procrastination

i have some accounting homework i should be doing, as well as some asinine book to read for my capstone class (my prof wrote it and 40% of our grade is participation, but in an mba class, that amounts to lots of people regurgitating the same stuff because they like to hear themselves speak).  but i ran this morning (100 minutes of running!) and it's overcast and chilly out and i just really want to nap with my pets and watch the olympics.
instead of napping or doing homework, though, i will take this brief opportunity to review a few things.  i have opinions, and i like to voice them.  so, here goes.
crazy heart, the movie.  jeff bridges is good, but i don't know how un-jeff bridges he is in this movie.  the song writing is good, even if you're not the world's biggest country fan, which i'm not.  the story is anti-climactic, but held together by a level of refreshing optimism.  there is hope, people can change.  too late doesn't necessarily mean too little, all that.  fundamentally, this is a little movie that wasn't trying to be anything but that.  i like that about it, but now that it's become all hyped up and whatnot, i don't know that it really rises to the occasion.  though a little slow-moving, there's nothing to really despise about the movie, which tells me maybe they played it a little too safe.
valentine's day, the movie.  i could say a lot of this about valentine's day the day too, but this was one of the most trite, sickly sweet busts of a romantic comedy that i've ever seen.  i love cheesy movies - i swear i have several of them memorized.  but this, this is beyond bad.  the acting is horrendous.  the stories are too perfectly and obnoxiously woven together to be even remotely believable or enjoyable (you can't even suspend disbelief, that's how bad they are).  even the token kid, who is always a redeeming character, was annoying and written so poorly.  i think they might have paid monkeys to write this script.  it is possibly the most base level of character development i've seen in a movie, ever.  don't waste your $7, or risk your husband's ire by forcing him to see this with you (i, fortunately, went with several girlfriends, so even though it was bad, it was still entertaining and super fun to be with friends).
the soloist, the movie.  we just received this via netflix.  jb is a classically trained cellist.  the folks in the movie, not so much.  so, we are biased.  the story is compelling, but should have stayed a news feature.  we both fell asleep before the end, and had no desire to watch the rest.
contra, the album by vampire weekend.  i cannot say enough positive things about vampire weekend's sophomore effort.  i also cannot believe i just wrote sophomore effort.  but anyway...it's great.  hints of a paul simon influence, maybe some fab 80s dance hits, refreshingly mixed with their signature drum lines and clever (albeit sometimes hard to understand) lyrics.  i loved the first album, but the diversity and evolution they display with contra has completely wowed me.

i think that's it for now.  we're going to see shutter island tonight, so stay tuned.  also, we're not drinking for lent, so there will probably be several movie reviews forthcoming.