Category: movies

A Town Called Panic

We had a pretty quiet three-day weekend: E and N were both sick so we mostly just hung around the house and ran a few errands. We did however watch a fun movie that a friend had recommended: A Town Called Panic.

This stop-motion animated Belgian movie is delightfully surreal. The humor and the somewhat crude animation style might not be for everyone but it kept me giggling. The voice work was a big part of the charm for me; I’ve heard that there’s an English dub somewhere but it’s hard to imagine it could be as good as the original French version with English subtitles.

The movie stars three toys: Horse, Cowboy, and Indian. When Cowboy and Indian realize it’s Horse’s birthday they order some bricks to build him a barbecue as a present. But they accidentally order 50 million bricks which then show up on their doorstep. As you might guess, hijinks ensue. What you might not expect is how those hijinks include a journey to the center of the earth, a giant robot penguin, sneaky aqua-people, and a romance with a piano lesson-teaching lady horse.

If you like sort of silly surreal things, I’d recommend giving A Town Called Panic a shot. It’s available on Netflix streaming which is where we watched it.

Sundance Film Fest 2011: Part Two

On Saturday night N and I went out to dinner at The Copper Onion which is conveniently located next to the Broadway theater where our first movie of the night was playing. After seeing a parade of restaurants open and close in this space over the years I’m so glad to see that The Copper Onion is still going strong a year after it opened. The food is great! I love their sides in particular. Everything is very fresh and flavorful. In the summer N and I fight over their beet salad but the star of this last visit was the roasted cauliflower with anchovy cream and capers (in the middle of the photo below).

It was SO GOOD. I would have happily have eaten a big bowl of it for my entree. I also really liked the shredded brussels sprouts; the spinach with raisins and cashews was good but just okay. N got a plate of sweet breads and I got the pasta special and we shared everything. It was delicious but somewhat bittersweet because after the baby’s born I’m cutting out all dairy, eggs, and nuts from my diet while I’m nursing and I’m really going to miss food like this.

About the movies: the first film was saw was Incendies which is nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. Based on a play by a well-known Lebanese-Canadian playwright, Wajdi Mouawad, the film opens with the reading of the unusual will of Nawal Marwan, a secretary of a Canadian notary. In her will Nawal’s twin children Jeanne and Simon are charged with finding their father (whom they understood to be dead) and their brother (whom they didn’t knew existed) and delivering sealed letters to them.

The film cuts between scenes of Nawal’s life in an unspecified Middle Eastern country (Lebanon) as a civil war breaks out between Muslims and Christians and those of the twins traveling around their mother’s homeland in the present day searching for their father and their brother.

The film is really great and was my favorite of the three things we saw this year. The director, Denis Villeneuve, does a great job conveying the sense of place that is so critical to the story. And he handles several big plot reveals with a light hand and allows the story to tell itself.

After the screening Villeneuve conducted an excellent Q&A and provided some thoughtful insights into the movie as well as patiently answered a few moronic questions from the audience. One tidbit was that for a while the studio wanted to release the movie with the title Scorch but then backed off once they realized it made the film seem like a B movie. For more details about the film see N’s review here.

After Incendies we drove to the other end of downtown and saw Martha Marcy May Marlene. The movie rests on the shoulders of Elizabeth Olson (younger sister to Mary Kate and Ashley) and she carries it handily. Olson plays Martha, a young girl who falls in with a group of young people living commune-style on a farm in upstate New York. The group is headed by a older man who exercises absolute authority over everyone. The movie never uses the world “cult” but it becomes obvious that’s what life on the farm is.

Soon into the film Martha runs away from the farm and seeks refuge with her estranged sister Lucy and Lucy’s husband Paul. The rest of the movie cuts between Martha’s life with the cult and her struggles to integrate into Lucy and Paul’s upper-middle class life. The movie rides on Olson’s ability to depict her character’s inner turmoil without turning it into melodrama and I think she did a great job. It’s especially impressive since it’s one of her first feature films. For N’s take on the movie see his review here.

Sundance Film Fest 2011: Part One

The past few years N and I have bought locals’ ticket packages for Sundance. It’s always been a lot of fun: after the craziness of the holidays and in the middle of the January doldrums it’s great to play hooky from real life and go see some great movies. We usually go see about six movies but with the baby coming so soon this year we just bought tickets to three. It was really nice to go out on a last few dates before she arrives.

On Friday night we ate some delicious Middle Eastern food at Maza and then walked over to the Tower Theater and watched the Korean revenge thriller I Saw the Devil by Kim Ji-woon.

(Yum…tasty, tasty revenge)

I’ve seen several Korean thrillers: Kim Ji-Woon’s A Tale of Two Sisters, Park Chan-Wook’s Vengeance trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Old Boy, Lady Vengeance), Memories of Murder, The Host, Mother, etc… and I think that I Saw The Devil is one of the most disturbing. I actually found myself covering my eyes at times which I normally don’t do. It’s very violent and definitely not for everyone (or probably even most) but I thought it was pretty good.

The director Kim Ji-woon and one of the film’s stars, the very cute Byung-Hun Lee, attended the screening and introduced the film but unfortunately didn’t stick around for a Q&A. You can read N’s more detailed review here.

Sundance Tickets for Locals


For the past few years N and I have bought locals ticket packages for the Sundance Film Festival. We like to avoid the crowds up in Park City and go to screenings in Salt Lake. Not as many directors/actors attend the shows in Salt Lake as they do in Park City so there aren’t as many Q&A sessions afterward but not having to drive an hour each way in horrible weather + deal with parking = worth it. Every year it’s been a lot of fun and it’s great to see movies that we wouldn’t get the chance to see otherwise. It’s also a nice break to spend some time one-on-one with N after the craziness of the holidays.

However, we decided not to get a ticket package this year since the festival runs from January 20th-30th and my due date is January 31st. Instead we’re going to buy individual tickets to a couple screenings that hopefully fall closer to the 20th than the 30th.

If you’re a local and you’re interested in tickets this year don’t forget to register for a time slot to buy tickets. Registration is free and everyone who registers will be randomly assigned a time slot to go to the box office and purchase tickets. You have until next Monday the 20th to register here.

Yay for the weekend!

My quarterly report for work is finally finished which means that I can stop and just breathe for the first while since we got back from Korea. Not having any pressing work deadlines means that I’ve emerged from my stressed-out stupor, looked around my house and realized “Er, I should really clean this place up.” However, that’s what tomorrow is for.

Today I’m treating myself for finishing my report and I’m getting a start on holiday gift-shopping. After I drop E off at preschool I’m heading down to Provo to check out the Bijou Market, a craft fair that usually has some really cool things. And then depending on time I may treat myself to lunch at a local Korean place.

Last night N and I went out to dinner and saw the new Harry Potter movie. N’s company rented out a theater and so we got to see the movie at 6:45 pm instead of midnight. (I’m still not sure how we got to see it before midnight, though. Maybe there weren’t the same time restrictions on private screenings?) As we were walking into the theater there was already a long line of teenagers camped outside the theater (some in tents). The security was pretty crazy. When I left my seat to go to the restroom I had to show my ticket at least three times to get back to my seat.

But it was really fun to hang out with N and chat with the people from his office. I thought the movie did a pretty good job. The first part of the book is not really my favorite part and the movie alternates between long scenes of Harry, Hermione, and Ron wandering the picturesque countryside and frenetic fight scenes.

The movie definitely feels like the first half of a longer film; I found myself checking my watch to see how likely it was that they would be able to wrap up the movie in a satisfying conclusion. But they don’t even really try: there were groans from the audience when the movie ended abruptly. But the movie was fun to watch and the actors did a great job, particularly the A-list supporting cast and Emma Watson. It’s worth seeing; I just wish I could have seen part two immediately following it. (Oh, and if you go I would recommend sitting pretty far back: the camera work during some of the fight scenes is pretty close. (But maybe that’s just because I’m getting old)).

Weekend Update

We had an epic date on Saturday that lasted from just before 5 pm until after midnight. It was great spending so much time with N. His department at work took us to dinner and then to a Real Salt Lake game. I hadn’t ever been to a professional soccer game before but I surprised by how much fun it was. Apparently our team is pretty good–they won 2-0 and it was their 21st home win in a row.

During the game the section we were sitting in won free Whoppers from Burger King and everyone got these pom-poms with coupons on the handles. E has been having fun shaking our around the house. I think E would have enjoyed the game but probably isn’t old enough to last through the whole thing. If we’re still living here in a couple of years it would be fun to take him.

There are several different fan groups that sit in the south end of the stadium. Two of them have drum lines that drum and chant during the ENTIRE GAME. We were sitting a little close so it was kind of loud but I sort of liked it. It made me nostalgic about playing drums in the pep band during high school games. And it definitely added an upbeat feel to the game. Plus I have to admire the endurance of anyone who can drum and cheer for two hours straight.

After the game N and I realized that if we hustled across the street we could make it to a showing of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I was kind of tired by this point but really liked the movie. I liked the graphic novels it’s based on and I think they did a good job adapting it for the screen. I recommend seeing it; it’s a lot of fun.

The weekend went by in a bit of a blur and now today I’m rushing around getting ready to take E and go visit my family in WA. I’m looking forward to catching up on some sleep, playing with my mom’s dog’s litter of Maltese puppies, and eating loads of delicious Korean food.

Epic Parenting FAIL

On Saturday night N and I went out with our friends Kristin and Ryan to dinner and to see Kick A**. I wanted to see it because I like kung fu movies, super heroes, nerdy kids, and 11 year-old girls swearing like sailors (just kidding!). But seriously, I read the reviews beforehand so I knew what type of movie I was going to go see. The movie was for the most part well-made and I liked it but it’s definitely not a kids’ movie. I think 16 is probably even too young in most cases. It’s not even a movie for squeamish adults.

Which was why I did a double take when I walked in the theater and saw a family sitting down with their approximately 9 year-old son. And then when the movie was over a mom walked passed us with her 6 year-old daughter! Who DOES THAT? Either the parents were totally clueless about what the movie was going to be like (in which case they should have walked out when the realized their mistake) or they they were simply too lazy to arrange babysitting. Way to traumatize your kids!

I try not to be judgmental regarding other parents (I have plenty of weaknesses of my own) but parents taking their kids to see age-inappropriate movies is a huge pet peeve of mine. Once they’re at a movie kids are a captive audience and it’s part of your job as a parent to make sure what they’re watching isn’t going to freak them out or damage them.

Epic parenting FAIL!

Babies!

Prepare yourself for some serious cuteness. I’m really looking forward to seeing this movie. (And I like the Sufjan Stevens’ song used in the trailer.)

My brother-and-sister-in-law Ken and Mindy are arriving tonight to stay the weekend so I’m off to do one last round of house-tidying. My niece A is turning one today so we have her party to go to tonight and then a family dinner on Sunday. Our weekend is shaping up to be a little crazy but it should be lots of fun too.

Sundance 2010: Louis CK “Hilarious”

Even though he sometimes uses language that would make my mother faint, Louis CK is one of my favorite comedians. (And the part about my mom is no exaggeration. My brother Steven is a huge Howie Mandel fan (yes, apparently there is such a thing) and for his birthday he wanted to go see Howie perform but when Mr. Deal-Or-No-Deal started dropping the swears my mom freaked out and wanted to leave but Steven wanted to stay. So she covered her ears and successfully blocked the evening from her memory.)

You may have seen one of Louis CK’s comedy specials on Comedy Central or noticed him as Amy Pohler’s cop love interest on Parks and Recreation. Hilarious, is a two-hour performance movie by Louis CK. It was really funny but I wouldn’t recommend it if you have delicate sensibilities (This means you, Mom!).

The best part of the viewing was that Louis CK was there in person! He introduced the film and then held a lengthy Q&A session afterward. It was fun to see him in person. He definitely had a self-loathing vibe roiling off him (surprise, surprise) but he was very nice. I was tempted to ask to take a picture with him but decided it would be tacky; he looked really tired by the end of the Q&A.

Louis CK did a bit on Conan’s show that’s been making the rounds on the ol’ internets. It’s pretty great (and swear-free since it was on network tv). He included a longer version of it in the movie. Check it out.

Back to Normal

It seems like E is finally back to his cheerful self. He’s eating and sleeping much better. I think I’m going to take him to preschool today; he hasn’t been in weeks and he’s been getting antsy. I’m looking forward to getting a bit of a break myself and going to the gym, something I didn’t get to do when E was sick.

I just hope E can stay healthy for a while. It seems like he has been catching every bug that comes around lately. I’ve been pretty stringent about following the preschool’s policy of not bringing E to preschool when he’s sick but it seems like E keeps picking up illnesses there. (Le sigh.)

I was going to write a review of Grown Up Movie Star, the other Sundance film we saw last Friday but I’m having trouble mustering the enthusiasm at present. I liked the movie quite a bit, as did N. It’s about a girl coming-of-age in a little snowy town in Newfoundland. (It will probably be rated-R when it is released but there’s no nudity in it, just adult subject matter and language.) N’s review is really good if you’re interested in reading more about the movie.

Oh, and in other news, the new semester of woodworking class starts today–yay! I’m really excited. I’ve officially run out of room in my house for any more furniture so I’m going to make a spice cabinet to hang on my kitchen wall. I’m not quite done with my plans yet but will post details as they come together. I’m excited.