Rudd Stud: Rhinestone in the Rough

Cardigan: Hearts & Roses London, Zulily; Top: Simply Vera, Kohl's; Shoes: Chase & Chloe, Zulily; Bag: Betsey Johnson, Macy's; Green bracelet: Parade of Shoes; Red bangle: B Fabulous

Beading Rainbow Necklace

Sweater: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Boots: Apt. 9, Kohl's; Bag: Tatty Devine, Modcloth; Headband: Macy's; Coral bangle: Silver Linings, Ocean City; Black and white bracelet: Mixit, JCPenney

Un-Ugly Duckling Necklace

Paul Rudd is the kind of hot, hip, and self-deprecating-slightly-dorky leading man that makes women realize that men don't have to be testosterone-spewing alpha males to be sexy.  Just like sparkly stones don't have to be diamonds to be bedazzling (Rhinestone-encrusted jean jacket?  Yes, please!  Aunt Mitzi's tennis bracelet full of blood diamonds and also, possibly, the blood of Uncle Marve?  No thanks!).  So I was especially stoked to hear that Rudd is People's 2021 Sexiest Man Alive.  I'm so glad that this once-upon-a-time geeky dreamboat is finally getting his due.  Not that joining the Marvel universe as the world's most intrepid insect was too shabby either.  

Of course, true fans know that Rudd has had it going on since Clueless.  Awhile back, I read an article saying that Rudd, who played Alicia Silverstone's stepbrother-turned-love-interest in the iconic '90s flick, was "a wry forty-year-old" even then (his real age in the movie?  A callow twenty-nine.). 

Rudd's turn in Clueless is reason enough for me to pull out the plaid (yes, again!).  I'm particularly taken with these oh-so-'90s skirts.  All they need are a couple of big safety pins.  

Skirt: Almost Famous, Kohl's

Skirt: Almost Famous, Kohl's

What's more, their side-by-side contrasting plaid makes for an aesthetic that's classic-meets-edgy.  Kind of like the gentlemanly yet slightly snarky Rudd himself.  Who, by the way, in response to becoming officially "sexy," quipped that he'll now "have to spend more time on yachts."  

Oh, Paul.  That dry -- excuse me, wry -- sense of humor is why you'll always be the object of our (and Jennifer Aniston's) affections. 

Friends Forever, Ending Never: Once More on the Orange Couch

Last week, HBO Max finally dropped the Friends reunion, and people went crazy.  And why not?  Friends is the sitcom of sitcoms and the biggest hit of the '90s.  It's the show that made "The Rachel" a household hairdo and launched a decade of Must See TV, the show that introduced the world to Ugly Naked Guy and reintroduced it to Tom Selleck.  Even when it ended after ten seasons (a time I'll never forget, as it coincided with me packing up my last college dorm), it went on to charm new fans for generations.  Because no matter how many times you hear Phoebe sing "Smelly Cat" or hear Joey say "How you doin'?" or watch the "they don't know that we know that they know" prank about Monica and Chandler's not-so-secret romance, it holds up.  This is because it's so funny and because the stars have such great chemistry.  But it's also because it tells us so much of the six characters' backstories that they begin to seem like real people.  Whether you're laughing at Monica and Rachel in their '80s prom dresses or the idea of a teenage Phoebe stealing Ross's Geology Rocks backpack, you get to know them all so well that you feel like you grew up with them too.  So knowing that the reruns are always, well, there for you, especially after a hard day (you know, the kind where you're still in bed at ten but work began at eight) is comforting.  Just ask David Beckham, who Zooms into the reunion to reveal that he streams the show when he's sad or stressed, or any of the fans from around the globe who chime in to share that they feel a little less alone when hanging out with Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, and Joey.  I can relate.  Early on during the quarantine, I re-watched the entire series, and it was like seeing one incredibly long and hilarious and bittersweet movie -- to which I already knew most of the words.  

As you probably know, the reunion special, which was an unscripted nostalgic look back at the sitcom, marked the first time in seventeen years that Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBlanc came together to talk about the show.  Hosted by James Corden, the event featured the famous orange Central Perk couch front and center on a big, sparkly stage.  What it didn't have was inside info or jaw-dropping reveals.  Not that I, or other fans who read Kelsey Miller's I'll Be There for You: The One about Friends, needed them.  We already knew that Cox was originally slated to play Rachel, that Perry had to get out of an alien airport sitcom to sign on, and that creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane based the premise of the show on their own experiences as twentysometings in The Big Apple, dubbing Friends as "that time in your life when your friends are your family."  Sure, there was one "gotcha" to which I and presumably other fans weren't privy, but it wasn't anything that anyone worth her pop culture salt -- or pop psychology prowess -- couldn't have figured out.  One thing I did learn was that Schwimmer hated working with Marcel the monkey.  Apparently, in between takes, the animal handlers would feed Marcel grub worms, and then Marcel would touch David with his worm gut-grimed fingers.  Um, ew; I think we can all agree that every penny of Schwimmer's paycheck was well earned!  

I heard that lots of people were disappointed that the reunion wasn't a scripted where-are-they-now? episode.  And although I have to admit that that would've been cool, deep down, I was relieved it didn't happen.   A reboot or even a one-off episode would've spoiled the hard-won happiness of America's best buds in the name of keeping it going.  And most fans, despite what they say, don't want that.  Just look at what happened to Carrie and Big, not to mention Miranda and Steve, in the first Sex and the City movie.  Broken hearts and tears all around!  Sure, they resolved it all in the end, then tried to obliterate the mess by upping the fun factor in the second cinematic feature.  But those movies diminished the feel-good magic of that final episode where Carrie asks Big, in a perfect bookend to episode one, if he's ever been in love, and this time he says "Abso-bleeping-lutely."  In other words, most of us want to remember the Friends the way they were in the finale, with Ross trying to leave a message for Rachel just as she walks through the door and says, "I got off the plane."  We don't need -- or want -- to see them squabbling over kids and bills in a two-story colonial in Connecticut.      

Nevertheless, James Corden asked each of the actors where they thought their characters would be in a parallel Friends universe (because you have to give the people some of what they [think] they want).  I liked Lisa Kudrow's answer best.  She sees Phoebe and Mike (Paul Rudd) in -- but of course! -- Connecticut, raising a couple of kids.  And Phoebe, knowing all too well what it's like to be different, becomes an advocate for other out-there kids who struggle.    

Still, for many of us, the sacred six remain firmly planted in '90s New York City, wearing baby tees and sweater vests, doing what they do best.  You know.  Chandler escaping Janice (Maggie Wheeler) by hopping a plane to Yemen.  Joey relaying a tale about tossing a girl's prosthetic leg into the fire.  Phoebe giving birth to her brother's (Giovanni Ribisi's) triplets.  Monica getting a hickey from Hootie and the Blowfish.  Ross being forced to go on sabbatical after Hulking out over a sandwich.  Rachel being a bridesmaid in Mindy and Barry's wedding. Screwing up but surviving to laugh another day in that quirky, purple Central Park apartment, they'll be Friends forever in our hearts -- and, thankfully, in syndication.  And the reunion provided a sweet reminder.  

As Chandler would say, could a show BE any better?

Boys Don't Make Passes at Girls Who Wear Glasses . . .

 Fabulous Felt Shannon Brooch

 Fabulous Felt Erin Brooch

Fabulous Felt Patty Brooch

Top (a dress!): Modcloth
Skirt (also a dress!): Modcloth
Shoes: Payless
Bag: Betsey Johnson, Boscov's
Belt: Belt is Cool, Amazon

. . . unless those glasses are filled with Guinness.  Which I realize sounds, ahem, shady because eyewear can't hold liquid let alone the Emerald Isle's signature stout.  But then again, all manner of magical madness is on tap on St. Patrick's Day.

At least that's what these leprechaun-loving ladies are thinking.  (And no, when I say leprechaun, I don't mean the horror movie starring a young Jennifer Aniston.)  Meet Shannon, Erin, and Patty, the newest members of the Tote Trove hat ladies guild.  Which, believe you me, ain't no book club.  They're off to paint the town green, starting at the local pub for a rousing round of Irish-themed trivia and pin-the-tail-on-the-Mother-Superior before indulging in a pint or two -- and then, just maybe, some pint-sized men.  Festive to a fault, they're decked out in holiday hats and sunglasses, reading glasses' less-than-well-behaved second cousin.  Because nothing says single and ready to mingle like a pair of I-can-see-you-but-you-can't-see-me cat's eye lenses.

Let's face it, St. Pat's isn't the most sentimental of holidays (unless you count caterwauling "Danny Boy" at last call).  There's no animated Peanuts special, no heart-warming kids' book called Seamus Shares a Shamrock or something.  It's all about shillelaghs and shenanigans, green beer and lime JELL-O shots, and trying to outrun the cops.

Or so I hear.  I'm usually curled up with a Shamrock Shake and a dog-eared Maeve Binchy by midnight.  

So much for mocking book clubs.

Movie Moment: Wanderlust

I was excited about Wanderlust.  Mostly because it starred Paul Rudd.  But also because it was a comedy about a yuppie couple (the other half of which is played by Jennifer Aniston) escaping the New York City rat race to start fresh on a Georgia commune.  I mean, what wouldn't be hilarious about that?

As it turned out, plenty.

Now, I realize it's a little early in the review for the snark snake to be rearing its ugly head.  And I hate to be that girl.  But I also hate to be dishonest.  So, that girl it is.

George (Paul Rudd) works in an office doing something boring.  Linda (Jennifer Aniston) bounces from jewelry making to ice cream making to making a documentary about penguins with testicular cancer.  Linda wants them to buy an apartment (er, micro-loft), so they do.  But then George gets laid off and they're forced to sell and move in with George's obnoxious brother and his family in Atlanta.  During the drive down, car trouble delivers them to the doorstep of Elysium, a utopian oasis in a gadget-crazy, dog-eat-dog world.  They spend an enchanted night there, an experience that renders life at George's brother's mansion the next day as even more abrasive.  George picks a fight and breaks a dish and before they know it, he and Linda are speeding back toward the serenity of the commune.

Only, Linda's not feeling it.  Weirded out by Elysium's doorless rooms, touchy-feely psychobabble, and unrelieved togetherness, she balks when George suggests they stay for two weeks.  Yet almost immediately the two do a switcheroo, with Linda embracing the alternative lifestyle and George longing for the square society they left behind (which makes perfect comedic sense, as Paul Rudd always plays the lone straight man swirling in a sea of chaos).  Nowhere is their disconnect as apparent as when George strums the Spin Doctors' "Two Princes" on a guitar only to be one-upped by his wife's soon-to-be paramour (Justin Theroux).  Weirdly, this is the movie's high point for me.  Not the part about Paul Rudd being dissed; I didn't like that at all.  But my favorite actor singing my favorite song?  That was downright, dare I say it, princely.

As for the rest of the movie, I couldn't help but feel that it needed to be either funnier in an over-the-top, can-you-believe-this? sort of way or more serious in a poignant, indie film, damn-that-really-made-me-think kind of way.  I think that's about as bitchy as I'm going to get.  Now that that's over with, I'll return to my happy place where Paul Rudd is still singing.

Movie Moment: Horrible Bosses

It's no secret that popular culture likes to poke fun at bosses. But it's not often that we hear a tale in which disgruntled employees turn to murder.

In Horrible Bosses, three friends have been pushed to just such limits. Nick (Jason Bateman) battles his boss's (Kevin Spacey) sadistic mind games as he doggedly pursues VP status; newly engaged dental hygienist Dale (Charlie Day) has a hard time saying no means no to his sexually aggressive supervisor (Jennifer Aniston); and chemical plant accountant Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) loses the best boss ever (Donald Sutherland) to a heart attack only to answer to his cokehead son (a comb-over-sporting Colin Farrell). At first, the three consider quitting their jobs. But then they run into an old friend who graduated from Yale only to become a permanent unemployed fixture on his mother's couch. Presented with this walking cautionary tale, they conclude that quitting isn't for them. Then Kurt jokes that they should just kill their bosses, and everyone laughs. But the germ has been planted, and before long the trio is trolling unsavory bars in search of a hit man.

This is where things get a little dark. Which came as a surprise to me. I know, I know. What did I expect from a movie about murder? Frankly, silly high jinks. Slapstick. Failed attempts at poisoning coffee. You know. Someone slips rat poisoning into a mug and waits for the fatal sip only to have the intended victim get coffee somewhere else that day, or, better yet, spill it down the front of his/her shirt. Or maybe car/elevator/even mail tampering gone hilariously awry. Or doom-destined limos that somehow end up at vacation hot spots. (I'm reaching, but you get the idea.) Then after so many failed attempts the would-be killers would realize that the murders weren't meant to be and walk away, finding some other means of solving their professional problems.

But none of that happened. There's no string of murder attempts, amusing or otherwise. There are several surveillance scenes, some of them funny, some of them seeming like dead air. An unlikely connection links Nick's and Kurt's bosses, creating an unexpected but not-so-light twist. Yet even so, the story wraps up in the way you'd expect it to - it just takes a strange route to get there.

Although the plot is questionable, the characters make up for it. Playing his typical cold fish self, Kevin Spacey makes an ideal tyrant. Farrell and Aniston step outside of their comfort zones to become power-hungry bullies. As for the three musketeers, it's hard to say whether Bateman or Sudeikis plays the lead. Bateman's job situation is probably the most dire, and the story begins and ends with him. Yet it's Sudeikis who spearheads the murder operation - and drives the getaway car (which, by the way, is equipped with some weird, omniscient OnStar type navigation system that goes by the name of Geoffrey). Still, I found Day's character to be the most likable. Reprising his go-to lovable moron role, he lends an endearing quality to this dark comedy.

Movie Moment: Just Go With It

The bf and I finally made it to see Just Go with It last night. Full of color, sunshine (thank you, Hawaii), and Adam Sandler humor, it was the fun, light-hearted romantic comedy I'd expected. I think the bf may have liked it even more than I did, if his bouts of laughter were any indicator.

For those of you who haven't read my other movie reviews, I'm known as a bit of a spoiler. So, SPOILER ALERT. For those of you who already knew that, I apologize for the interruption. Now that that's out of the way:

The movie begins with a flashback of Danny's (Sandler's) wedding day. Big-haired and big-nosed, Danny overhears his bride-to-be cackling about what a loser he is to her bridesmaids. We can only assume that he jilted her because the next scene features Danny, still wearing his tux and wedding ring, sitting alone at a bar when the "it girl" of the night approaches him. He tells her his hard luck story and they leave together, to the horror of all the other guys who've been chasing her. Emboldened by this fluke, Danny continues wearing his wedding ring to lure younger women into one night stands. Despite this sleazy behavior, you can't help but see Danny as a wounded nerd in shark's clothing. (I almost said wounded sheep but thought better of it considering that particular animal's role later in the movie. I won't go into it, leaving you at least one suprise.)

Fast forward to present-day Danny. A wealthy forty-something plastic surgeon, he's shed his enormous nose but not his philandering. The most constant woman in his life is his salt-of-the-earth assistant Katherine (Jennifer Aniston), an unassumingly pretty divorcee with two kids. Smart and no-nonsense, she has no qualms about chiding her boss for his womanizing ways, illustrating the easy camaraderie between them.

But the story doesn't get rolling until Danny meets Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), a blond bombshell schoolteacher who demands to meet his soon-to-be ex-wife before beginning a relationship with him. That's right. Palmer doesn't find out about Danny's fake wedding ring until after they hook up, and unlike the women before her, she's less than charmed. Danny turns to Katherine for advice, and she helps him hatch a scheme in which she plays his future ex-wife. In true My Fair Lady fashion, the glasses come off, the shopping begins, and Katherine shows up for lunch with Danny and Palmer exuding Aniston's easy glamour.

Despite a comedy of errors, the meeting is a success. The farce should end there but doesn't on account of Katherine taking a call from one of her kids. Promoted from soon-to-be-swinging-single to soon-to-be-single-dad, Danny finds himself bound for Hawaii with Palmer, Katherine, the kids, and his odd cousin Eddie (the ever-creepy Nick Swardson) - all because Katherine's son complains that Danny never took him there to swim with the dolphins. I always think movies are better when the characters go on vacation. Well, funny movies in which the hilarity can be heightened by unfamiliar luxury surroundings. (Serious movies not so much. In those, foreign locales are often prime sites for characters to be killed. Or cheat on their spouses. Or have very unfunny life-changing revelations.) Just Go with It is no different, brimming with pina colada-fueled catastrophes. Highlighting the hijinks are Nicole Kidman, who plays Devlin, Katherine's college arch enemy, and Dave Matthews, who serves as her equally annoying husband. Determined to impress Devlin, Katherine introduces herself as Danny's wife instead of his assistant. This, of course, complicates the whole ex-wife story created for Palmer's benefit while solidifying Katherine's relationship with Danny. Simultaneously masquerading as his almost ex-wife and current happily married wife undeniably draws her closer to him, which as any romantic comedy fan knows, is ultimately what she wants. But she doesn't come off as conniving. Katherine's simply known Danny a long time, and they have a comfy rapport that's increasingly shown to be chemistry.

I think you probably know how this one ends up.

The critics were really hard on Just Go with It. But then, aren't they hard on everything? In this case the main targets were bathroom humor, manipulative characters, and lazy scripting. One almost-kind reviewer even went as far as to say "Oscar material it isn't." I think we already knew that. And honestly, who cares? After a week on the clock people don't want to solve life's problems. They want to laugh and see happy endings.