Stream of the Week- High Fidelity

Rob may spend the rest of his life making top five lists and mix tapes, but that doesn't mean that he can't live his life.


After a terrible breakup with girlfriend Laura, Rob Gordon record store owner decides to go through his top five breakups. It started when he was young under the bleachers at a game and eventually ended with Laura who left him to take a break and be with some poser named Ian. All in all, Rob is not ok, and this life crisis that he's going through revisiting each of his old girlfriends is making him realize more and more that his life with Laura was so much better than it would've been with anyone else. Laura, however, seems unfazed by Rob's new found obsession of following her around like a love-sick puppy. That is, until her father dies. The death of her father drives Laura into a tailspin that only Rob seems to be able to help her cope with driving her right back into Rob's outstretched arms. The only problem is now he's worried that his life will always be him jumping from one failed relationship to the next. And all this happens, of course, to the top five tracks of multiple playlists created by Rob and his friends at his record store. Eventually, Rob stumbles upon a legitimate group to start up a label with while he's dealing with his Laura issues. His new found love for this group turns him from self proclaimed professional critic into a real live creator- something he's always dreamed of, and none of it would be possible without Laura of course.


What is different about High Fidelity is that Rob openly expresses what is going through his mind, not through voice-overs or flashbacks, but through actual dialogue directed at the audience as if the audience is another character acting like his therapist in the film. His thoughts ramble as he examines his history with women, and we get to see the actual progression of thought and action as Rob chases down each one of his ex girls like he would a top 5 list that he would make in his store with his two assistants- Dick and Barry. The characters are funny and clearly flawed (in a good way). Each step is just a new part in the path of discovery, so really what more could you want from a film about a guy who knows he's in love with "the one", but screwed it up.

Nora Ephron

No one knows how to make me cry like Nora Ephron




When Harry Met Sally...
Harry and Sally met first when they drove from school in Chicago to New York. They were so different in opinion that they declared they couldn't possibly be friends. The second time they met, they were both in happy relationships and Harry didn't remember Sally. The third time they met they were finally friends. Based on the theory that people who are attracted to each other can't be friends, Harry and Sally formed an unlikely relationship in which they told each other everything and became closer than they were with any of their friends. Harry had gone through a divorce, Sally had separated from her boyfriend, and they were single New Yorkers trying to hack it in the tough dating world created by the city. Harry didn't want to commit to anything. He would charge in all romantic and leave when he had had enough. Sally just didn't get involved. She was happy. Harry was happy. They were friends. After hearing that her ex was getting married, Sally went into a very real tailspin and asked Harry to come over. One thing lead  to another and both decided it was a mistake after the fact. Now armed with an awkward acknowledgement that they were at least attracted to each other, they drifted apart. Harry launched himself into a depression, and Sally pretended she wasn't bothered even though she was. But nothing stops love in the city on New Years.

The classic cliché of romantic comedies must have originated from Ephron's work. In You've Got Mail, the two main character who are supposed to end up together hate each other at the beginning. Harry and Sally started in this exact same way. So does every romcom now made. Their opposite personalities lead to very open discussions which both show their similarities and differences in character. The audience knows that they are going to be together even though the characters themselves don't know it. This film reminds me of Annie Hall in the way that it both loves New York and also discusses a wide range of topics and ideas in a way that is presented to the audience as fun commentary rather than a serious list of personal beliefs. I love it. So much.

Sleepless in Seattle

After watching the number of romantic films I have, you start to hope that there is something like love at first sight (or first listen). Sam's wife died causing him to relocate to Seattle with his son Jonah. On Christmas Eve, Jonah calls a radio station to find help for his father via a call in radio show. He says his dad needs a new wife. After talking on the show a bit, every woman listening begins to feel a connection with Sam causing him to be a sort of recognizable on the air as Sleepless in Seattle. Annie is on her way to meet her fiancé's parents for Christmas when Sam comes on the radio. From the way he talked, Annie felt a connection. For weeks, she listened for him on the show and did research in order to find out more about them. Even in her perfect relationship with the ever safe Walter, she felt something missing that Sam seemed to have over the radio. With her job in a Boston paper, Annie is able to fly out to Seattle in hopes of meeting Sam and Jonah, but she loses her nerve and ends up going home empty handed. But Annie's friend sees her distress and sends a draft letter that Annie had written to Jonah and Sam that offers to meet them at the top of the Empire State  Building on Valentine's Day. Jonah loves Annie from her letter and finds a way to get himself to New York in hopes that his dad will follow and that he will meet Annie and they will fall in love.

Every woman, and I mean every one of us, can relate to feeling something for another person when we hear about them on the radio or see them act on TV. It's easy for us to imagine ourselves being perfect for that other person even though we don't know them in real life. Maybe it's just me, but I have a hunch I'm not the only hopeless romantic out there. The idea for this script, however, is massively original and endearing. Everything about this film strikes a chord with girls like me.

You've Got Mail

Shopgirl and NY152 chat almost daily over the internet sharing their thoughts, plans, fears, and simple chatter. Their true characters, however, are Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox. Kathleen runs a small children's bookstore called The Shop Around the Corner. Joe is the son of the man behind Fox Books, the big box bookstore that is coming to Kathleen's corner of New York to take over. Kathleen and Joe hate each other in real life based on their situations. Joe is going to run poor Kathleen out of business. But instead of telling everyone else about her thoughts and fears of losing her business, Kathleen goes online and emails NY152. NY152 responds while he drinks his morning coffee and reads the business reports for Fox books addressed to none other than Joe Fox. Unaware of who the other is, both chatters fall in love, slightly at first only finding solace in each other's comforting words and then more deeply as those words turn affectionate. They plan to meet at a local coffee shop and get to know each other in person. Kathleen sits at her table with her book and flower in hand and Joe approaches. Only then does he realize that Shopgirl is Kathleen. This information gives NY152 to the upper hand. Now he can play Kathleen both in real life as Joe Fox and behind the screen name of NY152. Joe finds that there is something wonderfully sweet and insightful behind Kathleen's mock hatred for him and his business. Together the two form a strange friendship in real life that begins to blend their realities. 

Based on a 1937 play, two films were made from the same story before receiving the Nora Ephron update of emails. The Shop Around the Corner and In the Good Old Summer Time were both the films based on the same content which overall took hints from the writings of Jane Austen to create this romantic situation of two opposing forces who are destined to fall in love precisely because they are so different. For years, every time this film showed up on cable after 10 pm my mom and I would sit and watch it together only to sob at the end. It's so utterly perfect in the way it catches both human flaws and compatibility. Inspiring performances from both the roles of Kathleen and Joe really made me fall in love with the story, even at a young age. There is no Romeo and Juliet flair to this story, even though technically they are on warring sides, their open hate for each other to begin with keeps this film from being too overly romantic to begin with. It's just adorably quirky in the best way possible, making a staple in any single girl's collection and a romcom classic for sure.

In her films, Nora Ephron images and details that remain constant throughout. For example, in When Harry Met Sally, Harry and Sally have several scenes in which the classic romantic movie Casablanca is discussed. They go over the romantic aspect of the film as though it somehow adds to the reasons that they should be together. In Sleepless in Seattle, the film used by Annie and her best friend as the template for romance is An Affair to remember. You've Got Mail uses Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen in the same way. All three stories are highly regarded tales of romance and are used as a touchstone to make the movie more believable; these are people who swoon over Mr. Darcy and Cary Grant too.


From a family of screenwriters, Nora Ephron originally worked in politics and news. She briefly was an intern in the White House before moving to the New York Post to be a successful columnist. Her first Hollywood success was Silkwood in 1983. After that her films continued to grow in popularity, resulting in the commercial success of the three films above. In 2005, Nora wrote and directed Bewitched, which was a disappointment to critics and fans (even though I liked it, and yes I streamed it for a week). After Bewitched, she went back to her roots as an essayist making light of the difficulties of being a woman. Her final film was Julie and Julia about the life of Julia Child adapted from the book by Julie Powell. Nora Ephron died on June 26, 2012. Nora Ephron never won an Oscar, and I think that's a shame. I cry my eyes out watching her work, and I hope I'm not the only one.

Stream of the Week- Chocolat

Some people just have a knack for guessing favorites.


Vianne and her daughter Anouk have been following wherever the north wind has led them all of their lives until they stumble on a small French village absorbed in it's own form of morality. The church is the center of all happenings in the town. However, Vianne and Anouk have never gone to church nor do they plan to making them immediate outcasts in the town. After renting a small store front off of an older woman, Vianne and Anouk open up a chocolate store providing the best and most creative sweets the town has ever seen. Many are wary of entering the shop, but for the few that do, Vianne's chocolate begins to work magic in their lives. It brightens their day, sooths their souls, and in some cases fixes their problems in the world outside of the shop. The mayor of this little village has his suspicions regarding Vianne. He also has his hands all over the weekly sermons provided by a new, young, naïve pastor. Through his weekly sermons, the mayor is able to persuade many that to be part of Vianne's circle of friends is to sin. Vianne is almost completely alone. A local woman with an abusive husband, turns to Vianne and quickly becomes an integral part of the shop helping make the chocolate delights as well as provide company for Vianne and Anouk. As time passes, more and more townspeople are tempted by Vianne's chocolates. Vianne's circle of admirers begins to grow with each new creation. But, a group of river folk dock on the riverbed by the village. Vianne and Anouk are quick to greet them and become friends, but the rest of the village decides to try and push them out claiming they have no morals. They ban the "river rats" from being customers at their establishments. Vianne is the only one to accept them. Again she is cast out. Vianne is so desperate that she plans to follow that north wind again and leave the little village, but an act of God (or a sweet tooth) keep her around long enough to be accepted.


Chocolate, romance stories, and gypsy music- all of my favorite things wrapped up into one film. It is not an astonishing tale, and there are many unanswered questions, but as far as entertainment goes- I thoroughly enjoyed it. I do believe that the script was digging into something when it portrayed the church as a place where mass opinions of judgment could be spread easily. We claim that Christians, or any religion really, is accepting of all, but it seems so easy for them to be more judgmental than the average bear. How funny life is.

Capture of Culture- The Search for General Tso

Every Chinese restaurant in US has a form of General Tso's chicken on their menu, but no one knows where it came from.




The great Gold Rush of 1849 brought thousands of Chinese immigrants to the US. They were crammed into small living quarters and were ostracized by Americans. After the Chinese exclusionary acts were lifted, Chinese immigrants spread across the US to get away from the west coast and its growing prejudices. There were very few jobs for Chinese immigrants one of which was working in the food industry. They sold their style of cooking as an exotic experience, but in truth Amercianized their dishes in order to work with American pallets. They created restaurants with easy to pronounce names as to not scare off American consumers, and with the flood of so many immigrants, every small town seemed to get their own Chinese restaurant. Every different location had a new version of generally accepted dishes leading to a great variety in the cuisine. In the 1970s, a New York restaurant opened with a dish called General Tso on it's menu which quickly became a crowd favorite, but in truth they stole the recipe from an established cook in Taiwan who had named the dish after a famous general from his hometown in China. When it came to America, cooks decided to make it more marketable and added sugar to sweeten the dish and temper the hotness of the original dish. Becoming so popular in the New York area, General Tso spread across the nation becoming a staple of American/Chinese cooking. Like the fortune cookie, General Tso has no authentic value to it, and many residents of China don't even know what it is.




Food is such an important part of Chinese culture. Older Chinese people greet each other by saying "have you eaten yet?" as though it is an extension of asking how they are or how they are doing. Chinese food revolves around the idea of family, of being connected with both your ancestors and your living relatives at the same time. General Tso himself was a proud defender of Chinese culture and wanted to preserve their way of life, but in America his dish is as American as apple pie.

Stream of the Week- Stardust

Some boys are shop boys and others are just boys who happen to work in shops.




When a star falls from the sky, all sorts of trouble arises. On one side of the wall, a divider between two worlds- one of magic and one of not, a young boy named Tristan is attempting to woo the girl of his dreams. However, this girl, Victoria, is not impressed by his attempt when she knows that shinier and richer prospects lie around the corner. Victoria sees the star falling and tells Tristan if he goes and fetches it for her birthday the following week, she will marry him instead of a richer suitor. On the magic side of the wall, a fallen star means eternal life to the person who can take the star's heart. Three sister witches see the star and plot to capture it for themselves to restore their youth. They must capture the star, who has come to Earth in the form of a young woman and cut out her heart devouring among themselves. One sister, Lamia, is chosen for the task. She takes what is left of the last star and uses it's magic to lure the star in. Meanwhile, across the land, the great king of Stormhold, the magic kingdom past the wall, has died leaving his throne to his sons. But they will not all share the throne, so before he dies, the king releases a royal necklace out into the heavens. Whichever descendant retrieves the stone and turns it from it's crystal clear nature to the deep red of a ruby becomes king. By releasing the necklace, the king knocks the star from the heavens. This brings poor Yvain down to earth and sticks her with the royal necklace. Tristan uses a magic candle left for him by his mother to travel instantly to the star. He begins to lead Yvain, once discovering that she is in fact the star he needs for Victoria to marry him, home. Yvain is hurt and tired, but she is chained to Tristan and therefore must follow where he leads, until she is liberated by a unicorn who takes her down the road in an attempt to save her. However, in the mess of a rainstorm, the unicorn leaves Yvain at an inn which has been set as a trap by the witch to capture her and cut out her heart. Separated from Yvain, Tristan manages to hitch a ride with one of the princes in search of the necklace. Their travels take them to the very inn where Yvain is entrapped. The prince sees the necklace around Yvain's neck and is about to claim it for himself when the witch intervenes in an attempt to get Yvain's heart. Tristan tries to save the two of them by using the remaining charm left in his travel candle to get them home. However, when they both try to visualize home, the end up somewhere in between- the clouds in the middle of that dreadful storm. The two travelers are picked up by a lightning harvesting vessel where they are secretly welcomed on board by the fruity captain Shakespeare. He teaches them a great deal of things that will help them along the way as well as finds a way to make Yvain and Tristan get along. Still trying to get to the wall, Yvain and Tristan leave the safety of the lightning boat only to fall into the hands of another traveling witch who turns Tristan into a mouse for transport. While he is a mouse, Yvain is able to express her true feelings for Tristan. The two fall madly in love, but Yvain is still being hunted by the witches, and Stormhold still needs a king.




This film has been a family favorite in my house for years. It's got everything from adventure, to unicorns, goats, and magic. Smart comedy weaves itself into the magic tale that keeps everyone entertained. No matter what, it will always be a fun watch.

Capture of Culture- My Life is Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

You know you're making good cinema when half hate it and half love it.




Nicolas Winding Refn, director of Drive, is now in Bangkok to direct his film "Only God Forgives" with his family in tow. His wife, Liv Corfixen, Danish actress, has been asked to film his life while filming Only God Forgives to give insight into his filming process. A true creative mind, Refn goes though an entire range of emotions while on camera. In one cut, he is lost in his film unable to see what it's purpose is or where the story is going. In the next frame, he's with the editor who is clearly praising the story, and Refn begins to understand what he has to do. He hates his film. He loves his film. He's confused. He's hangry. Yes- hungry angry. No matter what his wife says or does, Refn seems to be caught up in his own head trying to piece together his thoughts so that he can direct his crew properly. Nicolas is clearly dealing with the pitfalls of success when he puts it upon himself to meet the expectations that he set with his film Drive. It hangs on him and influences his every decision. Surrounded by a beautiful city, two rambunctious kids, and a devoted wife, Refn stays in his head occasionally lashing out when he is tired of his wife's constant shadowing of his work. When the final cut is done and he's seen it, Refn decides there is nothing left for him to do; he can't fix it, and he can't make it worse. The film is selected to play at a festival where it gets mixed reviews. Thus the cycle begins again, and the family is rather back where they started at the beginning of the film.




We can watch all the behind the scenes documentaries we want, and we will still never fully understand the emotional strain it causes the creative minds behind it unless we've been there ourselves. It is not easy on this man to deal with the idea that he might fail or not meet the expectations he set with his previous work. It's interesting to see this different view. He is just a man, and I think we often forget that when we see work in theaters or on screens. These are real people with real problems trying to communicate just like the rest of us.

Stream of the Week- Hector and the Search for Happiness

I don't mean to pry, but what makes you happy?




Stuck unhappily in his job and life of unending routine, Hector decides to find out what makes people happy. His journey takes him first to China. Here, he meets wealth and learns of its power to make some very happy. Hector also learns about meeting people and getting to know their whole story. People's openness to him surprises him as he learns that happiness is different to different people. For some it is security; for others it is simply doing good for the common man. Some people even find their happiness in sweet potato stew. Hector's adventures make him think of his girlfriend from university, but they also make him think of his Clair who is waiting for him at home, desperately waiting for his return. When finally put to the test to find his happy memories and unhappy ones, his brain blocks off a flow of emotion. It isn't until he gets a call from his Clair that he really understands what true happiness is for him- it is not routine. Happiness for Hector is living. The good, the bad, and the unplanned are all part of what makes life so valuable.




I've always enjoyed films about journeys and characters finding themselves. As Foster, author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, says "The real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge." Every hero needs to learn something. Hector needs to learn how to be happy. The world can show him how. Hector is the sort of person who never does anything adventurous ever. He will always take the same street to work and come home at the exact time every day. It's stable. He's predictable. But this quest of his makes Hector do things he would consider himself capable of. For example- Hector gets kidnapped by an African drug gang. He survives. Hector- the psychiatrist who can't tie his own tie. Or when he's in China and he hikes up a mountain to speak to a group of Monks. Hector- the guy who doesn't pack his own lunch. If anything, happiness is being independent.

Inside Out

Right now in your brain is a group of emotions all fighting to control your every move.




When baby Riley is born, she is set up with a group of emotions that all work inside her brain to help guide her through life. She has Anger, Sadness, Disgust, Fear, and most importantly Joy. Through her upbringing, Riley had been a mostly happy kid due to Joy being super diligent in her job making sure that any situation that arose could be handled through the proper distribution of happy memories and core values established by these memories such as family values, honesty, friendship, and so on. However, Riley is uprooted from her happy home in the Midwest to San Francisco throwing her emotions completely out of whack. Joy, always positive, of course is able to find the silver lining and for the first part of the move she is able to keep Riley mostly happy. But something is going wrong with Sadness. She's acting strange and is starting to pollute the happy memories that Riley has stored up. The move has really affected her. Before Joy can step in, Sadness has already started to produce memories in Riley that take on a negative vibe and throw Riley off kilter from her normal happy go lucky self. Joy tries to stop these sad memories from entering Riley's core of emotions, but fails as the happy memories are scattered about the control room of Riley's brain. In order to try and save the memories, Joy scrambles to collect them only to get herself and Sadness swept up by a system for sorting memories within Riley's mind and transported to a memory bank. They are no longer able to help control Riley's demeanor leaving all the decisions Riley has to make emotionally up to Fear, Disgust, and Anger. Joy and Sadness desperately try to get back to the control room before the other three completely destroy all aspects of Riley's nature.




Inside Out is really a story about growing up. There are so many things we can't explain or emotions we can't quantify, and Pixar has taken that notion and made it into a film that easily communicates this idea to small children. The film is beautifully done with a great contrast between the real world of Riley's physical surroundings and the internal world of Riley's mind. The soundtrack is also incredible really setting off the film.




The best part of the film is the interaction between the different emotions. Each one of them is uniquely programmed to handle a situation in a different way. They all make their decisions, and then Joy comes to the rescue to try and fix what they may have done to cause a bad memory. Joy's character is a problem solver (a girl after my own heart), and even her patience is tested by Sadness and her sudden outburst. Anger, Disgust, and Fear all serve as comedic relief from the heavier underlying story about the relationship between Sadness and Joy. They are linked closer than most of us would like to admit which is why their journey is the important aspect of the film, even though that part seems to drag on a bit.

Stream of the Week- After the Ball

If Cinderella and Yentl came together to make a film about fashion, this would be it.



Kate has spent her whole life trying to be a designer that would make her mom proud. After graduation, Kate is offered a job at her father's design company where her stepmother calls the shots. Threatened by Kate's obvious talent, Elise, Kate's stepmother, sets her two daughters on Kate's case to ensure that she gets fired. The girls set up a scheme that makes it look like Kate was leaking designs to the competition. After being fired by her father, Kate struggles to find a way to still design. Kate's godmother, who might as well be a fairy, devises a way for Kate to get back in the game. Kate's godmother, Bella, suggests that Kate could pull off a disguise, and with some strings pulled, Kate could end up designing for her father's company again. Kate's disguise is known as Nate- an overly confident gay designer who is reminiscent of Christian Siriano and Tim Gunn. Invigorated with this new confidence, Kate, or Nate rather, takes on the design firm putting Elise and her daughters in their place and reinvents the company through her new designs. Kate's father awards the designing duties of the new fall collection to Nate due to his promise as an up and coming designer. Things are getting sticky, however. Kate, when employed as herself at the company, formed an attachment with shoe designer Daniel. Now that she's in disguise and Daniel doesn't know about it, Kate has to keep her cool around him as well as balance a relationship with him outside of work as Kate and a working relationship with him as Nate without him finding out. Kate learns about Elise's involvement with the competition at the fashion ball just in time to discover that Elise is out to get her again as Nate in order to promote herself and her daughters as partners in the competition's company. It is now that Kate/Nate has to reign it in and uncover the scheme in order to save her dad's business and prove to him that she's not a traitor.




Gosh, I am a sucker for teen movies with romantic plots and dresses. What I enjoyed most about this film was it's inventive way of retelling the classic fable of evil step mother, talented daughter, ball involved plot. Not every Cinderella tale involves cross dressing and acting like a gay man. Was it the basic plot? Yes. But it meant a great deal more because they were creative with their take on it. Make it work.