Netflix Axes Qwickster Killing Plan to Split

After only a few weeks since their announcement of Netflix breaking off into two services (one for streaming and one for DVD/game rental), the company has decided to axe the new Qwickster service. I like to think Netflix read my blog post Netflix’s apology uncovers something much worse a few weeks ago.

I’m glad they are doing this. In my previous post, I highlighted why this would be a terrible idea based on a few factors, the most important being the ease of use. The breaking apart of Netflix into two services could double the number of steps it takes to rent a movie. For a company known for its simplicity, this didn’t make sense. Continue reading

Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher

I simply cannot wait for this movie to come out. When I read that Meryl Streep was going to play the part of Margaret Thatcher I was blown away. Beyond Helen Mirren, I cannot think of a better actress to play Thatcher.

Streep was spectacular in Julie and Julia, even though the character of Julie was abhorrent as her first attempt at bœuf bourguignon. Is there nothing this woman cannot do with great success?

A Cake, a Movie, a Melon Baller

I’ve made some wonderful friends through Twitter and just a few weekends ago, I got to share one of these friendships with many of my old friends.

Ryan and Ben, (@rzhale and @joubiku, respectively on Twitter) came into town for a weekend away from the bustling city life that is Kansas City, ahem.  The weekend had been heavily anticipated for all involved for a few weeks and as the days closed in the anticipation grew to astronomical proportions.
I welcomed them to their new home for the weekend, my apartment and shortly after their arrival we headed down to Shakespeare’s Pizza (@ShakesPizza) for some dinner, drinks and a fun environment.

After pizza we stopped by Top Ten Wines for a few minutes before ultimately heading back to my apartment for wine, cookies and hours of hilarious YouTube videos. I don’t’ think Phoebe (@fotofobe), Josh (@brooding_soul), Ryan, Ben or I had ever laughed as hard in our lives. One of the most entertaining evenings in I’ve ever had.

Phoebe and I decided we should share our new addiction to Cafe Berlin (@CafeBerlin) to Josh, Ryan and Ben. Amazing breakfast, delicious food, fun, waitstaff and a comically difficult cream dispenser.

That evening was Cake and a Movie Night (#CaaM).  I made a Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and a bittersweet chocolate-peanut butter ganache.

Before Cake and a Movie, we headed out for wine drinking at Top Ten Wines downtown (@TopTenWines), my absolute favorite wine bar, where Chase (@clettenberg) performing.  Yet again, Chase put on a great show and as per usual, Lauren (@laurenkilberg) proved to be a fantastic wine maiden.

Cake and a Movie had a great turn out, some regulars and some new attendees.

My Ryan (@kaleb1983) finally got to join us for the weekend festivities.  We watched Toy Story, the Pixar film that put them on the map.  Wow, who would have known how funny that movie would be, over ten years later.  I sure wasn’t expecting all the laughs.

The next morning, Ryan, Ben, Ryan and I went to Bleu for a brunch before Ben and Ryan had to head out of town.

Life is Precious

Can’t believe I’m about to say this BUT, I’m actually interested in a movie by Tyler Perry starring Mo’Nique along side Mariah Carey. I would normally say any combination of those listed in a film equaled disaster, but this time I’m not so sure…

What do you think? Worth seeing? Sundance thought so, plus it is inspiring and uplifting. So… I think it’s a go for me.  Plus, one killer soundtrack!

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What Killed Heath Ledger?

The best movie I’ve seen in a long time.  The Dark Knight.  I’m not alone in loving this film, it made a new record opening at upwards of $155,000,000 this weekend.

There wasn’t a single thing in this movie that I would change and it may just be the best action/suspense/thriller/comic book movie I have ever seen.  The visuals were stunning, the musical score was spot on, the special effects were top notch and the acting was incredible, especially on Heath Ledger‘s parts.

In fact, Ledger was so into his character that when looking a him, the Joker, you could see nothing of Ledger.  His eyes were different, his hair, his face, the way he walked, his voice was dramatically changed.  The swagger as he went through a room brandishing knives and guns like lolly pops and dandilions.

I felt myself needing to be reminded that this person, the Joker, wasn’t real. It was as though the real villian had taken the stage.  Ledger had it down, the hand gestures, the licking of his lips, the heavy breathing and the sound his mouth made with the scars.

This was nothing like what you’d expect from the guy who played Patrick Verona.

If you were to ask me, “What killed Heath Ledger”, I would say, The Dark Knight killed Heath Ledger.

I believe that he got so into his character, so wrapped up in all the terrible things the Joker represented, that he became, at least in some degree, the Joker.  I think he took into his heart the pain the Joker felt, the pain that lead him to do the things he did.

I believe Ledger fell a victim of some sort of spontaneous paranoid schizophreniform psychosis.  It became too hard to tell reality from his character.  That was probably when he turned to RX drugs for depression and anxiety.

A dangerous side effect of anti anxiety, anti seizure, anti depression medications is respiratory infection.  Any time I have ever been on any of these medications, I have been hospitalized for either or both, pneumonia and bronchitis.

Mix the meds for the respiratory infection he had possibly from the anti psychotic medications along with a few too many similar meds and you have a prescription for death.

In the end, no one could have played that part better than Ledger and we would never have known that until now.

So if you ask me, it’s Warner Bros. fault Heath Ledger is dead, at last partly.  Either way, a tragic loss and one of the best performances I have ever seen.

(P.S., that last bit about Warner Bros. killing Ledger, to quote the Joker, “Why so serious?”.  It’s a joke)

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Mama’s Boy

Last night, Micheal, Max and I watched the movie, Mama’s Boy starring Diane Keaton who looked absolutely fabulous and Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite).  Perhaps the best part was Jeff Daniels (aka Uncle Joey from Full House) and Laura Knightlinger from the most awesome show, The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman.

It’s a movie about a 29 year old kid living at home with his widowed mother, his attachment to her, his nepotism, and his inability to socialize with others.  Basically, it is about my ex boyfriend Seth.  Seriously though, we really enjoyed the movie.

We all really liked it.  You should rent it, and then let me borrow it so I can rip it.  haha.  We rented it in HD off my AppleTV.  The movie paired with some “cheap” good veggie pizza equals awesome.

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