Hello.

It's been over two months since I last posted anything to this blog. Work got busy, a baby took up all my free time, and I wasn't really in a mood to write. And then...

(source)

... someone went and woke me up again. That is, I had the extreme pleasure to see Adele perform today, as part of an iHeartRadio broadcast that should be airing any minute now. She was performing at Joe's Pub, the site of her US debut 7 years prior and my favorite music venue in the world.

Adele at Joe's Pub
(Photo Credit: Danny Williams)

She was amazing, both in her performance and the following interview. She's like a fun mix of Jennifer Lawrence;s relatability, Emma Thompson's goofy wit, and Shirley Bassey's pipes. Obviously, "Hello" has been playing on repeat in my apartment for weeks (and the houses and apartment of literally tens of millions of people), and her album, 25, has already had a few plays on the ol' iPhone. But I've never heard her perform live, and it's a truly incredible experience. Her voice is so powerful and pure, and the emotional resonance of her songs are so clear. 

And then she's funny, too, in ways that are kind of unexpected. She drops jokes about motherhood and incontinence with equal aplomb, and her full-throated cackle is infectious.

She's a very personable artist who's created another incredibly personal album. Aren't we all lucky to be a part of it?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to collapse into a heap of my own emotions and listen to the album again.

It's My Birthday!

July 30th (TODAY) is my birthday. I was birthed many years ago on this very day. Since I haven't ever really written my name on this blog, you're probably trying to figure out which famous person I am: Lisa Kudrow or Arnold Schwarzenegger.  I could easily be either, but, if I'm being completely honest, I'm more similar to the picture to below than either of the aforementioned A-listers:

My photoshop, my selfie

Anyway, I thought I should do something special on this blog to commemorate occasion. So, in the same way that birthdays are spent recognizing hard work and regret, I thought it best to take a look back at the Tableau Your Mind articles that never were, the articles that never quite made it to print. Often, by the time I draw a picture or draft an article, the subject matter doesn't hold any interest. Often I just don't have an opinion on something, or I'm being lazy, or the world has forgotten the thing I set out to write about. Whatever the reason, I have, over the years of writing this blog, amassed a pretty large collection of useless pictures and article snippets. Here are some lost articles from the past year of my life:

Hit Or Miss: Quick Movie Reviews 5!

It's summer again, which means that there are more movies in theaters than there is time to see them. There are indie darlings, action hero blockbusters, and raucous comedies. There are even a few dramas in there to spice things up. Since you can't see all of the movies (you have a life, after all), I saw them all for you (me - no life) and can tell you which ones you should hit the theater to see and which ones can miss.

It's been almost exactly a year since I've done this form of quick-fire reviews, so pardon me if I'm a little rusty.

Quvenzhané Wallis Cast in Annie Remake!

The Sun'll Come Out... in 2014

This news is a few days old, but I just heard that Quvenzhané Wallis is going to be orphan Annie in the new film version of the classic musical (which itself is based on a comic strip) Annie.

I loved Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Annie seems like a natural extension of her previous work. She's already really good at playing damaged youths with father issues.

The original Annie film came out in 1982, and it starred some of my favorite people, including: Carol Burnett, Albert Finney, Tim Curry, Edward Hermann, and Bernadette Peters. Since it’s been over 30 years since the movie came out, it’s not exactly as if the remake would be stepping on the heels of the previous film.

The film is being produced by Will Smith and Jay-Z, and the director attached is Will Gluck.  Gluck directed Easy A, a film that my father didn't like but that I was a big fan of. With a screenplay by Emma Thompson, this all seems to be undeniably good news!

Film Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

It still beats Apparition

The eighth film in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, starts off directly after the events of Part 1. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley go in search of the last Horcruxes, blindly following the orders of Albus Dumbledore, who has been dead for about a year. It's a bit ridiculous to summarize the events of the film, because fans of the book are undoubtedly familiar with most of the plot contained within the movie. And that's part of the fun. Audience members sit in anticipation, wondering, not what will happen, but how the events will play out. How will Molly Weasley's final confrontation with a particular Death Eater play out? How will director David Yates make the magical battles, which have historically been difficult to film, as exciting and epic as they are in the book? When and where will Neville strike? And how on earth is screenwriter Steve Kloves going to make Wandlore interesting?

Snape, Snape-ing it up

The film acts as a long goodbye. Almost every character gets a farewell, whether it's Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey staring out at the destroyed Hogwarts, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan fighting Death Eaters with verve, or Professor Trelawney (Emma Thompson) saying a quiet goodbye to one of her beloved students. Other characters get

Harry Plotter: Movie 4

The fourth Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was released in 2005, a mere 6 years ago. It was directed by Mike Newell, which makes it the last movie in the Harry Potter franchise to be directed by someone other than David Yates. While the book is a fluid, interesting, and captivating read (check out our review HERE), the movie often feels disjointed, rushed, and uninspired. It’s almost as if the filmmakers decided on where the action sequences should go and then just built the rest of the story around them. They don't seem to care when characters are left out or important story lines are dropped, and the reworking of certain events to fit into their specific narrative arc feels clunky. It’s unfortunate that such an engaging book was turned into such an odd movie. Yet, despite its obvious faults, the film does carry with it a certain magic, especially when the action stops long enough to leave room for the smaller, more human moments.

The Four Triwizard Tournament Champions

Flower of my Heart

First, let’s talk, as we often do, about casting. Most prominently

Harry Plotter: Movie 3

I really want to keep writing and reading about Harry Potter, but writing in great length about the books and movies has gotten a tad tedious. I spend time trying to write and craft a review, only to realize that every thought I have has been expounded upon (at great length) by the Harry Potter Wiki or one of the innumerable blogs dedicated solely to all things Potter.  Thus I came to a decision: I will still be reading, watching, and commenting on the Harry Potter series. My comments, however, will be much more brief, and hopefully will just highlight the series and not over-analyze the series. Frankly, I think it will be good for all of us. (Spoilers Ahead)

Lily, James, and Sirius Black, in happier times

The third movie is such a welcome relief from the first two, which were so tedious. Director