Golden Globes!

I said before, I would halt the posts with the start of conference play. And here I am, a month later from my previous post, just writing something now! I am a lump. But how my team is doing! The University of Pittsburgh Panthers are undefeated and its great. Unfortunately, I've only seen the games versus Notre Dame and Wisconsin - I've been in other situations where I couldn't very well watch games. But it will be great this Thursday (versus Rutgers, will def be on the YES Network) and Saturday, when I get to go see them play St. John's. I am p-syched about the game versus St. John's: it was a painful loss for the program last year. And I'll be there. I'm going to wear my super-duper Zoo shirt. And maybe wear my Pitt hat... I'm not a big hat wearer. I hope they do well! I don't think we'll win against WVU at all - we cannot defend against the three point shot at all. I think we'll give Villanova run for their money and could win the game three days of the week. And we just get lucky sometimes against UConn... but not WVU and we'll lose to someone else... maybe Marquette?

I saw Pride and Prejudice today. It was sublime. Keira Knightly is smart, witty, and immature, and its her fun immaturity that plays off the character wonderfully. The standard for me is still the BBC version with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth but this verson is so amazingly different it makes them incomparable. The BBC version is the type of production seen through the eyes of the British: its the way they want to see themselves: calm, collected, and reserved. This version makes them out to be approachable and you can see the line of humanity through the time: the Bennets and their friends are bawdy, country, and smart. The tempo of this P&P is so so different from the BBC version: where the quiteness and speed of the '95 work lent itself to seriousness and humor, the rappatattat of this version lends itself to straight-out comedy, passion, and an approachbaility that the BBC version lacked. Donald Sutherland is a father who made me cry; Jena Malone is as old as Lydia should be. One of my biggest bones to pick with the BBC version is the casting of Saffie from AB Fab as Lydia - she's too damn old. Lydia is fifteen and silly and every bit as stupid as a strong-headed fifteen girl should be. Saffie is too immeshed in my mind as the straight man and too old to seriously follow Lydia's storyline.

And Keira Knightley - I hearted her in Pirates of the Carribean, Love Actually, and that soccer movie. She is the Elizabeth Bennett in my heart: Jennifer Ehle plays the E.B. not quite in my mind, but in my best intentions. And let me give a shout out to the art direction on this movie: I admired it so so much. And I realize that the art direction should be silent so I don't notice the sets or the style: but since I sat through the movie enjoyably comparing it to BBC, I loved the pictures and disarray of their lives on the screen. Always in the details! I didn't find this very Hollywood-y - on the contary, it felt foreign/indie. Too much real life, a lack of coating and distance between the characters and their each other, also between the audience and the characters. I will buy this movie on DVD! But then, as you can see from my description, P&P is one of my favorite books. And I do own the BBC version...

I also saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory this weekend; and before I go into what I thought, let me state that the Gene Wilder version is one of my favorite movies. I found points of the production friendly, cute, and smart-ideas... but maybe the points were a step too close for gimmicky to me. I like the show of puppets when the 5 kids had the door open to the Wonka factory and to the cut where Johnny Depp stands next to them. But the flashbacks... the moddish electronic stylings of the Ooompa-Loompa songs... the Day-Glo art direction against the factory insides... too much. All of it. There's too much explanation for the psychosis of the characters (same criticism of Narnia) when it was fine to leave explanation blank in the books. Now, at this moment, maybe I think its for the parents of the children or the writers' own ego that they need to explain all these pointless plot points. We got through the books well enough without explaination why Peter needed to rise up against the White Witch or why Willy Wonka made candy so commitedly... the world was this way, so be it. If the work is strong enough, we believe. We don't need more stories to complete stories... we need strength and confidence from the original source material.

And maybe thats why this P&P was executed so well and stood up so well against the BBC version. It was a different direction and pace from the BBC version, but it was straight up Austen. And this pace just turned Austen's words into a new direction and added to the sassiness of the original material. And P&P had been around for almost 200 years. There's no reason so mess with source material - like C&CF did. Maybe it was because the Gene Wilder version was WIlly Wonka and the Chocolate Factory versus Charlie & CF - there's a separation from the source material that allows the production to go towards new directions without losing the viewer. Or this could just be my opinion.

Random Thoughts from the Globes:
And which studio head decided to finance "The New World?" I am so so over Colin Ferrell.
It must have been cold in that Golden Globes room, you can clearly see Drew Barrymore's nipples. And I'm torn over her dress choice: you can clearly see her boobs are saggy but then mine look no better without a bra. So should I admire her bravery or scoff over her boob-saggy blindness? I'm torn.
So did Steve Carrell's wife really write that speech? I'm so confused.
Not sure how I feel about Gywneth's dress: I think it would be lovelier without any sort of sleeves. But maybe she's feel self-conscious about her arms. And I'm self-conscious about mine all the time so who am I to judge?
Who the hell let Mandy Moore leave the house to go to a worldwide telecast with hair like that?
I give Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe a year. He's too animated too be happy.
I hate the Weight Watchers campaign with the Cher song. But, unfortunately, I do hear the commercial and think, when was the last time I went to the gym?!?!
Lost is the best. show. ever. I should post my thoughts as I watch that show too! (Brillant!)
Rhymes with Chick Flick?!?! Who approved this writing?
Fecility Huffman: Let's keep giving her awards because her speeches are just the best!