Saturday, February 07, 2004 posted by Jen at 2/07/2004 02:54:00 PM
There's a beautiful picture of, and a very nice story, about Toni Collette, in this week's ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, which reminds me: go see JAPANESE STORY if it's coming to a theater near year.
Adam and I saw it last weekend, and we were both just blown away. It starts off slow, and Collette's Sandy isn't the most instantly likable character you've ever seen on the big screen, but...well, it just kind of sneaks up on you. And the movie's last fifteen minutes, in which only a handful of words are spoken, are incredibly powerful. And Toni Collette was incredibly powerful. I think she can do anything. I think she's going to be a wonderful Rose.
Also, if you have a chance and you like chocolate (and who doesn't?), pick up Friday's WALL STREET JOURNAL (I would like to it, but they're not online, as they are capitalists). The catalogue shopping column reviews high-end Valentine's Day treats, and I got to come in and taste them and rank them for the story because I am a quote-unquote "romance expert." Who knew?
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Thursday, February 05, 2004 posted by Jen at 2/05/2004 05:59:00 PM
Dog food. It's all about the dog food.
In the past weeks Lucy has mastered the forward crawl. She's proficient. She's speedy. She can scoot across the living room, made her way into the kitchen, and clamber over to the dog food bowl, which I bought in Las Vegas and which looks like a small purple throne and is ornamented with fake jewels, and scoops up a fistful of kibble.
So far I've prevented her from actually eating any, but either we're going to relocate the food dish or resign ourselves to the girl ingesting some Iams. Am not sure how bad that would be....I mean, it's not like it's generic dog food, right?
In other news, I have it on good authority that Sofia Coppola was not spoofing My BFF Cami in LOST IN TRANSLATION. I still don't think it's a Best Picture -- at the end of the day it's still a hot young girl/older married man story, with some gratuitous shots at the Japanese (they're short! And they talk funny!) thrown into the mix -- but because Sofia Coppola is not an enemy of My Cami, you should feel free to root for her to get that Oscar.
And lots of you have been asking what's up with GOOD IN BED on HBO. Here's what I know -- SEX AND THE CITY is wrapping up, and GOOD IN BED is in active development. That's all I know now, but when I learn more, I'll post it. Swear!
I'm going to head to Los Angeles later this month, and I'll be visiting the set of IN HER SHOES, where I have promised not to harass anyone or ask to take pictures of -- or with -- Toni and Cami and Shirley. Or, you know, ask if they can hold my baby and then taking pictures. I will not do this! But if it should happen, pictures will be posted.
And in the last bit of news, my sister Molly auditioned earlier this week to play the part of Rose's secretary. Keep your fingers crossed!
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Sunday, February 01, 2004 posted by Jen at 2/01/2004 11:33:00 AM
Still more IN HER SHOES casting news: Ken Howard is Michael Feller and Candace Azzara is Sydelle. Ken Howard was on a show called THE WHITE SHADOW, which I have promised to read up on later, and is also a graduate of Amherst College. Where they'll take anyone.
Candace Azzara was in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, but I'll have to watch it again to figure out who she was. She seems to have the right look, though. Of all the characters in IN HER SHOES, Sydelle was probably the one I could picture most easily. I know exactly how she's supposed to look, and it looks like the film people got it.
Much of the news, along with another Toni Collette interview, comes from The Philadelphia Inquirer, which, I've noticed, has quit referring to me as "former Inquirer staff writer." I'm now just "Philadelphia author." Hmm.
But I was pleased to learn that Collette was thrilled -- as I was -- with Shirley MacLaine being cast as Ella. I've started feeling very proprietary about the actors in the film. For instance, I will be strenuously rooting against Sofia Coppola at the Oscars, because wide-spread Hollywood rumor has it that the ditzy blonde karaoke-singing actress in LOST IN TRANSLATION was a jab at Cameron Diaz (or, as I am calling her in my head these days, My Cami).
You'd think a woman who turned in suchastinkbomb of a performance in The Godfather Part III -- and who existed as a punchline for years because of it -- would be a little more reluctant to rake another actress over the coals, no?
Anyhow. This is the best and smartest thing I've read about Dr. Judith Steinberg Dean, and the sexism implicit in the way the media treats would-be first ladies. Personally, I like the idea of having a first lady who looks like she'd be perfectly at ease wearing rubber Vulcan ears at a Star Trek convention. Nerds of the world unite!
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Welcome to A Moment of Jen, author Jennifer Weiner's constantly-updated take on books, baby, and news of the world. Email me at jen (a) jenniferweiner.com.
