Upcoming Movies

I made my pre-Worldcon to-do list last night, and it's daunting. My first problem is that stores and manufacturers aren't cooperating with me. My beloved black ballet flats that I can wear with everything and that are dressy enough for me to get away with wearing them for dressier occasions when I need to be comfortable but that are comfortable enough for walking are on their last legs. I'm holding them together with glue and making them presentable with shoe polish and by using shoe stretchers to keep them in shape. I need to replace them, but with all the shoes like that in stores right now, they're doing it wrong. The toe is too short. I guess they find toe cleavage sexy, or something, but I find that the shoe then cuts across the "knuckle" of my big toe and is painful, plus it makes you look like you crammed your foot into a shoe two sizes too small, for that oh so attractive Minnie Mouse effect. I'd found a few options when searching online that looked like they might work, but the actual shoes were awful. Even searching Nordstrom isn't bringing up anything I like. The one thing I've found that's perfect, they don't actually come up with having it in my size either in stores or online (and I love it when you're browsing for shoes online and they suggest you try a different size when they don't have the size you want -- yes, I'll just cut off a few toes and try a different size).

I guess I'll just stick in the shapers, get out the shoe polish and hope my shoes hold together for another year. Otherwise, I think I've got my wardrobe planned.

My book has now dropped off the Amazon category bestseller lists. I suppose everyone in the know has bought their copies in the initial surge and now it will be more of a steady trickle as word of mouth spreads and people find out that the fifth book is available. I worry that there might be fans out there unaware that they can now get this book, but I don't know what more to do to reach them other than hope word of mouth has a ripple effect. Skywriting is probably out. Though it would be cool.

They've added a number of new movie trailers to my OnDemand listings, and while the first part of this year has been rather slow for me, movie-wise (the only movie I've seen this year was Brave), there are some good things coming out. In no particular order there's:

The Great Gatsby -- it gets the Moulin Rouge treatment (without the music) with a really lush Baz Luhrmann production. He really has fun with the Art Deco world, and the cast looks good. While I was a little underwhelmed with the book, I must have found it pretty compelling because I read it in one sitting. The previous movie versions I've seen are fairly stilted and tame, but this looks like it will really capture the decadence and hedonism of the jazz age.

Looper -- I hadn't heard of this one before, but it looks like an intriguing time travel thriller about an assassin who specializes in going back in time to kill people before they're a problem (a human terminator), and then he gets an assignment to kill his future self, who's apparently hiding in the past. Uh oh. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the assassin, with Bruce Willis as his jaded future self.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower -- it's a teen film, but it looks like a smart one, and the trailer made me laugh out loud a couple of times. Features a post-Hermione Emma Watson doing an American accent and playing what looks to be the polar opposite of Hermione. Good for her.

Pitch Perfect -- the story of a chick with attitude joining her ritzy school's a capella choir sounds like it could be very formulaic (one of those "using current music is a radical idea that will put us ahead of the competition!" things), but the trailer was great. I think I actually want to see this.

Plus, the Les Miserables trailer is now OnDemand, so I can watch it on my TV whenever I want to. I'm ready for a new trailer or a bit more footage, though.

And in TV news, remember that a new Grimm is on tonight, and rumor has it that Doctor Who will return September 8. I'm already in pre-mourning for Rory's departure.