Even though I live in chilly Northwestern Ontario, the snow has still not fallen! And, yes, I am a little peeved.

Usually the late November snow signals me to bust out the Christmas decorations and movies (can anybody say Elf?!) and indulge in the holiday spirit. But this year I’ve had to create all the spirit myself.

Besides watching Christmas special after special, I’ve turned to cozy holiday books to get myself in the mood, and The Gift, by Cecelia Ahern, is just perfect for the job. Many of you may remember this blockbuster hit from last Christmas season. Well, it was originally a book and I managed to snag myself a bargain copy of the hardcover a couple months ago. I decided to wait for a more appropriate time to bust it out and – seeing the Christmas lights being hung all over time – that time finally arrived!

“The Gift” switches between two seemingly parallel stories. One is of Lou Suffern, an overworked business man who is constantly faced with the conundrum of being in two places at once with his busy life. The other features Raphie, an older policeman (or Garda as they call them in Ireland!) and Turkey Boy, a young boy who threw a turkey through a window and is now at the Garda station. Lou’s story is actually being narrated by Raphie, who is telling Lou’s tale as a warning to Turkey Boy.

Lou’s story essentially begins when he meets Gabe, a homeless man who sits outside Lou’s multi-million dollar office building in Dublin everyday. One day Lou decides to purchase a coffee for Gabe and they end up chatting. Gabe seems very wise and intrigues Lou. Gabe also tips Lou off on a suspicious lunch meeting that Lou’s co-worker and boss had, so Lou decides to get Gabe a job in the mail room of his building. He figures that Gabe will be able to keep his eagle-eyes on Alfred, Lou’s suspicious co-worker and also, that it’s a good deed. Read More »

Dianne Wiest. John Lithgow. Arthur Miller. Broadway. Katie Holmes.

Figure it out yet? Of course you have, because Katie Holmes on Broadway seems to fit as much as Katie Holmes accepting an Oscar, which is to say that it absolutely doesn’t fit. (And because there is a big picture of Katie Holmes at the top of this post)

But fit it must as Katie Holmes is in talks to make her Broadway debut in the Arthur Miller classic All My Sons alongside acting pros Dianne Wiest and John Lithgow. The Daily Mail also points out that not only is it Katie’s first turn on Broadway, but also her first play since high school.

I’m willing to eat my hat if Katie can pull this one out, but I honestly can’t see how this will end well. Not only will she be overwhelmed by the material (All My Sons isn’t exactly Mad Money) but she will be acted into a corner by Wiest and Lithgow.

That being said, as pessimistic as I am about the project, I do find myself rooting for her just a little. When she was on Dawson’s Creek, I just remember being generally annoyed not so much by Katie Holmes’ acting, but by her character in general. And she did alright in The Gift, if I can remember correctly (and girlfriend took it off. Gotta give her her props for that.) It’s just that Katie Holmes isn’t an actress anymore, not really. She’s become a caricature, or, more nicely, a personality, because of this whole Tomkat nonsense.

If she is thinking of this as a boost to her career, well, her career sure needs one of those. I guess it couldn’t hurt.