My favourite magazine is Toronto Life. It's my favourite because I'm from Toronto so it seems that much more relevant than other mags, and it's my favourite because it's written in a style that I can easily digest, and it's my favourite because it's one of the only magazines that I can easily read cover to cover. I just gobble it up.
Toronto Life has a feature that they use in every issue (I think...) where they have 3 different individuals speak about their favourite book, movie, or music; each one will discuss a different medium. It might be an indie bookstore owner speaking of a book, or an indie record shop owner speaking about his new favourite album... you get the idea. (They once had the owner of Videoflicks speaking about his latest fave movie... I friggin' love Videoflicks).
So - what is the point of all this? Well, I'm going to do my own version of that feature... except I'm going to give my opinion on all 3 of those things.
Sugar & Gravy's Top 3
- MOVIE: I saw "50/50" this weekend. All I can say is... "wow!" It was one of the best movies I've seen in a while, and I've seen some good movies over the past few months ("Bridesmaids"... "Moneyball"...). "50/50" was just totally different. It was one of the most creative story lines I've ever seen, and the acting and writing were spot on. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was totally charming as his character, and honest and raw, and he delivered every aspect of his character perfectly. I laughed so many times throughout and I cried... oh how I cried! I thought my t-shirt would be soaked in my tears at one point. I just loved it! Highly recommend.
- BOOK: I haven't written about books in a while, have I? Well, there's a good reason for that... I haven't been reading much. Ugh, I'm so ashamed to say it, but it's true. I don't know if it's being busy at work or lazy at home, or both! Whatever it is, I want to break the habit and get back into reading, so I made some progress this weekend when I finished Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. This is the 3rd book I've read by Gladwell and, like the others, I loved it. This particular book is about how an idea, once formed, gets to a point where it "tips" and then spreads like wildfire. Why does that happen? How can we take an idea and make it tip? Gladwell suggests 3 factors that contribute to an idea's likeliness to tip: (1) The Law of the Few; (2) The Stickiness Factor; (3) The Power of Context. You can say that Gladwell takes others ideas and makes them his own, but I don't see it that way. I think he's just good at researching intensely on a topic and compiling that research and delivering it to the reader in a way that's easy to read and process and understand. That on its own is a skill, and he does it again with this book. I look forward to reading the last of his books that I haven't read: What the Dog Saw. Have you read it? What did you think?
- MUSIC: For the past 2-3 weeks I have been listening to almost nothing but Beyonce's "4". I honestly cannot stop listening to it. I went from liking a few songs to loving a few songs and tolerating the rest of the album to loving all of it and then being OBSESSED (pun intended?) with a few songs. My faves are "Love on Top", "I Care", and "Countdown", but "I Was Here" has grown on me a lot, and as I said, I really do love all of it at this point. Beyonce delivered big time with a diverse album that shows her growth and creativity, showcases her talent, and reminds us again why she is one of the biggest players in the game. Along with "21" and "The Suburbs", this is one of my fave albums of the past 2 years.
