All Things Rachel

Well, I'm back to report that the reading at Borders in Westwood on Tuesday night was a huge success! Paul's new book, Adriane on the Edge is amazing and I'm part way through it and on a mission to finish by the weekend. I've been thinking about holiday movies and re-makes. King Kong is a big movie coming out, but one thing I don't like it the advanced CGI in these films like HULK because the way they've used special effects in these types of films. It seems that Hollywood has run out of ideas when big budget re-makes are done and marketed for the holidays. It's a pretty easy equation as far as money's concerned, but a creative choice? Not really. As the weekend approches I'm gearing up to see a holiday movie--The Family Stone. Holiday in the true sense of dysfunctional family fun--not a sequel of the ever-so-popular Tim Allen Santa Clause or the George C. Scott version of Scrooge and actually-- not based on any book. I'm going essentially for two reasons: Rachel. McAdams. (well, I am a fan of Sarah Jessica Parker & Diane Keaton too--the whole cast really) but I have to say that Rachel's history of film choices (The Notebook--based on Nicholas Sparks book) and Wedding Crashers, not to mention the sleeper hit Red Eye are all films that have made Rachel a rising talent and yes, as my boyfriend Anthony puts it, "She's hot!" So, there's that. She can act and she's hot. That's a great thing. She's polite and very smart when it comes to being wise about what she talks about (ie: she wouldn't say anything bad about the Vanity Fair shoot that wanted her to pose nude and the "artistic differences" that arose from the situation) on the radio (with Ryan Seacrest) or does she ever in interviews. However, as Tod Goldberg mentiones, you rarely see a film based on a book do well at the box office. And with so many great novels out there, so many great characters, one has to wonder, what gets lost in translation? I'm a fan of good movies, based on novels or not. And although it disappoints me that there are so few books that get made into successful movies, The Family Stone will be at the top of my list, regardless of it's origin.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

All of you living in So. Cal should come on out to the Borders in Westwood to hear Paul Mandelbaum read from his new novel-in-stories, Adriane on the Edge and have a Manhattan. You will also be able to find a review and feature on Paul sometime in january or February that I will be doing. In addition, I also have a new pick for you all, Read! Read! Read! Joe Meno's, "Bluebirds used to Croon in the Choir--Stories." I can't tell you how excited I am to read these books not to mention those books I've reviewed that will appear in next month's Bookslut. I need to write out holiday cards and skip on over to Westwood so I'll check back in with you before Friday to see how it's all going.

Oy Vay! The Holidays!

I have been on a little hiatus the past month for a myriad of reasons, one being that I was lazy and two being that I was busy--so I guess in some ways that negates the lazy. However, I find myself on the first of December with almost all of my Christmas shopping done and I just know I will find things to buy in the meantime. We will be getting our first tree tomorrow night since thus far we've never been in town long enough to have one. Although we'll be travelling a lot this holiday season, we are getting a tree. I am anticipating our cats to go wild with the idea of ribbon and bows and just the thought of wrapping paper. Hopefully the tree will still be standing by the end of it all. In the midst of all this, I finally found time to read a very interesting feature by Alan Rifkin today that a friend of mine was kind enough to send to me. I haven't had a second to read the LA Times in about 2 weeks and papers begin to pile up. So, if you haven't read this, you can check it out here: Writing In the Dust. I highly recommend.