Why Do 1,700 People Follow Me on Twitter?

21 Mar

On Monday, I gained my 1,700th Twitter follower. Congratulations and thank you to @guycitarella!

That’s right: 1,700 people follow me on Twitter.

That many people (mostly people, anyway) care what I have to say.

I know. I’m just as surprised as you are.

It’s an amazing thing when you stop to think about it. Sure, it took me two and a half years to get that many, and yes, I know lots of people have many more followers than that … but the average Twitter user doesn’t have as many, so I think it’s pretty cool.

Of course, the big question I have — and maybe you do too — is why?

What is it about what I’m tweeting that all these people have decided to follow me?

I know lots of people struggle to get followers, so in an effort to answer the question for me, and for you, I took a look at what I’ve been tweeting and created this word cloud using Wordle.net:

What can we learn from that? Continue reading →

5 Reasons Why “21 Jump Street” Isn’t as Bad as It Looks

20 Mar

If you’ve seen the promotional campaign for the big-screen reboot of 21 Jump Street, then you probably think it looks pretty bad.

That’s what I thought, too.

But then I saw the movie and was pleasantly surprised. It’s actually pretty good.

(Yes, I know that’s damning with faint praise.)

This flick had a lot of factors going against it, so I figured I would share the five things that are working for it, and that make 21 Jump Street worth seeing. Continue reading →

100% Committed, 50% of the Time

19 Mar

Here’s a truth that people with children don’t like to admit: Things are different once the kids arrive.

Oh, sure. You say things won’t change, and you’ll do everything exactly the same as before … but you just can’t.

And all of a sudden, whether they want to or not, your single or childless friends have to work around that, your relationship with them changed forever.

The first 15 minutes of Friends with Kids, Jennifer Westfeldt’s smart, sophisticated, funny new film, dramatize this in cringe-worthy fashion. Continue reading →

A Work in Progress

6 Mar

Hello and welcome to the new and (hopefully) improved Martin’s Musings!

Wait, wait … Don’t run away so quickly.

I’m in the process of moving things over from my old blog, and setting up this new blog home so it looks the way I want it to. There’s lots of tinkering and fine-tuning and optimizing to do.

I’ll try and do that quickly so you’ll have something cool to see (and read) before long.

Till then, I hope you won’t judge this book by its cover.

See you soon!

A Tale of Two Sweethearts

26 Feb

It was the best of movies, it was the worst of movies.

Alright, so that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but go with me here for a little while, okay?

Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston are both back in movie theaters now with new movies, and while they’re of different quality, they made me think about how differently these two actress’ careers have evolved.

Both at one time was America’s Sweetheart, a beloved figure on the small and/or large screen, and yet, where one has gone right(er), the other seems to be totally off track. Continue reading →

Meryl Streep, Prime Minister

28 Jan

Whether you liked her or didn’t like her, Margaret Thatcher was an important political figure. So she rightly deserves any recognition she gets, and merits a bio-pic.

That said, watching The Iron Lady, you get the feeling that this is a film more about Meryl Streep playing Thatcher, than it is about Thatcher herself.

Would the movie have been made without Streep? Who knows. But you know somewhere, a few years ago, some film producers were sitting around and came up with this brilliant high-concept idea.

Thankfully, Streep delivers. Continue reading →

Pal Joey

8 Jan

In recent years, the proudly, blatantly self-important projects that Steven Spielberg has worked on (often with Tom Hanks) — ones like the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and The Pacific — have been such a turnoff.

They may be good, but who wants to sit through something out of a feeling close to obligation?

So I’ll admit, I was resistant to seeing War Horse, uncle Steve’s latest prestige project, and pre-disposed to not liking it.

This film, an adaptation of the Tony Award–winning play and children’s novel, tells the story of boy gets horse, boy loses horse to World War I, boy enlists in army to find horse, boy and horse are reunited, and all is well. It’s about as audience-friendly as can be, and with gorgeous photography, a predictably majestic score by John Williams, and decent performances, the film is a rousing one that will make you stand up and cheer. Continue reading →

2011’s Movies Hit a Home Run

3 Jan

If you haven’t noticed, I see a lot of movies.

As I sit down to write this blog post, this year alone, of the ones that are considered 2011 releases, I’ve seen 50. Last year I saw 60, so I’m a little off my game, I guess.

But there are still a few movies that have yet to open in Boston that I’m sure I’ll see, and that’ll push the number higher.

And yes, I know it’s now a couple days into 2012. That’s alright. Again, we’re talking 2011 releases, the ones that are eligible for Oscars and all the other awards, no matter when they’re in my local theaters.

Okay, enough excuse-making.

2011 was a pretty good year for the movies. Looking back on all the ones I’ve seen, there were a good number of them that I gave high marks to (i.e., a B+ or better).

So what follows are my 10 favorite movies of the year. Continue reading →

Out of Control

2 Jan

The Cold War–era spy thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy tells the story of a British intelligence officer who is pulled out of (forced) retirement when it’s thought that a Russian mole is embedded within the Secret Service.

Who is the mole? It’s one of four gentlemen who are given the code names of the film’s title.

That’s about all I’ve got.

Despite an excellent performance by Gary Oldman (and his oversized glasses), I just wasn’t invested in this one.

It’s stuffy, all-too-serious, and not exactly exciting to watch. No wonder my mind wandered throughout, and I couldn’t wait for the film to end.

Is it fair, then, for me to give the movie any review? I don’t care; I’m doing it anyway. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy gets a B– from me.

I’d Like to Thank You for the Year

29 Dec

Most people will tell you that Thanksgiving is the time to give thanks.

After all, it’s right there in the name of the day.

But at the end of the year, as songs like “Step into Christmas” are on repeat play, I can’t help thinking of one line in that song: “I’d like to thank you for the year.”

So in the spirit of showing even more appreciation, I’d like to say a few thank-yous to some (but not all) of the people, places, and things that made 2011 so much fun.

This list is in no particular order. Continue reading →

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