elaboratelies: Joe in NYC

Joe in NYC

My brother Joe is in New York City for spring break. Of course I'm jealous as hell. I'm glad he did not choose some cliched frathole destination for his travels. So far his highlights seem to be the cinema (he gave rave reviews to The Downfall) and the "hot Russian chicks." His stories bring me back to my own jaunt to the Big Apple, way back in 1997, with my friend Kaela. I just loved the art museums (Klee! Rauschenberg! Lichtenstein!), Central Park and the endless comparisons to Woody Allen movies. Plus we caught a glimpse of the always quirky Michael Ian Black. My only regret is having missed a taping of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Next time. Have fun Puder.

3 comments

Anonymous said...: Hey, I'm flattered to see that the first post of the blog deals almost exclusively with me. I must make a slight correction - the highlights included cinema but only one "hot Russian chick" (who was literally the first woman we talked to in New York). The Met was great, Central Park was breathtakingly beautiful, and Greenwich Village is a gorgeous area with a thriving film culture. Those were the true highlights of the trip, along with some Broadway shows ("Twelve Angry Men" and "Chicago" were superb, but "Glass Menagerie" with Jessica Lange and Christian Slater was considerably less than superb). Oh, and for movies: Upside of Anger was well-acted but tedious and overwritten (**), Gunner Palace was sporadically thought-provoking but shapeless as a documentary (**1/2), Melinda and Melinda was an uneven but somewhat funny and likable effort from Woody propelled by Will Ferrell in what is probably the best Woody surrogate performance I've seen - and in comparison to his recent work, is a slight return to form (***), Downfall is a gripping, powerful, wrenching war movie - though I admit I overreacted when I called it the best movie of last year, it's probably Top Five (****), Be Cool is one of the most disingenuous, sloppy, wretchedly unfunny movies I've ever seen - I refuse to apologize for John Travolta anymore (1/2*), and Oldboy is a deeply disturbing, occasionally disorienting, surprisingly funny firecracker of a genre film from Korea - though it is definitely not for all tastes (***1/2). Oh yeah, and Ladder 49 was terrible in a typical way, not stupefyingly awful like Be Cool, but exactly what you'd expect from a craptastic movie like that (*1/2). Anyway, I'm off to class. I look forward to reading more of your posts.; Monday, March 28, 2005
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; Monday, March 28, 2005
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; Monday, March 28, 2005

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	Joe in NYC My brother Joe is in New York City for spring break. Of course I'm jealous as hell. I'm glad he did not choose some cliched frathole destination for his travels. So far his highlights seem to be the cinema (he gave rave reviews to The Downfall) and the "hot Russian chicks." His stories bring me back to my own jaunt to the Big Apple, way back in 1997, with my friend Kaela. I just loved the art museums (Klee! Rauschenberg! Lichtenstein!), Central Park and the endless comparisons to Woody Allen movies. Plus we caught a glimpse of the always quirky Michael Ian Black. My only regret is having missed a taping of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Next time. Have fun Puder. Posted by stacie \| Tuesday, March 22, 2005 3 comments Anonymous said... Hey, I'm flattered to see that the first post of the blog deals almost exclusively with me. I must make a slight correction - the highlights included cinema but only one "hot Russian chick" (who was literally the first woman we talked to in New York). The Met was great, Central Park was breathtakingly beautiful, and Greenwich Village is a gorgeous area with a thriving film culture. Those were the true highlights of the trip, along with some Broadway shows ("Twelve Angry Men" and "Chicago" were superb, but "Glass Menagerie" with Jessica Lange and Christian Slater was considerably less than superb). Oh, and for movies: Upside of Anger was well-acted but tedious and overwritten (), Gunner Palace was sporadically thought-provoking but shapeless as a documentary (1/2), Melinda and Melinda was an uneven but somewhat funny and likable effort from Woody propelled by Will Ferrell in what is probably the best Woody surrogate performance I've seen - and in comparison to his recent work, is a slight return to form (*), Downfall is a gripping, powerful, wrenching war movie - though I admit I overreacted when I called it the best movie of last year, it's probably Top Five (*), Be Cool is one of the most disingenuous, sloppy, wretchedly unfunny movies I've ever seen - I refuse to apologize for John Travolta anymore (1/2), and Oldboy is a deeply disturbing, occasionally disorienting, surprisingly funny firecracker of a genre film from Korea - though it is definitely not for all tastes (**1/2). Oh yeah, and Ladder 49 was terrible in a typical way, not stupefyingly awful like Be Cool, but exactly what you'd expect from a craptastic movie like that (1/2). Anyway, I'm off to class. I look forward to reading more of your posts. Monday, March 28, 2005 Anonymous said... This comment has been removed by a blog administrator. Monday, March 28, 2005 Anonymous said... This comment has been removed by a blog administrator. Monday, March 28, 2005 Post a Comment \| Back to elaborate lies.	30 rock pop candy television without pity Worrywart. Pop culture floozie. Killer of orchids. I never met a hand sanitizer or carbohydrate I didn't like. View my complete profile.