September 2012 - Things I Read, Things I Watched & Things I Decided I Want to Read

Previous editions of this sort of post - August / July / June / April & May / March / February / January

Let's start with the books that I discovered this month. There's some good ones. Get on my shelves, books. Get on my shelves.

Lulu Walks the Dogs by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Lane Smith.

Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown.

Hubble Bubble, Granny Trouble by Tracey Corderoy, illustrated by Joe Berger.

This is a Cookbook: Recipes For Real Life by Max and Eli Sussman.

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems.

Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza by Ken Forkish.

Bugs in the Garden and Bugs in a Blanket by Beatrice Alemagna.

Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery, & a Very Strange Adventure by Lissa Evans.

Jonathan and Martha by Petr Horacek.

The Art of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien edited by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull.

The Osbick Bird by Edward Gorey.

Percy and TumTum: A Tale of Two Dogs by Jen Hill.

Marshall Armstrong Is New to Our School by David Mackintosh.

I actually read a bunch of books this month, but the three faves would have to be.....

Kiss Me Like a Stranger by Gene Wilder (his autobiography)

Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live by Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad (not quite as entertaining as this one, but still pretty great - it focuses on the early years)

The Passage by Justin Cronin (I picked this up at a book sale, but I didn't really have the slightest idea what it was about - turns out it's an apocalyptic thing about vampires. That doesn't sound like something that'd be completely up my alley BUT once I started reading I ended up whipping through all 800 or so pages in a couple of days. AND - conveniently enough - the sequel just came out. I'm holding off on buying it though - I need to wait until I have enough time to devour it quickly.)

Now for what I watched.

I went to see ParaNorman and I'm so happy that I decided to to so.

Details I loved - Norman's eyebrows / the wide range of body shapes they gave the characters / the drama teacher's beret / Witchy Wieners / the scene where he walked into school & got the cold shoulder from everyone / the fact that Jeff Garlin voiced his father / the creepiness of John Goodman's character / "Don't make me throw this hummus!" / the kids singing "Season of the Witch" / the owl / the bully break dancing to Dizzee Rascal / the way the light would glow through Norman's ears during sunset / etc.

I rewatched Annie for the first time in years and appreciated Carol Burnett's performance as Miss Hannigan more than ever.

Lost in America (yay for young Al Brooks).

I rewatched There Will Be Blood. I'd listen to an audiobook read by Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview just to hear that voice for hours.

I was in a very apocalyptic mood after reading The Passage so I went ahead and watched the first two seasons of The Walking Dead. I got way more into it than I thought I would. ALTHOUGH, I've got to say that it bothered me how Rick Grimes missed the whole zombie takeover because he was in a coma - that's the exact same thing that happened in 28 Days Later. Come on.

I enjoyed Lawless. I think Mia Wasikowska is the best. And Dane DeHaan was in it too, so.... two of my favorite patients ever from In Treatment in one movie! Great.

Plus - I loved how Tom Hardy's character wore tons of cardigans. Completely badass.... in knitwear.

June 2012 - Things I Read, Things I Watched & Things I Decided I Want to Read

Well, I read more this month than I have the last couple of months. So that's nice.

Previous posts - April & May / March / February / January

Books I read - Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation / Sitcom Style / Allure / The Elephant to Hollywood

How Sassy Changed My Life / The Last Invisible Boy / The Rescuers

Now for the books I discovered this month that I'd like to read some day - People's Pops: 55 Recipes for Ice Pops, Shave Ice, and Boozy Pops from Brooklyn's Coolest Pop Shop.

NorCalMod: Icons of Northern California Modernism / Palm Springs Holiday / California Design, 1930--1965: "Living in a Modern Way" 

Julius Shulman Los Angeles: The Birth of a Modern Metropolis.

Gardens for a Beautiful America, 1895-1935. Photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnston.

Don't Squish the Sasquatch! / Squid and Octopus: Friends for Always  / Bink and Gollie, Two for One

Dragons Love Tacos.

My Snake Blake.

The Age of Miracles.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home / Beautiful Ruins

Laduree: The Sweet Recipes / SprinkleBakes: Dessert Recipes to Inspire Your Inner Artist  / Cooking from the Farmers' Market / The Sugar Cube: 50 Deliciously Twisted Treats from the Sweetest Little Food Cart on the Planet

Now for the things I watched this month.

I watched Being There again on my long bus ride to New York.

A saw a few movies in the theater this month, and I enjoyed watching each of them (partially because of the intense air conditioning) but at the same time - they were all flawed in my opinion. You know, the sort of movies you wouldn't want to own (yeah - I still buy tons of dvds: if you lived in the woods like I do, you wouldn't want to depend on having an internet connection to watch things). 

I loved Charlize & Michael Fassbender in Prometheus. I wish there would be a sequel that consisted of Noomi carrying around the head. 

Also - the part at the very beginning with the engineer on the cliff? All I could think of was "This is what Edward is supposed to look like!". I have TONS of problems with the Twilight books, but one of my big issues is that all these girls wish they could get with Edward and I want to scream - "HE FEELS LIKE HE'S MADE OF STONE!" Stephenie Meyer states that fact over and over and OVER AGAIN! Why on EARTH would you want to make out with someone whose lips don't have any give? I don't go to museums and look at a statue and think - "Oh yeah! I want to spoon with that!" If you are attracted to Edward, you basically want to make out with a movable version of the David statue. I mean, he's basically as old as the David statue, so there's another similarity for you. 

Anyway - that was a long tangent just to say that when I saw the engineer I thought he looked like he was made of stone and that the make-up people working on the Twilight movies should have done something similar with Edward's look that if they wanted to be accurate.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. The ending sort-of ruined it for me, but I enjoyed the first hunk a lot. Lots of people hate on Kiera Knightley, but I like her. Sorry? I prefer her version of Pride & Prejudice to the mini-series version. Sorry again?

It was very weird seeing her & Steve Carrell put their lips together, though. BUT - give me Steve Carrell any day over some vampire dude that's supposed to feel like he's made of stone!!

The dog (named Sorry) is delightful.

I literally went to see this movie just because it was super hot and I wanted to escape it, but I ended up really liking Snow White and the Huntsman. I wish that I had been able to watch it when I was younger: I would have watched it on repeat along with the other fantasy movies I loved as a child.

I finished my rewatch of Six Feet Under at about 4am this past Friday. I got home that night and decided that there would be no better way to prepare for bed than to watch the series finale and SOB UNCONTROLLABLY. Sob louder than Ruth did at Nathaniel's grave in the first episode. But that's so satisfying! Sobbing over fiction. 

Favorite tv show ever..... even though I think I loathe Nate more every time I watch it. 

The only good thing about finishing it is that I won't be thinking about death / being really morbid as much as I have been the past few months or so.

Finally, I just started watching The West Wing for the first time. I got in to a small argument with my sister because she doesn't like Allison Janney in this or in anything else she's in. How!?! Why?!?! I don't understand.

Also - right now I'm listening to Christina Hendricks & Robert Morse do a commentary for an episode of Mad Men from season two (yeah, I do things like that when I'm putting together blog posts - tv show / movie commentaries & podcasts) and Robert Morse is talking about what a nut Vincent Kartheiser is & it's great. Basically everything Robert Morse is saying is great. What a gem stone.

Also - I recently decided that I want to watch a comedy that features Bryan Cranston & Jon Hamm as brothers. I'd also like Jonah Hill to be in a period piece that takes place in like the 1500s or something. Also - I want to watch Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Christian Bale in a happy movie in which they play gay fathers. Because they're almost never happy in movies! And I want them to be! And I was thinking about how they could be in a quality family comedy, and I figured - why not just kill two birds with one stone and have them be together in this hypothetical movie. Instead of in two separate ones.  


I have lots of other "movies I'd like to see specific actors in" (obviously, considering that I just mentioned guys and didn't even start to list my dream roles for various ladies), but I'll restrain myself from presenting them to you. Anyway, get on that, Hollywood! Love, Mallory.


But one more thing - if Emma Stone and Michelle Monaghan never play sisters it is a TRAGEDY. They look and sound alike. It needs to happen.

Red Dresses

I have a guest post up at Miss Moss today & it's all about my favorite red dresses in the Fall 2012 Ready to Wear collections PLUS my favorite red dresses in movies. I couldn't fit all of my favorites into that one post (without making it wayyyyy too long), so here's a sequel!

(Of course this post is also way too long, but that's the way it goes.)

First go read / look at my post on Diana's blog though.

Here's some more shots of Rizzo dancing in her polka dot dress. I watched Grease when I was way too young to be watching Grease (I feel like that's the case with most people though) because my I-have-Grease-memorized times coincided with my still-playing-with-Barbie-dolls times. I had a dress for my dolls that looked like Rizzo's dress and that thing saw a LOT of wear. Loved it.

A few more shots of Shoshanna in Inglorious Basterds. When she puts on this dress she knows that it's the last dress she'll ever wear. A fine choice for final-day-wear.

Melanie Laurent also wears an awesome red dress in Beginners. I guess costume designers just think she looks good in red. Which is true.

Mary Poppins in her red suit. So it's not actually a red dress.... but close enough. If these images ignite a desire to watch "Step in Time" you can go here to do so.

annnnnddddd a few more of Satine in her amazing red dress with the built in corset (I love corsets). "Love lifts us up where we belongggg".

Some more of Cher rocking her little red dress in Clueless.

I think that's the first time I ever used the word "rocking" in that way. I don't think I'm going to do it again.

Of course Jane Russell & Marilyn Monroe look swell in their sparkly red dresses in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes....

... but Dustin Hoffman looks equally smashing in a similar one in Tootsie.

Okay. Now on to the movies I didn't mention over on Miss Moss.

I loved nothing more than singing "Why Don't You Do Right" (watch here) when I was little & in a Jessica Rabbit tone of voice. Call it inappropriate if you want. But. It's fine. 

Another song I used to sing as a child (& still sing) that was originally sung by a girl wearing a red dress in a movie - "I Want it Now" (Veruca Salt in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory).

Annie definitely shares Veruca's sense of style.

I wasn't crazy about The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but I loved Daisy's dress.

My sister's favorite red dress in film is Hermione's from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One. & she insisted that I include it in this post.

Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face.

Renee Zellweger wearing a fringed red dress as Barbara Novak in Down with Love.

I'm not a big The Notebook person, but I love everything that Rachel McAdams wears as Allie. So much red! Even her bathing suit is red. Even the blanket she wraps herself in is red. Red, red, red.

Julia Roberts as Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman.

Two red dresses from teen movies that came out during my teen years - Laney Boggs in She's All That (after her "transformation" - what a difference taking your glasses off does, ha).

& Bianca Stratford in 10 Things I Hate About You.

Penny with her wonderfully swishy dress in Dirty Dancing.

Allison (during the "Please Mr. Jailer" number) in Cry-Baby.

These two dresses are more maroon-red than red-red, BUT - Rose in Titanic...

.... & Scarlett in Gone with the Wind.

Death Becomes Her.

And just for good measure (and because this post isn't long enough!), a few red dresses from tv. Audrey of Twin Peaks.

Daphne dancing with Niles in Frasier's  aptly named episode - "Moon Dance".

Joan in an episode of Mad Men.

And this isn't the most exciting red dress ever, but I took this screen cap of Danny Devito (as Louie de Palma) chasing his real life wife (Rhea Perlman) on Taxi because I thought it was a funny scene. So. Here it is.

And some more red favorites from fashion week - Chalayan

first two - Lanvin / second two - Chloe

first two - Vionnet / second two - Valentino

Giambattista Valli

Collette Dinnigan / Christian Dior / Alexis Mabille

THE END!