Happy Christmas to me: my grandma's basement has wireless.
The only big Christmas Weekend movie I didn't wind up reviewing this year was Sherlock Holmes, which I saw tonight with my sister. It certainly ranks in the upper echelon of movies we've seen together on Christmas, admittedly not a tough genre to dominate. I basically enjoyed the movie, but there's something slightly wan about it that keeps it from being as much fun as it could be; it's no Pirates of the Caribbean, for example, which is about the best you can hope for in this case. Oddly, I feel like the producers were aiming higher; it feels like some corporate dude's idea of how to make his own damn Batman Begins or Star Trek (though I realize this movie was well into production when the latter came out). The basics are good -- Downey and Law make an engaging, playful Holmes and Watson, the pop version of the character is a little cheesy but mostly fun -- but the story descends into uninspired hokum and the humor Guy Ritchie brought to a movie like Snatch feels muted here, more dryly amusing than really laugh-out-loud funny. I left the movie not on a high, but thinking of how movies like The Prestige and Sleepy Hollow have done that (approximate) period/style better, even with vastly different aims. This movie is clearly all about franchise-starting, and I'm not crazy excited for a second one so much as I am moderately interested in whether it will be a lot better, or on the same pretty-good/inconsequential level.
As for your other Christmasish options, I recommend The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus most highly, though that's NYC/LA exclusive for now. The review is here. I do not so much recommend It's Complicated, but it could be worse. You know what could also be worse, but is plenty bad for anyone? Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. I convinced my sister to sneak into it accidentally, when I mentioned that it stars the guy from Chuck. I don't know which of us is the bigger sucker. I get paid for my review, though, and it was admittedly fun to write.
Otherwise, it's just been the usual Rochester trip: playing with some little cousins, eating a lot of cookies, hanging out with a small dog and a fat cat. Also included on this trip: my first Happy Meal in years and years. The last few times we've done this, the drive to Rochester has included a stop at a McDonald's right before we get on the thruway, not so much for food but a bathroom and coffee (or for me, possibly milkshake) break. Yesterday, though, I bought a Happy Meal, because they come with Avatar toys, and I can't remember the last time a McDonald's Happy Meal had a toy I might be interested in. This got me thinking about the last time I went to McDonald's, because when I was a kid, when we visited Rochester we would always go to McDonald's with my grandparents once per visit as a treat, and it was generally our designated fast food establishment in general (not that we went there all the time, but if we got fast food, that was usually where it came from). That is to say: Though I'm well aware of how bad McDonald's is for your health and for the world in general, and that intellectually I know it's kind of gross, I can't say that I don't go to McDonald's anymore for those reasons. I got into the habit of not having it, and after awhile I realized it had been literally years between visits. As such, I can remember the last few times I went:
--Christmas Eve Day 2009, on a whim for the Avatar toy, which lights up and is awesome. I split the small fries with my brother, and distributed half of the four chicken nuggets to everyone in the car, except for my sister, who saw Food Inc. and has parlayed that into extremely targeted activism where she tells me whatever I'm eating is awful. Has this dissuaded me from thinking about getting another Avatar Happy Meal before the promotion ends? No. No it has not.
--In South Station on St. Patrick's Day 2009, I realized I could get a Shamrock Shake before getting on the bus back to NYC, so I did that. It was great.
--Another time traveling back from Boston, when Amanda was living there and Rayme had her Aveo, so I'm guessing that was around 2004 or so. Rayme drove Marisa and I back to New York from Boston, and wanted to stop at McDonald's on the way back. Marisa and I were hungry, so we split some chicken nuggets, and they were pretty satisfying.
--I also distinctly remember grabbing some McDonald's dinner on a break from my first NYC job in either late 2002 or early 2003, right after we got hit with a blizzard (so I'm thinking it was early '03). That was probably the last time where I wasn't like "wow, it's been ages since I've been inside a McDonald's."
--Kasia read Fast Food Nation during our senior year, and she shamefully admitted that it made her crave McDonald's even as it disgusted her, and she got me to go with her.
I was quite the Happy Meal consumer back in the day, though (of course, as those things combine my lifelong interest in toys and french fries). The only time I actually Collected All Four? Garfield, like Garfield and Friends Garfield, not creepy live-action/CG Garfield. Other ones I remember liking a lot, though not really coming close to All Four or All Eight or whatever: Muppet Babies, Batman Returns, Tiny Toons, Looney Tunes Superheroes, and Bambi. I was never a huge fan of the movie Bambi but the McDonald's toys were pretty high qual.
But my tastes are more refined now. For example, I had at least three different kinds of cookies today.
As for your other Christmasish options, I recommend The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus most highly, though that's NYC/LA exclusive for now. The review is here. I do not so much recommend It's Complicated, but it could be worse. You know what could also be worse, but is plenty bad for anyone? Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. I convinced my sister to sneak into it accidentally, when I mentioned that it stars the guy from Chuck. I don't know which of us is the bigger sucker. I get paid for my review, though, and it was admittedly fun to write.
Otherwise, it's just been the usual Rochester trip: playing with some little cousins, eating a lot of cookies, hanging out with a small dog and a fat cat. Also included on this trip: my first Happy Meal in years and years. The last few times we've done this, the drive to Rochester has included a stop at a McDonald's right before we get on the thruway, not so much for food but a bathroom and coffee (or for me, possibly milkshake) break. Yesterday, though, I bought a Happy Meal, because they come with Avatar toys, and I can't remember the last time a McDonald's Happy Meal had a toy I might be interested in. This got me thinking about the last time I went to McDonald's, because when I was a kid, when we visited Rochester we would always go to McDonald's with my grandparents once per visit as a treat, and it was generally our designated fast food establishment in general (not that we went there all the time, but if we got fast food, that was usually where it came from). That is to say: Though I'm well aware of how bad McDonald's is for your health and for the world in general, and that intellectually I know it's kind of gross, I can't say that I don't go to McDonald's anymore for those reasons. I got into the habit of not having it, and after awhile I realized it had been literally years between visits. As such, I can remember the last few times I went:
--Christmas Eve Day 2009, on a whim for the Avatar toy, which lights up and is awesome. I split the small fries with my brother, and distributed half of the four chicken nuggets to everyone in the car, except for my sister, who saw Food Inc. and has parlayed that into extremely targeted activism where she tells me whatever I'm eating is awful. Has this dissuaded me from thinking about getting another Avatar Happy Meal before the promotion ends? No. No it has not.
--In South Station on St. Patrick's Day 2009, I realized I could get a Shamrock Shake before getting on the bus back to NYC, so I did that. It was great.
--Another time traveling back from Boston, when Amanda was living there and Rayme had her Aveo, so I'm guessing that was around 2004 or so. Rayme drove Marisa and I back to New York from Boston, and wanted to stop at McDonald's on the way back. Marisa and I were hungry, so we split some chicken nuggets, and they were pretty satisfying.
--I also distinctly remember grabbing some McDonald's dinner on a break from my first NYC job in either late 2002 or early 2003, right after we got hit with a blizzard (so I'm thinking it was early '03). That was probably the last time where I wasn't like "wow, it's been ages since I've been inside a McDonald's."
--Kasia read Fast Food Nation during our senior year, and she shamefully admitted that it made her crave McDonald's even as it disgusted her, and she got me to go with her.
I was quite the Happy Meal consumer back in the day, though (of course, as those things combine my lifelong interest in toys and french fries). The only time I actually Collected All Four? Garfield, like Garfield and Friends Garfield, not creepy live-action/CG Garfield. Other ones I remember liking a lot, though not really coming close to All Four or All Eight or whatever: Muppet Babies, Batman Returns, Tiny Toons, Looney Tunes Superheroes, and Bambi. I was never a huge fan of the movie Bambi but the McDonald's toys were pretty high qual.
But my tastes are more refined now. For example, I had at least three different kinds of cookies today.