300... Don't walk. Run to your iMax!

Frank and Anthony were silly enough to think they could simply show up at the iMax on Sunday, buy tix and stroll into the theater... NOT!

So, Monday, we bought tix online and arrived at least an hour before the scheduled 5:20 show time... and, yes, there was already a ticket holder line, which, surprisingly, was not just teenage boys. We, however, scored the primo center seats in the back row.

As the lights dimmed, the anticipation in the theater was palpable. And we were not disappointed.

From start to finish, this movie will grab your eyeballs and have you boggling at its brilliance, as well as captivate you with its story of passion and heroism. The cast is superb ~ who knew there would emerge from Scotland yet another gorgeous hunk in the form of Gerard Butler. And, I loved that Lena Headey, as his beautiful, intelligent and courageous wife, is not Botoxed to death. I won't wax lyrical about the rest of the cast; suffice to say they were all excellent bar none.

Of course, sitting between two homosexual men I couldn't help but be intensely aware of the buff bodies on screen ~ yikes, get yea to the gym! It can't have all been make-up and special effects.

The sound effects, the music, even the blood and gore, were handled so perfectly that, at the end of the movie, we all agreed that we wanted to sit there and watch it over again.

This is one film I'm glad to have contributed to its box office success. Two thumbs way up!

The Departed

Leonardo DiCaprio stole the show in this tense stomach-twister. I was skeptical walking into the theater since I’d heard that the plot didn’t hold together and that, towards the end, Mr. Nicholson was a parody of himself eliciting laughter from the audience. It’s true, we did laugh, but I think it was a deliberate ploy on Scorsese’s part to relieve the gut wrenching tension, we were rooting for our guy DiCaprio that strongly. The rest of the cast was superb with flawless performances, especially from Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg. It will be interesting to see who gets the nominations come Oscar time. And for all you Leonardo fans, this pic comes courtesy of Warner Bros…. yum!

Shoes Shoes Shoes...

I watched a surprisingly good movie last night ~ In Her Shoes. Of course I shouldn't have been surprised since it was a Scott Free production with Curtis Hanson directing and featured lots of fabulous shoes!

Rent the DVD and be sure to watch the special feature about filming in an Assisted Care Facility for Active Seniors ~ super darling real seniors ~ maybe Florida wouldn't be so bad after all, though currently the retirement plan is Puerto Vallarta.

Then today, I received an email from Ms. Hattie, newly returned from a sojourn to Oklahoma, suggesting that In These Shoes? could be my theme song. Not that I'm close to being Imelda Marcos... much the pity;)

Marie Antoinette ~ Brava Sofia!

I’ve never been a fan of Sofia’s or, indeed, of Kirsten Dunst’s, but with Marie Antoinette, they’ve both hit a home run… and in such glamorous style!

With a total budget of $40 million, I can only imagine how much was spent on wardrobe… and every inch of Shantung silk was worth it, dammit! I won’t start on the shoes… drool.

I’d heard some rumblings prior to the movie about the choice of a contemporary soundtrack, but it worked. Actually, it worked brilliantly. In fact, instead of feeling immersed in stodgy, historical Versailles, I felt like I was hanging out with some rather daring-do people that would fit nicely into my own party circle ~ if only we could afford the fancy pad☺

The movie was utterly decadent from start to finish. The only question at the end (since we know our history) was how those women could indulge in all that champagne and cake and still retain miniature waists?

Haven

Cynthia found it entertaining and engaging. I thought that Orlando Bloom must have needed a tax break and a vacation... that or he owed first-time feature director Frank Flowers. The film was shot in 2003 and has, from what I can gather, gone through the film festival circuit. The thing that bugged me most was the obvious attempt to be different simply for the sake of being different i.e. jerky, out-of-focus cinemaphotography and non-linear story line ~ with lots of exposition for the slow pokes in the audience. It opens next week. You decide.

The Devil Wears Prada -- two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Saw it last night at a GenArt preview. Meryl is impeccable... Stanley Tucci is fabulous... Anne Hathaway is luminous... Emily Blunt is so perfectly bitchy... and the clothes... well, they're enough to make you want to be that size 0...

Da Vinci Code

Between work and socializing I’ve been too busy to maintain this blog, but not too busy to play the Da Vinci Code Quest on Google. I swear it’s addictive -- I’ve solved 17 clues to date and now I have to wait for more puzzles to appear.

Hoping to win four first-class tickets to Rome!! Now, that’s an incentive to study the Italian I’ve been taking classes for but not boning up on in between our weekly gathering.

Speaking of puzzles, the formerly Bodacious Ms. B will now go by her given name of Amy. More names to come...

The Damnedest, Finest Ruins

We premiered our film last night to a select group invited to celebrate the birthday of Mr. John Casey in his historic Fire Station atop Russian Hill… very apropos, very lovely evening. The film was well received, which shouldn’t be a surprise… and we’re looking forward to Thursday when we’re having an invitation-only premiere at the Jarvis Conservatory in Napa, which promises to be a swell do…

Meanwhile, National Geographic is having a premiere this evening for their documentary on the 1906 earthquake, red carpet rolled out for the VIP reception… to which we’re also looking forward, but I don’t imagine there’ll be too many fancy gowns in this weather… where are my wellie boots?

Speaking of clowns, I mean gowns, no actually…

There is finally a site that I’ve wanted to create forever… truedater.com. Just think, before you commit to that go-see and stress out about your hair, make-up, clothes, wax, pedicure, manicure… you name it, hopefully, not all at once, and if so, I hope it’s for more than a cup of coffee, even then you have my sympathy… you can input a man’s handle and check out whether he’s a “true dater”… or not, as the case may be. The site is new and so, obviously, doesn’t cover the gamut of who’s out there, so, it’s up to us to maintain gender solidarity and show those men… and apparently, there’s a lot of them… that we’re tired of their games (which I imagine will spark a new game -- spot the dater's new handle). Not that it’s all about being mean… if you meet someone you like, but is simply not a match for you, then post that too. But, before you do, might want to check that you’re who you say you are!!!

You know what they say about people in glass houses throwing stones… could lead to ruin, though they may be damned fine ones.

La Plastic Stone...

Have you seen Sharon in Basic Instinct 2? I guess there’s nothing like a block-bomb to show off your newly designed tits! Heck, I don’t know if it’s because I’m envious but all that plastique – wow! She must have really wanted to get back at old Phil. Now the papers say she wants to be a rock star… or make that a stone star… maybe it’s just a stoner. Did you see her on Letterman recently… the once intelligent woman who took Hollywood by storm did nothing but giggle at the camera.

To shake off the imagery, I snuck into Failure to Launch. I’ve always liked Matthew McConaughey’s boyish charm. In this flick Matthew, who’ll be 37 this year, is pitted against Sarah Jessica Parker, 41, as his love interest. It’s clear these two have not indulged in any surgery and look all the more real for it. However, Zooey Deschanel was the scene stealer in this cute, predictable romantic comedy where thankfully Kathy Bates did not remove her clothes… instead leaving that to Terry Bradshaw, who for the record will turn 56 in September.

Okay, so sometimes we prefer our nudity to look pretty… go Shar!

The Weinsteins have done IT again... Bravo!

And the contenders for next year’s Oscars are already lining up… Johnny Depp and Samantha Morton set the stage on fire in The Libertine. Malkovich is equally brilliant, but that goes without saying. I saw him on stage in London back in the nineties in 'Burn This' and, though I was in the balcony, could feel the power of his raw charisma.