Here's a movie for the top of your Netflix queue: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Bauby, at age 43 and with a wife, three kids and a mistress, as well as his work, occupying his life, suffered a massive stroke that left him with a very rare condition known as Locked-In Syndrome. Essentially, his mind was perfectly intact, but the only part of his body he could move was his left eye, which he could blink.
Bauby had signed a deal to write a book before his accident, and after concocting a genius, yet tedious way to communicate with his speech therapist, he decided to write a book about his life trapped in the prison of his mind. Via a painstaking system that required an assistant to go through a list of letters while Bauby blinked when he wanted to choose one, Bauby completed the book, which took approximately 200,000 blinks of his eye (and nearly two minutes for him to get out each word).
Continue reading Must-Rent-DVD: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
The satirical war movie, War, Inc., written and produced by John Cusack also stars Marisa Tomei, Hilary Duff, Joan Cusack, Sir Ben Kingsley and Dan Akroyd. iVillage had the chance to sit down with Marisa and Hilary at the Tribeca Film Festival, which was screening the film.
I have a great affinity toward both Marisa and Hilary. I was a camp counselor when The Lizzie McGuire Movie came out, and thanks to my campers, I not only have every song from the movie memorized, but I have dances made up for each of them too. (Yes, I just admitted that to the world.) I've also loved Marisa Tomei ever since I was little. I memorized her lines from My Cousin Vinny and I even have a VHS tape (old school, I know) of her movie Untamed Heart. So you can only imagine my excitement when I found out that I'd have a chance to interview both of these ladies.
Marisa Tomei ended up being much more subdued than I expected—I probably still envisioned her as the outspoken Mona Lisa Vito from Vinny—and Hilary Duff was cooler than I could have hoped—she completely came off as a normal, down-to-earth 20-year-old.
Let's start with Hilary. She really did seem like every other 20-something girl I know. She wasn't stuck up or overly egotistical like you might expect. The best part of the interview was when her cell phone started to ring. She couldn't stop apologizing and kept saying how sorry she was. It was such an honest and real reaction. (Side note: her phone looked like something from the year 2075. I had no idea that phones could look so high tech!)
Hilary also gave a brilliant response when asked what advice she'd give to Miley Cyrus about the racy Vanity Fair photos. At first Hilary tried to stay away from the question, but she ended up making the point that if Miley wanted to do the photos, she should own it. "I feel like everyone takes their own path," Hilary said. "People are pressuring you to do something but if you wanted to do it that's a different story, and I don't feel like I'm to comment on whether that's what she wants to do… It's not something I would choose to do, but if she did, then that's fine. I don't know how her fans would feel about it, but maybe she doesn't mind."
Continue reading We Chat with Hilary Duff and Marisa Tomei.

When Iron Man opens on May 2, you cannot miss it!
Considering I'm not that into comic books and I hated the last super hero movie (Spider-Man 3), I purely saw Iron Man for business, not pleasure.
Well, within minutes of the movie starting, I was enthralled. I could feel myself starting to love it. (By the end of the movie, I was not only obsessed, but I felt myself clapping.)
First of all, let's discuss Robert Downey Jr. Talk about a comeback story! From drugs and jail to starring in the best super hero movie yet, Robert Downey Jr. is not only back on the scene, but he's a force to be reckoned with. Oh, and he looked ridiculously hot in the movie too. Move over, Tom Selleck, there's a new man with a moustache in town!
Whether you're a comic book junkie, love action movies, think Robert Downey Jr. is sexy, like funny movies, enjoy a good hero, or take pleasure in a high-quality romance, this movie is for you... aka, it's pretty much for everyone.
Iron Man draws you in from the beginning and makes you care about the main character, Tony Stark (Downey Jr.). Not only is Robert Downey Jr. incredibly witty in the role right off the bat, but when he first tries to escape his captors in Afghanistan, the audience falls for him. Why? Partly because he's a genius, yes, but mostly because the scene resembles the one where King Kong gets shot by the planes when he's on top of the Empire State Building. There's something fierce about him, but yet you want to hug him and protect him.
Continue reading Iron Man: The Best Super Hero Movie.
Wanna refresh your memory about all things Carrie & co. before the much (much, much)-anticipated Sex and the City big-screen movie? We're already planning our own little marathon (with pretty pink libations, of course) thanks to HBO's Sex and the City: The Complete Series DVD box set.
All 94 episodes of the series are contained in this delicious box—a rose-colored velvet photo album package—which also contains a full disc of bonus features worthy of the most devoted SATC fan. Like...- The "En-Sex-Lopedia," a guide to all things SATC
- "Location, Location, Location!" a guide to all the real-life New York City hotspots that popped up in the SATC reel life
- "Sex Essentials," a video jukebox of SATC quips on love, life, sex and, of course, fashion
- "You Can Quote Me on It," an SATC quote game
- "The Guest List," a trip down memory lane with the series' many famous faces guest stars
- Three alternate endings to the series finale
- Bloopers and outtakes from all six seasons of the show
- "Behind the Seams," a feature on costume designer Patricia Field
- Deleted scenes and audio commentaries by producer Michael Patrick King for 18 episodes; and
- An interactive Sex and the City trivia game
P.S. In other SATC movie news, the whole cast, including Mr. Big himself, Chris Noth, are gathering on Oprah today to discuss the movie. Will they shed more light on all the rumors swirling around the movie's plot? Here's hoping.
By the way, which of the following SATC movie rumors do you believe:
- Mr. Big leaves Carrie at the altar?
- Charlotte dies?!?
- Samantha dies?!?
- Mr. Big dies?!?!?!?
- None of the above?
Day 3 began with Sissy Spacek's latest film Lake City. I was really excited for this film, not only because I think Sissy's brilliant, but also because Rebecca Romijn and Dave Matthews were appearing in the film. This meant it had to be fun, right? The flick, which features a mother and son who must reconcile their past in order to save themselves from violent criminals, was good, but I didn't think it was anything special. I found it a bit typical and Lifetime-esque, and it was hard to care too much about the characters. Again, it wasn't bad; it was just simply good.
Later I headed over—in the pouring rain, leaving my hair a mess!—to the War, Inc. press junket with Marissa Tomei and Hilary Duff. I can't wait to tell you about it, but you'll have to wait until later in the week, when I'm able to transcribe the interviews!
Finally I went to the best movie I've seen yet at Tribeca: Bart Got a Room. The comedy starred William H. Macy and Cheryl Hines, who played a very wacky soon-to-be ex-husband and wife. The clock counts down as their son Danny tries to find a date for prom. William H. Macy was a riot and the casting of the kids in the film was terrific. I also loved all the little details, like the tons of old people in Florida (where the film took place) and the crazy relationships between the adults. I truly think this is a film for people of all ages, and if you want to laugh, you definitely need to see it.
Tomorrow I'm heading to a panel led by Christiane Amanpour and then an afterparty for Matthew Broderick's new film Finding Amanda. Fingers crossed that Sarah Jessica Parker shows up!
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