Ms. Smarty Pants Know It All

I was as surprised as anyone when I didn’t fully enjoy Pamela Ribon‘s first book Why Girls Are Weird.

This work, Why Moms Are Weird, I’m happy to say, hit a lot more of my expectations. Ribon’s observational writing takes the forefront. Her humor had me laughing out loud, and the plot (mostly) served instead of intruded.

That’s where the first book, in my opinion, fell short. It seemed like the complicated plot was storyboarded and even when the characters and writing didn’t allow it to fit, the structure was nevertheless kept and it made for emotional gaps.

Here, that tendency was reduced. There are still slips, but for the most part, the story stayed in the everyday—fictionalized of course.

Every so often, there would be a short section that riffs on a tangential but character-building observation about life. These, especially, reminded me of the author’s blog pieces.

Why Moms Are Weird shows the humor and the spirit that I’ve come to expect from Pamela Ribon.

Tags: Books by Ms. SP
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When a movie is an Oscar-nominated one about boxing, I start having high expectations. Boxing is the subject of some of the greatest films in history: Raging Bull, On the Waterfront, Rocky, etc.

The Fighter is a strong movie but is not great. In a way, it suffers from having a different tone than the ones named above.

The movie is inspired by the true boxing brother duo of Dickie Eklund and Micky Ward. Dickie, the older brother, had a brush with boxing success but let drugs take all of that (and more) away from him. Within the time frame of the movie, Micky, the kid brother, has his shot now.

Like the other great boxing protagonists, Micky is a blue-collar, lower-working class guy. He’s even a quiet, low-key loner but where The Fighter becomes different is in Micky’s total envelopment by his massive, loud, and dominating family, headed by his alpha mother.

Other boxing movies have the family/entourage elements, but The Fighter is about these relationships and how they affect, not just Micky, but his entire boxing-centric family, and even his town.

It’s a family drama with extremely strong acting. Melissa Leo, who did an amazing job in Frozen River, transforms herself here. I kept wondering when she would show up and started when I realized that she was on-screen all this time.

Amy Adams really demonstrates another edge of her range, and Christian Bale simply steals your eye in every scene.

I also feel that Mark Wahlberg gives a strong performance in a very tough role. His guy is the quiet in the middle of the action. His character has a strength that he keeps to himself but is undeniably thrown-about by his more overtly powerful family members. Wahlberg brings forth the idea that this youngest son may not be the smartest guy in the world, but he’s trying hard to figure out how to make things work—when what’s good for himself and his family often conflict and when what’s good for his life and what’s good for his boxing career also are at odds.

The acting, however, does not make up for the something that is lacking in the movie’s power. It’s just a risk, I think, to wade into boxing within a film. Because even an Oscar-worthy one can feel like a letdown.

If I Picked the Oscars 2011 (in order of my vote)

Best Picture:

• True Grit
• Black Swan
• Toy Story 3
• Inception
• Winter’s Bone
• The Social Network
• 127 Hours
• The Fighter
• The King’s Speech
• The Kids Are All Right

Tags: Movies by Ms. SP
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