I remember the first time I learned about the iPhone. It was January 2007 and I was in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show in the press room. Details about the new Apple device, which was not actually on display there in Vegas, spread like wildfire, and just like that, everything else at CES was rendered insignificant.
But as much as I wanted an iPhone when they hit stores that summer, I knew I should wait for the second version. Continue reading
Unlike most people, I actually like jury duty.
I just find the whole process fascinating, and there’s always a good story to tell when the trial’s over.
However, until this week, I had never actually had the chance to sit on a jury and deliberate.
I came close, in 1996, when I was seated on the panel in a drug entrapment case in New York City. It was really cool, but after sitting through three days of arguments, I was sent home because I was only an alternate.
I was totally bummed.
So much, in fact, that I called the courthouse the next day to find out what the verdict was (innocent, just as I would have voted).
Three years ago, I was called to Foxborough for jury duty on a random Monday in August and hoped for the best … but, well, it was a random Monday in August, so there were no cases to try and I was sent home.
When I received my summons to appear this week in Woburn, I anticipated the same fate. I even sent an email to coworkers telling them that I’d be back on Tuesday.
After all, what could possibly be going on in Woburn? Continue reading
It’s just another day in New York City when the message comes in that a subway car has been taken hostage.
And so begins The Taking of Pelham 123, a remake of the 1974 film that starred Walter Matthau.
In this update, Denzel Washington is subway dispatcher Walter Garber, and John Travolta is the mastermind behind the crime, a man who identifies himself only as “Ryder.” Also in a high-profile role is James Gandolfini, who plays the lame duck mayor and at one point says he won’t call a press conference because “I’m not running for president. I left my Giuliani suit at home.” Continue reading
There’s a certain freedom that comes from knowing that as much as I may want to lose weight, it’s more fun to not even try.
So that’s why when I saw on the Travel Channel or the Food Network or some other channel earlier this year that there was a Chocolate Bar at the Langham Hotel here in Boston, I knew I’d get there sooner or later. Thankfully, Nina felt the same way I did, so we went with her husband today to celebrate my birthday, his birthday, and their anniversary in gluttonous style. Continue reading
I’ve been to Las Vegas twice, but thankfully, I’ve never experienced anything quite as crazy as what you’ll see in The Hangover.
This movie — a sort-of cross between Very Bad Things and Dude, Where’s My Car? — is about a bachelor party gone very wrong, and how the morning after, three guys attempt to piece together what happened the night before (and find the groom, who has gone missing).
The unlikely trio of Bradley Cooper (Alias), Ed Helms (The Office), and Zach Galifianakis (Between Two Ferns) generate plenty of laughs — to spoil any of them would just be cruel, although there are a bunch of clips available on the web that ruin a few surprises.
No matter. Continue reading
I was reading the new issue of Entertainment Weekly this weekend, and in a Q&A with actress Kyra Sedgwick, who is, of course, married to Kevin Bacon, I saw this exchange:
Do you pay attention to your press?
My husband is a Google Alert guy. He has one on himself and me. I’m like, Dude, I don’t want to know what people are saying.
So I just wanted to test that out. If you’re reading this, Kevin or Kyra … Hi there! How’s it going?
It wasn’t me who coined the phrase “The Day of All Days,” but whatever you call it, the day is here again.
Today is my birthday — number 35.
Jeez, I’m getting old.
Thankfully, I don’t feel 35. And of course, I don’t act like I’m 35.
Today especially, where I’m all about attention and celebrating, just like I was when I was seven. Continue reading
I’ve been fascinated by the story of the Beales for only a short time now — ever since I watched the movie Grey Gardens on HBO — and when I heard that there was going to be a production of the Broadway adaptation here in Boston at the Lyric Stage Company, I decided to check it out (with my friend Nina).
I’d never seen the Tony Award–winning show when it was on Broadway, never had much interest, but hey, why not see it now? The story remains fascinating to me, and thankfully, this production (which ends today) kept the mystery alive. Continue reading
Watching the new film Away We Go, it’s hard not to think of Billy Joel’s classic song, “You’re My Home.”
The story of a couple traveling around the country in search of a place to live before their baby is born, Away We Go is a very sweet film and a very nice surprise. Written by Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) and his wife, Vendela Vida, directed by Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road), and starring The Office‘s John Krasinski and Saturday Night Live‘s Maya Rudolph, it’s filled with enough quirky characters to fill a few independent films, and it defies a bit of logic (for example, how this couple that is just barely scraping by is able to afford cross-country travel), but it has so much heart and so many laughs, and the acting by Krasinski and Rudolph is so unexpectedly tender and good, that you can suspend your disbelief pretty easily. Continue reading
They say a picture’s worth a thousand words.
And then there are Pixar movies, where the beautiful imagery is just priceless.
So it goes in the company’s latest, the simply named Up, which is a gorgeous, bright, colorful movie that has as much depth and emotion as it does stunning visuals.
I just don’t know how those Pixar folks do it. Every single film they make is an impressive achievement, each one better than the last. Continue reading
Martin's Musings 