ten red hen

Movies (the first three I watched on the plane)
Match Point
Woody hates women and has only contempt for the world he spent his entire life aspiring to, which leaves a bad taste in viewer's mouth (even though his filmmaker's skill, once the movie turns into a thriller, is undeniable). Unfortunately for Scarlett Johanssen, her breasts are the only expressive part of her.

Walk The Line
Pointless, cheesy, terrible biopic, how did it win anything? Sarah Vowell gets the heart of the story across better in 10 minutes with her nasally voice than the entire 3 hours of high-budget Hollywood schlock.

Pride and Prejudice
Admirable adaptation of an impossible task. Non-Austen fans will never know what's missing, and that's too bad.

Poison
Why don't more people take chances and make movies like this? Especially now with DV! Rough around the edges, you can tell it's cheap, but so ambitious and tremendous, who cares? It felt like great poor theater. My favorite part, the mock documentary.

Brokeback Mountain
Got under my skin more than I thought it could; I'll never think of Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams as just pretty faces ever again.

Books
Fun Home
Alison Bechdel's graphic novel tracing her relationship with her dead father. Gorgeous canvas for her talent, best memoir I've read in awhile, go buy it.

Da Vinci Code
Reads like a bad film treatment, undeniably absorbing page-turner.

World Cup
Commentators JP Dellacamera and John Harkes: The only American commentators worth listening to. The other ones should be taken out, beaten with sticks, and never allowed to call a soccer game ever, ever again.

Bastian Schweinsteiger
German midfielder. His name means "Pig-Mounter", but that's ok, because I love him, he makes me root for Germany.

Atlantic Center for the Arts
I think it might be impossible for artists residencies to get better than this one.