-2

Love, Nadie

Frenzy? More like...Fffffwhatever (Spoilersville ahead...I warned you.)

I managed to watch True Blood from the seclusion of my wee lil' dorm room. Every 15 seconds it would freeze and stop to buffer. Or whatever it does when it's not working. Maybe this is the reason for my annoyance with the episode. Or maybe it was just bad.

For those few of you who don't watch the delightful HBO series based on Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse novels, here's the quickest recap ever:

Sookie is a Louisiana barmaid who is telepathic. Her boss is a shapeshifter who's super adorable, her boyfriend is a vampire named Bill (not Antoine or Langdon). Vampires have recently 'come out of the coffin' and blah blah vampire rights, blah blah people are dying, blah blah, Eric Northman is Bill's superior and is awesome.

Second season: Maryanne is a crazy goddess who wreaks havoc on Sookie's town Bon Temps. Sookie goes to Dallas to try and find Eric's maker Godric who's an uber powerful and old vampire. He also looks like a cross between a teenage Frankenstein and a really adorable back up singer in a boy band. Bill says "Soohkehhh" a lot and his 'maker' Lorena pays a visit to him while "Soohkehhh" has gotten herself into a bit of a mess with a crazy church that hates vampires and those who love them. AKA: her. It escalates into an almost war. Godric steps in and tells all the vamps and humans to chill and they do. But not for long. The church sends someone in to bomb Godric's home during a party and some peeps die. Back home in Bon Temps, nearly everyone is under Maryanne's spell. She wants Sam (Sooohkehhh's boss) as a sacrifice to her God Dionysus and she'll stop at nothing to get him...except like...go and get him. So here we are...Maryanne has stolen Sookie's house and made it into some place not fit for Peter Pan's lost boys and the town is bonkers. WHAT TO DO? Well...maybe Evan Rachel Wood knows.

I'll never stop watching True Blood, I've read all the books twice and they are the only books on my shelf right now (I know, that's really bad, I need to buy my school books like yesterday). I love most of the characters (MOST being the keyword) and the setting is just so seductively trashy and awesome.

But riddle me this...
where are all the children of Bon Temps while the parents are out at orgies and TPing the sheriff's department? We know that Arlene's kids are hiding out in the woods near Merlottes, but what are the rest of them doing? Surely I am not to believe that Arlene is the only one with kids in this town. They are cute though and the scene with them and Eric at Fangtasia was priceless. "Teacup humans" he calls them, eyeing the children with a gleam in his eye. We don't know whether Eric wants to devour them or adopt them. Dear ol' Pammy (in an outfit fit for David Bowie) just wants them OUT.

So Sam goes to Eric for help with Maryanne. He flies off to get help, but LO! Mistah Bill Compton in all his leather jacket glory has already gotten to the source of help.

Queen Sophie-Anne LeClerq of Louisiana is played by Evan Rachel Wood, who I've always been like 'eh' about. I would have liked if Alan Ball had stayed true to the books regarding Sophie's age and temperament. She was fifteen and very cool and collected in the book, whereas here...in her palace...on the show...she is extravagant, obnoxious and rather unhelpful.

Bill and Eric have an awesome macho moment outside the Queen's lil' 'day room' (simulates the day time for poor nocturnal vamps) and Eric's hair is delightfully windswept from his flight (yeah, he flies).

The most bizarre scene was when Lafayette has a PTSD moment in which he sees Eric in Lettie Mae's clothing pointing a gun at him. Gosh Alan Ball. Why do you hate my Eric so much? Stop making him so goshdarn evil! Lafayette was dealing BLOOD. So what if it was vampire blood, it was BLOOD. Vampires were hurt and probably killed for it, so Lafayette was doing a bad thing and needed to be punished. Ok, maybe not in a dungeon. But still.

And Tara Thornton...no. I won't even get into her character. Eggs Benedict needs to GO. Right now. Just kill him off within the first two minutes of the season finale. No explanation needed. I'm sorry, that was mean. But this season, there was too much screen time wasted on their relationship. Frankly, no one I know who watches the show could possibly care less about the status of their relationship or what Maryanne's deal is. I dare you to try and find one positive thread about Eggs and Tara's story line on the IMDB.com message board.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0844441/board/threads/ And yes I'm a dork and tried it myself.

All in all, unless Eric (Mr. January) Northman was onscreen (clad in women's clothing or not), I was not riveted to the screen much during this episode.

Also...I don't enjoy the fact that my Eric is canoodling with the Queen (seemingly against his will) in the promo for the finale. Oh Evan Rachel Wood. How I envy you. But still...doesn't the Queen bat for the other team? She can't have it both ways!

Oh wait...yes she can.

See you tomorrow folks. ;)