Tag: Kate

The Royal Wedding

Dana, our 4:00 PM producer, told me as soon as she saw the dress all she could think of was Grace Kelly. All I could think was bride’s family pays.

Kate and William married today. She was beautiful. She was radiant. I approve. Dana, our 4:00 PM producer, told me as soon as she saw the dress all she could think of was Grace Kelly. All I could think was bride’s family pays.

Did they have it on a Friday because they couldn’t get the hall on Saturday?

Helaine enjoyed the wedding though she’d DVR’ed it and was watching on a delay and avoiding her computer. She didn’t want to catch something in realtime she’d be seeing later.

Back when Charles and Di were married Helaine and her co-workers threw their own reception. They all arrived at work dressed for the occasion. Today at home we were more informal.

“It was beautiful,” Helaine said. Then she added, “I think Steffie should marry a prince.”

Indeed she should.

Watching TV With Stef

Finally, while tuning around, we got to the GTXpress 101. “I’m sure it’s better than the 100,” Steffie said.

Stef and I didn’t watch much TV together while she was in her teens. I think that’s SOP for teenage girls and their fathers.

God – I hope it is.

Now that she’s a little older and more mellow and I’ve somehow gotten a little smarter, it’s OK… sometimes. We’ve watched a few shows over the last few days. Maybe shows isn’t always the right word.

I walked in while she was watching TV earlier in the week and somehow we got to tuning around the dial. Stef watches channels I never see and vice versa. It is unusual for Stef to watch scripted shows.

Finally, while tuning around, we got to the GTXpress 101. “I’m sure it’s better than the 100,” Steffie said.

This is the commercial with the man and woman cooking things. Stef has watched enough to know some of the dialog. This is not a point of family pride. There were times I could have done the same.

I asked her to quickly tune past the Girls Gone Wild commercial. She took her time, for effect. Why are these on TV?

Last night it was a little bit of “Jon and Kate, Plus 8” on TLC. It’s a reality show, and though some of the situations seem a little contrived, the ensuing action was real. Three and four year olds will act as they wish, especially over extended periods.

Jon and Kate and their eight children – a set of twins (both girls), and a set of sextuplets (3 girls and 3 boys) are the focus. Jon and Kate seem like good parents, but they are as different as can be.

She dominates and he is docile. It’s like he’s had the fight beaten out of him.

I just can’t imagine eight. It boggles the mind.

The two older girls, twins, are extremely articulate, quite precocious and obviously very bright.

This is a show on a channel I’d never see. Maybe family television viewing should come back.

Friday’s Movie – No Reservations

I know I’ve promised to write about our trip to Philadelphia… and I will. Not yet. I sense, truly or falsely, it will be a long entry, which I don’t feel like facing at the moment.

My folks have been visiting since Tuesday. It is our sworn duty to keep them entertained. OK – maybe not, but that’s what we want to do.

Today, Stef had plans to head to Long Island, Helaine needed to catch up around the house and I… well, I’m a lazy, shiftless bum with nothing to do. I asked my folks if they wanted to go to the movies.

My first choice was “The Simpsons Movie.” Helaine and Stef would like to see that. My parents, not so much. I can wait, I suppose.

I took my parents to see “No Reservations,” the new Catherine Zeta-Jones movie. It was an afternoon well spent.

The movie is a remake of a German film, “Mostly Martha.” As it turns out, my parents had already seen that. They liked “No Reservations” better.

Kate (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is a successful, driven, chronically single chef in New York’s Greenwich Village. As artfully revealed by her therapist (Bob Balaban), she was scared to commit. I’ve always thought about that (from personal experience) as a guy thing. Kate’s real love interest was cooking.

I loved the ‘inside baseball’ scenes as Kate commanded her team in the kitchen. It’s a view I don’t often get and seemed realistic.

When Kate’s sister is killed in a car accident, she becomes guardian for Zoe (Abigail Breslin). It’s another commitment she is ill prepared for.

Things are going very poorly between Kate and Zoe until Nick (Aaron Eckhart) enters the picture. He’s a sous chef, though obviously underachieving in his career, hired to work in Kate’s kitchen.

There is instant conflict. Then, there is instant sexual tension.

From this point forward, there is no part of this movie that isn’t predictable. I’m not saying that as a knock, because I had no problem accepting the picture as entertainment and not an intellectual challenge.

The triumph of romance over all obstacles is the mother’s milk of chick flicks – a genre I’m particularly enamored with. This is the poster child for chick flicks.

Catherine Zeta-Jones continues to be remarkably beautiful. Aaron Eckhart is more attractive than beautiful (attractive being a much more valuable trait). The real standout is Abigail Breslin, an accomplished actor at age 11.

I first saw Abigail in “Little Miss Sunshine.” Sometimes kids get lucky with their first film. “No Reservations” proves there’s more than luck at work here. She played an emotional role with great range. She acted! I believed.

What were you doing at age 11?

The last 11 or 12 year I saw, who could act, was Lindsay Lohan (1998 – “The Parent Trap”). Uh oh.

Abigail… keep your head on straight. Don’t grow up too fast. Don’t listen to the sycophants who will surely be drawn to you as flies are drawn to shit. If your parents are loopy, trade them in now!

One final note. As my parents walked into the theater to find a seat, I returned to the cashier and got a set of headphones for my dad. There is little publicity for these, but just about every theater has them available for free. For anyone with a hearing problem, these can make all the difference in the world in enjoying a movie.