A funny thing happened on the way to this Monday… The Lorax has a huge opening weekend, Siri comes to life

-o- Lindsay Lohan hosts SNL, stars in new film -o-

(Source: Getty Images)

And she’s back: Lohan made fun of her own “bad-girl rep” and run-ins with the police while hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend. She will also be starring as Elizabeth Taylor in the upcoming Liz & Dick. Here’s the CNN article on the young star’s comeback.

-o- 5 Reasons the Virginia ultrasound bill is still ridiculous -o-

Virginia’s mandatory ultrasound bill is now on it’s way to the states’s governor, Bob McDonnell. Though the final version does not have the mandatory ultrasound stipulation, it’s still a TERRIBLE bill. Read this piece from Mother Jones by Maya Dusenbery.

Among the reasons? According to two not-yet-released studies, research has shown that women’s decision-making processes are not affected by the sight of an ultrasound.

-o- The Lorax has a huge opening weekend -o-

Despite the outcry over product placement in the movie, it banked $70.7 million over the weekend.

(Source: Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar)

Here’s the Guardian film blog post for more information.

-o- 500 New fairy tales discovered in Germany -o-

New fairy tales!!! A collection of 500 stories were discovered after hiding in Regensburg, Germany for over 150 years. Here’s the Guardian piece.

-o- Contest Winners: Siri Comes to Life in 3D -o-

A few weeks ago Shapeways asked their readers to submit “What Siri Looks Like.” Here’s the Shapeways post; and here’s the article on The Huffington Post. One of the winners, “Omniscient Siri” but SaGa Design, is below. Check out the links for photos of the other winners and honorable mentions!

(Source: SaGa Design, Shapeways)

-o- World’s 10 Most Picturesque Villages -o-

From Yahoo! Here’s the gallery. They all look amazing, but check out these buildings in Shirakawa-go, Japan! 

(Source: Ekatarina Pokrovsky/Dreamstime.com)

-o- Archie issue featuring gay marriage sells out -o-

Despite the fact that the conservative group One Million Moms protested the selling of this comic in Toys R Us, even threatening to withdraw business from the store if they carried the issue, it sold out! Here’s the Guardian article.

HA!

-o- TV Characters you love to hate -o-

List from the A.V. Club by their staff. Who’s your favorite love-to-hate character? The ones from this selection I agree with most vehemently are Jack and Kate from Lost; though Will Schuester from Glee is a close second! I think I may hate him for real, though…

Advertisements

A funny thing happened on the way to this Monday… the Oscars! Huge lobster found off the coast of Maine

-o- The Oscars happened! -o-

Sacha Baron Cohen stole the show, in my opinion, plugging The Dictator in costume. No surprise there! A few hours after the photo below was taken, Samantha Murphy on Mashable Entertainment writes about his “shenanigans.” The actor and comedian dumped the fake ashes of Kim Jong Il onto Ryan Seacrest… here’s Murphy’s piece.

(Jason Merritt – GETTY IMAGES)

And the winners are…

Best Picture – The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
Best Actor – Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Best Director – Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography – Hugo, Martin Scorcese
Best Actress – Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Best Original Screenplay – Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen

• Coverage from The New Yorker throughout the year of Best Picture nominees; Archive.
• Oscars “Snubs and Omissions”, according to Forbes; According to the piece, the failure of any of these six films to receive a nomination is to be considered a notable omission: We Need To Talk About Kevin, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Drive, Bridesmaids, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Article. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo won Best Film Editing, though…
• By 9:30 p.m., 3 book-based films had won an award.
• Bonus from 2011’s ceremony: CollegeHumor’s “Top Ten ‘James Franco Is Stoned’ Oscar Moments”; video.

-o-  Toddler-sized lobster found in Maine, the Titantic’s final lunch menu up for auction -o-

Bon Appetit’s food blog Friday had some great entries: the Titantic’s final lunch menu is up for auction and expected to fetch 100,000 pounds, a 27-pound lobster was found and released of the coast of Maine, and astronauts, theoretically, crave spicy foods due to a compromised sense of smell.

Here’s the Telegraph piece on the menu auction, and here’s the MSNBC article on the huge lobster.  Find the other selections and links in BA‘s blog post.

(source: Reuters)

-o- Ebook variation strategies from The Guardian -o-

Political pamphlets, serial-style novels… what other tricks of the publishing trade are ebook marketers using to get readers interested and keep them there?

Here’s the piece by Benedicte Page.

-o- Ben and Jerry’s drop fortune cookie bits from Lin-sanity ice cream -o-

And it continues… after an ESPN writer was fired and a news anchor suspended for using and then repeating the phrase “Chink in the Armor” in regard to Jeremy Lin, Ben and Jerry’s just announced they’ve replaced fortune cookie pieces with waffle cone bits in their Lin-inspired ice cream, “Taste the Lin-Sanity.”

Here’s the article on CNN.

(Image Source: Boston Globe)

-o- 10 Movie Poster Clichés -o-

You’ll be amazed and impressed and the number of examples Christophe Courtois has found for each of his categories. Among them? Large faces above small figures on a beach, people lying in bed, and a stark blue background with an image, often a silhouette, in the foreground of the poster.

From 22 Words: List, with numerous examples.

-o- Survival Books for the Apocalypse -o-

From io9.com, “Survival Books to keep on your bookshelf in case of the apocalypse”; here’s the list.

-o- Slutty Girl Brownies on The Londoner -o-

(Source: The Londoner)

Drooling. Seriously. Recipe (click if you dare).

The AFI Silver Theater European Film Showcase, Nov. 3-22

The EU Film Festival at the American Film Institute’s Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring begins this Thursday evening with the opening film The Woman in the Fifth, directed by Pawel Pawlikowski.

This post is about an upcoming adventure in the Silver Theater. I’ve been there once: in the summer of 2006 I saw Jaws there (for the first and only time- I was terrified and my friends were unsympathetic, but also- I was disappointed. I hate when people ruin the endings of things for me even when they ARE decades old, so I won’t vent here, but feel free to ask me about it slash convince me why it’s a great film).

So, among the films featured in this year’s showcase are:

The Woman in the Fifth – Pawel Pawlikowski (Poland)
-o- based on the novel by Douglas Kennedy, this film follows a desperate man searching for love and family in Paris. This film is billed on the site as a “moody existential thriller” and is an official selection of the 2011 Toronto Film Festival. It is shown in English and French with English subtitles. The opening night film will be followed by a reception.

Le Havre – Aki Kaurismäki (Finland)
-o- this is the Centerpiece Screening of the showcase. The masterful Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki weaves a tender story of a self-centered man whose perspective changes when his wife gets sick and he comes upon a stowaway in need of help. This 2011 Oscar selection, Finland merits two “primetime” showings at the AFI: Saturday Nov. 5 at 8:15pm and Sunday Nov. 6 at 7:15pm. It will be shown in Finnish and French with English subtitles.

The Deep Blue Sea – Terence Davies (England)
-o- Rachel Weisz plays a women far beyond the brink of desperation and her struggle for passion and companionship postwar Britain. This film is an adaptation of the 1952 Terence Rattigan play and is an official selection of the 2011 Toronto Film Festival.

A Dangerous Method – David Cronenberg (England)
-o-  starring Viggo Mortensen, Kiera Knightley and Michael Fassbender and based on screenwriter Christopher Hampton’s play “The Talking Cure,” delves into the intellectual pursuits, fits of intense passion and daily lives of Carl Jung (Fassbender), Sigmund Freud (Mortensen), and a young woman treated by both doctors (played by Knightley). A Dangerous Method is an official selection of the 2011 Venice, Telluride, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – Thomas Alfredson (England)
-o- this new adaption of John le Carré’s 1974 Cold War spy novel stars Gary Oldman as George Smiley, the steady, brilliant ex-British spy who spearheads the search for a mole within his agency. Also starring Colin Firth and David Dencik, the trail of the mole has run cold until a younger spy, Ricki Tarr, surfaces and puts Smiley back on the track.
Gary Oldman and director Thomas Alfredson are both scheduled to appear at this closing night showing.

Other films this year include: Every Song is About Me (Todas las Canciones Hablan de Mi) directed by Jonás Trueba, Spain; Dreaming the Quiet Man directed by Merry Doyle, Ireland; Outbound directed by Bogdan George Apetri, Romania; and She Monkeys directed by Lisa Aschan, Sweden.

For more info check out the EU Showcase schedule on the Silver Theatre’s website. Here is the full calendar – the EU showcase films are in blue.

Finally, the best reason to go (not counting the cultural enrichment thing): this theatre does happy hour. For serious. You need to be attending the show, but still! From 5:30-7 pm, the theater features drink specials and complimentary finger food from local restaurants. During the EU Film Festival, happy hours will be held on November 4, 10, 11, 17 and 18.

I plan to be there Friday the 4th to see Every Song is About Me and Friday the 18th to see A Dangerous Method, directed by David Cronenberg and starring Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud. I hope to see you there.