Larry Crowne

Today, I am tired.  So tired in fact, I am waiting for the morning to make my chicken stir fry (back up plan: come home for lunch).  I am really, really excited to make this stir fry because it involves Chinese black bean and garlic sauce, as well as chili garlic sauce.  I have already busted open the black bean stuff and taste-tested a few times and it is delicious! I also recently bought hoisin sauce and it is phenomenal too.  I highly suggest any/all three of these sauces as you can't really go wrong and they will make you feel like a fancy chef.

I love peanuts/cashews etc. on my Chinese food, so here is a tip for you.  I hope you aren't ever actually trying to chop them, as that is a huge pain in the ass.  In case this is still your method, just put the nuts in a ziploc and roll a glass cup around on them.  Basically anything heavy smashing into the nuts will take care of it in a few seconds (thats what he said, anyone? I know you were thinking it).

I am also so tired that I had raw corn as my evening snack.  I have recently discovered raw corn, as it never occurred to me to try it that way. In fact, I have decided America is programmed that we must cook corn. I am not sure why, as it is DELICIOUS raw and very easy to prepare.  I even had an entire recipe I was going to make, complete with fresh basil.  Now, I am down to two out of six of my cobs, and I don't think that is going to happen. At $.59 cents for one cob, I think corn is a wonderful snack.

While I was almost too tired to feed myself, I was not too tired to go to the movies (yes again, and yes still planning to see Horrible Bosses and YES add Harry Potter to the list!).

To be honest, I had pretty low expectations for Larry Crowne.  But, I love Tom Hanks and haven't seen a Tom Hanks movie in a long time, so I decided to give it a shot.  In fact, my expectations were so low that I didn't even invite anyone to come.  Yes, I do like the movies by myself, but I normally at least extend an invitation.  I didn't want to have to waste my breath explaining the movie, so I ventured out solo.

When I got to the theater, there were about ten people, so that was awesome. I could sit basically anywhere in the theater and I sat in a place where no one else was (not hard as there were so many spots).  I was stoked because I could put my feet up on the seats, which I think is one of the more comfortable positions in a theater (one of the benefits of going solo is you can assume the most comfy position, which is your feet in the chair next to you). I couldn't believe what happened next.  Out of ALL the spots in the theater, a group of people sat directly in front of me and two seats over. 

I felt bad about my feet up, but not too bad.  They had clearly seen they were up and chose to sit there anyway.  Then, I see another group incoming.  There is NO WAY they would sit in the same row as these people right? And if that did happen, they would at least sit farther away right? NOPE! This group chooses to sit one seat to the left and in front of me.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Now I totally couldn't put my feet up without feeling bad, but I couldn't believe it.  Honestly, I think movie theater etiquette is the equivalent of bathroom etiquette.  If there are a bunch of empty stalls, you don't go in the one right next to someone.  I thought that was obvious?

Anyway, I loved this movie and it was only $7.50 with a student discount.  I even got my parking validated. The movie was very sweet, very touching, and the perfect length (99 minutes it says, but I think it was 90).  It was one of those movies that ends and you feel truly happy, like the events had just happened to you.

Rotten Tomatoes only rated it 36% from critics and 51% from the audience, and I disagree. 

To be totally upfront, I have never even liked Julia Roberts very much.  I know she has a great record, but she has always rubbed me a bit the wrong way.  I LOVED her in this movie!  She played bitch and she played lovely equally well.  And of course I loved Tom Hanks.  Cedric the Entertainer was also in the movie, as well as a new standout, Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

I looked her up and it says she has been in twenty three films...one of them is taping and is called "Odd Thomas." MOM - ARE THEY MAKING YOUR FAV NEW MOVIE??? The only other mention I had heard of was Doctor Who, but I have never seen the show so I am not sure how much she is featured.

Gugu plays the kind of girl that you see in a movie and think, why can't we all be like that? She makes you want to BE that girl; the girl who takes people under her wing and changes their lives.  She is the girl who walks up to you somewhere and introduces herself.  She was inspiring and quirky and seemed like she would make a great friend!

I also loved the portrayal of community college.  While it wasn't spot on, there were eerie similiarities between the movie's econ professor and my econ professor.  Is it a nationwide thing that econ professors always laugh oddly at their own jokes?

This movie also made me think about class from the perspective of a professor.  How depressing to see your class all staring blankly at you, staring blankly at their papers, or staring blankly at their phones.  I know I get frustrated giving a presentation when peopl aren't paying attention so it must be hell sometimes to be giving a lecture, knowing full well no one is listening.

Back to the movie -- do these actors/actresses make you more or less inclined to go see Larry Crowne?