TINY: A Story About Living Small (2013)

"Itty Bitty Living Space"

This is a documentary about tiny houses, a concept that is at once fascinating and important. It seems like tiny houses will be a big part of the future, and more and more people are catching onto that notion. In a world full of increasing debt and stress, people are starting to question the need for buying huge, expensive homes. 

The narrator and man behind this documentary is Christopher Smith, a guy in his 30's living in Boulder, Colorado, who decides that he wants to build a tiny house on top of a trailer. Helping him with this endeavor is his girlfriend, Merete Mueller.  

Merete and Christopher

The film discusses such themes as how we define "home," how to live a meaningful life, and what the American Dream means today. I found it interesting, informative, and inspiring.

Notes: 

As the film begins, Christopher Smith confides,

"I'd had this dream to build a cabin in the mountains since I was a kid." 

Chris grew up in a military family, where they moved back and forth across the United States eight different times. He admits that he has never felt like he belonged anywhere. Four months before his 30th birthday, Chris decided to buy a plot of land in Hartsel, Colorado. He plans to construct a tiny house on top of a trailer in the backyard of a friend, and then later, once it's completed, move it to his own land.

Chris was surprised to learn that it is illegal to build small in many places. His own county has a minimum house size of 600 square feet. So he decided to build his tiny house on wheels because it's considered a temporary structure and building codes do not apply. 

His plan is to have finished building a tiny house of 124 square feet by the end of the summer. The film shows him going to pick up the trailer, and then beginning construction in May. 

Chris and his tiny house

Around 13 minutes into the film, there is an exploration of the worldwide community of tiny home owners, and it's fascinating. This is my favorite part of the film. A montage of pictures are shown of tiny house owners standing in front or inside their homes, along with the square footage and their locations. Some of them are interviewed, including an architect who says that "70% of all the pollution in the air is caused by buildings." And she talks about wanting to minimize that and trying to have a positive environmental impact.  

Interesting fact:

"From 1970 to 2000, the average size of a new house in America has almost doubled."

Around half way through the film, Christopher confides that his biggest fear at the moment is not  finishing the tiny house at all, because he has run out of money. 

Tammy Strobel and Logan Smith are a couple living in a 128 square foot tiny house in Portland, Oregon. Tammy describes how she used to work at a job in the investment management industry, where everyday she commuted two hours and sat in a cubicle for 10 hours, and she was miserable. As Tammy and Logan show the cameraman around their tiny home, they talk about the advantages of down-sizing your life. While philosophizing about what's really meaningful in life, she says that she asked herself,

"Do you really want to spend your time working at a job you hate to buy crap that you can't afford?"

And she says in a lot of ways, she thinks that "tiny-housers" have figured that out. Tammy confides that she and Logan are now debt-free. 

As August hits, Christopher admits that he thought he would be done with the house by now, and he is only half way done with the exterior. And in a kind of out-of-left-field moment, Merete also admits that she is planning on moving to New York City.  

Chris constructs the roof

 By December, construction has come to a halt on Chris' tiny house. He explains that he is trying to focus on working at his job as much as possible to save up the money he needs to finish the project.

In January, progress on the tiny house picks up because Chris is given more hours at work which means more money for construction, and Merete quits one of her jobs so that she has more time to help Chris build. 

In April, Chris brings his family over to see the house. It's cute seeing the small smile that never leaves Chris' Dad's face as he looks around at the house that his son built, a quiet pride radiating off of him. 

Chris and Merete's tiny house

There is an oddly touching moment in the film where Chris and Merete are working late at night on sewing curtains for the windows of the house, and they are learning how to do so from a video that a woman posted online. As the voice of the woman from the video carries out over the room and Merete and Chris listen intently, there's this beautiful feeling of modern humanity. Yes, it's technology, and yes, they aren't actually communicating with this woman face-to-face; but there's something touching about the idea that people take the time to make "how-to" videos and post them online for the sole purpose of giving that knowledge away to complete strangers. There's this sense of community and human connection as Chris and Merete listen to that woman's voice and work diligently to make something with the knowledge that she is giving them for free.

The following May, Chris is finally able to move his tiny house to his plot of land in Hartsel. He says that in the end, his tiny home took one year to complete, and cost $26, 000. 

Success!

"TINY: A Story About Living Small" had its world premiere at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival.

TINY: A Story About Living Small (2013)

Directed and Produced by: 

Merete Mueller, Christopher Smith

Writer: Merete Mueller

Speak Thunder Films Production

I feel like if I could just get the bookmarks on my laptop sorted, my life would come together

Annie Hall (1977)

Annie Hall (1977), MGM Studios

"Annie Hall" is amazing and hilarious. Either you hate Woody Allen's humor or you love it, and I love it. In my humble opinion, it's clever, witty, intelligent, and neurotic. 

Woody Allen's influence has been far-reaching in the world of film, television, and trends (*cough* hipsters). "Annie Hall" is a major example of how much impact he's had on the entertainment industry in terms of humor and style.

Notes on the film:

The movie opens with Woody Allen aka Alvy Singer looking like this:

Meet Alvy Singer aka The Original Hipster

 He's telling jokes to explain his outlook on life. The punch line to the first joke is something like, "The food is terrible and the portions are too small." Alvy remarks, "Well, that's essentially how I feel about life. Full of loneliness, misery, suffering and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly." The second joke goes like this:

"I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member."

And he says, "That's the key joke of my adult life in terms of my relationships with women."

Alvy talks about how he just turned 40, and he's having some kind of life crisis. He reveals that he and Annie broke up a year ago and he can't wrap his mind around it. 

He then starts going into details and stories about his childhood.  He thinks maybe the fact he grew up in a house directly under a roller coaster on Coney Island accounts for his nervous personality. He didn't get along with his classmates or his teachers and his mother accuses him of always seeing the worst in people.

My child disappoints me

The film then jumps back to present day, when Alvy is still dating Annie, and they meet up to see a movie. 

Meet Annie Hall

Annie has arrived a little late, so the film is already two minutes in, and Alvy refuses to go in and watch the movie because he has to see movies from start to finish. 

They decide to go see another film (that hasn't started yet), 1972's "The Sorrow and the Pity." While they are waiting in line, the man behind them begins sharing his opinions on film and media to his date loudly. This is driving Alvy nuts, and he begins to make wry comments about the guy while simultaneously arguing with Annie about various things.

This guy is the worst

Alvy becomes so annoyed with the man behind him that he starts complaining directly to the camera, and the man overhears him and they both start arguing back and forth about Marshall McLuhan. At one point, Alvy demands 

"Aren't you ashamed to pontificate like that?"

Is this one of the best lines in movie history? The answer is yes. 

Alvy puts an end to the discussion by pulling the actual person of Marshall McLuhan into the conversation, and Mr. McLuhan takes Alvy's side. Alvy looks at the camera and quips, "Boy, if life were only like this." 

"I happen to have Marshall McLuhan right here"

Back at home, Alvy and Annie discuss the movie and then their non-existent sex life when Alvy tries to kiss Annie and she's not into it. Annie says she's just going through a phase and reminds him that he was married once, and doesn't he know how these things go? Now there is a flashback to the conversation between Alvy and his first wife, Allison (Carol Kane), when they first met. At one point Alvy starts making presumptions about her life and then says, "stop me before I sound like an imbecile," and Allison replies,

"No, that was wonderful, I love being reduced to a cultural stereotype."

You're kind of an asshole, but I like it

 The film jumps to the end of their relationship when Alvy is going over his theory on who shot JFK while Allison is trying to get him into bed. Exasperated with him, she says, "You're using this conspiracy theory as an excuse to avoid sex with me." Alvy turns to the camera and says, "Oh my God... she's right." 

Alvy and Annie are on a beach vacation, trying to wrangle live lobsters that are crawling around on the kitchen floor. Annie decides it's a photo-op. 

Cheeeeese

Then they are walking along the beach, and Alvy is asking Annie about her past relationships. They jump back in time to when she was dating an actor and they watch as he explains to a younger Annie, "Acting is like an exploration of the soul, it's very religious. Like a kind of liberating consciousness. It's like a visual poem." To which Alvy remarks, "Is he kidding with that crap?"

Flashback to Alvy's second marriage, where he and his wife argue about the validity of watching sports, psychoanalytical categories for Alvy's sexual advances, and living in the country vs living in the city. 

Alvy and his friend, Rob (Tony Roberts) are discussing living in California vs living in New York. Rob points out that you can lay outdoors everyday in the sun in California, to which Alvy responds,

"The sun is bad for you. Everything our parents said is good is bad. Sun... milk... red meat... college." 

Rob and Alvy walk into an indoor tennis court where Rob's girlfriend and her friend, Annie, are waiting, and this is when Alvy and Annie first meet.

After the match, Annie comes upon Alvy packing up his stuff and awkwardly tries to flirt with him.

Commence awkward flirting

Alvy doesn't seem to mind and eventually it's decided that she'll give him a lift home. It turns out Annie drives very fast and haphazardly, which makes Alvy nervous and he asks where she's from. She says Wisconsin and asks, "Do you drive?" Alvy replies that he has a problem with driving and explains, "I got a license but I have too much hostility."

Once they are safely parked in front of Annie's apartment, she invites Alvy up for a glass of wine, to which he accepts. As they talk, Annie's personality begins to takes shape. She's ditzy and tends to put her foot in her mouth, but she's fun and interesting and into a lot of things.

"I'm ditzy and beautiful and you love it"

When Alvy asks if she has plans Saturday night, she confides that she is going to be singing at a nightclub for the first time, and Alvy says he wants to go see her sing.

Cut to her singing at the nightclub, and afterwards she's devastated, thinking that she did terribly, but Alvy assures her that she has a great voice. They go to dinner at a diner, where Alvy briefly comments on his two failed marriages, and then cut to Alvy and Annie talking in bed after sex, and Annie casually lights up a joint.

Cut to a bookstore, where Alvy is recommending books that he likes to Annie, one of them titled, "The Denial of Death." She comments that it's pretty serious stuff and Alvy says, "Well, you know I'm obsessed with death, I think. Big subject with me. 

"I have a very pessimistic view of life, you should know this about me if we're going to go out. I feel that life is divided up into the horrible and the miserable."

"If you want to be my lover, you have to get into death"

On another date, Alvy and Annie are sitting on a park bench playing the classic game of profiling people as they walk by (What's his deal? What does she do for a living? Is he married to his cat?).

We're adorable in a neurotic way

A few days later, Alvy and Annie are standing at the waterfront and admit that they love each other.

"I love you"

Cut to Annie moving in with Alvy. Then they are back at the beach vacation and Alvy is asking Annie to try having sex without smoking pot first. Cut to a flashback of early on in Alvy's comedic career and then to him doing stand-up where Annie is in attendance backstage. When Alvy is finished and joins her backstage, Annie starts talking about how great it will be to have Easter dinner at her parents' house and how they will love Alvy. Alvy predicts otherwise.

Alvie and Annie are having Easter dinner with Annie's family. Everything Alvy says is met with confused stares, or in the case of Annie's grandmother (or as Alvy calls her "the Jew hater,"), disgusted glares. Next, as Alvy is passing the room of Annie's brother Duane (Christopher Walken), Duane beckons him in and proceeds to sit creepily in the near-dark and tell a creepy story. It's awesome.

Wins all the creepy awards

Alvy and Annie are walking down the street and Annie is accusing Alvy of following her, and Alvy says that he was actually "spying" on her, and that's how he saw her hugging her professor.

"It's called spying, ok?"

Alvy then accuses her of having a thing for the professor, and Annie says that they should end their relationship.

Rob sets Alvy up with Pam (Shelley Duvall), a reporter for Rolling Stone, and they go to a concert and then back to Alvy's apartment. While they are laying in bed after sex, Alvy gets a phone call from Annie, and he rushes over to her apartment thinking there is an emergency.

"Later, Pam"

When he arrives at her door and demands to know what's wrong, she informs him that there is a big spider in the bathroom. He's angry that she called him over at three in the morning to kill a spider, and he's also angry when he sees that she went to a rock concert with another guy and that she's reading the magazine "The National Review." But he finally agrees to dispose of the spider, and Annie is telling him how to do it, and he assures her,

"Darling, I've been killing spiders since I was 30, ok?"

Once the spiders are dead (turns out there were two), Annie begins to cry and tells Alvy that she misses him. They sleep together and Annie says, "let's never break up again." So they get back together and make plans to go see Alvy's old neighborhood and the house where he grew up (underneath the roller coaster).

Annie sings Carmen Lombardo's "Seems Like Old Times" at a nightclub, and is approached afterward while she is sitting at the bar with Alvy, by a man named Tony Lacey (Paul Simon), who's interested in recording an album with her. 

Annie and Alvy are both talking to their shrinks at the same time in a split-screen shot, complaining about their sex life. When both of their respective shrinks ask how often they have sex, Alvy responds, "Hardly ever! Three times a week!" and Annie responds, "All the time! Three times a week!"

Alvy and Annie fly out to visit Rob in California, and Rob is driving them around Beverly Hills. Annie remarks that everything is so clean and Alvy says, "That's because they don't throw their garbage away. They turn it into television shows."

Rob, Alvy, and Annie attend a party at Tony Lacey's home. As Tony talks about the California lifestyle and shows them his screening room, Annie marvels to Alvy, "It's wonderful, you know they just eat and watch movies all day." Alvy replies, "Yeah, and gradually you get old and die. You know, it's important to make a little effort once in awhile."

"This is pure, unadulterated hell"

On the flight back home, Annie and Alvy both come to the conclusion that they should break up again.

"We should definitely break up again"

Back at their apartment, they start separating their stuff, and Annie says,

"All the books on death and dying are yours."

Alvy is walking along the street alone and says, "I miss Annie, I made a terrible mistake." He starts talking about Annie with random strangers on the street, the one man telling him that Annie is living in California at Tony Lacey's house. An elderly woman asks him why he doesn't date other women. Alvy replies that he does date other women, "but it's very depressing." Cut to a scene with Alvy trying to wrangle lobsters again in a kitchen, with a new woman that he's dating standing by watching. He makes a joke about quitting smoking 16 years ago, and she looks at him blankly, asking him to explain what he means. Cut to Alvy on the phone with Annie, telling her to come back to New York right away, and then he's on a plane to go get her.

Alvy calls Annie as soon as he lands in California and warns her, "I'm getting my chronic Los Angeles nausea." He meets her at an outdoor cafe and tells her that he thinks they should get married. Annie doesn't agree and tells him, "Alvy you're incapable of enjoying life, you know that? You're like New York City, you're like this island unto yourself."

I'm not marrying you, Island Person

Annie gets up and says she's leaving.

As Alvy tries to back out of the cafe parking lot, he hits three cars and a police officer pulls over and asks to see his license. Alvy rips it up and says, "I have a terrific problem with authority, it's not your fault, don't take it personal." Alvy is put in a jail cell until Rob shows up and bails him out.

Alvy finishes writing his play, and it's about his relationship with Annie. In the play, Annie agrees to go back to New York with him.

Annie does end up eventually moving back to New York. She and Alvy run into each other and have lunch together, laughing over old memories.

"Remember the lobsters?!"

A montage of the good times in their relationship plays on the screen to the song "Seems Like Old Times." After it grows late and they part ways, Alvy reflects on how much fun he's had just knowing Annie and he thinks of an old joke: A man tells a psychiatrist that his brother thinks he's a chicken, and the psychiatrist asks why the man doesn't turn him in and the brother responds, "I would, but I need the eggs." And Alvy explains, 

"Well, I guess that's pretty much, now, how I feel about relationships. They're totally irrational and crazy and absurd, but I guess we keep going through it, because most of us, need the eggs."

"Annie Hall" won Best Picture (Charles H. Joffe), Best Actress (Diane Keaton), Best Director (Woody Allen), and Best Screenplay (Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman) at the 1978 Academy Awards. Wood Allen was also nominated for Best Actor. 

  Annie Hall (1977)

Director: Woody Allen

Producers: Charles H. Joffe and Jack Rollins

Screenplay: Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman
Cinematography- Gordon Willis

Cast:

Woody Allen- Alvy Singer

Diane Keaton- Annie Hall
Tony Roberts- Rob
Carol Kane- Allison
Paul Simon- Tony Lacey
Shelley Duvall- Pam
Christopher Walken- Duane Hall

12 Angry Men (1957)

"We're angry, dammit"
12 Angry Men (1957), MGM Studios

I'm kind of in awe at how good this film is- really good. I've always seen it at the top of "Greatest Films of All Time" lists, but I never felt a strong urge to watch it myself. 12 angry white men in a room, so what? 

There are many, many brilliant moments and lines in this film (too many to list), and you just need to see it for yourself. 

Notes: 

Opening scene-

Beautiful upward sweeping shot of a tall-pillared stone courthouse, courtesy of cinematographer Boris Kaufman. 

"Administration of Justice is the Firmest Pillar of Good," 

is carved high above into the front of the building. 

A judge speaks to his courtroom jury: 

"You've listened to a long and complex case. Murder in the first degree. A premeditated murder is the most serious charge tried in our criminal court. One man is dead, another man's life is at stake. If there is a reasonable doubt in your mind as to the guilt of the accused, then you must bring me a verdict of not guilty. However you decide, your verdict must be unanimous. In the event that you find the accused guilty, the death sentence is mandatory in this case." He then adds,

"You are faced with a grave responsibility." 

As the 12 men on the jury leave the courtroom, a few of them shoot an apprehensive glance back at the accused: an 18-year-old Spanish-American boy, who is still seated at a table with his hands clasped together in front of him. Once the jurors are gone, the camera rests on the defendant's young, scared face for a few beats.

"This doesn't look good for me"

As the jurors file into the room where they will make their decision, the opening credits play. There's constant movement in the room, men pacing and smoking and looking around. It gives the impression of bees buzzing around inside a glass jar. 

Many of the men are wiping perspiration off their faces with handkerchiefs and remarking about the lack of air conditioning. One of the men manages to open the window, as another man informs the rest of them that, according to the weather bureau, it will be the hottest day of the year. The guard leaves and one of the men remarks, 

"I never knew they locked the door." 

All of these details help to emphasize a feeling of confinement, tension, and discomfort. 

The men must wait to deliberate until one of them returns from the restroom, so they mill about the small space impatiently, making small talk with one another. The comments of the various men offer up a picture of how many different personalities and opinions are in the room. One man remarks offhandedly to another man that "it's an open and shut case." Another of the jurors comments on how lucky they were to get a murder case because most court cases are dull. Juror #8 (Henry Fonda) remains contemplative, keeping silently to himself.  

When they finally sit down to deliberate, with Juror #1 (Martin Balsam) acting as a kind of overseer, they decide to take a preliminary vote of guilty or not guilty by a show of hands. Eleven hands raise for a verdict of guilty. 

And one hand raises for a verdict of not guilty.

Hi, guys

The tension is palpable as all the men stare at Juror #8 (Fonda), and one of them blurts out, "what do we do now?" 

Fonda, clearly nervous but determined, responds, 

"Well, we talk."  

Juror #3 (Lee J. Cobb) immediately asks Fonda what he saw that was different from the rest of them. He reiterates that the accused stabbed his father, and the prosecution proved it a dozen different ways. Fonda responds that he just wants to talk. He tells the group that he doesn't feel like they should come back with a guilty vote within the space of five minutes, with a man's life on the line. He asks, "what if we're wrong?" 

Fonda proposes that they take at least an hour to discuss the case before they make a decision. Juror #12 (Robert Webber) then suggests they go around the table and take turns explaining why they think the accused is guilty. Juror #2 (John Fielder) starts out with a brilliant, 

"Well... it's hard to put into words. I just think he's guilty."  

"He's guilty, y'all"

 After much arguing back and forth and going around the table and hearing from most of the jurors, it appears that the same eleven men still want to vote guilty and Fonda is still on the fence. The men ask him, "What about it? You're the only one." 

"You guys suck the big one"

Fonda announces he has another proposition: They all vote again, with the exception of himself, and do it anonymously on pieces of paper. He says that if eleven votes come back guilty, he will concede and they can put in a guilty verdict to the judge. But, if anyone votes not guilty, they stay and talk it out. 

Juror #1 reads off the results and there is a not guilty vote in the pile, which angers many of the men. Juror #3 jumps up and demands to know who changed their vote, accusing Juror #5 (Jack Klugman) of flip-flopping. 

Juror #9 (Joseph Sweeney) suddenly comes forward in the midst of the argument and admits that he put in the non-guilty vote. He explains that,

"it's not easy to stand alone against the ridicule of others," 

and he wanted to give Fonda his support because he respects his motives, even if the accused is probably guilty. 

Juror #9 : "Hold up bitches"

Slowly but surely, Fonda is able to show how there is reasonable doubt in regards to the eye-witnesses, the murder weapon, and the boy's alibi being in question. This includes a heated debate on the correct way to stab someone with a switchblade.

"Well, that escalated quickly"

One by one, the jurors start to vote not guilty, as they themselves start to come up with reasonable doubts as well. Soon, only Jurors #3, #4, and #10 are left with guilty votes. 

In an utterly brilliant and moving scene, the men leave the table, one by one, in silent disapproval as Juror #10 (Ed Begley) goes on a racist rant about the accused. When he finally realizes that no one agrees with him and shuts up, Fonda remarks

"Prejudice always obscures the truth."

Fonda then asks Jurors #3 and #4 to make an argument as to why they think the accused is guilty and to convince the rest of them. Juror #4 (E.G. Marshall) quickly points to the testimony of the eyewitness, a woman who saw the boy stabbing his father through her bedroom window as she was trying to fall asleep. He says that you can't doubt an eyewitness to the murder. 

Juror #9 suddenly brings up the eyeglass marks on Juror #4's nose, and how he saw those same marks on the eyewitness' nose, even though she was not wearing eyeglasses in court during her testimony. Some of the other men remember seeing the marks on her nose as well, as does Juror #4. Fonda jumps in and argues that she would not have worn her glasses to bed, right? And she was in bed when she witnessed the murder, so how could they be sure that she had her glasses on and was able to see the killer accurately? 

After this reasonable doubt comes to light, Juror #4 caves and so does Juror #10. The only guilty vote left is Juror #3, aka "crazy angry guy." 

"I'm crazy and angry. Watch it."

Fonda demands that Juror #3 make his case for a guilty vote, which makes crazy angry guy more crazy and angry, and everyone in the room kind of just looks at him. Crazy angry guy tries to make his case in a loud shouting rant, but everyone just keeps looking at him and saying nothing. He ends up tearing up a picture of he and his son (who he hasn't seen in two years after a physical altercation), and sobbing into the table, saying "not guilty, not guilty," and I found myself weirdly choked up with tears in my eyes. 

"I'm crazy and angry because I miss my son."

 The 12 men send back a verdict of not guilty to the judge, and they all leave the courthouse. The defendant's reaction is never shown and the truth about who really murdered the father is never brought to light. The point is, for this story, it doesn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that the prosecution was unable to make a case against the boy without reasonable doubt. 

12 Angry Men was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay at the 1958 Academy Awards. 

12 Angry Men (1957)

Director: Sidney Lumet

Producers: Henry Fonda, George Justin, Reginald Rose

Cinematography: Boris Kaufman

Story and Screenplay: Reginald Rose 

Cast:

Henry Fonda- Juror #8

Lee J. Cobb- Juror #3

Martin Balsam- Juror #1

Jack Warden- Juror #7

John Fiedler- Juror #2

E.G. Marshall- Juror #4

Jack Klugman- Juror #5

Edward Binns- Juror #6

Joesph Sweeney- Juror #9

Ed Begley- Juror #10

George Voskovec- Juror #11

Robert Weber- Juror #12

Julie and Julia (2009)

Amy Adams as Julie Powell in Julie and Julia (2009), Columbia Pictures

Who loves this movie?? ....... Meeeeeee!!!! I do! I do!

Thanks, Oxygen Network, for making my day! 

I feel such an unexplainable joy watching Meryl Streep play Julia Child. I grin through almost the entire movie. 

Meryl Streep as Julia Child makes me feel like this

Julie and Julia (2009), Columbia Pictures

And this

Julie and Julia (2009), Columbia Pictures

Thoughts watching the film:

1. Two of the best actresses alive, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, play the title roles, Julia Child and Julie Powell, respectively.

2. As much as I love Meryl Streep as Julia Child, I think my favorite scene is when Julie Powell has a complete melt-down while trying to truss a chicken, and ends up sobbing uncontrollably on her kitchen floor (I relate to this, emotionally, on so many levels). As this is happening, the phone rings and her husband, Eric (Chris Messina), answers it. On the other line is a reporter that wants to do a story on Julie and her blog about surviving Julia Child's cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." And just like that, Julie is pulled from the depths of her misery. Isn't that how life tends to go? The best things present themselves at the lowest points. 

Of course later the reporter ends up canceling their meeting and breaking Julie's heart, but that's one of the great aspects of the film. It's encouraging to watch people deal with rejection and defeat, and pick themselves up again. And keep going. Julie and Julia receive hit after hit, but they keep going.
They survive. I like (need) modern survivalist tales, they keep me going.

3. How cute are Jane Lynch and Meryl Streep as sisters? So good.

 4. The film spins a magical and effective story. As Julie Powell becomes more obsessed with Julia Child, you the viewer, also, become obsessed with Julia Child. Julia Child kind of takes over your perspective on life as you watch this movie. It's a great homage to her. Or the idea of her, anyways. Suddenly, the only things that matter are French cooking, eating, and savoring moments.

Obsessed

5. How heartbreaking is the scene where Julia receives a letter from her sister Dorothy, announcing her pregnancy, and Julia bursts into tears? While her husband holds onto her, offering solace, Julia exclaims through her tears, "I'm so happy," trying to smile convincingly. Meryl Streep does this so brilliantly, conveying a happiness for her sister that is at once overshadowed and strangled by her own pain and sense of loss. This is such a beautiful moment in the film in its universality. It's so human. The need to feel genuinely happy for someone you love but unable to escape your own personal anguish. 

6. Who can't relate to striving to find some activity that fulfills you, while working a horrible 9-5 to pay the bills? It's kind of the new reality, isn't it? Amy Adams' Powell embodies this desperation so amazingly well.

"Oh god... someone shoot me."

7. Who doesn't tear up at the end when Julie's looking up at the picture of Julia Child at the Smithsonian and says, "I love you, Julia" ?? And she leaves the package of butter underneath the picture. Brilliant. Choking up.

You're brilliant, Amy Adams!

"I know, right?"

8. The old-timey music playing at the end. A big part of the movie is about nostalgia, no? Julie Powell reminisces early on about her mother cooking to Julia Child. Part of tackling Julia Child's cookbook is about yearning for the past and searching for meaning in your life.

Tackling the meaning of life right here

9. Last, but not least, Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep as husband and wife! So good! Their relationship is one of the best things about the film.

"Cheers to us!"

I could watch this movie a thousand times. 
Till next time, Julie and Julia.

Julie and Julia (2009)

Director: Nora Ephron

Screenplay: Nora Ephron 

(based on the book by Julie Powell)

Cast: 

Meryl Streep - Julia Child

Amy Adams - Julie Powell

Stanley Tucci - Paul Child

Chris Messina - Eric Powell

Jane Lynch - Dorothy McWilliams

Linda Emond - Simone Beck

Deborah Ruch - Avis De Voto

 

Amen. 

#conanwinsallthethings

The importance of the "nothing weekend"

Just this past weekend, my SO (Significant Other) and I were privileged enough to experience a glorious occurrence, which I fondly refer to as a "nothing weekend."

A "nothing weekend" is just as it sounds- a weekend where one is required to do nothing. No previously agreed upon commitments or obligations. No "plans," if you will.

A weekend in which we are required to do nothing and we completely acquiesce and in fact, "do nothing."

Since moving back to our mutual home state of Ohio in the spring of last year, these weekends have been few and far between because, well, FAMILY. Now that we once again live within driving distance of our relatives and friends, we are of course required to be participants in the continual onslaught of birthday parties, graduation parties, bachelor and bachelorette parties, wedding showers, baby showers, weddings, and holiday gatherings.

Which is great, don't get me wrong. We really missed all of our friends and family the three years we were living in Portland, Oregon. But, if I'm being honest, I do miss the nothing weekends of our Portland life.

There were so many! *blissful nostalgic sigh*

In Portland, nothing weekends were like a tradition. Sometimes due to the fact that we would go out on a Friday night with friends, many drinks would be consumed and little sleep would occur, and thus the rest of the weekend would be transformed into us being lazy on the couch. Sometimes nothing weekends happened just because that's all we wanted to do- lay around and be together. ROMANTIC.

In Portland we were able to have "hardcore" nothing weekends, where we literally just laid on the couch all weekend, ordered in food, and watched movies. I can't remember the last time we had a hardcore nothing weekend, but it was definitely in Portland.

This past weekend definitely qualifies as a nothing weekend, even though we technically went somewhere on Sunday (not hardcore). Even if it was just to drive to my parents to lay on their couch and eat and watch football.

Saturday we did absolutely nothing. On the couch ALL DAY.  We started watching Man vs. Food in the morning and consequently experienced intense cravings for chili dogs, which resulted in a Sonic-run to pick up chili dogs and chicken fingers. Then we watched "The Mummy" for the thousandth time because that's what you do when "The Mummy" is playing on tv (seriously, who hasn't seen "The Mummy" at least a thousand times?) Then we watched "The Bourne Ultimatum" for the same exact reason, and honestly, can you watch any of the Bourne movies too much? Not possible.

After watching movies we've seen a bajillion times, we began binge-watching Dexter on Netflix. And this binge-watching is still going on by the way. And is likely to continue every night for many years. Because we are only on Season 1.

Yes, nothing weekends consist of a lot of mindless television watching, and also, FOOD. Lots and lots of deliciously unhealthy food. For instance, after consuming hot dogs and chicken fingers from Sonic on Saturday, we partook in the traditional football-watching meal of chili and beer on Sunday. Only, I consumed irregularly large amounts of both. And then I wanted Taco Bell afterwards. Why? Because I wanted to eat Taco Bell while binge-watching more of Dexter. Nothing weekends are indulgence incarnate.

And I guess that's the point of this post. Yes, nothing weekends are indulgent and unproductive and frankly, not that attractive (showering is for quitters!). But we need them. Not all the time, obviously. But every once in awhile, we need to have weekends where we aren't worrying about which social obligation we have to go to next, or what's still left to do on that master, life-long, to-do list. We need to have weekends where we don't have to get dressed or count calories. It's called recharging. Sometimes you need to plug yourself in at home and stay there.