Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Boston Love, Baby

I'm torn tonight - there are two major things I want to blog about. Blogtoberfest is tomorrow night & I'm eagerly anticipating seeing Jenny & Jayne & Jason and meeting Sarah & Erin & Erin(ire) & Tom & everyone else. Let the Boston blog nerdery commence!

Well, I guess that took care of my dilemma. I wanted to mention Blogtoberfest, then move on to another topic & I guess I just did. Sometimes I amaze myself. ;)

So on to the other thing. I saw The Departed last night. Dating a boy who lives in Southie motivated me to see it in the theater. SIDE NOTE: Observe that I said "a boy who lives in Southie," not "a Southie boy." Nick grew up in Berkshire County - almost as far as you get from L St. & still be in the Commonwealth. However, he does live in Southie now & loves it. The picture above is one he took.

Dating him has opened my eyes to the edgy charm that is South Boston. It's like Dublin or Glasgow - beautiful & historic, yet someone could get stabbed. ;) Either way, I'm falling in love with it & was eager to see Martin Scorsese's take on its notorious Irish gangs. Most people I know were expecting the movie to be a cross-breed between Goodfellas & Mystic River. I'm not sure that's really the best way to categorize it - but I did like the movie.

Leonardo DiCaprio's Boston accent was much more respectable than I had expected it to be & wonder of wonders, Alec Baldwin was funny! Nick's only complaint with Jack Nicholson was that he was so . . . Jack Nicholson. But I think he pulled off kingpin Frank Costello (partly based on Whitey Bulger) pretty well. In the end, it helps to be from Boston to get the movie. Which is why I'm recommending it to you all, not some random-ass Yankees fans. ;)

5 comments:

Tom said...

"wonder of wonders"???? Alec Baldwin is a Master Comedian!! You didn't expect him to be funny? He's hosted SNL like seventeen times! He's starring in a prime time sitcom! He's the greatest actor of this or any generation!

Also, The Departed is wicked good. I'm recommending it to everybody, not just Bostonians, even Yankee fans.

-t

Stacey said...

Uh-oh. Did I hit a nerve, Tom? ;)

Alec Baldwin is pretty funny - but in a weird way. I've never found him particularly hilarious. But the way he plays his character in this film cracked me up.

e$ said...

mystic river was the worst movie i have ever seen. i could only compare it to sitting through a pedicure where instead of water, they're soaking your feet in turpentine, and you've got a lot of blisters.

J. L. Bell said...

A few years ago ads for the Thomas the Tank Engine movie quoted a critic gushing, "Alec Baldwin has never been funnier!"

That's become one of my favorite real lines from life because of the double irony. First, the common perception that Baldwin is so serious, making the line seem like "Richard Nixon's favorite witticisms!" or "Ken Burns's laff riot!"

And second, because Baldwin really is funny. For a long time he was a character actor trapped in a leading man's body. Now he's spread out a bit and can play his full range, which we also got to see at the start of his movie career (e.g., Miami Blues, Beetlejuice). Yes, it's true—Alec Baldwin has never been funnier!

eileen said...

totally agree with your review!