Whew…six and a half months since Lea and I had a “real date.” That’s too long. Insert standard lament and assertion of need to do better here.
Thai food at Surin in Madison was up first tonight. Both my nam tok beef and Lea’s red snapper were delicious. We also bookended the meal with martinis, for which Surin is quickly building a positive reputation. To start, I had a classic dry and she an island martini, and we both had dark chocolate martinis for dessert. Our before-dinner drinks were nice, but those dessert drinks were unbelievable. (And I don’t even usually like sweet drinks.)
Then it was off to the cinema. We almost left because the line looked painful, but I’m glad we stayed. Both of us adored Juno. I would have thought it impossible for a movie to be so uproariously sassy and still fundamentally sweet. And the casting and acting are uniformly outstanding. Ellen Page‘s performance is the obvious kudo, but I also particularly enjoyed J.K. Simmons as her father.
I don’t know Diablo Cody, who wrote Juno, but I do have a bit of a special fanhood for her. Jeremy of afterglide, with whom I formerly battled PepsiCo, introduced me to her blog right about the time her fame was beginning to move beyond the “regional” (Minneapolis-St. Paul) level. Lea and I both guffawed through Candy Girl, and I read about the comings-along of Juno with interest.
Now, “all of a sudden,” she lives in L.A., she’s a lock for having written the highest-grossing independent film of all time, and she is the “Oscar-nominated” Diablo Cody. Wow. It’s neat to feel like I watched her get famous, even though I was pretty late to the show.
She’s wickedly funny, and based on her blog, book, and now film, I’ll say that anything with her name attached to it is worth burning your pop culture oil for (as long as the NC-17 range on your “taste” meter is well short of the red).
We made excellent use of five hours tonight.
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Can you believe I *still* haven’t seen Juno? In fact, I had free passes to a screening the week before it opened last month and couldn’t go. I also was going to try to go when she was in town when the showed it at the Walker Art Center.
People here either love her or hate her. I could see the “oh, she’s just popular because she used to be a stripper” crowd when she was here, but the movie’s taken film festivals, awards, and critics by storm. But there are people up here who still friggin’ HATE her, including several of my friends (one of whom worked in the Sex World “Doll House” not long after DC had left). But to each their own. I couldn’t be more thrilled for her and her success.
I don’t get that. Why would anyone begrudge anyone else genuine talent rewarded by success? Because she used to dance naked and talk dirty for money? Puh-leeze.
She’s the real deal, and I’m pleased that it looks as if she’s going to make a very comfortable living just being herself. Talk about ultimate ambition!
You and Ang please do go see the movie. It’s a fine piece of work.
You may have noticed that, all uninvited, I have posted some comments on your blog.
So, an intro . . . (I’m trying to think what to say), hmmm, well, I am a frequenter of mrschili’s blue door blog, and she frequents mine. Is that enough?
I’ve added you to my blogroll, I like your style.
I used to like Thai food, that ended when I couldn’t get any good Thai food.
Thanks, gerry, for the visits and compliment. Welcome, and glad to see you. Mrs. Chili is quite a fine person to have in common. I’ll have a gander over your blog way as well.
Yeah… I kept looking at Juno… wanted to see it… but I don’t know if its a “have to see at the theatre” or if it’ll be just as good on Netflix. Surin is always cool I ‘m a big fan of their spicy beef salad. I really like that kind of hot that builds – with a Thai tea to cool off my tongue when I can’t take it anymore! mmmmm….
Aren’t dates with your spouse WONDERFUL?! Mr. Chili and I headed out to see some live music on Sunday night and we had a wonderful time. One of my goals for this year is to spend more deliberate time with my beloved. I think we lost a little bit of each other last year and I want to safeguard against that happening again.
I’m going to save Juno for a DVD rental – actually, on Seester’s advice, I’m going to buy it when it comes out. I had no idea the writer used to be in the sex industry. Why on Earth would that matter a whit?
Mrs. Chili, I wanted to contribute to the gross because of my Diablo Cody fanhood, hence my paying to see it.
Generally I don’t see anything at the theater unless there’s an excellent chance a large screen and professional sound system will significantly contribute to the experience for me. Objectively, on those counts, Juno fails utterly. Seeing it at the theater was the penny I threw into the fountain of Highest Grossing Independent Film of All Time.