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28Dec

Review (Better Late Than Never): The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg

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the middle steins

I feel like a ninny.  Two months ago I read one of the best books I've read in years and I neglected to write about it.  I've thought about the review several times but got distracted, I suppose. However, the book has not left my mind.  It was the kind of relatable read that left a long-lasting impression on me. Then today I came across this fantastic review in the New York Times, and not only was I reminded that I missed an opportunity to promote something I genuinely loved, but I'm also thrilled for its author, Jami Attenberg.  I've actually tweeted Read More

26Dec

My Debut on Women and Hollywood

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women and hollywood

One of my resolutions in 2012 was to go beyond the mom blogosphere and write for a publication I felt was in line with who I am.  That particular publication is Women & Hollywood, a featured blog on IndieWire. It's a site I have been reading since the start of the Internet. I get many opportunities to meet women involved with film and television, and the editorial possibilities are real. Women, film, television - these are topics of utmost importance to me and the subjects of which I know most about in life. I met the site's editor at BlogHer back Read More

23Dec

Review: The Heiress on Broadway

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The Heiress

Last night I headed into the city after a long day with the kids for drinks with a friend for a show, The Heiress on Broadway.  This is a show based on the 1880 book by Henry James, Washington Square, a film I saw a decade ago starring Jennifer Jason Leigh.  The story has remained etched in my mind all these years about a shy and sheltered daughter of a prominent New Yorker who falls in love with a man with no scruples or real interest in her beyond her wealth.  I also remember vividly the film version with Olivia DeHavilland and Montgomery Clift, Read More

20Dec

A New Mindful Mindset #Newtown

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As I sit here and watch Anderson Cooper profile one child after another killed so senselessly in Newtown, CT last week, I feel my heart filling up with tears. Each day since last Friday has been one of sadness for twenty sets of parents who have to learn how to go on without their children and it's been so hard to get them out of my mind. Life will never be the same.  Not for me, not for any of us.  I'm reminded of the shooting daily when I drop my kids off at school and set my eyes on one, sometimes, two police cars, and spot them again on the days Read More

19Dec

This is 40-Something (and Mid-Life Crisis Giveaway)

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This is 40

In This is 40, the female character played by Leslie Mann is about to turn 40. But she's not ready.  At a doctor's appointment, a nurse asks her to clarify her age.  She wrote that she was born in 1972, 1974 and 1976 on different forms. After the nurse, an aid and the doctor drill her to tell the truth, she declares, "OK, I LIE ABOUT MY AGE." She doesn't want to shop at old lady stores like Ann Taylor Loft (oy vey, that's my regular). Unfortunately, she can't lie at the gyno.  His response: "I know how old you are.  I'm counting your rings!" Of course, Read More

18Dec

A Letter to Judd Apatow

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stereotype

Dear Mr. Apatow: Tonight I took a break from the sadness I have felt since the shootings in Sandy Hook to see your new film "This is 40". I looked forward to what I knew would be a slice of life, with Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann playing two parts of a couple resembling my real life coupledom. And indeed it was.  You put my life on the screen! I was glad to step out of the zone I have spiraled in since the shootings and I was grateful for the break.  However, this is not a film review.  That will come here on this blog later this week.  Instead I want to Read More

16Dec

Trying to Make Sense of the Senseless

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Ever since the news broke on Friday morning about the awful tragedy in Newtown, I haven't been able to find the words to write here or elsewhere. The world has had twenty beautiful, innocent children taken from our world well before their time and I can't get their faces out of their minds.  Yesterday at the basketball court, they were standing before me getting ready to join my son in a game of scrimmage.  Today at Hebrew School, they were standing in the corner, clueless that their lives were about to be senselessly cut short. As I look at and Read More

14Dec

Eddie Redmayne’s Romeo & Juliet Moment in Les Misérables

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Screen Shot 2012-12-14 at 10.17.06 PM

Eddie Redmaybe may become a household name after the release of Les Misérables, but he is certainly not new on the entertainment scene.  At a recent press conference for the film, it was clear that he saw this role as the chance of a lifetime. He discovered Les Misérables long before Hooper’s film was on his radar.  “I saw the show as a child, and I obsessed about being Gavroche.  As a nine-year-old, I wanted to be the street urchin jumping in and out of barricades.”  He was beyond thrilled when he landed the part of Marius, the politically engaged Read More

14Dec

How My Tween Found Her Inner Strength at Broadway Edge

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Last week my daughter and I headed into the city for a very special afternoon at Broadway Edge, a studio where children are trained to learn to master the art of auditioning. Led by two industry professionals, they chose Annie on Broadway as their chosen musical to teach about 15 kids how to master a real Broadway audition. I wasn't sure what to expect, mainly because my daughter is very shy.  I don't mean very shy, I mean VERY shy.  Just this past week, I gently pushed the idea of her auditioning for the school musical and she refused. Imagine her in Read More

13Dec

The Real @RealHughJackman

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Screen Shot 2012-12-13 at 12.56.01 AM

In a recent Q&A with the cast of Les Misérables, Anne Hathaway turned to the audience of journalists and said to them quite sternly, "I don't want you to walk out and be charmed by Hugh Jackman.  What he does is inspiring and he's our leader - a deep, serious, profoundly gifted actor." To that Hugh turned to everyone and said "I'll shut up then." Thankfully he didn't. But it gave credence to his twitter handle @realhughjackman, that is for sure. But wait.  There is more.  As if he didn't already seem like the nicest man alive, then he Read More

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