BLOG

RACHEL ZOE PROJECT – Very Suspicious This Season

THE RACHEL ZOE PROJECT premiered last night on Bravo. I like what they have done in previous seasons and with the departure of the very likeable and very irritable Taylor Jacobson, it was highly anticipated to learn “the truth about Taylor.”

It’s just really unfortunate that Rachel, her husband, and employees, including Brad (who spent the previous seasons trying to keep up with Taylor) are busy creating spin to discredit and malign Taylor and her four-year history working with Rachel – tearing up her picture and throwing it in the fireplace? Really? That was necessary?  The show features some actual styling of a Vanity Fair photo shoot (it doesn’t hurt that Demi Moore makes a cameo), but the majority of the show is spent in a tirade of all the bad mojo that Taylor brought to the table – and revealing in a completely contrived way that Taylor stole from the company resulting in her firing – not her quitting. (Taylor Jacobson states she quit the company and her career hasn’t suffered much since she’s now working for herself and doing pretty well.)

Plain and simple, there’s too much backpedaling with the Taylor story. Anybody who watched the previous seasons knows that Rachel is a big pile of silly and has no skills in running a business. All of the attention devoted to discrediting Taylor actually casts suspicion on all of Rachel Zoe and company. And if this is what the show has in store all season, then sorry Bravo – I won’t be watching what happens.

Eat Pray Love – I’d Rather Shampoo Rinse Repeat

I won’t be seeing Eat Pray Love. Nope, you can’t make me. Even with all the relentless television and radio ads.  Even though it’s co-written and directed by the highly successful GLEE co-creator Ryan Murphy. Unfortunately, his attempts at feature film are well…meh. His last turn in movies was the adaptation of Augusten Burrough’s Running with Scissors – apparently Mr. Murphy has an affinity for memoirs.  But other than some golden moments between Annette Bening and Alec Baldwin – the two should really make another movie together – Running with Scissors failed in weaving a believable story about a young man trying to find his way without a map out of the most bizarre world he inhabits. In fact, since the adaptation was released, Mr. Burrough’s has admitted to “embellishing” his memoir – a problem with the genre since the exposure of all the lies included in the work of James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces.

Now, I’m not saying that Elizabeth Gilbert lied in her highly successful memoir. As a writer she’s enormously talented. Her ability to form an effective narrative is extraordinary. And they don’t award the Pushcart to slackers. I believe her when she tells of lying in her bathroom and crying about her marriage, her life, blah, blah, blah.  But there are basically two camps when it comes to Gilbert’s work – those who believe it is a masterpiece in self-reflection, and those who think it is an indulgent, whiny tirade with little self discovery and too much observation.  I fall in the latter camp.

Here’s the thing – everybody whines. It should be a title of a REM song. And I’ll admit I’m pretty biased. You see, even though I didn’t go on my own global journey, I had a good trip to the hospital emergency room where I lay dying of a pulmonary embolism.  That was enough to put my whining in check. Now instead of spending time on my couch, pondering all the things wrong in my life, I think, “Why didn’t I die? Why am I here? Why am I alive?” I know…that’s deep…and those questions, believe me, are much easier to deal with while hooked up to a Morphine pump. But once the pump is gone…well, let’s just say one is left dazed and confused. It’s still not enough to make me pack up and go on some trip around the world to miraculously discover the answers to all my questions…to help in writing my story. Or see a movie about someone who tells her tale of how every question was answered with a magical adventure.

No, there will be no Eat Pray Love for me. Instead, I’ll Shampoo Rinse Repeat. That’s right. I’m taking a shower. I’m going to wash clean and start again.  That may sound really simple – bordering on Scarlett O’Hara’s, “Tomorrow is another day!” And so far I’m no closer to any answers in my story. In fact, I still have moments on the couch questioning – everything.  But the shower is always there and maybe someday I’ll get an answer. Or…maybe not…hopefully though, I will. Fingers crossed!

A Single Man – Available on DVD

Tom Ford’s debut film A Single Man (not to be confused with the Coen brothers’ A Serious Man released around the same time) is truly a stunning piece of work and totally worth a second viewing on DVD.  The art direction and costume design is nothing short of inspired, and is really no surprise given the fashion background of Ford.

Co-written and directed by Tom Ford the film tells the story of George (brilliantly played by Colin Firth) who has recently lost his partner of 16 years.  The film is so incredibly honest and authentic and Firth’s performance is so genuine, that you instantly route for George. You want him to rediscover a way to be happy. You want him to overcome his grief. You want him to find love. You want him to live.

The depth of Firth’s performance is so powerful, it is a damn shame he lost the best actor award to Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart.  Firth relays an array of emotions in  a matter of seconds, reeling you in to his deepest pain.  Told through just the right amount of flashbacks, George’s story becomes something beyond losing a lover. It’s beyond gay or straight. It’s about survival and believing in the possibility that after a tragic event your heart can recover and you can dare to try to be happy. Damn…that’s deep.

I can’t wait to see what Tom Ford does next!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – On Board the Millenium Train

Funny things happen when the electricity goes out. A quiet takes over. Things that make a natural noise are louder. There’s no TV. No lights. The air seems so still that at first it’s a shock to figure out something to do. But after digging in a drawer to find my flashlight, I settled in the corner of my couch and cracked open Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I heard a lot about this book – from the untimely death of its author to the buzz now in Hollywood about the American film version (Daniel Craig has just been announced to play the male protagonist Mikael Blomkvist). But all the news didn’t do much to put this book on the top of my list. In fact, I waited a long time to finally dive into it. Honestly, I can blame the power outage for my motivation.

The book is interesting for sure. For the two people who read this blog that might not know already, it takes place in Sweden and there is a definite rhythm to the language. Larsson doesn’t spend a lot of time in descriptive narrative. The exposition is not obvious, which is difficult to achieve, but there is a large amount of info to keep straight, making it a bit cerebral. Also, there is very little characterization. It’s extremely hard to determine who to care for or if you should even bother.

This is not a happy book. It’s dark. Gloomy. There are some ugly twists and turns in the plot and the pacing. Reading it in the dark probably didn’t help.  But I’ve added the Swedish film version to my Netflix queue and am anxious to see the adaptation.

The Kids are All Right – A Must See

I heard all the good buzz about The Kids are All Right from Sundance to Berlin, and all I can say is…believe it. Finally a character-driven movie that incorporates a story so honest and authentic in its telling that it makes going to the movies something to look forward to. The script is so good, I’m jealous I didn’t write it and is totally inspiring to those who write funny, smart, character-driven scripts. Thank you screenwriters Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg.  Also directed by Lisa Cholodenko (Laurel Canyon) and starring Annette Bening (in her best role since American Beauty), Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo, The Kids is about a married lesbian couple living in present day Southern California – and so much more. There’s no hidden message, liberal lecturing or sneaky plugging of alternative lifestyles.  The movie is a truly honest portrayal of parents and kids and marriage and what it all means. Centering around the kids finding their “donor” dad – Josh Hutcherson’s (Bridge to Teribethia) portrayal of a son without a father figure is refreshing brilliant – the movie intelligently becomes a journey to the core of the humanity of a family dynamic. Unfortunately the film’s crappy release time might get in the way come award season, but hopefully the momentum can carry through the summer and fall, and this Indie wonder can get the accolades it deserves.

Oh, and Mark Ruffalo has never been cuter.