As I write this column, I'm polishing my ruby slippers and waiting for a potential tornado to take me to Oz. While it seems fairly unlikely in Chautauqua County, we can't rule out any crazy weather phenomenon anymore, "2012"-style -- the end is nigh after all. Either way, I'd much rather be skipping down any yellow brick road than have anything to do with any of the Fred Fest madness downtown this weekend. "Already?" you say? Read on.
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Sleep Close Death will be at BJ's tonight.
Why doesn't anyone care about the royal wedding? When I say "anyone," I mean most ambivalent Am-erican citizens. Results from one survey by PriceGrabber done in early April among 2,842 American consumers online revealed that 77 percent of the respondents did not plan to watch the wedding live and 72 percent won't be watching any coverage of it at all. I did hear that the Lifetime original movie "William & Kate" was pretty horendous (I did preview it a couple of weeks ago but sadly, this entertainment columnist cannot afford cable on her wages) which didn't exactly get any viewers psyched for the real thing. It also stings that the Obamas weren't invited yet marginally famous Brits like Joss Stone made the cut. But come on! It's a royal wedding! The fashion! The romance! The drama! It's the kind of story people have been captivated with since "Cinderella."
REEL TALK
"Somewhere"
If you have seen an independent film sometime within the last six months, then you may have heard of "Somewhere" (the trailer was shown before virtually every Oscar-nominated indie I watched during the winter). This film by Sofia Coppola received some early Oscar buzz that never came to fruition but it sounded interesting enough to rent. A hard-partying movie star (Stephen Dorff) has become numb to the life of excess he's been living until he reconnects with his 11-year-old daughter (Elle Fanning, younger sister of Dakota Fanning) under unexpected circumstances. There were some sweet scenes with Dorff and Fanning enjoying time together in fancy hotel suites in Italy and at the fabled Chateau Marmont, as well as some entertaining moments wherein Dorff encounters women he clearly didn't call when he said he would, but it could have been so much better. It seems to be Coppola's style to linger too long when it's time to move on. If you found "Lost In Translation" (another Coppola film) to be self-indulgent crap, you'll probably feel the same way about "Somewhere." Unfortunately, if you've spent the entire never-ending winter watching movies like I have, it's probably best to skip the shelves at your local video rental store and watch "Valley of the Dolls" instantly on Netflix instead.
"Somewhere" is available on DVD.
April Diodato is the OBSERVER Lifestyles editor. Send comments to adiodato@observertoday.com
