Book Ends

1. Book Club - earlier this week I was lucky enough to be invited to Hillsides School in Pasadena to talk to a fantastic group of teen girls who love to read. Next they'll be reading ALL ABOUT VEE! While I was there they told me all about other books they love (besides all the Stephenie Meyers books I need to check out THE HATERS). I would LOVE it if people wrote to me about their favorite books - they don't have to be teen books. I want to compile a list of great books that I can read and then recommend. It also helps me to know what people like - sort of like research but I don't have to actually do it. LOL!!!! j/k

2. Book Signing - I'll be at Chevalier's Books in Larchmont Village tomorrow from 2 - 4 PM signing copies of ALL ABOUT VEE. And there will be cookies! Please come on down, even just to say hello and keep me from getting lonely. The address is 126 N. Larchmont Blvd, LA 90004.

3. Book Reviews - getting reviews from people is tough, I know. There are a ton of great books out there and people have limited time to read but I would really love to get some feedback from readers of LOVE, MEG and ALL ABOUT VEE. I will personally name and thank everyone who writes me a review in Amazon or Barnes & Noble and I will link to their blog here and on my website. That is my promise to YOU, my readers, just cuz I dig you all so much.

Iron Man

"Oh yeah. I can fly."

One of the best lines of this movie.

This is a fun and funny film with a great cast. The role of Tony Stark is perfect for Robert Downey Jr. who manages to bring some gravitas to the character without turning it into Christian Bale's Dark Knight (which also looks amazing!). Jeff Bridges is a terrific villain (although the rol could as easily have been played by William Hurt) and Terrence Howard is subdued yet not too introspective. And I didn't mind Gwyneth Paltrow at all.

It's a superhero movie for adults and Stark is in throes of the ultimate middle-aged crisis. I love that he's accomplished a great deal in his life, made some money, had some fun and then realizes that he needs to do more with his life. So instead of getting a new sports car, he gets a really cool suit that can fly and repel RPGs and proceeds to help strangers.

Kudos to Jon Favreau who directed the underrated "Zathura" before this and of course to Stan Lee, one of the creators of Iron Man. The character is as timely now as it was when he debuted in the 60s and fighting the Vietnamese.

Three out of three 3 Vees would dig this.

Wristcutters: A Love Story

On its surface this movie, starring Patrick Fugit and Shannyn Sossamon, sounds incredibly depressing and in many respects, it is. We are introduced to a world in which every inhabitant has committed suicide. It is a world much like our own "but slightly worse." Our hero, Zia (Fugit) has offed himself but wishes he hadn't as he is still in love with his ex Desiree. When he learns that she too has offed herself (the preferred phrase to describe the action as opposed to the more horrific term "suicide"), he goes on a road trip to find her, convinced she did this because she loves him.

With him is Mikal (Sossamon) a beautiful girl who claims this was a mistake, that she accidentally OD'ed. She hitches a ride with Zia and Gene (a very funny Shea Wigham) to find the men in white who are the PIC (People in Charge). Along the way they run into Tom Waits and his miracle crew who are a very wacky bunch and may not be who they claim. And yes, it is a love story, and not wholly unexpected.

The director, Goran Dukic, adapted the script from a short story by Etger Keret and apparently gave the film a happy ending that the original did not have. He also added a few supernatural touches that do give the movie some humor. On the whole, the film was good but slow-moving - although the running time was less than 90 minutes, it felt much longer. Not sure who I could recommend this to - it's not graphic or anything but knowing how the characters came to this place does make one shudder.

Maybe 1 out of 3 Vees would dig this.

Leigh Speaks!

Not exactly like Greta "I vant to be alone" Garbo in her first talkie, but just as unique!

Here's a little teaser my Ninja Webmaster put together for my website. It gives you a little insight into where the book came from and where I live and so on and although my hair is a little wind-blown and I sound like I have a cold (I don't; I'm just whiny like that), I do like my glasses. They're those transition things where they turn into sort-of sunglasses when you're in the sun and regular glasses indoors. And they're wicked comfortable.



All About Vee 1 from Mo Jo on Vimeo.



More to come...

The Benefts of Global Corporate Media Ownership

Maybe just one...


My signing at Chevalier's Books this Saturday, May 10th, which is listed in the Los Angeles Times Calendar section, has been picked up by its sister papers, the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun, so people in Chicago and Baltimore know I'm signing in LA! LOL! Check it out here...and here...


...and on Saturday, be sure to check out the signing at Chevalier's - the actual one in LA!

Ending the Week with Awesomeness

1. Awesome television - aw, come on, you know the answer to this one: Lost. Another fantastic episode last night and HH and I are still trying to unravel the flash forwards. Obviously, in last night's show Jack and Kate are happy and isn't a drunken pill-popper. So we're assuming this episode precedes the very first flash forward we saw, right? Another question we wonder: in the future, does Jack realize he is Aaron's uncle?

2. Awesome movie trailers - The Robert Downey Jr. movie "Iron Man" opens today and that certainly does look like fun but honestly, it's "Hancock" that we're looking forward to. Comes out in June! Will Smith as a homeless superhero - yeah, baby!

3. Awesome library event - okay, so my writing workshop tomorrow at the West Hollywood Public Library on San Vicente isn't truly awesome but it could be if YOU come! I'll give away a copy of LOVE, MEG and I'll sign it and everything! 2:30PM until we finish talking.

Meet The Robinsons

When this animated film came out last year, I thought it looked cute but insubstantial: boy invents time machine and accidentally travels to the future. Nothing to write home about and I wasn't so sure I cared for the animation. But it was really sweet and funny and clever and pretty much nothing like the trailers made it out to be.

12 year old Lewis lives in an orphanage, having been abandoned as a baby by his mother. He is "unadoptable": no one seems to want a child obsessed with inventions and science (a little oversimplified but I went with it for the movie's sake) and he knows that when he becomes a teenager, it will only get worse. He becomes determined to find his mother so he invents a machine that will take memories from his brain and turn them into pictures so he can see what she looked like and find her. At a science fair, where he will present this gizmo, his presentation is disrupted by a young boy who tells him he's from the future and to watch for a Man with a Bowler Hat (his official credit). The machine gets broken during the melee and the anonymous boy whisks Lewis off to the future where he meets an eccentric group of people, the Robinsons.

If you have seen any time travel movies at all, you know our hero has to do something that will set things right but also not disrupt the already-established timeline. And this being a children's movie, you know that it has to end happily. But the way they get to happy is funny and sweet and a little touching. I love the Man with the Bowler Hat - not quite a villain, just a little misguided. The voice actors are terrific, with Harland Williams as CARL the robot a standout.

"Meet the Robinsons" was based on a children's book by William Joyce , "A Day with Wilbur Robinson," and there is a wonderful interview with him about it on the DVD. Joyce's book was published in 1990 and was solely about a boy who meets a very eccentric family which was itself based on Joyce's own family. The movie's animation resembles the original illustrations which are beautiful.

The director, Steve Anderson, says he was drawn to the script because Lewis is an orphan and he, Anderson, was also adopted. You can definitely feel his fondness and sympathy for the character throughout the movie.

I think all Vees would dig this.