Just a couple of quick notes this morning...
• I really liked a new film called Salmon Fishing in The Yemen, a disarming comedy about a timid and socially awkward UK fisheries expert (played by Ewan McGregor) who is dragooned by a financial consultant (Emily Blunt) into helping an Arab sheik (Amr Waked) realize his dream of bringing salmon fishing to the Yemeni desert. I’d seen the trailer, and thought that it was entirely possible that it could be awful ... but instead, I found a winning piece of filmmaking (directed by Lasse Hallstrom) that is at heart a meditation on the power of a dream, the challenge of realizing a vision, and the importance, sometimes, of swimming upstream against conventional wisdom. The performances are terrific, and the lessons of the movie can be applied to both business and personal behavior.
I’m guessing that Salmon Fishing in The Yemen may not be at the top of your to-see list. But I’m here to tell you that it deserves your attention. (Also...it is a great date movie.)
• I’m an enormous Aaron Sorkin fan, so I have a real bias here. For me, his writing credits include some of my favorite entertainments of the past decade or more: The Social Network. Moneyball. A Few Good Men. The West Wing. Sports Night. All just terrific movies and TV shows with crackling dialogue and literate characters.
This week, HBO released a trailer for a new series written by Sorkin that will being airing this summer - Newsroom, which which he appears to be channeling Paddy Chayefsky from his Network period. (No higher praise from me, by the way - Network is easily one of the best movies that came out of Hollywood during the Golden Age of the seventies.)
It features Jeff Daniels and Sam Waterston. And it just looks great. You can check it out here. I am now officially counting the days until it premieres on June 24.
• Finally, I have a wonderful white wine to recommend to you - the 2009 Il Bacco “Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi,” which is lovely with seafood and pasta and perfect to sip on as the afternoons get longer and the sun grows warmer.
That’s it for this (abbreviated) week. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you Monday.
Slainte!
• I really liked a new film called Salmon Fishing in The Yemen, a disarming comedy about a timid and socially awkward UK fisheries expert (played by Ewan McGregor) who is dragooned by a financial consultant (Emily Blunt) into helping an Arab sheik (Amr Waked) realize his dream of bringing salmon fishing to the Yemeni desert. I’d seen the trailer, and thought that it was entirely possible that it could be awful ... but instead, I found a winning piece of filmmaking (directed by Lasse Hallstrom) that is at heart a meditation on the power of a dream, the challenge of realizing a vision, and the importance, sometimes, of swimming upstream against conventional wisdom. The performances are terrific, and the lessons of the movie can be applied to both business and personal behavior.
I’m guessing that Salmon Fishing in The Yemen may not be at the top of your to-see list. But I’m here to tell you that it deserves your attention. (Also...it is a great date movie.)
• I’m an enormous Aaron Sorkin fan, so I have a real bias here. For me, his writing credits include some of my favorite entertainments of the past decade or more: The Social Network. Moneyball. A Few Good Men. The West Wing. Sports Night. All just terrific movies and TV shows with crackling dialogue and literate characters.
This week, HBO released a trailer for a new series written by Sorkin that will being airing this summer - Newsroom, which which he appears to be channeling Paddy Chayefsky from his Network period. (No higher praise from me, by the way - Network is easily one of the best movies that came out of Hollywood during the Golden Age of the seventies.)
It features Jeff Daniels and Sam Waterston. And it just looks great. You can check it out here. I am now officially counting the days until it premieres on June 24.
• Finally, I have a wonderful white wine to recommend to you - the 2009 Il Bacco “Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi,” which is lovely with seafood and pasta and perfect to sip on as the afternoons get longer and the sun grows warmer.
That’s it for this (abbreviated) week. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you Monday.
Slainte!
- KC's View:
