Before Midnight

Have you seen the beautifully romantic films Before Sunrise and Before Sunset? Well, director Richard Linklater has now made a third film in the series, Before Midnight...Read More >

56 Up!

As you may know, the Up series is a series of eight fascinating documentary films that has tracked the lives of fourteen English schoolchildren since 1964, when they were seven years old. Every seven years, the director Michael Apted releases a new documentary that checks in on their increasingly varied lives (when they're aged 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49...). The children all came from very different socio-economic backgrounds, and the director, Michael Apted, wanted to see how this would affect their futures.

The documentary films are wildly compelling—you follow these people as they graduate from school, move cities, find jobs, lose jobs, have children, get married, have affairs, dash their dreams, find happiness, lose their way, face whatever life brings. Each episode, you think you know where their lives are headed, but I've been shocked, thrilled and devastated to see certain updates. The most recent installment—56 Up—came out in England this past May, and I've been waiting with baited breath for it to reach the United States.

Well, 56 Up is finally released today! (Right now I see showtimes for just New York, but it should be hitting more cities on January 18th.) Film critic Roger Ebert called the films, "Brilliant! The 'Up' series is on my list of the 10 greatest films of all time." He also wrote a great overview here.

Will you see it? I highly, highly recommend the series.

P.S. 19 more fantastic documentaries...

The Loneliest Planet

The Loneliest Planet is a new movie featuring an engaged couple—played by Gael Garcia Bernal and Hani Furstenberg—backpacking through Georgia's Caucasus Mountains. The synopsis: "The couple hires a local guide...Walking for hours, they trade anecdotes, play games to pass the time of moving through space. And then, a momentary misstep, a gesture that takes only two or three seconds, a gesture that’s over almost as soon as it begins...Once it is done, it threatens to undo everything the couple believed about each other and about themselves."

Fascinating, right? Will you see it? It's the first movie I've been really excited about for ages; it opens tomorrow and will be on demand on October 30th.

(Via MUG)

Hitchcock movie

Have you guys seen the amazing trailer for Hitchcock? Hitting theaters on November 23rd, the movie tells the love story between Hitchcock and his wife Alma Reville during the 1959 filming of Psycho. Anthony Hopkins (above, left) looks just like him! He really transformed himself. Will you see it?
P.S. Hitchcock stamps.

10 great documentaries

Are you a fan of documentaries? A while back, I wrote a list of our 10 favorites, but since then we've watched dozens more. So, here are ten more documentaries I'd highly recommend...

* Being Elmo is an award-winning documentary about the puppeteer who created Elmo, many children's first friend.
* Happy explores what actually lifts our spirits; the bracingly honest interviews with people from Tokyo to Denmark to Louisiana offer surprising insights that honestly could change your life.
* Love Etc. follows five couples in New York City: young, old, gay, straight, falling in love, getting married, having babies, breaking up. Heartbreaking and beautiful.
* First Position chronicles five young ballet dancers in an international competition, as well as their wildly different paths to the stage.
* Elvis '56 tells the story of how the naive young singer catapulted to intense world fame in just one year. Endearing and surprisingly poignant. (I just wanted to give him a hug!)
* Bill Cunningham New York profiles the cheerful octogenarian fashion photographer of the New York Times. While biking around NYC on a vintage Schwinn, he changed the way people see fashion.
* Touching the Void recounts the astonishing story of two friends' disastrous attempt to climb a mountain in Peru. A leg is broken, a rope is cut...who will survive?
* Babies was a breath of fresh air when I was (very) pregnant. How reassuring to see four families raising happy children in such remarkably different ways.
* The September Issue reveals how the Vogue editors create the magazine, including fashion shows, photo shoot and lots of passive aggression. A must-watch for fans of The Devil Wears Prada—this is the real deal!
* Born Rich is a documentary about the experience of growing up as a child in one of the world's richest families. Creator Jamie Johnson (an heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune) profiled his own social circle, including Trumps, Vanderbilts and Bloombergs. These twentysomethings seem to have perfect lives, until you spot the cracks.

Have you seen any other good documentaries? What have we missed? I'd love to hear...

P.S. 10 more documentaries.
P.P.S. And apologies for the late post today! A pipe burst in our apartment, so we've been a little out of pocket this week:)

Date night tip

I've realized something in my old age... Read More >

What makes you happy?

Have you seen Happy, the new documentary about happiness? It's fantastic and makes you think about what really makes you happy. My list includes riding bikes on breezy days and singing lullabies to Toby at bedtime. Also, finding a really good book. And hanging out in the kitchen drinking wine when someone else is cooking:) What about you?

P.S. 10 best documentaries, and 5 best graphic novels.

First date story

"So I sent an email to seven of my friends, including Sarah, and I said, 'Does anyone want to go see Lost in Translation tonight?' and then I sent an email immediately afterwards to the six of my friends who weren't Sarah and I said, 'NOT YOU.' —John Green, on how he asked out his wife for the first time

(Photo by Nina Leen, 1944. Via Capucha)

Movie: Sleepwalk with Me

The other day, my mom and I went to see Sleepwalk with Me, the new comedy produced by Ira Glass and written by Mike Birbiglia. The main character is a comedian who gets engaged to his girlfriend but has cold feet. Although it sounds like a typical rom-com, it’s actually hilarious, honest and surprising (with a lot of stand-up comedy) and we both really enjoyed it. Here's the trailer. Will you see it?

P.S. Judd Apatow said, "A funny and insightful movie. I could have watched it for ten hours." High praise!

The Royal Tenenbaums

Criterion recently put together a slideshow of all the books and magazines in The Royal Tenenbaums. Just wish they made prints of these!

(Via Miss Moss)

Have you stayed friends with your exes?

Before I met Alex...
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Movie club idea

I love a good club (documentaries, articles, picnics), so I was psyched to get this email from a reader named Emily:

"My friends and I have started a Cinema Club where we're watching all our dads' favorite movies. It's been such fun already, and the dads (none of whom know each other) get such a kick out of being so important in their twentysomething daughters’ lives...especially since they all live in Australia while we live in London! We've watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Graduate, Casablanca—and Lexi's dad's choice was Van Wilder! Hilarious choice from a 60+ university professor..."

What a brilliant idea, right? Would you do it? What do you think your dad would pick?

P.S. The Shining as a romantic comedy.

Real actors read Yelp reviews

Do you ever read Yelp restaurant reviews? They can be hilariously over the top. So, this actor doing a dramatic reading of a bad review made me laugh out loud. Genius.

(Via Eater. Thanks, Megan!)

Movie posters

The tumblr FuckYeahMoviePosters features movie posters, both real and reimagined. Love the Annie Hall one: "A nervous romance." Spot on.

P.S. Remember this?
P.P.S. Old loves and cool dads.

Have an inspiring weekend.

What are your plans for this weekend? We're flying to Chicago tonight (Toby is out of his mind excited for the plane) and are looking forward to hot dogs and ferris wheels. (And wouldn't these be cool at the beach?)

Next week, I'm thrilled to be featuring a second work/baby/life balance series. The first series was about mothers who work freelance, but now we'll focus on mothers who work full time in office jobs. The amazing women will share how they try to juggle everything, from babysitters and bedtimes to meetings and marriage. The interviews were fascinating, and I can't wait to discuss them with you.

Finally, this week's round-up is all about Nora Ephron (1941-2012), who was such a talent and inspiration. In her books and movies, she really captured the voice of a certain type of young woman--neurotic, imperfect, complex, loving. Everyone sees themselves in Nora, and she's the kind of person that you want as a best friend (and mentor). She will be missed...

"I have a theory that children remember two things—when you weren't there and when they threw up." –Nora Ephron.

What she will and won't miss.

Her most recent book, which I ordered immediately. (I loved her other books--Heartburn, I Feel Bad About My Neck...)

14 photos.

Funny wisdom.

Why you shouldn't be a lady.

“And then the dreams break into a million tiny pieces. The dream dies. Which leaves you with a choice: you can settle for reality, or you can go off, like a fool, and dream another dream.” –Nora Ephron.

Tom Hanks remembers Nora. (Love the last paragraph.)

Nora writes about her love affair with her Upper West Side apartment.

10 great movie lines.

How to live life to the fullest.

"Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim." –Nora Ephron.

(Photograph by Linda Nylind for the Guardian)

Wes Anderson movies

Our friends saw Wes Anderson's new movie Moonrise Kingdom this week and said it was wonderful. (It has also been getting rave reviews.) Have you seen it yet? But my favorite Wes Anderson film was...
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First Position

First Position is a new ballet documentary that follows six young dancers on their way to one of the world's most prestigious youth ballet competitions. The ballet world, although beautiful, can be so brutal. It's amazing how hard even the youngest children work! Have you ever danced? Will you see it?

P.S. More ballet, and documentaries...

HBO's new show: Girls

This Sunday, HBO will premiere the new show Girls, about four broke twentysomethings trying to make their way in New York. Written, directed and starred in by Lena Dunham, and produced by Judd Apatow, Girls is "is a much scruffier show" than Sex & the City, says USA Today. I love that frank, funny, real girls are given a voice here, and the critics have been going crazy for it. Here's the trailer... Will you be watching on Sunday?