Well, right now Penny is being played by Alexa Vega, who is very pretty but needs to eat a sandwich or seven, STAT. I was astonished that she could get up there and sing/dance like that 8 times a week since her caloric intake is clearly about half what it needs to be. I was impressed by her performance, though.

The original Broadway Cast Penny was Kerry Butler, who, coincidentally, is playing Kira in the Xanadu musical I mentioned earlier. Apparently, she's awesome. And definitely a very pretty girl.

oh she is skinny. She's not even 18 yet and she looks so drawn.

I finally saw Waitress last night. My general reaction, which still holds as true this morning as it did last night, is that I enjoyed it, I thought it was charming, funny, and sad, and that Adrienne Shelly could have gone on to do some amazing things.

That said, there were a few things about the movie that I found troubling enough to keep me from giving it an enthusiastic "I loved it!" sort of review. In terms of tone, I thought that the quirky, surrealistic feel that cropped up throughout didn't blend as smoothly into the movie as it should have. It made me too aware that the movie was slipping into quirkiness (the frozen expressions on Jenna's face, the daydreaming about the pies).

Also, I had some issues with the affair and also with Dawn's courtship and marriage. Yes, the idea of adultery was bothersome, but I think it was supposed to be. I also liked how Dr. Pommiter helped Jenna realize what it was like to be loved, and how the person who loved her should also be her best friend (speaking of which, I came away with the notion that Jenna and Lulu would be good friends as well as mother and daughter). That said, I thought that in some ways, the doctor's behavior with Jenna, e.g. ordering her to meet him outside in ten minutes and some other tactics he used to persuade her not to end things, pinged me as being sweetened, toned-down versions of the sort of shit that Earl would pull with Jenna. No, I don't think that the doctor would ever have been as self-absorbed and abusive as Earl, but I'm left wondering if we were supposed to notice those parellels and see how Jenna could have become involved with Earl and not seen certain problems until it was too late, or if the doctor's behavior was more excusable because he is funny, cute, and sweet.

Also, Dawn's boyfriend--although he turned out to be a sweetie--essentially stalked her and badgered her into dating him. That left me feeling extremely uncomfortable. I'm not sure if the fact that he persisted long enough for Dawn to see what a darling he was outweighs that one line she had about not being able to find anyone else who loved her. That whole thing walked a fine line between comedy and creepy, and mostly came out on the side of comedy.

I thought that Andy Griffith was fantastic. I have a feeling the Academy may give him a nomination for this role, in part because it is very much deserved and in part as recognition for a long career. I loved his readings of the horoscopes and of that dear Abby column about the suicide note.

Double Happiness is playing on IFC today - it's on now and then is repeating at 1:30 central.

ftr DOA stands for Dead on Arrival, not Dead or Alive. I'm probably the only one who cares but it had to be said.

I saw Waitress this afternoon and loved it, although I was getting teary eyed a few times thinking about Adrienne Shelly, at times when the movie wouldn't have produced tears by itself.

She'd come a long way since bossing Timmy around, huh?

I saw Day Watch last night. Very stylish and visually arresting like the first one, but I couldn't tell you what the plot was if my life depended on it. Assuming there actually was a plot.

Also saw a 3-minute-long extended recruiting ad for the Army on the front of it. Yeah, I'm sure the audience of a subtitled Russian action-horror movie is just full of potential recruits.

I loved Night Watch. Glad to hear Day Watch isn't entirely a waste of time.

It was enjoyable, but I was going "wait, WHAT?!?" at about 10 minute intervals throughout the movie. And not in the rewarding surprise It's-Darla-in-the-box way.

I was proud to figure out that Gesser was switching Anton and Olga into each other's bodies as soon as he apologized to her. And I loved how Konstantin Khabensky became confident, aloof, and about 10x as sexy the instant he began playing Olga, while Galina Tyunina lost those qualities and started bumbling. They did a very good job portraying each other's characters.