The Town

What's the Deal:  The trailer will tell you The Town is "Heats meets The Departed."  That's pretty bold; it's not as good as either of those movies.   Its still pretty good and there are certainly aspects of the Town that will remind you of both of those.  It also reminds you of Mystic River, but again, not quite as good.

In The Town, Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, and two other guys portray lifelong friends/bank robbers who grew up in the blue collar area of Boston known as Charlestown.  During a particularly tough robbery the team is forced to take a hostage.  Ben Affleck's character follows her around after they release her (they were wearing masks, so she can't recognize them) to make sure she doesn't tell the police more information.  They start talking at one point and hit it off, eventually becoming a little "item."  Of course this makes Affleck's character question his life choices.  The rest of the movie is him wrestling with these choices, running from the cops and figuring out who he's really loyal to.

What I like:

1.  It's just a good heist/action movie.  The bank robberies are cool, the gunfights are cool, the interrogations are cool.  It's very entertaining.

2.  Car chases.  There are several, and they're actually really exciting.  Some of them are through narrow old Boston streets, giving the scene a pretty claustrophobic feeling.  They were surprisingly well done.

3.  Emotional?  I actually noticed several people wiping their eyes as we were leaving the theater.  It's not meant to be a tear-jerker.  I think its more of a testament to how much the audience was buying into the film than that its actually "sad."  Also, we watched it at the "Angelika" theater in Dallas, which is kind of the artsy theater that generally attracts weirdos.  So maybe the other people watching, the ones that cried, were just kind of weird.

What I didn't:

1.  Did you know that Ben Affleck is from Boston?  This might have to do with my being perpetually annoyed with Red Sox fans (Ben Affleck is an especially loud one), but I'm getting slightly tired of "Boston" movies (The Departed, Mystic River, to name a couple.  Those are great movies, of course, but the city of Boston is almost a character...).  There are struggling, blue collar parts of every city in the country, many of them with less annoying movie accents.  Along those lines, one of the robberies actually occurs at Fenway Park.  I think it was just an excuse for Affleck to walk around the underground Fenway Park Tunnels and stuff.

Side Note: I can't figure out Ben Affleck:  He's had an interesting career.  He started out as quite a superstar, winning an oscar very early on.  He's in some really, really great movies.  Good Will Hunting, Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy (Kevin Smith used to be so good...), Armageddon was actually a good movie, I thought.

Then he became the butt of jokes.  He went through a stretch of awful, awful movies.  Reindeer games.  Daredevil.  Pearl Harbor.  Surviving Christmas, Gigli, Paycheck.  Goodness, that's a bad list.  I also think he bit off more than he could chew when he tried to play Jack Ryan in The Sum of All Fears.  Harrison Ford is Jack Ryan...not Ben Affleck.  (Technically so is Alec Baldwin in The Hunt for Red October... but you get my point).

Then Gone Baby Gone came out.  When I found out it was directed by Ben Affleck, I had my doubts.  And I was not alone.  Turns out, it was really, really good.  And so was The Town...

Other issues:  According to the opening credits, the place in America where more bank robberies occur than any other is "Charlestown."  This may very well be true.  However, I don't think they're the type of bank robberies that occur in this movie.  These take place in broad daylight with the perps wearing scary masks, taking hostages, shooting automatic weapons in the street in broad daylight (should sound like Heat...), and frequently, getting away with it.  I just feel like I would hear about those on the news if that's how they really happened.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday to the best Mom in the world!

I know everyone says this, but I really might have the best Mom in the world. Let me provide you with a few supporting examples before you begin to argue.

- My Mom is cool. She's always been the "cool" Mom. She's always jammed to Top 40 hits (she knows most of the words too), kept up with all the trends and always reminded me to live a little. Examples: Mom could recite the entire Fergie and Gwen Stefani albums, wears Uggs and was the Mom who took me and my middle-school friends to wrap boys' houses. The combination of these traits means that most of my friends may enjoy being around my Mom more than they like me. Countless times I remember having sleepovers (well into high school) where I would wake up the next morning and my friends would all be downstairs talking with MY MOTHER! I hated it at the time, but looking back, it was, simply, cool.

-Perhaps one of the things I admire most about my Mom is that she's a good friend. She has more friends than I do and manages to make time to hang out with all of them. She's always got a card night, happy hour, dinner or walk planned with one of her gal pals and I think it's really awesome that she's able to balance those friendships with everything else she does. I must become more like this.

-Mom shows her love in many ways. She'll still let me snuggle with her and knows how to play with my hair. She's always got a sussy (definition: a small gift for no particular reason) for me and helps me do everything from plan a wedding to organize my closet.  Mom makes John breakfast tacos anytime he's in town and buys him sugary ceral. That's love, right?!

-Mom is my biggest supporter. She never missed a volleyball game and was by far loudest fan in the stands. She packed my lunch everyday until I went to college, made sure she knew all of my teachers and friends and would crawl into my every night  and talk to me about the days events until I fell asleep.  She's always there to help me celebrate the good times and talk through the rough times.

-She's an apple. She cares for and loves the rest of us apples, and just like the saying, we all haven't fallen far from the tree. It's funny to hear and watch her become more and more like her Mother everyday. It's even weirder catching myself saying and doing things like my she would say....

-Mom's used to wearing many different hats, and each she waers exceptionally well. Mother, Wife, Sister, Daughter, Granddaughter, Aunt, Mother-in-law, Friend, Team Mom, Room Mother, Girl Scout Troop Leader, Party Planner, Chef, Talent Show coordinator, Professional Closet Organizer, Listener and Counselor just to name a few....

I love you, Mom! Thanks for all that you do for me and our family. You're one-of-a-kind and we wouldn't all be where we are today without you. Have a Happy Birthday!



Breaking News

We have BIG news.

Just Kidding.  No, I am not pregnant. Apparently once you get married and you want to announce something big, everyone assumes it means you have a bun in the oven. No thank you, not now.

So...

WE ARE MOVING TO DALLAS!

Oh, Big D. We can't wait to explore all the wonderful parks, museums, sporting events, concerts, restaurants, churches and fun you have to offer.

And why are we moving to Dallas, you ask?

BECAUSE JOHN ACCEPTED AN AWESOME JOB OFFER!

He will start Monday as an associate at the law offices of Walters, Balido, Crain and Hardage.

Just kidding. Again. He's not a named partner. Yet. ;)

Very exciting times in the Hardage household!

Catching Up

Ok, so it seems that reviewing every movie I watch has become pretty unrealistic.  It's much harder than I thought because every post takes a long time if I want to do it right.  So, I've seen several movies since I've started "blogging" that I haven't discussed.  I thought I'd briefly do all of those right now.

1.  Edge of Darkness.

Mel Gibson is clearly much crazier than most of us thought.  And this movie sort of came and went without much ado.  However, I really enjoyed it.  Mel Gibson plays a Boston police officer (with a very questionable accent) whose adult daughter is shot and killed on his front porch while at home visiting him.  He takes it upon himself, of course, to solve the mystery and get revenge.  There are several sincerely startling moments.  It's not really an "action" movie, but there is a mounting tension as the mystery unfolds and the limited violence that exists is very real and well done.  It's too bad Mel went so nuts and won't be in a movie any time soon.


2.  The Expendables.  I think the real reason I watched this one in the first place was to write a funny review about it.  Sylvester Stallone got all of his action-movie buddies together in an effort to make the "ultimate" action movie.  eh.  (Just for the record, Bruce Willis and Arnold S. are in it about 30 seconds total).  Jason Statham is probably the most legitimate action star of the bunch.  The rest of them aren't.

I haven't seen a Dolph Lundgren movie since Rocky IV.  I had to look up who Randy Coutre is (apparently he's one of those ultimate fighters).  Mickey Rourke?  isn't he most famous for 9 1/2 weeks love scenes?  I suppose Jet Li is a martial arts star, but I haven't seen any of them.  Terry Crews is in a funny Old Spice commercial, and Steve Austin was a professional wrestler in the 90's.  I don't get it.  Noticeably absent are Jean Claude Van Damm and Steven Segal (who may or may not be in jail...)

There is sort of a plot.  The squad of mercenaries is sent on a Dirty-Dozen-esque suicide mission.  A lot of people are stabbed and a lot of things explode and Stallone gets the girl (who has to be 40 years younger than him.  Literally).  In other words, it's very forgettable.  I've already forgotten it...  Watch the Dirty Dozen instead.


3.  Big Fan.

This movie is great.  It's a small-budget under-the-radar movie.  Patton Oswald plays a loser, barely-employed New York Giants fan.  He's too poor to afford tickets, but he and his friend go to the parking lot of the stadium and watch home games on a tiny TV out there.  He lives with his mom and spends his time writing out Giants-related rants which he later reads on local sports radio call-in stations.

At one point he sees his favorite player filling up his SUV with gas.  He follows the player to a nightclub and speaks with him.  The player figures out that Oswald's character followed him, gets angry, and beats him to a bloody pulp.  The rest of the movie explores Oswald's personal conflict.  His friends, family, and the police all want him to turn in the player.  However, he refuses to do so because of his loyalty to the team (he knows that without this particular player, the Giants are a much worse team).

Great movie, explores the sports-obsessed American culture.  I saw too much of myself in the main character...


4.  Invictus.  Another good movie, if a little bit too long.  The movie is about Nelson Mandela's early years as President of South Africa and the South African Rugby team's quest for the 1995 Rugby World Cup.  It's perhaps a little bit slow at times, but Clint Eastwood is such a great storyteller that it all pays off.  My main complaint is personal...I would enjoy it more if I knew more about Rugby (because I know literally nothing) and if I knew more about South African history.  I am shamefully ignorant on both of those subjects.

5.  Sugar.

Great low-budget movie about a young Latin-American baseball prospect playing minor league baseball in America.  He doesn't know the language, doesn't have any friends, and can't figure out exactly what is expected of him.  He winds up on some rookie league team in rural America.  It's interesting because this happens literally all the time but it is rarely explored in the news media or in film (probably because the stories don't generally end happily).   Cool movie, makes you think about the American minor league baseball system and the toll it takes on the players.

Two Years Ago Today...

John snuck into my old apartment. That's right, I laid in bed fast asleep and then he walks into my room on Friday, September 5th, 2008 and sets down a vase of lovely flowers. The first thing I notice is John's is dressed up. Not too spiffy, but not the usual class attire. He tells me good morning and to wait. And wait I do, because it's 7:00 a.m and I'm still trying to piece together what's going on.

He comes back with a plate of pancakes and some coffee. (He had clearly been in my apartment quite a while and I didn't hear a peep!) He sets breakfast by my bed. And begins to fidget.

"Well, sit down and eat with me, " I said.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about first," he said."

(This is when I realized something was up.)

And, after some very sweet and thoughtful words, John asked me if we could have breakfast together for the rest of my life and if I would marry him.

I said yes. We ate breakfast and talked for about 30 minutes before we started calling friends and family. It was perfect.

Later that evening, several of our friends threw us an engagement shower.

Happy Proposal Day Anniversary to me and John!

What?!?! I like to celebrate...

Summer Favorites

I'm beginning to mourn the end of summer. Goodbye pool and lake days. Adios fresh, delicious fruits and veggies. Farewell tan lines. How can it already be September? Which, by the way, happens to be my least favorite month of the year....

Uggggggghhhhhhhhhh.

To fully prepare for fall (I'm excited for fall, just not September!) I will be cooking all of my favorite summer meals one last time.

Smitten Kitchen has some of my most favorite recipes. I love making her Tomato and Corn Pie and Corn Bread Salad.

Just realizing both salads are primarily corn and tomatoes. Interesting.

Both are very yummy.

And of course I'll have to make an end-of-summer BAT (that's a bacon, avocado and tomato sandwich). John and I LOVE these but only eat them on special occasions.

(Tomatoes again, you see I'm obsessed...)

Same thing with bruschetta. Can't get enough of it. 

To all of my favorites:

Tomatoes. Corn. Peaches. Cantaloupe. Okra. Watermelon. Berries. 

I will miss you dearly and can't wait to see you again next spring/summer. Thank you for making so many delicious meals this season.

Okay, now I am ready to accept that fall is coming.