The Expendables

My first Blu-Ray movie from Netflix.  The picture quality didn't make up for the poor storytelling.  At first I thought it might be an action-oriented remake of The Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven.  That would have made for a fine movie.  Oh well, what can you do: bad movies will continue to be made.

Despicable Me

A charming, if somewhat predictable, animated film.  I thought this film was cuter (in terms of the kid-friendliness and charm) than Megamind, but the latter was the more entertaining story.

Conversations with Other Women

Two of my favorite actors (Aaron Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter), and some interesting writing (although disorienting cinematography).  I enjoyed it!

Children and learning

Preschool lessons: New research shows that teaching kids more and more, at ever-younger ages, may backfire. - By Alison Gopnik - Slate Magazine

Fascinating article.

Nuela

Excellent South-American food.  I know, rather generic classification of food over a large continent: but it's how they describe themselves.  A heart-of-palm salad was great; the oxtail empanadas acceptable, but not so special.  The ceviche was excellent: we had tuna with a mildly spicy coconut sauce.  The salmon entree was good, but not as good as the ceviche.  We finished with a passion-fruit curd topped with a coconut sauce.  All in all, an excellent meal.

Megamind

Megamind is hilarious!  The spoof of the comic genre was well-done, and had lots of quick little inside jokes (like when Marlon Brando made his parental appearance).  Quite fun to watch, although it's really an adult movie dressed up like a kids' movie.

The Social Network

The "story of Facebook".  Backstabbing, a dislikable protagonist, $, all the makings of a good story.  I'm not convinced the story is very accurate, given what I've seen of what the media tends to say about things that I have been familiar with.  But it was entertaining, nonetheless.  And it reminds me of why I don't have a Facebook account too...

I'm not quite clear on why Jesse Eisenberg deserved an Oscar nomination for best actor.  I liked him better in Zombieland and Adventureland.  Facebook-land?

Rick Santorum's problem

Boy, pissing off the wrong people will sure cause one problems these days...

Charlie Sheen Quotes As New Yorker Cartoons

Hilarious!