the theatre and the cinema

theater or theatre? i never know.

anyway, i would like to take a moment to brag a little bit. my sister, theresa, is in the process of showing one of her plays. it's a BIG deal. she was accepted for a fellowship allowing her to have the performance space to show. she wrote and is directing the play and my brother is part of the cast. beaming. click here to find out more about the company she started. here are some of the reviews (there are some names mentioned that may seem obscure if you're not a theater person, but you should know this is HUGE!!):

"A zigzagging Orwellian sonata of multimedia effects and workplace procedure... compelling and multifaceted."
- Mitch Montgomery, Backstage

"Field 309 is delivered to you straight out of the media hype of the current economic crisis... Writer/director Theresa Buchheister deserves great commendation for her pointed, stylized, and efficient script and overall inventive vision which guides this play so successfully. The performers are all strong individually and make a great ensemble. I highly recommend getting down to the Incubator Arts Project to check this one out (with or without your supervisor's approval)."
- Heather Lee Rogers, NYTheatre.Com

"Richard Foreman may have left the building, but his spirit and style loom large over the current production at the Incubator Arts Project. This amusing new dark comedy draws on familiar aesthetics ... to create a work that is part Foreman, part Beckett and part The Office."
- Andy Horowitz, CultureBot

isn't that just so exciting???

ok, now about the cinema. you know how on netflix you can rate the movies you've seen? well, this is just too fun for me, combines my "skill" for criticism and my desire to do absolutely nothing productive on this particular saturday. so i've decided to post a list of my 4- and 5-star rated films, because i know it's exactly what you've all been waiting for...my opinion. and because i've nothing better to blog about right now. little disclaimer: this is a very fluid, ever-evolving list as i change my mind quite frequently and my choices are much to do with my current movie "moods." also, this is not necessarily my list of "favorites" (although many of my favorites are scattered throughout the list) but my top-rated movies. some of these, i'll never watch again as they are too uncomfortable or painful to watch, although beautifully made. so, the list:

5 stars:

1. amelie

2. chocolate

3. crash

4. dead poets society

5. good will hunting

6. emma (1996 version)

7. a good year

8. harry potter movies

9. lord of the rings series

10. pride and prejudice (both the 1995 TV series and the 2005 movie)

11. slumdog millionaire

12. walk the line

13. glory

14. a beautiful mind

15. much ado about nothing

16. love actually

17. inception

4 stars:

1. about a boy

2. amadeus

3. american history X

4. awakenings

5. best in show

6. the bourne trilogy

7. braveheart

8. brokeback mountain

9. chariots of fire

10. dan in real life

11. edward scissorhands

12. the family stone

13. fantastic mr. fox

14. fight club

15. frost nixon

16. girl with a dragon tattoo

17. good night and good luck

18. the holiday

19. in her shoes

20. jane eyre (2006 version)

21. juno

22. the kite runner

23. life is beautiful

24. little miss sunshine

25. mansfield park

26. o brother where art thou?

27. office space

28. philadelphia

29. the proposal

30. the queen

31. rachel getting married

32. sherlock holmes

33. a single man

34. stranger than fiction

35. the pianist

36. son of rambow

37. run fatboy run

38. hoosiers

39. get low

so, what do you think? agree? disagree? additions? i've got free netflix for a month so give me some feedback about your favorite movies that may have been left off the list so i can add them to my queue!