Our Movie Reviews for July - Thanks for asking

July 25, 2006 | Filed Under movies | 1 Comment 

Ashley and I enjoy watching movies. We try to watch a movie every week or so. And we’ve decided that we’ll share our thoughts here. After all, it’s our blog. And since it’s our blog and it’s about our lives in New York, I’m going to point out instances in recent movies that have something to do with us and/or New York. I’m sure that Ashley will also eventually chip in with her thoughts. I’ll start with the most recent first since it’s the least hazy in my semi-senile memory.

The Devil Wears Prada

Yes, I saw this movie. That doesn’t make me less of a man, does it? Despite the misperception I had when I envisioned a movie made from a chick lit book, I actually enjoyed this. The movie light and humorous and fortunately it never bogged down in the cliche plotlines that go with “romantic comedies.” I was amazed by Meryl Streep. I commented that if she was in a movie with Johnny Depp and she was playing a male character and Deep was playing a female character, they could pull it off. She’s just that good… and Johnny is just that girlish… I mean talented.

Another plus for the movie was that I saw them filming it and almost got a piece of Anne Hathaway’s birthday cake. I saw them sing Anne “Happy Birthday” and then film crew started lining up for cake. I got in the back of the line for a few seconds before chickening out and walking away. I did wish Anne a happy birthday though.

In one of the sweeping panoramas of the city, you can actually see our apartment building in downtown New York. This isn’t the only recent movie where you can see the apartment building, but I’ll get to the others when it’s their turn.

Pirates of the Caribbean – The Dead Man’s Chest

There’s nothing in the movie that directly ties it to New York. However, last year when we first moved to New York, we were visiting the South Street Seaport and noticed that there was a party occurring on one of the old ships in the harbor. Being the curious and friendly people we are, we asked the security guard what was up. They were having a party for the directors, producers, and other financiers of Pirates of the Caribbean. Later, they unfurled a banner of the movie from the ship’s mast.

The movie itself was fun and definitely worth watching, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the original. There was a lot of great swashbuckling, sword fighting, undead monkies, etc, etc, but the novelty of the first movie wasn’t there. I also thought that Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) was drab and boring unlike the first movie where she carried a lot more weight. Johnny Depp was brillant as usual, but he owns Jack Sparrow. And they left us hanging with the ending until Pirates III comes out next year.

Superman Returns

Watching Superman Returns was like watching the original Superman for me. And I respect Brandon Routh for playing Christopher Reeves playing Superman. I mean there is no better role model to emulate if you are going to portray Superman.

And yes, you can see our apartment when Superman first flies over downtown New York. So, that’s 3 for three with the New York connection for movies we’ve seen this summer.

An Inconvenient Truth

This is the last one I’m going to mention because I’m getting tired of writing.  This was an eye opening film, and I believe that everyone who is the least bit concerned about the future of our planet should go see it.  Al Gore breaks everything down as simply as possible so that by the time you leave you understand how dramatic the changes to our atmosphere are.  He point out that despite the fact that there are great natural fluctuations in the earth’s temperature, the level of carbon in the atmosphere is the highest in the world’s history by an exponential amount.

The movie focused primarily on teaching about the problem, but Al also gave advice on how we can stem the problem.  Check out http://www.climatecrisis.net – a website tied to the film with information about you can do to help.

And sadly, yes, there is a picture of downtown NY.  It’s a picture of what Manhattan would look like if ocean level’s rise by 7 inches, and it shows all of downtown NY under water.

Net Neutrality - the Daily Show’s take

July 21, 2006 | Filed Under techie | Leave a Comment 

I’ve written about Net Neutrality before, and I added that odd “Save the Internet” button on the right. And you’re wondering what in the world I’m talking about… the Internet is just a series of tubes, right? Anyway, the Daily Show had a great explanation of Internet Neutrality by the “I’m a PC” guy – John Hodgeman.

Chihuly at the New York Botanical Garden

July 3, 2006 | Filed Under activities, nyc | 4 Comments 

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it on this blog, but I have recently gone to work for Morgan Stanley. And one of the great benefits of working for a huge, New York based, financial company is that they sponsor lots of events around New York. For instance, I saw an announcement about Chihuly at the New York Botanical Gardens for free for Morgan Stanley employees. And since Ashley and I really enjoyed the Chihuly exhibit in Atlanta and we don’t often pass on events for that price, we went.

The New York Botanical Gardens are located just to the north of Fordham University in the Bronx, and they are very impressive. The gardens take up about 250 acres most of which is still original forest. According to the tram operator, it is the largest track of undeveloped land in New York City… which is remarkable in itself.

We weren’t as impressed with the Chihuly exhibit… maybe because we’ve seen a Chihuly exhibit before or because it was in a smaller space in Atlanta. Our general impression was that in the New York exhibit they didn’t try as hard to make the Chihuly art blend into the plant displays. There were sections of the exhibit that didn’t have any plants… just Chihuly. And that took away from the organic feel in a way.

I’m not saying it’s not worth seeing. As you can see, we got some great pictures. The rest of them are located here - flickr.com