Friday, December 19, 2008

TGIF Smorgasbord

I have a long, slow day ahead of me in the lab...so here are a bunch of miniposts for your and my entertainment.

Movies I've watched recently:

The Visitor. A depressed college professor travels to New York City for the first time in years and discovers a young immigrant couple living in his apartment. It's slow, sweet, and sad film, featuring great acting and lovely shots of the city.

Enchanted. A Disney cartoon princess comes to life in modern New York City. Yes, it's a ridiculous plot but I still liked the movie.

Cool Hand Luke. After Paul Newman died, I added a couple of his well-known films to my Netflix queue. In this 1967 movie, Paul Newman portrays Luke Jackson, a feisty, popular inmate in a rural Southern prison. It's set in the 1940s, when prisons were segregated. The plot is somewhat similar to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, but comes across as much more dated, with the nicknames and the aw-shucks dialogue. As for the young Paul Newman? The man was smoking hot...and shirtless in about 50% of the movie.

Movies I want to see:

Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, and that Swedish vampire movie (not Twilight). Anyone see them yet?

Restaurant Recommendations:

Pho Republique has become one of my favorite hangouts...it's much more grad-student friendly (read: cheap and casual) than most of the other places in the South End. Good food, excellent drinks, friendly staff, and a funky, relaxed atmosphere. What's not to like? I went there last night to celebrate a friend's birthday...wow, we almost look like Beautiful People in this photo:
Well, that's about it...enjoy the snow and have a great weekend, everyone! Also, for those of you reading American Pastoral...I will post about it this weekend, I promise.
And here's a discussion topic for the comments...Yankee Swaps. Any good or bad stories? We have two separate ones at work, and I made out like a bandit.. I got a waffle maker in one, and a bottle of vodka in the other. Hooray! My labmate Caro was 0 for 2, though- she got a desk calendar from 2006 and a bunch of cancelled stamps. Ouch. And another coworker ended up with a ceramic turtle that you use to heat scented oils. Yikes.

9 comments:

KcM said...

I saw Let the Right One In, and liked it quite a bit.

I refuse to see Slumdog Millionaire...I've got a huge chip on my shoulder about that film. Having tried out for Millionaire and gotten rejected (on basis of my boring personality -- I aced their rinkydink quiz), very soon after getting horrendously dumped by my then-gf, whose friend was on millionaire and won 16K (we were her friends in the audience), I have noooo -- none, zip, zero -- desire to see a movie involving some guy overcome adversity, win a million, and land the girl of his dreams. Because. that. s%&t. doesn't. happen.

It's true, I may still be slightly bitter. It's only been two years.

Anonymous said...

Aimee and I saw Milk in the Castro Theatre in SF. It was really good. Being in the castro made it all the more real, but i still highly recommend it. Just enough male on male to make some people uncomfortable but not over the top. i want to know more about the mayor now. he doesn't get much press for some reason. On a paul newman note, i think he's awesome and was planning to do a netflix tribute to him one of these weekends, you now remotivated me.

eileen said...

Kevin, for you, I recommend Jeopardy...and binge drinking :)

eileen said...

Durbs...yeah, i'm sure it was neat to see Milk in SF. and Paul Newman rules! I'm thinking a The Hustler/ The Color of Money double feature is in order.

Anonymous said...

We say Slumdog, and it's way more about the people and not the show, so time to lighten up KcM! It is a wonderful fun movie, i loved it!

Anonymous said...

I would totally support a Paul Newman last day of 2008 retrospective double feature. We could have salad dressing and spaghetti sauce to complete the tribute.

Anonymous said...

Paul Newman? Please see Slap Shot, it is wonderful.

Anonymous said...

1) Just watch Waitress (Kerri Russell) and I highly recommend it.

2) It makes me happy to read that Caro was 0 for 2. I remember we did a yankee swap with the Micro dept and i had a cool $15 gift card to itunes (i was moving back to LA) and ended up with a mug in the shape of a tooth. Caro brought in that tooth mug. I curse her every time I hear the word "balderdash." haha. yea, i'm still holding a grudge.

eileen said...

Oooh...Paul Newman movies and Paul Newman cuisine? That's a win-win.

Tina, I think you are misremembering...I do believe it was C. Genco who put in the tooth mug, and wasn't that the year you wrapped up the rice-a-roni and taco shells? I won them and ended up keeping them.