Category Archives: Moviegoer

What’s a lonely girl to do?

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Josh left for a two-week vacation in Asia–much deserved! He works harder than anyone I know, and hasn’t had a long, luxurious trip in so long. However, Jensy remained in New York, with work commitments piling up and not enough dough to travel. Two weeks is a long time for me! I love having him around, and I get bored without my best bud. In summer months, I would be camped out on the roof of my apartment building with an ice cold can of Diet Coke and a pile of fashion magazines by my side and I would be content there for hours. But in the harsh and whipping cold, where no coat seems warm enough and a two-block walk to the drug store makes my eyes tear and the hem of my pants muddy, I need an indoor itinerary to keep me busy and entertained, yet warm.
Books
My favorite way to pass the time is reading. I love to go for classics but recently have been on a kick with newly released fiction. Something about reading things written in and about the decades and places that are familiar to me just makes me feel at ease. I picked up “Life in Miniature” by Linda Schlossberg the other night. It’s her debut novel, and I see great things from her in the future. I am very into her unique style–this novel is written from the perspective of a pre-adolescent whose mother suffers from mental illness, giving an interesting view of this complicated topic. I’m only about halfway through, but obsessed! Check it out.
Museums
I totally play favorites with museums. It seems that no matter how many times I go to the Met, the Modern, or the Guggenheim, I am never bored, and I always find something new and exciting to enjoy. But I really am looking to head outside of my comfort zone and check out something new. I haven’t been to the Frick since I was eleven or twelve, and I remember it feeling a bit stodgy and too, well, museum-y, but maybe with new eyes and several years distance it will be a different experience? My mom adores the Frick. Adding it to the list! I am also chomping at the bit to see the Hopper exhibit at the Whitney, so that might be the first stop. Also thinking of finally heading to the Jewish museum; it seems high time.
Movies
The two movies I am absolutely dying to see are so indicative of the two sides of my personality. Black Swan and Country Strong. I know what you’re thinking. Dark psychological thriller vs. fluffy romance set against the backdrop of the corniest music genre out there. I know I am going to love both. There’s been so much press on Black Swan but I still feel like everyone I’ve spoken to has had a totally different and reaction to, and experience with, the film. I know its impact will probably earn another blog entry once I’ve seen it.
Country Strong I haven’t actually read anything about yet; I’ve only seen the trailers. I’m a total sucker for love and I know it’s going to make me cry. Pookie and I have always loved country music. I remember so vividly driving around the mountains of Vermont with the local country station blasting through the speakers of her Ford Explorer or my VW Bug and singing along to every sad, silly, and true word. I feel like seeing this movie will bring me right back.
Girl Time
Admittedly, aside from reading half a book, the only thing I’ve really done on my hit list is grab some wine with a girl friend. Monique and I have a new office in midtown and we set out on foot Monday night to check out the ‘hood. We googled “wine bar” in the west 40′s and found Gallo Nero, an absolutely lovely little tapas place with a wine list from here to heaven. We tucked ourselves into a corner table in the dark and intimate spot and stayed for hours, sharing the prosciutto and mozzerella plate, the roasted chicken with mashed potatoes, and a few glasses of wine–hers red, mine white. I have a feeling many more of these nights lie ahead. I am looking for sweet little spots to try where the wine flows and the food is yummy yet I don’t leave feeling so broke I could cry.
Mom Time
Mom is heading into the city at some point to help me organize the apartment–which has grown quite scary with heaps of clothes that don’t fit into closets and bags of Christmas presents searching for a home. I will post photos and tips on the reorganization once it is finished. Nothing like having Mom around to help keep you busy!

Cher, Cher…Everywhere

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I’m sure I wasn’t alone on the evening of September 12, this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, in feeling equal parts shocked and thrilled when Cher strutted onto that stage in her “If I Could Turn Back Time”–circa 1988–sheer, sequined, insane bodysuit at age 64. She looked fabulous, that goes without saying. And she’s got a big comeback going on, so more power to her. But what is it about this icon that makes us keeping wanting more? And how much of a good thing, is just way too much?

VANITY FAIR
This month’s issue of Vanity Fair debuted on newsstands last week. In the cover shot, Cher is (true to form) clad in a scant, black unitard, decked in jewels, hair wild and flowing. I found the interview itself pretty interesting. Cher opens up on a slew of topics from her difficult marriage to Bono (“He was so much more than a husband—a terrible husband, but a great mentor, a great teacher…”) to feeling shorted by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (“We influenced a generation, and it’s like: What more do you want?” Of course, daughter-turned-son Chaz makes for an interesting topic of conversation as Cher admits she struggles with pronouns but understands her child’s struggle with gender identity. You should check out the issue to read more–I guarantee it’s a great read.

BURLESQUE
Okay, so I’ll preface this bit by saying I have no right to comment on a movie I haven’t yet seen. I’ll surely be in line Thanksgiving weekend when it opens (but not in Manhattan–as there is still a rumored bed bug infestation in many theaters, and that’s totally creeping me out). But am I the only one who thinks the trailers are sort of, well, tacky? Maybe I’m just not that into the whole musical-movie thing. Or for that matter, the small town girl making it big in the entertainment business montif–which we just see too often. Fair enough if I am judging a book by its cover here, but I guess I’m just missing the point. I wish we could see her open up a little more. Try something totally outside of her norm. What about playing a character who actually looks (somewhere near) her age? As in, ditch all that makeup and the tiny outfits and nightclub atmosphere and play someone’s mom? In a setting other than a burlesque club?

PLASTIC SURGERY
As I said, it’s pretty clear the woman looks damn great. But doesn’t it make you sad though, just a little, that this is what we’re supposed to aspire to? In a country so eager to go green, to give back, to pay it forward, and all the rest of those charming concepts, why are we still SO afraid to age gracefully? Now I am no expert, nor do I have any exact idea about what procedures she’s had done. But let’s all agree that Cher’s face has been tampered with. Majorly. And a woman at that age (with grown kids!) has no right to such sculpted abs and a tiny toosh.

For the average gal who’s got some money in the bank and is scared to look old, hey, go for it. But a part of me feels like someone in the public eye should try–just a little harder–to exercise some restraint in the plastic department. If every woman in Hollywood knifes themselves into such shape by the age of 64 (which, mind you, is NOT OLD), every other woman in America is going to be crying themselves to sleep. It’s an impossible standard to uphold. And an unnecessary one. You people are role models! Suck it up and buy some La Mer! Sneak in a little Botox from time to time. But no need to go so far.

Based on looks alone, my love goes to Meryl Streep. No, she doesn’t look like she did in the ’80s. But she is so utterly beautiful in her natural-ness, that it makes even the 20-something set jealous. And it gives her peers and her juniors something to feel proud of and to hold onto. Heck, even Cher admits in the Vanity Fair article: “I think Meryl [Streep] is doing it great. The stupid bitch is doing it better than all of us! But I don’t like it. It’s getting in my way.” Part of being a woman, and owning that power, is aging in a way that makes us feel comfortable yet allows us to look like US.

At the end of the day, we all still love Cher. She’s an icon, she’s a goddess, and plastic surgery or not, men of all ages still want to bed her down. Go Cher! I know the comeback is going well, but hope that as she continues on the journey, she’ll find even more of her true self in there, and maybe even share some more of it with us.

ps. In homage, had to throw this one. My fave of all time.