"Seduce Me"

I love Isabella Rossellini. She's lovely and obviously smart, and doesn't buy into the Hollywood idea that when you're 50 you have to look 27, or that when you're 50 and refuse to try to look 27 you have to retreat into a life of sexless old-womantude. She's out with a new set of short films on the sex life of various creatures from bed bugs to garter snakes called "Seduce Me" which can be seen online. I suppose it's too racy for TV, since it doesn't shy away from depicting the sex act albeit with puppets (don't ask, just click. Just don't do it at work). Rossellini also doesn't mince words: she uses the P and the V word. I don't know; I'm enough a product of my upbringing as a proper clutch-the-pearls New Englander not to, well, clutch the pearls. But there is a big part of me that is not only completely charmed but also thinks that it's healthier to be able to use the words and admit that we know about the process. After all, the moral choice not to indulge is a lot more noble if you know exactly in what you're not indulging, yes?

Video: Sundance Channel

Todd Haynes remakes a classic- sort of..

This is something you don't see every day: New York standing in for Los Angeles. Aceshowbiz.com is showing pictures of the location filming of Todd Haynes version of the classic Mildred Pierce for HBO with Madison Avenue and 26th standing in for downtown Los Angeles.

I'm looking forward to seeing it; it's not precisely a remake of the 1945 movie, it's a more faithful adaptation of the original book (mouse over the inviso-text for spoilers). In the book there is no murder, Veda becomes a successful opera singer and runs off with Monty Beragon leaving Mildred to the ruins of her business and an uncertain future with her first husband (/inviso-text).

I like Todd Haynes work a lot and Kate Winslet pretty much can do no wrong. The production (looking at the stills) looks like it will be spot-on. This might make me get HBO...

Photo: Aceshobiz.com

iCame

iSaw

iPad

iM (slightly) impressed

Easter Sunday was a trip to the Grove to take a look at the iPad. I had to wait a bit to test it. I was between two kids playing games on it (but even I have to say that kids are kids, I'm not a total misanthrope) and a hipster who was testing every inch of the thing. Every App, every program, every nuance for like 20 minutes, with people waiting in line. He even opened the spreadsheet and I swear started doing his taxes on it, moving back and forth to see it in portrait and landscape. Luckily one of the kids wandered off before I just took it from him and clocked him with it. I didn't make a thorough (well not as thorough as hipster-boy, who was still playing with it when I left) but in the 3 minutes I looked I could see the point. I have a laptop so I'm not in the market, but I could see getting an iMac and an iPad as the next computer. The iMac for the screen real estate and the iPad for sitting on the sofa checking email. Certainly as a replacement for Kindle, and certainly if I had a kid or a sig other. One person on the computer and one on the iPad on WiFi. I don't have any reason to buy however, especially since I know that in 6 or 8 months there will be a big price drop or big revision with new features, or both.

Image: Apple