It's gonna be a long one...

Okay so life got busy. But that doesn't mean I stopped reading and watching movies, oh no! Just means I didn't remember to write about them. Here's lots!

Blake Edwards' S.O.B. (1981, Julie Andrews and some other people :D): Dude, what a random-ass movie. I watched it on recommendation from Kevin Smith's twittering (@ThatKevinSmith), found in multiple parts on YouTube (I love that there are movies available this way, it's so '00s). The only thing I feel I can really say about this movie is that if you want to see Julie Andrews' boobs, and hear her say "shit" and "boobies" - this is the movie for you! Other than that, man was it random. Good, I guess. I mean, I kept watching. Don't rent it. Watch it on YouTube.

Stephen Fry in America (Stephen Fry): Great book, especially for those of us who aren't American and haven't visited many of the states in the U.S. I really like how Stephen Fry writes, and I'm sure it was an excellent TV series. I missed it, unfortunately, but the book has beautiful full colour pages with lots of pictures to make up for that fact. I got it from the library, which is quite possibly the best way to get books such as these that you know you're only going to read the once. Might make a nice coffee table book though. Basic gist: Stephen Fry drives to every single state in the U.S. in a U.K. taxicab and comments briefly on his stays in some key towns. Pretty funny in parts, pretty nifty in others.

Mary Poppins (1964, Julie Andrews & Dick Van Dyke): To juxtapose Julie Andrews in her more wholesome persona, we watched this at work on my urging because my boss keeps trying to get kids to spell Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Needless to say, I have spelled it far too many times in the past couple of weeks. I never really realize just how freakin' long that movie is... we started watching at 3:30ish and by 5:00 (when I leave work) we hadn't even gotten to the bank scenes or Feed the Birds or any of that. I think as I was leaving she was singing "Stay Awake". Thankfully we did see the laughing scene and the supercali-etc scene, so that was good. It is a VERY long movie, but seriously, I never even notice when I watch the whole thing. I'm never thinking to myself "Well there's far too many hours of my life I'll never get back" I'm always thinking "OOH THIS PART IS COMING UP NOW!" and get all excited. Sad I missed "Chim Chimney," I might have to borrow the movie from my sis sometime and re-watch without all those children bugging me. I mean... I love kids! Now go watch this movie.

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci Vol. I (Diana Wynne-Jones): The first two books in the Chrestomanci series are Charmed Life and The Lives of Christopher Chant. I freakin' love these books and could re-read them a million times. The next few books will be reviewed in upcoming blog posts, I'm sure, but for starters... These two books are great. If you like kids' books, read 'em. If you are a kid, read 'em. If you have kids, read 'em. Just give them a chance. They're well-written, have interesting characters and plot developments, and there's lots to them. And for some reason, I feel accomplished after finishing them because these two books in one volume in paperback form makes for a hefty spine width. Basic gist: there are alternate universes in series, and in one of the universes just one off from ours, there is a world much like ours but they have magic. There are hedge witches, sorcerers, warlocks and etc., all the way up to enchanters, the most powerful of all magic-users. The most powerful of all enchanters is the Chrestomanci, a nine-lifed enchanter who polices magic use in his world. In the first two books, there are stories of two different young nine-lifers who don't realize what they are and are sent to live with the current Chrestomanci for training, being groomed to be the next one. And hijinks ensue! (Really I just wanted to use the word hijinks, I love it.) Just read the books, okay?

It's Complicated (2009, Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin): I LOVED THIS MOVIE! The entire theatre was in stitches for a huge portion of the movie. It was hilarious. The dialogue was great, the situations were believable but out-there, the characters were fun - okay, so my parents and I had a hard time getting into the mindset of the characters, as we are part of some very together families, no divorces here! - and the plot was interesting. Rent it, go see it, buy it, do whatever you have to do, but WATCH THIS MOVIE. It might be fun to watch with your parents, if you're from my generation. I certainly found it so. I liked getting their opinion on in afterward, too. Gist: divorced couple (one remarried younger woman) begins to fall in love (lust?) again and has an affair. HIJINKS ENSUE! And don't listen to those idiots who say it's a bad movie 'cause of the pot. THE POT SCENE MAKES IT HILARIOUS. And Yes, folks, you can smoke The Dope without there being awful nasty consequences. Shove it, conservative anti-drug people. Oh and PS? John Krasinski is MINE! MINE MINE MINE! I love him and I want to marry him. He's only 6 years older than me, that's TOTALLY do-able. Okay so he's engaged to Emily Blunt who I also adore. Damn, I would totally steal him away from anyone else. But I can't do that to Emily, I love her too. Anyway, his character in this movie is pretty much exactly what I want in both a husband and a future son-in-law.

Last Words (George Carlin): Basically, an autobiography/memoir of George Carlin, published posthumously by another comedian-guy, Tony Hendra. Hendra and Carlin had been working for several years on the memoir in interviews and suchlike, and Hendra compiled it into book form after Carlin died in 2008. Boy, did that guy have a hard life... stressful job, stressful marriage, lots of drugs, lots of heart problems, lots of crazy shit went down. But what a genius. Man has a gift with words. Even if some of them are dirty :D Made it better, in my opinion. Bit of a heavy read though. Comedic, yes, but also makes you kinda go "Whoa. Better someone else than me, man." Note to self: no cocaine, 'kay? No heavy drinking, no heavy drugs, period. And don't try to be a controversial comedian, sounds like WAY too much work. Rest in peace, Georgie my boy. You've sure as hell earned it. Read it if you think you can handle it. But don't if you like happy reads. It isn't happy. Interesting, sure. But not happy.

I'm working on Stephen Fry's Paperweight at the moment. I don't know if I'll finish it before it's back to the library, so I'll just briefly note that this is a book you should get out of the library or own for a while - it's a collection of radio bits and articles and stuff from Fry, and not to be read in a sitting, or even two or three. I'd recommend it as a bathroom reader, actually. Nice short bits for reading in short increments of time. Some good stuff, some dull. Some dated. But it's part-skippable, if you feel it necessary, and you can read it pretty much in whatever order you choose. So as I say, bathroom reader.

Thanks for reading, if you have been. If you weren't, well then you're not here.