anything new at the cheapies?

went to see 'Elf' last night at the cheapies. it was cute. although some of Will Ferrell's ingenuous dialogue gets a bit long in the tooth - maybe it's the delivery - the movie was still enjoyable and had its comedic moments. after all, any movie with James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, and cameos by Bob Newhart and Ed Asner has gotta have some redeeming qualities. the movie, which cost a 'paltry' $33 million, has raked in more than $170 million at the box office...which is almost half of what LOTR: Return of the K*ng has earned. does that make it half as good then?

did i mention that we also went to see 'The Cooler' over the weekend? talk about a great movie! if you're not familiar with the movie, it stars William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin. Macy plays an extremely unlucky man who can totally wreck someone's winning streak at the casino tables by basically walking up and betting a dollar chip; he cools off any luck. He's employed by Baldwin, who plays a ruthless Vegas casino owner that refuses to give in to the glamor and glitz of the newer, high-end casinos on the strip. definitely 'old school', Baldwin is a throwback (very Bugsy Siegel) to the early days of Vegas, when the neon and casinos were still in their infancy.

i know that Baldwin is one of the Best Supporting Actor nominees...and well deserving...he was such an asshole, you just wanted him to get greased or horribly maimed. i just wish that Macy would have garnered a best actor nomination. i think his performance was quite worthy. now, i don't think he'd win against Sean Penn, Johnny Depp, or Bill Murray, but his character portrayal deserves a little recognition...

speaking of Johnny Depp...

Denny, since you just got the El Mariachi trilogy in the mail, you should ask Lowa's mom what a 'moco' is (the name of the chihuahua) and who El Cucuy is. then, you should watch the movie again. you'll understand how fitting those names are ;) btw, i know that Johnny Depp's character keeps raving about his favorite dish, Puerco Pibil. funny that he should be eating this because that's a Maya dish from the Yucatán area of Mexico, more than 1000 miles to the east from the western cities (e.g., Culiacán, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende) in the movie. also, the correct name for the dish is cochinita pibil. maybe the next time we're in the valley, we can make some tofu or seitan pibil :) then again, i doubt that anyone really cares...especially at two in the morning.

bleah.