you must see "the help!"

i'm fairly certain that most of you, especially those of you belonging to the book-loving, southern variety, have already heard about this little phenomenon called "the help," but for those of you who haven't...get out from under your rock! i just saw this film tonight and it inspired me so much i just had to blog about it! it is truly the best movie i have seen in quite some time. and that is coming from an extremely harsh critic! like millions, i read this new york times best seller months ago and have had quite the inner-debate going on as to whether it could possibly match the literary sensation's standards - and it did! my only two other films in that category: gone with the wind and to kill a mockingbird. i couldn't believe how well the screenplay had been adapted. interesting little credit tidbit, i noticed that nate berkus - as in design guru discovered by oprah - was an executive producer. interesting.



anyway, the reason i found this movie so compelling was that it seamlessly brought to life the rich characters of kathryn stockett's novel in a way that was profound and moving. the attention to detail was immaculate, from the character's jackie kennedy/doris day wardrobes to the descriptive attention paid to southern cuisine, everything was dead-on accurate. although i'd like to identify most with the protagonist heroine "skeeter phelan" - we do have a few things in common: journalism degree, wistful hope of writing a book someday, beau who works offshore in the oil business, and although we routinely find ourselves in the company of sorority loyal, thank you note writing, junior leaguing, pearl adorning women; somehow we always feel like a complete impostor - my friends think otherwise!


the archetypical jackson woman at bridge club...let me tell you, that bryce dallas howard can play a real witch!

feeling all skeeter-like and ready to submit a feature story to the san antonio express news, my girlfriend who saw the movie with me exclaims, "ya know, you reminded me so much of celia foote!" celia foote? the white trash, nouveau riche blondie from sugar ditch, mississippi who is barred from all social events and can't keep house or cook to save her life?!? can't be...but then my mind flashed back to the scene a few night before when my in-laws came over for dinner and i had tried so hard to entertain. i stuffed all of my messes into the nearest closet, put out all of my finest wares from williams-sonoma and even picked out some flowers for a centerpiece. i set the table the best way i knew how (junior cotillion and robert spence were good for something!) and prayed that my mother-in-law (a true cosmopolitan woman from new york city) wouldn't grimace at the sight of all of it. ambitiously, i decided to make chicken fried steak, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits, and cobbler all from scratch! dear lord, you should have seen me double dipping my steaks and spreading flour all over the dang place, i probably used 20 bowls! meanwhile, standing in my "i kiss better than i cook" apron, my husband remarked, "can't we clean up while we cook and not create such a mess sweetheart?" with steam coming out of my nostrils and eyes turning red, i berated, "I WENT TO THE GROCERY STORE AND SPENT MY HARD EARNED MONEY ON THIS MEAL, I HAVE BEEN SLAVING AWAY IN THIS KITCHEN SINCE TWO, I AM SWEATING AND COVERED IN FLOUR...AND YOU EXPECT THE HOUSE TO BE PERFECT!/!?@#$!" so yes, i can see why the comparison came so effortlessly. i am utterly a mess at becoming a domestic diva. the way everybody has to make such a big deal about it when i cook, nodding, smiling, offering up encouraging words like "we're so proud of you" and "you shouldn't have gone to so much trouble" really does put me in the category of mrs. foote. but i will say that girl always has perfectly coifed hair and she's got spunk!


ecstatic upon hiring the only maid who will actually agree to work for mrs. celia

without giving too much away, the heart of this story is the relationship between the maids and the white children they look after their entire lives. it is a relationship that is far stronger than that of even the child and his own parents. i assure you that this uplifting movie will stir your heart and call into question the courage of your own life. enjoy!

are you a real cowboy?

interesting revelation. haphazardly stumbled upon urban cowboy and watched it for the first time in ages. dang, there are so many parallels between this movie and my real life. don't know if i should be proud of this? ha. on a completely different note, how adorable is john travolta in this movie?! LOVE HIM. "i'm bud, from spur!"



as you can see, spur, texas is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from my hometown over in dickens, county. i knew he would be from west, texas!

i'm dying to see this!

looking forward to...

NOVEMBER 20 because that's when THE BLIND SIDE comes out.

i haven't been this excited about a movie release in years. i don't know about y'all, but every single time i watch any movie trailer regarding this film, it just really gets to me. yes, yes, yes...i've even teared up a few times, okay, maybe every time.

i just think the story of michael oher and the tuohy family is so captivating and compelling. i'm very affected by this story because i really aspire to do something similiar one day...

p.s. sandra looks pretty as a mississippi lady! woo-woo! and baylor grad john lee hancock is the director...

the REAL michael oher with leigh anne & sean tuohy:

GWTW = one happy girl!

since i have been sick as a dog (yes, i've been diagnosed with chronic sinusitis and a deviated septum), my doctor has ordered me to slow down. he says i'm much more fragile than i care to admit and that 12 consecutive weekends on the road has worn me down. so i'm staying in every night this week and trying to heal. (if anyone knows some good immunity boosting tricks, let me know! i'm really into homeopathic medicine...)

so i settled myself on the couch and started flipping through the channels and imagine my surprise when i landed on turner classic movies and the screen started scrolling with:

"there was a land of cavaliers and cotton fields called the old south. here in this pretty world, gallantry took its last bow. here was the last ever to be seen of knights and their ladies fair, of master and of slave. look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a civilization gone with the wind..."

ah sweet fate...

so here i will lie, for the next uninterrupted four hours of pure bliss. if only i could explain how much this film means to me, but my words cannot do it justice. i've seen it so many, many times, but i never grow tired of it - although i'm sure the boyfriends that i have forced to watch it sure have! while the movie is probably my favorite of all time, i think my real fascination rests with the book...let's face it, that's the way it always goes. i remember reading it the first time in 6th grade and being absolutely captivated by the world margaret mitchell had painted in front of my eyes. i become obsessed with this author and researched everything i could about her. when i discovered that we shared the same birthday, somehow, i knew that i could be like her someday...silly i know.

i've been chastised by serious intellectuals for claiming this work as one of my favorite pieces of literature, they've told me it's bad writing or it's trash, but i don't buy into that. no it's not war & peace or atlas shrugged, but i have yet to find a book that has such dynamic, rich, colorful characters. i think that's what truly make the story; for anyone could have written a historical novel about the old south and the civil war - and many have, but this one's the best because of the detail and imagination that goes into the role players.

for example, first you have katie scarlett o'hara. she can be as mean as a junkyard dog and she really does have some bite, but i love that tenacious spirit about her. she's shrewd, spoiled, and heartless at times, but she's a survivor. and i like that about her. i do think she was a damn fool for being so pent up on that dim-witted ashley wilkes when she could have had the dashing rhett butler, but then again, women are crazy. i think that vivienne leigh is fantastic as scarlett and i can't picture anyone else playing her - and can you believe that southern accent despite being a brit?



and of course it goes without mentioning that i have been ardently in love with rhett butler most of my life. they say that rhett butler was based on a man from charleston named george trenholm and if that's true, he must have been quite a man. like scarlet (for they were always of the same kind), he's a roguish devil and quite the schemer, but unlike her, i believe he always possessed a heart of gold. it's too bad that clark gable wasn't nominated for an academy award, but they say it's because he wasn't acting - it's because he really was rhett butler. oh my!



i do LOOOOVE that banter between rhett and scarlett. don't you just love these scenes? they're some of my favorites:





and now we come to the tragic, heartbreaking, painstaking ending....



it's a faultless ending, yet i'm always left wondering whatever happened to rhett & scarlett? i'll always believe that they ended up together...of course only after captain butler was through carousing and tearing up charleston, but still i think they worked it out. i think margaret mitchell might have written a sequel had it not been for her untimely, sudden death of getting struck by a taxi cab. some idiot wrote "scarlett" and tried to pawn it off as a second installment, but it was always completely unauthorized by the mitchell estate. so yes, we're still left with an open ending and a longing for the way society used to be...how wistful. and perfect.

(ok, i apologize. i'm a total nerd. i could write a doctoral dissertation about this stuff.)

a salute to sex (and the city...)

yes darlings, it's time for me to give my thoughts on the sex & the city film! for those of you who have been living under a rock for the last year, you should know that this movie is of epic proportions for women everywhere. i'll admit that i was skeptical about the movie, i mean hello! how could anything be more divine than the television show...the writing is just brilliant!

HOWEVER,

i am pleased to announce that the movie rose above my expectations. it seems to be getting panned by the critics, but i think the story is geuniune and heartfelt. call me crazy, but as loyal fans of the satc franchise, we weren't going to the movie to think, analyze, and ponder life's greatest mysteries a la the constant gardener or hotel ruwanda. this movie was about love, fashion, girlfriends, and bringing together two people despite life's obstacles. i personally came away from the movie with a deeper appreciation for my female friendships, knowing that the women in my inner circle will always, always, always be there for me.

i'm not giving absolutely anything away, but you must go see this movie!

this movie is a trip

just watched this last night. crazy crazy crazy.

yeah she's hot. and she's a good actress.

so i just saw atonement a few days ago and i have to say, keira knightley is brilliant! if you haven't seen this movie, you must!!! it's fantastic! why am i so enthusiastic? well primarily because film adaptations of books are usually horrendous (case in point: demi moore's version of the scarlet letter); however, director joe wright nailed ian mcewan's novel. i only know of a handful of movies that can capture the power of the book and this is definitely one of them.

i always knew i loved keira. she's sassy, she's the face of chanel, and look at those rock hard abs!