Weekend Report

Friday- Went to the Celtics game with my parents, sister Eri, and her fiancé Ryan. The Celtics defeated the Charlotte Bobcats handily, and I had a soft pretzel and several beers for dinner, a meal choice that would cause problems later. After the game, we met up with some friends at Durty Nelly’s, a small pub tucked along the backside of Faneuil Hall near the haymarket food stands. I hadn’t been there before and really liked it- it was a pleasant surprise to find such a mellow little bar in a touristy part of town. We then headed back to Southie and stopped in at the local tavern before I decided to cut out early and order pizza, only to discover that no one in Boston will deliver pizza after 1AM. This is a shortcoming of our fine city that needs to be addressed.

Saturday- Woke up feeling less than stellar, and then embarked on a wedding venue hunt with Eri, Ryan, my sister Kerry, and my dad. We piled into a minivan and drove through the suburbs, and despite the fact that we were running late, got lost, and more than half the members of the party were hungover, we managed to get through the day without too many unpleasant incidents. I somehow managed to eat ham at every meal of the day: a ham and cheese croissant for breakfast, a ham sandwich for lunch, and a ham dinner at my parents’ house. In FramingHAM.

Sunday- I caught the matinee showing of Be Kind, Rewind- a goofy movie starring Jack Black and Mos Def. The premise is both simple and fairly ridiculous- when the entire catalogue of VHS tapes at the video store where Mos Def works gets accidentally erased, he and Jack Black start filming their own versions to replace the inventory. Their remake of Ghostbusters becomes a neighborhood hit, and soon customers are lining up to request new editions of their favorite films. Although the movie has some very funny scenes, it's not a Nacho Libre type comedy. Be Kind, Rewind is the newest film from director Michel Gondry, who made Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but of all his movies, his documentary Dave Chapelle's Block Party bears the most similarity to his newest release. Despite the comedic antics of Jack Black and Mos Def, it's a movie about a community and the people who live in it. The only critique I have is that it paints an unrealistically rosy picture of an poor neighborhood, but that might be the point- Be Kind, Rewind isn't trying to be Boyz in the Hood, it's aiming to demonstrate how art (cinema, in particular) can touch lives and bring people together.