Home again home again

I am so happy to have completed the Hawaii Diaries! I was thrilled to have gone, and now I'm so happy that I can blog onward. I got a little stuck in the past, feeling like I wanted to finish up about the trip before I could blog about other stuff, and then falling behind what with the holidays, work, etc etc.

I'm excited to say I've started teaching aerobics again. Just a few mellow step-sculpt classes at the local YMCA, but I've missed teaching more than I thought I would. I'm having a great time with it, and I picked it right back up like I'd been teaching all along. I'm planning to save all the money I make (which won't be that much because the pay is pretty low) towards going to a fitness conference in NYC March 11-13.

I've seen a few movies lately, and I wish I could motivate to write reviews of all of them but well, I can't. So let me highly highly recommend Finding Neverland, with Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. It's full of heart and whimsy. I've loved it more than anything I've seen lately. I'd love to see Johnny Depp get his Oscar this year, but I suspect Jamie Foxx has it wrapped up. I haven't seen Ray yet (on the schedule for next Tuesday night) but the buzz tells me he's the leading candidate by far.

Let me not very highly recommend Closer, which I thought was filled with empty and selfish characters and was an unfulfilling story. It wasn't badly acted, I just didn't appreciate the premise. (and I didn't think it was that well written -- it was a little trite, says I who have written zero screen plays)

Ocean's 12 is less fun and less cool than the critics would lead you to believe. OK, it is fun to see all those flashy movie stars in one place -- and there's nothing wrong with Brad, George and Matt (playing a geek) together in one film -- but since K Street (which FAILED guys, hello!) Soderbergh seems to have lost sight of the importance of things like scripts, plots and rehearsals. Ocean's Eleven was so fun because the audience was in on the scam, which was tightly conceived and executed. In this movie, you are just as much in the dark as everyone else. And the reveal is foggy at best.

We also saw Motorcycle Diaries last night at my home away from home, the Boulder Theatre. This is a gentle, idealistic film. I thought it was a bit slow at moments, but I still liked it. The slowness probably contributes to the overall feel of the film, which focuses on profundity rather than speed. And Gael Garcia Bernal, as young Che Guevara on a life-changing journey, is one of those actors who accomplishes his work through his facial expressions. Aftewards Mom said "well, that was absorbing." That's a high compliment for any movie.

On my long movie list leading up to the Oscars: The Aviator, The Life Aquatic, Kinsey, Million-Dollar Baby, The House of Flying Daggers, A Very Long Engagement and Sideways.