So, I go for months seeing very few movies, and then I see two in two days. That's how it goes, I guess. On Saturday, the day before I left for Christmas break, I went to see In Time at the discount theater. I've had a few days to think about this, so I'm going to give you my verdict right off the bat: Interesting idea for a movie, good actors. However, I think that a better movie could have been made with a similar idea and the same actors. With that in mind, here goes:
Justin Timberlake's character, Will, tells us in voiceover as the movie begins that humans are now genetically engineered to stop aging when they turn twenty-five; at that point, they have one year to live, unless they can get more time. Time functions as currency; for example, a small purchase, like a cup of coffee, might cost four minutes, while a larger purchase, like a car, might cost something like sixty years. At your job, you get paid in time, rather than in money. I'm going to get a few of my nitpicks out of the way right off the bat:
1) I would have liked more of an explanation for the whole "we stop aging at twenty-five" thing. So...you have, like, bionic organs that never wear down? Could you still die from a disease, or have all of those been cured? One character "drinks himself to death"...doesn't this mean that you can still die if you abuse your body, and that this could theoretically also happen slowly over time? I mean, some characters are living to be well over a hundred years old...is there really any way to avoid the daily wear and tear on your body that happens through basic every day activities, let alone through eating unhealthily, not exercising, smoking, and other relatively common unhealthy behaviors? If they would have explained that people do sporadically have to go to the doctor for some sort of rejuventaing treatment, or-- okay, I'm going to stop trying to make sense of something that doesn't actually make sense. Given the lack of time devoted to the explanation in the film, I don't think we're really supposed to be asking these types of questions...but they would be interesting ones to explore, don't you think?
2) Everyone's personal clock displaying how much time they have left to live is displayed on their forearm. Further, it is very easy to transfer time from one person to another; you basically just have to take their hand and sort of twist, with the person giving their time's hand on top. This causes the following problems for the movie's characters: Having your clock displayed on your arm is basically the equivalent of not only walking around with *all of the money you have* on you at all times, but being forced to carry around a sign displaying how much money you are carrying. This, combined with the fact that time can be transferred from person to person so easily, means that everyone lives in constant fear of being robbed. For poor people living in the ghetto (like Will), this means that it is fairly useless to have more time than what you absolutely need to live from day to day; if you had more, it would just be stolen from you, anyway. If you are rich, you have to walk around with guards all the time.
This creates a great deal of the movie's drama, so from a pure storytelling standpoint, I can understand why things work this way. I can also understand why, from a practical standpoint, it would need to be fairly easy to transfer time from one person to another; with people running out of time constantly, you need to be able to give someone your time easily in order to save their life. What I don't understand is, given that this way of life has been going on for at least four or five generations, judging by the age of some of the characters, why they haven't come up with a better system for the storing and transfer of time. We have a better system for storing and transferring money right this second. However, this aspect of the plot is part of what I would identify as one of the movie's main arguments, which is:
Using actual seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc. of your life as currency is ridiculous. As the movie points out, there is more than enough time to go around; there is no reason why, for example, every single person couldn't be given seventy-five or 100 years to live at birth, have *money* be currency just like it is now, and have everyone know that when your time's up, your time's up. A significant portion of movie involves Will and Amanda Seyfried's character, Sylvia, stealing time and distributing it to whoever happens to be around, thoroughly messing up the economy. There's obviously some sort of argument about distribution of wealth going on here, too, but that's a whole other thing that I don't really care to get into.
The movie's other main argument, as I undersand it, is:
The system in place in this movie basically ruins everyone's quality of life. Poor people's days entirely consist of figuring out how to earn/steal/borrow more time. Rich people, on the other hand, never do anything risky. As we learn, though people supposedly can't die of natural causes other than their clocks simply running out (though, as mentioned before, certain plot points seem to contradict that), they can, just like we can today, die in accidents. As a result, rich people don't do anything even remotely risky; when Will acquires a great deal of time/money and goes to buy a car, the salesman tells him that he can have it delivered. "Delivered?" Will asks in confusion. "To wherever you plan to have it displayed," the salesman explains. Rich people don't drive; you could die that way. Sylvia has lived her whole life with the ocean right in her backyard but has never, until she meets Will, swam in it; it's too dangerous.
To me, this is the most interesting idea the movie brings up: in today's world, we all know that we are going to die at some point, yet we willingly engage in a number of activities that we know could potentially kill us. We might doubt the likelihood of dying while participating in these activities, and we certainly hope that we won't; however, we know it is a possibility, and we still drive cars, swim, and do other far more dangerous things. Would knowing that you could live forever *unless* something unforeseen happened make you less likely to take even the most basic of risks? Similarly, would you put off doing certain things literally forever if you knew that you would probably always have the chance, and always be physically well enough to do them? And if you, like the rich people in this movie, rarely (if ever)experienced the death of someone you knew, would you have an almost paralyzing fear of death? These are issues that I don't think about every day, and I like that the movie brought them up.
However, in the end, the movie doesn't have enough time (heh) to explore all of the legitimately interesting issues it raises, nor does it have time to fill the plot holes that are present. Add to that the issues with distribution of wealth/the differences in the ways that rich and poor spend and guard their money/the difficulty of moving between social classes/the social problems that are created by poverty that I have barely even scratched the surface on in this review, but that are very present throughout the movie, I think that I would definitely say that the movie is trying to do too much. Add to *that* the fact that the movie eventually devolves into a fairly standard chase movie and that I actually wound up getting a little bit bored watching a movie with endless possibilities, I can't say that this was an awesome movie. It was, however, interesting. Grab a friend, see it, and have a lively conversation afterwards.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
thoughts on Young Adult/other randomness
1)I've thought to myself more than once this past semester, "Why are TV and movies so crappy these days? I used to really enjoy TV and movies." I think the issue is actually largely with me. I've been really busy this semster, and, thus, much more impatient and critical, at least when it comes to entertainment. If I'm going to go to the movies, it has to be something I REALLY want to see. If I'm going to watch a TV show, then every episode had better be, at the very least, pretty good. The end result of this is that I've been to the movies only four times this semester, counting today, and that I've stopped watching both Glee and The Office. For the most part, I think this is a Good Thing, because though I had, before today, seen only three fall movies (50/50, Footloose, and The Muppets), I thoroughly enjoyed all of them. Less quantity, more quality, is what it comes down to.
2)Anyway, whether the issue is actually with me or not, the previews featured at today's showing of Young Adult indicated to me that movies are about to get awesome again. Coming to us in the (relatively) near future are This Means War, a spy vs. spy movie featuring Reese Witherspoon that looks Just Awesome; American Reunion, a sequel to the American Pie movies (I know!!!! They made a sequel!!! Featuring what looks like the WHOLE original cast!!! I will gladly admit that the American Pie movies got progressively worse as they went along, but...if you can't tell from the number of exclamation points, I'm excited about this), and Rock of Ages. Now, I don't know much about Rock of Ages, but apparently it was a Broadway musical, and from the looks of the preview, the concept is that a bunch of actors that I kind of like sing all of my favorite songs from the 80s. In other words, other than Hunger Games, it may very well be the coolest thing I see in 2012. I'm serious.
3)Okay, so Young Adult. In a nutshell, this is a movie where Charlize Theron's character, Mavis, does a bunch of things that made me mentally chastise her multiple times during the movie: "You're being so inappropriate!," and, "You shouldn't drive! You're drunk! You got a cab that other time! What the heck?!," and, "Stop drinking so much! Just leave like he told you to!," and, at one point, simply, "Stop it." It's much like when Friday Night Lights was still on and I used to sit there the whole time yelling, "Stop it, Tim!," or just, "Tim Riggins!" Both Mavis and Tim are heavy drinkers, so there you go.
Anyway, the actual plot of Young Adult is that a woman who was a big deal in high school, and who thinks she's better than everyone still living in her hometown (she moved away to Minneapolis), decides to go back home to try to win back her high school boyfriend, who is married and whose wife just had a baby. This is a bad idea in the first place, but while there she keeps getting drunk and doing increasingly inappropriate stuff. She also makes friends with a guy she ignored in high school, Matt; the parts where the two of them hang out are the most enjoyable parts of the movie. The rest of the movie is fairly uncomfortable to watch, but I'll still say that I enjoyed it as a whole. Like, at first I wasn't really buying Charlize Theron as Mavis; she's a little bit too pretty to play a woman who was once the prettiest girl in a small-town high school. And she looked just wrong schlumping around in a Hello Kitty t-shirt and sweats. I started to like her more in the role as the movie went on, but I still think it would have worked better for the part if Mavis were played by someone who was only reasonably attractive but thought she was way better-looking than she actually was.
Also...I like Diablo Cody, who wrote this movie. Juno is one of my favorite movies. However, the more Diablo Cody works I see/read, the more I realize that all of her characters kind of sound the same. On the one hand, I guess that's good because it means she has a distinctive style. On the other hand, it doesn't really make sense, given how different the characters she writes actually are. The weird thing about this movie is that everything that Diablo Cody has written up until this point has suggested to me that she has a very positive view of humanity. This is one of the things I like about her, actually: that most of her characters react to the events in their lives in a much nicer/cooler way than what I would expect, given my own experiences. This movie is darker, though the thing here is that most of the people in this movie react to *Mavis* in a much nicer/cooler way than what you would expect. The sad thing is that many of them do this because they either feel sorry for her or don't care much about her one way or the other. So, yeah. Dark. I kind of walked away with the impression that we weren't really supposed to like either Mavis *or* the people from her hometown, which seemed weird, for a Diablo Cody movie. Hmm.
A random thing that occurred to me as I was watching this movie: my parents no longer live in the house I lived in when I was in high school, so I have no idea whether or not it's normal for parents to keep their child's room *exactly like she left it when she graduated and moved out*, as Mavis's parents do. It seems kind of creepy and excessive; like, obviously, I can see keeping *a bedroom* for your child, and leaving a couple of things on the wall that she would like (my parents do this for me, even in their new house), but you would think that they might need to also use that room for other things. That said, it made me giggle when Mavis dug through her old container of scrunchies, because-- hee. I had so many scrunchies.
Another random thing that occurred to me as I was watching this movie: before Mavis leaves Minneapolis, she complains to a friend (another former Mercury, Minnesota resident now living in the city) about how horrible their hometown is, leading me to believe that she is from some total backwoods hole. Then she gets to the hotel she's staying at and I'm genuinely confused, all, "Wait...is she stopping somewhere on the way to her hometown? Because this place doesn't seem that bad. Or small. They have a Chili's." The longer she is in Mercury, the more of these confused thoughts I have: "But there's a Thai restaurant! How small can this place be if they have a Thai restaurant?" And her ex-boyfriend, Buddy, asks her to meet her at a sports bar that she thinks is totally lame, and I'm all, "What? It looks like Buffalo Wild Wings. I wouldn't go there every day, but it's fun now and then." Also, her ex-boyfriend invites her to come see his wife's band play, explaining that the band members are a bunch of moms who enjoy playing together. "They're bad, huh?" Mavis asks conspiratorially. Buddy kind of just shrugs, but when we actually see them play, I think to myself, "Aw, they're not bad at all! They're a good little cover band! And they look like they're having so much fun!" I guess what this comes down to is that 1) I've lived in places a heck of a lot smaller than Mercury, Minnesota, so chill out, Mavis, and 2) I'm less of a jerk than she is.
Final random thought: at one point, Mavis comments that she is depressed, and Matt suggests that she go out and get some exercise or something. Me: "Oh, that probably would help a lot! It's weird that she never works out!"
So...yeah. I both enjoyed it and found in uncomfortable. I'd recommend it overall, though.
2)Anyway, whether the issue is actually with me or not, the previews featured at today's showing of Young Adult indicated to me that movies are about to get awesome again. Coming to us in the (relatively) near future are This Means War, a spy vs. spy movie featuring Reese Witherspoon that looks Just Awesome; American Reunion, a sequel to the American Pie movies (I know!!!! They made a sequel!!! Featuring what looks like the WHOLE original cast!!! I will gladly admit that the American Pie movies got progressively worse as they went along, but...if you can't tell from the number of exclamation points, I'm excited about this), and Rock of Ages. Now, I don't know much about Rock of Ages, but apparently it was a Broadway musical, and from the looks of the preview, the concept is that a bunch of actors that I kind of like sing all of my favorite songs from the 80s. In other words, other than Hunger Games, it may very well be the coolest thing I see in 2012. I'm serious.
3)Okay, so Young Adult. In a nutshell, this is a movie where Charlize Theron's character, Mavis, does a bunch of things that made me mentally chastise her multiple times during the movie: "You're being so inappropriate!," and, "You shouldn't drive! You're drunk! You got a cab that other time! What the heck?!," and, "Stop drinking so much! Just leave like he told you to!," and, at one point, simply, "Stop it." It's much like when Friday Night Lights was still on and I used to sit there the whole time yelling, "Stop it, Tim!," or just, "Tim Riggins!" Both Mavis and Tim are heavy drinkers, so there you go.
Anyway, the actual plot of Young Adult is that a woman who was a big deal in high school, and who thinks she's better than everyone still living in her hometown (she moved away to Minneapolis), decides to go back home to try to win back her high school boyfriend, who is married and whose wife just had a baby. This is a bad idea in the first place, but while there she keeps getting drunk and doing increasingly inappropriate stuff. She also makes friends with a guy she ignored in high school, Matt; the parts where the two of them hang out are the most enjoyable parts of the movie. The rest of the movie is fairly uncomfortable to watch, but I'll still say that I enjoyed it as a whole. Like, at first I wasn't really buying Charlize Theron as Mavis; she's a little bit too pretty to play a woman who was once the prettiest girl in a small-town high school. And she looked just wrong schlumping around in a Hello Kitty t-shirt and sweats. I started to like her more in the role as the movie went on, but I still think it would have worked better for the part if Mavis were played by someone who was only reasonably attractive but thought she was way better-looking than she actually was.
Also...I like Diablo Cody, who wrote this movie. Juno is one of my favorite movies. However, the more Diablo Cody works I see/read, the more I realize that all of her characters kind of sound the same. On the one hand, I guess that's good because it means she has a distinctive style. On the other hand, it doesn't really make sense, given how different the characters she writes actually are. The weird thing about this movie is that everything that Diablo Cody has written up until this point has suggested to me that she has a very positive view of humanity. This is one of the things I like about her, actually: that most of her characters react to the events in their lives in a much nicer/cooler way than what I would expect, given my own experiences. This movie is darker, though the thing here is that most of the people in this movie react to *Mavis* in a much nicer/cooler way than what you would expect. The sad thing is that many of them do this because they either feel sorry for her or don't care much about her one way or the other. So, yeah. Dark. I kind of walked away with the impression that we weren't really supposed to like either Mavis *or* the people from her hometown, which seemed weird, for a Diablo Cody movie. Hmm.
A random thing that occurred to me as I was watching this movie: my parents no longer live in the house I lived in when I was in high school, so I have no idea whether or not it's normal for parents to keep their child's room *exactly like she left it when she graduated and moved out*, as Mavis's parents do. It seems kind of creepy and excessive; like, obviously, I can see keeping *a bedroom* for your child, and leaving a couple of things on the wall that she would like (my parents do this for me, even in their new house), but you would think that they might need to also use that room for other things. That said, it made me giggle when Mavis dug through her old container of scrunchies, because-- hee. I had so many scrunchies.
Another random thing that occurred to me as I was watching this movie: before Mavis leaves Minneapolis, she complains to a friend (another former Mercury, Minnesota resident now living in the city) about how horrible their hometown is, leading me to believe that she is from some total backwoods hole. Then she gets to the hotel she's staying at and I'm genuinely confused, all, "Wait...is she stopping somewhere on the way to her hometown? Because this place doesn't seem that bad. Or small. They have a Chili's." The longer she is in Mercury, the more of these confused thoughts I have: "But there's a Thai restaurant! How small can this place be if they have a Thai restaurant?" And her ex-boyfriend, Buddy, asks her to meet her at a sports bar that she thinks is totally lame, and I'm all, "What? It looks like Buffalo Wild Wings. I wouldn't go there every day, but it's fun now and then." Also, her ex-boyfriend invites her to come see his wife's band play, explaining that the band members are a bunch of moms who enjoy playing together. "They're bad, huh?" Mavis asks conspiratorially. Buddy kind of just shrugs, but when we actually see them play, I think to myself, "Aw, they're not bad at all! They're a good little cover band! And they look like they're having so much fun!" I guess what this comes down to is that 1) I've lived in places a heck of a lot smaller than Mercury, Minnesota, so chill out, Mavis, and 2) I'm less of a jerk than she is.
Final random thought: at one point, Mavis comments that she is depressed, and Matt suggests that she go out and get some exercise or something. Me: "Oh, that probably would help a lot! It's weird that she never works out!"
So...yeah. I both enjoyed it and found in uncomfortable. I'd recommend it overall, though.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
And yet another episode of How I Met Your Mother that made me go "Whaaaat?"
I was really enjoying this episode until the last, oh, five seconds. I like that Marshall and Lily might move out of the city. The Ted/Barney having a baby storyline was kind of silly, but...you know...that kind of thing happens. If you are single, old, and want to have children, stuff like that crosses your mind from time to time. I liked that the storyline resolved itself quickly without anyone screaming at each other and being mean (yes, I'm thinking of Will and Grace's "let's have a baby together" storyline). I liked James telling Ted it's worth it to wait. But...Robin's pregnant? Why? I don't know if I like this one bit.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
thoughts on How I Met Your Mother: "Tick Tick Tick"
Hmm. Hmm, I say. I felt bad for Barney, but I'm not sure how I feel about this for the long-term. I can see why Robin decided to stay with Kevin. In Barney's case, I understand wanting to be with someone you feel comfortable with and who is "just as messed up as [you are]," but I think ideally you want to be with someone who you're the best version of yourself with. Right? And I feel like Barney displaying feelings for Robin again kind of came out of nowhere; like, it was clear at the beginning of the season that *she* was into *him* again, but we didn't really get much of an impression that he was even really thinking of her like that anymore. I don't know. Whatever they decide to do with the whole Barney/Robin thing, I just hope they don't drag it out too long. And I hope they give Ted a storyline again sometime soon. Also, thanks to this episode I am now thinking about how I want nachos for dinner tomorrow night.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
thoughts on How I Met Your Mother: "Disaster Averted"
So, I don't have strong feelings one way or another about whether Barney and Robin get back together. As I've mentioned before, I think they zipped through their relationship too quickly the first time around after so much build-up, so I could get behind them trying it again, though I'm not actively rooting for it to happen. That said, I gasped out loud when they kissed at the end of this episode. Good job, Show.
One thing I *have* been actively rooting for is for Barney to get to stop wearing that stupid duckie tie. So glad that's over with.
You know what's wrong with this season? Ted has no storyline. He usually is either in a relationship, or getting over a relationship, or going through something in his career. This season, nothing. And he seems to be the butt of a lot of jokes. This all needs to change.
That's all.
One thing I *have* been actively rooting for is for Barney to get to stop wearing that stupid duckie tie. So glad that's over with.
You know what's wrong with this season? Ted has no storyline. He usually is either in a relationship, or getting over a relationship, or going through something in his career. This season, nothing. And he seems to be the butt of a lot of jokes. This all needs to change.
That's all.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
thoughts on How I Met Your Mother: "Noretta"
Well. I pretty much did not enjoy that one little bit, as imagining your romantic partner as one of your parents is gross, not funny. I did like that Barney didn't let it be a dealbreaker, though, because if he and Nora broke up because of something stupid like that, that would be...well, stupid. I like Kevin, too.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
thoughts on the Footloose remake
A few of us went to see the new Footloose movie this evening, and a good time was had by all. It was a fun movie; there were literally four dance scenes that had me grinning from ear to ear (the scene where they dance in front of the burger shop or whatever it is, which is much more of a production in the remake than in the original; the scene at the country dance bar, which is also more of a production; the Willard "Let's Hear it for the Boy" scene, which is mostly the same; and the scene at the dance at the end). Thoughts like, "That looks like a lot of fun," and, "They look like they're having fun," crossed my mind more than once, which says a lot, I think, for a dance movie. Anyway, I don't want to spend a tons of time comparing it to the original, but here are a few differences that I thought were interesting:
1) Unlike in the original, Ren's uncle is not even a little bit of a jerk; he's very supportive, always has his back, and even goes so far as to stand up to Reverend Moore on his behalf. It's pretty awesome.
2) Dennis Quaid's Reverend Moore is angrier than John Lithgow's was. Like, John Lithgow just came across as genuinely concerned for the kids of Bomont (sp?); Dennis Quaid comes across as kind of controlling. This movie, moreso than the previous version, made it clear that both Reverend Moore and Ariel are reacting to their son's/brother's death in really extreme, reactionary ways. With that in mind...
3)...in the original, Ariel came across as rebellious and tough. In this movie, at one point I actually thought to myself, "I think something might be wrong with her." The weird thing is that this moment happened during a scene that was also in the original, the scene where Ariel stands in front of an oncoming train. In the original, it just seemed like, "There's crazy Ariel doing more crazy stuff." I never remember worrying that she was in any real danger, or actually had any intention of dying. In this movie, she really seemed like she might have a death wish. I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing. Like, if this makes sense, in the original, even when she was doing potentially dangerous stuff, it seemed 1) like basic normal teenage rebellion and 2) like she could take care of herself, so there was no reason to worry about it. Here, I felt like we should be worried for her. For much of the movie, I kind of missed tough Ariel from the original, but now that I think about it more, I think I liked Julianne Hough's performance. She came across more as someone putting on an act rather than someone who was genuinely tough, which I think was right given her character's history.
4) I've heard some critics say that Kenny Wormald, who played Ren, didn't have Kevin Bacon' charisma. I've gotta say, I liked him a lot. Very confident. Played Ren as having a lot of nerve. I also liked whoever played Willard (no, I don't feel like looking his name up).
5) The fight scenes seemed more violent in this movie. Like, you know that part where they go out of town to the country bar, and Willard gets in a fight with that guy who hits on Rusty? In this movie, Rusty HITS HIM WITH A BEER BOTTLE. Like, it shatters, and he crumples to the ground. Like, for a second there I was like, "OH MY GOD, IS HE DEAD?!" And when Chuck shows up at the dance with his friends and they get in a fight with Ren and Willard, I had this weird "SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET KILLED!" worry that I didn't get in the original.
6) What all of these comparisons seem to be coming down to is that the stakes felt higher here, somehow. Everything seemed like a bigger deal. Conversations felt more intense. Tensions were higher. You felt like something big could happen at any moment. Maybe that's why the dance numbers felt like so much fun-- it really did seem like a big deal for these characters to feel like celebrating. All of that is good, I think. Yeah. I liked it a lot.
Oh, and P.S.-- you know that part in the original where Ariel takes Ren to that place near the train tracks where people have written quotes and song lyrics and stuff, and proceeds to read him a horrible, horrible poem she wrote? She doesn't read him the horrible, horrible poem here. This is another Good Thing.
1) Unlike in the original, Ren's uncle is not even a little bit of a jerk; he's very supportive, always has his back, and even goes so far as to stand up to Reverend Moore on his behalf. It's pretty awesome.
2) Dennis Quaid's Reverend Moore is angrier than John Lithgow's was. Like, John Lithgow just came across as genuinely concerned for the kids of Bomont (sp?); Dennis Quaid comes across as kind of controlling. This movie, moreso than the previous version, made it clear that both Reverend Moore and Ariel are reacting to their son's/brother's death in really extreme, reactionary ways. With that in mind...
3)...in the original, Ariel came across as rebellious and tough. In this movie, at one point I actually thought to myself, "I think something might be wrong with her." The weird thing is that this moment happened during a scene that was also in the original, the scene where Ariel stands in front of an oncoming train. In the original, it just seemed like, "There's crazy Ariel doing more crazy stuff." I never remember worrying that she was in any real danger, or actually had any intention of dying. In this movie, she really seemed like she might have a death wish. I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing. Like, if this makes sense, in the original, even when she was doing potentially dangerous stuff, it seemed 1) like basic normal teenage rebellion and 2) like she could take care of herself, so there was no reason to worry about it. Here, I felt like we should be worried for her. For much of the movie, I kind of missed tough Ariel from the original, but now that I think about it more, I think I liked Julianne Hough's performance. She came across more as someone putting on an act rather than someone who was genuinely tough, which I think was right given her character's history.
4) I've heard some critics say that Kenny Wormald, who played Ren, didn't have Kevin Bacon' charisma. I've gotta say, I liked him a lot. Very confident. Played Ren as having a lot of nerve. I also liked whoever played Willard (no, I don't feel like looking his name up).
5) The fight scenes seemed more violent in this movie. Like, you know that part where they go out of town to the country bar, and Willard gets in a fight with that guy who hits on Rusty? In this movie, Rusty HITS HIM WITH A BEER BOTTLE. Like, it shatters, and he crumples to the ground. Like, for a second there I was like, "OH MY GOD, IS HE DEAD?!" And when Chuck shows up at the dance with his friends and they get in a fight with Ren and Willard, I had this weird "SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET KILLED!" worry that I didn't get in the original.
6) What all of these comparisons seem to be coming down to is that the stakes felt higher here, somehow. Everything seemed like a bigger deal. Conversations felt more intense. Tensions were higher. You felt like something big could happen at any moment. Maybe that's why the dance numbers felt like so much fun-- it really did seem like a big deal for these characters to feel like celebrating. All of that is good, I think. Yeah. I liked it a lot.
Oh, and P.S.-- you know that part in the original where Ariel takes Ren to that place near the train tracks where people have written quotes and song lyrics and stuff, and proceeds to read him a horrible, horrible poem she wrote? She doesn't read him the horrible, horrible poem here. This is another Good Thing.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
randomness/How I Met Your Mother: "Mystery vs. History"/Glee: "Asian F"
1) Who was I kidding, only filling my pasta bowl half full the second time around? What am I, trying to be dainty?
2)In the summer, I often have a glass of lemonade in the evening. In the fall, apple cider. In the winter, hot chocolate. Tonight it is definitely hot chocolate weather, and I am NOT happy about it.
3) How much did I love Kevin calling out the HIMYM gang on being codependent and incestuous? Don't get me wrong; I like this show a lot. I also get that on TV shows, they have a core cast that is on every episode; rarely does anyone go away for more than an episode or two, and rarely do any new additions to the group show up more than just occasionally. However. Lately I have felt critical/concerned about the fact that these people seem to have so few friends or interests outside of the group. I don't feel like it was always this way. Back when Marshall was in law school, he used to hang out with his classmates sometimes (I miss Big Tall Brad, by the way). They used to show Lily painting. Robin used to go to the shooting range. And they used to show one or the other of them drifting away from the group at different times: Barney and Ted had that big fight after Barney slept with Robin. Lily spent that summer in San Francisco. Robin stayed away for awhile (okay, like two episodes, but still) when she was living with Don. I feel like all of that is normal. In real groups of friends, someone gets busy with work, someone starts dating someone, and you all stay friends, but you don't hang out constantly. I guess I'm just feeling like this season so far has been more focused on just the five of them than usual. At any rate, I enjoyed Kevin calling them out.
4) I am SUPER bummed that Robin's dad is no longer played by Eric Braeden (a.k.a. Victor Newman). Seriously, what the hell?
5) I do not date as often as Ted does, which is perhaps why I didn't realize that scoping out your potential date on the internet before the first date was A Thing until recently, and it kind of weirded me out when I did find that out. Anyway, funny that that came up in this episode.
6) On to Glee. I liked the most recent episode (which I realize was on like a couple of weeks ago at this point-- sorry, slipping) a lot more than the previous one. In fact, the only thing that made me angry was when Will invited Emma's parents over even after she told him that she wasn't ready for him to meet them. Crossing a line. But what are you going to do, it's Will.
7) I really liked Mike Chang's storyline. Like, I wish we'd gotten more set-up for it, that they'd brought up before that his father was super obsessed with him getting into a good college and stuff. Even so, I really liked that we did see Mike genuinely struggle with the decision over whether to try out for the musical, and that his mom was so supportive when he told her that he wanted to pursue singing/dancing even if it meant his grades weren't perfect. I really like Mike Chang in general, actually. Glad he got some attention for once.
8) I still hate this whole "second glee club" storyline. However, I did find it realistic that Mercedes would choose to quit New Directions and join it. Mr. Schue was being a HUGE jerk to her-- like, seriously, she's literally vomiting during dance practice and he's yelling at her for being lazy? What's up with that? And that whole "we're going to double cast the lead" thing had to have been frustrating, since Mercedes CLEARLY did better in the audition; it's just that no one ever wants to tell Rachel no. I'm often a Rachel apologist, but I do get frustrated with how she thinks she has to win EVERYTHING. And running for student council president against Kurt was a crappy thing to do.
9) Guess that's it! Yaay!
2)In the summer, I often have a glass of lemonade in the evening. In the fall, apple cider. In the winter, hot chocolate. Tonight it is definitely hot chocolate weather, and I am NOT happy about it.
3) How much did I love Kevin calling out the HIMYM gang on being codependent and incestuous? Don't get me wrong; I like this show a lot. I also get that on TV shows, they have a core cast that is on every episode; rarely does anyone go away for more than an episode or two, and rarely do any new additions to the group show up more than just occasionally. However. Lately I have felt critical/concerned about the fact that these people seem to have so few friends or interests outside of the group. I don't feel like it was always this way. Back when Marshall was in law school, he used to hang out with his classmates sometimes (I miss Big Tall Brad, by the way). They used to show Lily painting. Robin used to go to the shooting range. And they used to show one or the other of them drifting away from the group at different times: Barney and Ted had that big fight after Barney slept with Robin. Lily spent that summer in San Francisco. Robin stayed away for awhile (okay, like two episodes, but still) when she was living with Don. I feel like all of that is normal. In real groups of friends, someone gets busy with work, someone starts dating someone, and you all stay friends, but you don't hang out constantly. I guess I'm just feeling like this season so far has been more focused on just the five of them than usual. At any rate, I enjoyed Kevin calling them out.
4) I am SUPER bummed that Robin's dad is no longer played by Eric Braeden (a.k.a. Victor Newman). Seriously, what the hell?
5) I do not date as often as Ted does, which is perhaps why I didn't realize that scoping out your potential date on the internet before the first date was A Thing until recently, and it kind of weirded me out when I did find that out. Anyway, funny that that came up in this episode.
6) On to Glee. I liked the most recent episode (which I realize was on like a couple of weeks ago at this point-- sorry, slipping) a lot more than the previous one. In fact, the only thing that made me angry was when Will invited Emma's parents over even after she told him that she wasn't ready for him to meet them. Crossing a line. But what are you going to do, it's Will.
7) I really liked Mike Chang's storyline. Like, I wish we'd gotten more set-up for it, that they'd brought up before that his father was super obsessed with him getting into a good college and stuff. Even so, I really liked that we did see Mike genuinely struggle with the decision over whether to try out for the musical, and that his mom was so supportive when he told her that he wanted to pursue singing/dancing even if it meant his grades weren't perfect. I really like Mike Chang in general, actually. Glad he got some attention for once.
8) I still hate this whole "second glee club" storyline. However, I did find it realistic that Mercedes would choose to quit New Directions and join it. Mr. Schue was being a HUGE jerk to her-- like, seriously, she's literally vomiting during dance practice and he's yelling at her for being lazy? What's up with that? And that whole "we're going to double cast the lead" thing had to have been frustrating, since Mercedes CLEARLY did better in the audition; it's just that no one ever wants to tell Rachel no. I'm often a Rachel apologist, but I do get frustrated with how she thinks she has to win EVERYTHING. And running for student council president against Kurt was a crappy thing to do.
9) Guess that's it! Yaay!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
thoughts on How I Met Your Mother: "Field Trip"
Okay, so I didn't think this episode was awesome, or anything, but I did like 1) Kal Penn 2) Barney's extensive slides on Ewoks, and how he knew random stuff about the kids in Ted's class 3) the extensive polling of the kids in Ted's class and ESPECIALLY 4) when Martin Short told Marshall he was going to hunker down in a bunker with a bunch of canned goods and all five seasons of Friday Night Lights, and Marshall was all, "First of all, skip Season Two." HA! That season was so jacked up. Friday Night Lights fans, remember when Tim Riggins wanted to move out of his brother's house and Mindy was all, "I know a guy who will probably let you crash on his laundry room floor if you help him take care of his ferrets"? And Tim Riggins SAID YES, and wound up accidentally stumbling into the dude's meth lab, and then wound up spontaneously stealing $3,000 from under the dude's coffee table? And then he just showed up at Lyla's church in the middle of a service all, "Hey, I need to borrow $3,000 so some meth dealers don't kill me," and she was just like, "If I give it to you, will you never talk to me again?" And remember when Tim and Lyla had to go down to Mexico to try to talk Jason Street out of getting experimental surgery, and they almost had a threesome but didn't? And remember how Matt Saracen lost his virginity to his grandma's nurse? Yeah. Not Friday Night Lights's finest hour, but pretty darn entertaining.
Yeah, so that was a long tangent. Anyway, this episode of How I Met Your Mother also had a "What?!" moment, which is when Bob Saget very seriously says something that makes me go, "What?!" Marshall: "We're going to save the environment!" Bob Saget: "And kids, as you know...THEY DID." Me: "WHAT?!"
Anyway. Like I said, not a classic, or anything, but pretty fun.
Yeah, so that was a long tangent. Anyway, this episode of How I Met Your Mother also had a "What?!" moment, which is when Bob Saget very seriously says something that makes me go, "What?!" Marshall: "We're going to save the environment!" Bob Saget: "And kids, as you know...THEY DID." Me: "WHAT?!"
Anyway. Like I said, not a classic, or anything, but pretty fun.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
thoughts on Glee: I Am Unicorn
1) I'm very behind on Glee, you guys. I'm never home on Tuesday nights, I don't have a DVR, and Fox doesn't put up new episodes for eight days. So...yeah. Just seeing "I Am Unicorn" now.
2) I hated this episode a lot. Why does Shelby keep saying that she "gave Rachel up"? She was an egg donor and surrogate mother, right? She was paid to have a baby for Rachel's dads? So...why does she have all this regret over "not being there for her"? And why THE HECK does Quinn think she can get custody of Beth? She WILLINGLY gave her up for adoption! And why does everyone act like if Beth doesn't have contact with her biological parents she is going to have a horrible, horrible life? All of that stuff was OFFENSIVE. I would think that you could demonstrate that Quinn and Shelby have mixed feelings about not raising their biological children without making it seem like they *did something wrong.* Unfortunately, they don't seem to be going that route.
3) I hate this Sugar Mata character, and I hate this whole "second glee club" business. How are they going to find kids for a second glee club when they can barely find enough kids for one?
4) I did like it a lot when Mr. Schue told off Quinn for acting like the glee club was the source of all of her problems. I wish he would have made her apologize before letting her join again.
5) I also liked Blaine's song. Not so much Kurt's or Rachel's. And I know this season they're trying to go back to shows that are about the stories, as opposed to the songs, but come on. Only three songs in an hourlong show about a glee club? Also, I was mad at the way Kurt reacted when it became clear at the end that Blaine was going to try out for Tony. I thought that whole thing with the unicorn posters was supposed to mean that he was comfortable with who he was, and with the fact that there are some parts (including Tony) that he probably isn't right for. If not, what was the point of Burt's little speech?
6) I like that Emma's hair is more natural-looking this season. She also wore a very cute black and white outfit at the beginning that I would like to have.
I think that's it. The season premiere won me over, but this one almost lost me again.
2) I hated this episode a lot. Why does Shelby keep saying that she "gave Rachel up"? She was an egg donor and surrogate mother, right? She was paid to have a baby for Rachel's dads? So...why does she have all this regret over "not being there for her"? And why THE HECK does Quinn think she can get custody of Beth? She WILLINGLY gave her up for adoption! And why does everyone act like if Beth doesn't have contact with her biological parents she is going to have a horrible, horrible life? All of that stuff was OFFENSIVE. I would think that you could demonstrate that Quinn and Shelby have mixed feelings about not raising their biological children without making it seem like they *did something wrong.* Unfortunately, they don't seem to be going that route.
3) I hate this Sugar Mata character, and I hate this whole "second glee club" business. How are they going to find kids for a second glee club when they can barely find enough kids for one?
4) I did like it a lot when Mr. Schue told off Quinn for acting like the glee club was the source of all of her problems. I wish he would have made her apologize before letting her join again.
5) I also liked Blaine's song. Not so much Kurt's or Rachel's. And I know this season they're trying to go back to shows that are about the stories, as opposed to the songs, but come on. Only three songs in an hourlong show about a glee club? Also, I was mad at the way Kurt reacted when it became clear at the end that Blaine was going to try out for Tony. I thought that whole thing with the unicorn posters was supposed to mean that he was comfortable with who he was, and with the fact that there are some parts (including Tony) that he probably isn't right for. If not, what was the point of Burt's little speech?
6) I like that Emma's hair is more natural-looking this season. She also wore a very cute black and white outfit at the beginning that I would like to have.
I think that's it. The season premiere won me over, but this one almost lost me again.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Oh, Glee, you have hooked me again!
Oh, jeez. I wasn't even that excited about Glee this year. You all know I love it, and everything. You also all know that there is stuff about it that bugs me: how everyone still treats the glee kids like they're losers even though they're clearly awesome; how Sue and Will are apparently never, ever going to stop doing battle...basically, how we're supposed to believe that nothing ever changes, even though stuff in the characters' lives/circumstances clearly does change, and has changed. And I haven't been home the last two Tuesdays, and Fox took its time putting the new episodes up online, and I didn't even really miss it.
And then...I watched the season premiere, "The Purple Piano Project." And I spent the first like half hour annoyed because of the same stuff that always annoys me: Kids are still throwing stuff at the glee kids. Everyone's still acting like them not placing at nationals means that they totally suck, even though they've only been a glee club for a little over two years. Emma's still a virgin even though she's been in three serious relationships in the two years this show has been on, including one engagement and one actual marriage. More of no one being allowed to move forward or actually work through their issues, basically. Throw in that girl with the "self-diagnosed Asperger's," and I was ready to throw in the towel. Except...
...damn if it didn't turn itself around and get good again. Blaine joining New Directions?! Kurt and Rachel meeting a bunch of musical theatre kids who are just like them, only better?! And then-- THEN!-- they sing "You Can't Stop the Beat" from Hairspray, all decked out in my favorite color, purple, with Finn pounding away on the drums and Mike Chang dancing around like the pro that he is? You win, Glee. You win.
Oh. And the laugh-out loud moment of the night:
Rachel: "I've found the perfect musical for us: West Side Story!"
Brittany: "Is that the one with the cats?"
HA!
And then...I watched the season premiere, "The Purple Piano Project." And I spent the first like half hour annoyed because of the same stuff that always annoys me: Kids are still throwing stuff at the glee kids. Everyone's still acting like them not placing at nationals means that they totally suck, even though they've only been a glee club for a little over two years. Emma's still a virgin even though she's been in three serious relationships in the two years this show has been on, including one engagement and one actual marriage. More of no one being allowed to move forward or actually work through their issues, basically. Throw in that girl with the "self-diagnosed Asperger's," and I was ready to throw in the towel. Except...
...damn if it didn't turn itself around and get good again. Blaine joining New Directions?! Kurt and Rachel meeting a bunch of musical theatre kids who are just like them, only better?! And then-- THEN!-- they sing "You Can't Stop the Beat" from Hairspray, all decked out in my favorite color, purple, with Finn pounding away on the drums and Mike Chang dancing around like the pro that he is? You win, Glee. You win.
Oh. And the laugh-out loud moment of the night:
Rachel: "I've found the perfect musical for us: West Side Story!"
Brittany: "Is that the one with the cats?"
HA!
Saturday, September 3, 2011
thoughts on Our Idiot Brother, plus some randomness about the Fresh Market
1) Randomness first (obviously, feel free to skip this paragraph if you just want the movie review): I used to be a firm believer in one-stop shopping. On Saturday mornings I would take my grocery list and go to Schnucks, if I only needed groceries, or Wal-Mart, if I needed other random stuff like cleaning supplies, toothpaste, etc. Then the Fresh Market entered the mix. I went on the day it opened and liked it, but assumed I would only go there when I wanted some fancy prepared food or needed an ingredient that I couldn't get at either of the aforementioned places. Except...I stopped drinking soda, and they have a ridiculously awesome variety of low- or no-calorie non-soda beverages, like iced teas and flavored waters and coconut water and whatnot. And I often like to have a muffin or piece of banana bread for breakfast but don't often make time to bake such things for myself; the Fresh Market also has a nice variety of such things. So all of a sudden, I'm going there pretty much every week, and one-stop shopping has pretty much gone out the window. Today, I went to Schnucks, the Fresh Market, AND Target. Craziness!
2) Well, folks, we are entering that post-summer, pre-Christmas time of the moviegoing year when...well, they still make good movies. But unlike in the summer or around the holidays, there's usually only one or two movies a month that I want to see, as opposed to zillions. Since I like to see a movie almost every week, this means that I wind up going to stuff that I only kind of want to see. Our Idiot Brother fell into this category. I kind of wanted to see it because it had a good cast (Paul Rudd, Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks, Rashida Jones, etc.). I kind of didn't because I thought that it would probably feature Paul Rudd doing a lot of stupid, embarrassing stuff and Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks, and Emily Mortimer (who play his sisters) being really mean to him about it. Didn't sound like fun to me. But Roger Ebert said in his review what a "nice" movie this was, and I believed him, so I went.
It was way better than I expected, everyone. Paul Rudd does a couple of really stupid things, but mostly it's just that he's so nice that people open up to him and tell him more than they should, and then he winds up accidentally spilling their secrets at inappropriate times. And his sisters get somewhat understandably mad at him for this (though, really, after a lifetime of being what appears to be a fairly close-knit family, you would think they would be used to it, and would maybe keep their secrets to themselves), but, for the most part, generally seem to like him, though they (also understandably) don't necessarily want him crashing with them indefinitely.
It also helps that all three sisters are interesting people, if not necessarily what I would call "cool." Miranda (Elizabeth Banks) is a career woman who may or may not be in love with her best friend Jeremy (Adam Scott). (She also has a horrible haircut, but that's neither here nor there). Natalie (Zooey Deschanel) lives with her girlfriend, Cindy (Rashida Jones), but when a guy asks Ned (Paul Rudd) if she's only into girls, Ned explains that she's pretty much into everyone: men, women, fat, thin ("She even slept with our cousin once!" he exclaims, making me laugh out loud). She also dresses great, as most of Zooey Deschanel's characters tend to do. And I love the name Natalie, just FYI. Liz (Emily Mortimer) has two young children and is married to a character played by Steve Coogan, Dylan, who is a jerk but also Just Hilarious. Like, at one point all he does is turn and run into his son's bookshelf on his way out the door, and I lauged for like a full minute. Ned briefly helps him with the documentary he is making about a ballet dancer, and there's this really randomly funny moment where Ned enthusiastically encourages the dancer to show Dylan how high she can lift her leg, which she does. "I can only lift mine to here," Ned explains, propping his up on the dance studio's barre. "I know," Dylan says. "You just did that five seconds ago." Ned: "Oh, yeah, I didn't know if you saw." Dylan: "Well, you did it five seconds ago, and I've been standing here for like thirty, so..." This conversation continues in that vein for an uncomfortably long time, and it is hilarious.
This type of moment speaks to the chemistry of the cast, I think. Ned is the type of person who makes friends with everyone he meets, and Paul Rudd is great in this role-- he has great chemistry with pretty much everyone else in the cast, especially, I think, Rashida Jones, whose character, Cindy, goes with him to try to rescue his dog, Willie Nelson, from his ex-girlfriend. Banks, Deschanel, and Mortimer are also very believable as sisters. I especially enjoyed a scene where the three of them sit around a kitchen table, talking; Miranda and Natalie are trying to convince Liz to accept a piece of bad news, only Natalie also has a secret that is making her take offense to a bunch of comments that aren't even directed at her, and the three of them keep finishing each other's sentences and talking over each other. It's incredibly natural and well-done. There is a similar scene where the three of them gang up on Ned while they play Charades; this one is less enjoyable because they're all pretty mean to Ned, but is very recognizable-- everyone's probably had a moment like that with their siblings or cousins or whatever, where everyone's giving one person a hard time and it just goes too far.
Another laugh-out-loud funny moment: Ned is on an elevator with a woman that he's had a few good conversations with, and he asks her if she'd like to go out with him sometime. "Not really!" she says cheerfully. "Thanks for asking, though!" And he kind of does a double take, because people don't usually do that, they usually make up an excuse, or something, but then he just sort of shrugs and smiles. Meanwhile, I'm sitting there giggling and thinking that I'm going to have to try that sometime, because I also don't really believe in making excuses but feel obligated to, sometimes. Anyway, I thought that was great.
Another piece of randomness: Are big glasses with big frames coming back? Because two characters wear them in this movie, one in an "ironic hipster" kind of way, the other sincerely. All I have to say is, if they are, sign me up.
I won't give away the ending, but I will say that it comes too quickly and is a little too improbably happy. I especially didn't buy where Natalie ends up. As a whole, though, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. I'd recommend it.
2) Well, folks, we are entering that post-summer, pre-Christmas time of the moviegoing year when...well, they still make good movies. But unlike in the summer or around the holidays, there's usually only one or two movies a month that I want to see, as opposed to zillions. Since I like to see a movie almost every week, this means that I wind up going to stuff that I only kind of want to see. Our Idiot Brother fell into this category. I kind of wanted to see it because it had a good cast (Paul Rudd, Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks, Rashida Jones, etc.). I kind of didn't because I thought that it would probably feature Paul Rudd doing a lot of stupid, embarrassing stuff and Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks, and Emily Mortimer (who play his sisters) being really mean to him about it. Didn't sound like fun to me. But Roger Ebert said in his review what a "nice" movie this was, and I believed him, so I went.
It was way better than I expected, everyone. Paul Rudd does a couple of really stupid things, but mostly it's just that he's so nice that people open up to him and tell him more than they should, and then he winds up accidentally spilling their secrets at inappropriate times. And his sisters get somewhat understandably mad at him for this (though, really, after a lifetime of being what appears to be a fairly close-knit family, you would think they would be used to it, and would maybe keep their secrets to themselves), but, for the most part, generally seem to like him, though they (also understandably) don't necessarily want him crashing with them indefinitely.
It also helps that all three sisters are interesting people, if not necessarily what I would call "cool." Miranda (Elizabeth Banks) is a career woman who may or may not be in love with her best friend Jeremy (Adam Scott). (She also has a horrible haircut, but that's neither here nor there). Natalie (Zooey Deschanel) lives with her girlfriend, Cindy (Rashida Jones), but when a guy asks Ned (Paul Rudd) if she's only into girls, Ned explains that she's pretty much into everyone: men, women, fat, thin ("She even slept with our cousin once!" he exclaims, making me laugh out loud). She also dresses great, as most of Zooey Deschanel's characters tend to do. And I love the name Natalie, just FYI. Liz (Emily Mortimer) has two young children and is married to a character played by Steve Coogan, Dylan, who is a jerk but also Just Hilarious. Like, at one point all he does is turn and run into his son's bookshelf on his way out the door, and I lauged for like a full minute. Ned briefly helps him with the documentary he is making about a ballet dancer, and there's this really randomly funny moment where Ned enthusiastically encourages the dancer to show Dylan how high she can lift her leg, which she does. "I can only lift mine to here," Ned explains, propping his up on the dance studio's barre. "I know," Dylan says. "You just did that five seconds ago." Ned: "Oh, yeah, I didn't know if you saw." Dylan: "Well, you did it five seconds ago, and I've been standing here for like thirty, so..." This conversation continues in that vein for an uncomfortably long time, and it is hilarious.
This type of moment speaks to the chemistry of the cast, I think. Ned is the type of person who makes friends with everyone he meets, and Paul Rudd is great in this role-- he has great chemistry with pretty much everyone else in the cast, especially, I think, Rashida Jones, whose character, Cindy, goes with him to try to rescue his dog, Willie Nelson, from his ex-girlfriend. Banks, Deschanel, and Mortimer are also very believable as sisters. I especially enjoyed a scene where the three of them sit around a kitchen table, talking; Miranda and Natalie are trying to convince Liz to accept a piece of bad news, only Natalie also has a secret that is making her take offense to a bunch of comments that aren't even directed at her, and the three of them keep finishing each other's sentences and talking over each other. It's incredibly natural and well-done. There is a similar scene where the three of them gang up on Ned while they play Charades; this one is less enjoyable because they're all pretty mean to Ned, but is very recognizable-- everyone's probably had a moment like that with their siblings or cousins or whatever, where everyone's giving one person a hard time and it just goes too far.
Another laugh-out-loud funny moment: Ned is on an elevator with a woman that he's had a few good conversations with, and he asks her if she'd like to go out with him sometime. "Not really!" she says cheerfully. "Thanks for asking, though!" And he kind of does a double take, because people don't usually do that, they usually make up an excuse, or something, but then he just sort of shrugs and smiles. Meanwhile, I'm sitting there giggling and thinking that I'm going to have to try that sometime, because I also don't really believe in making excuses but feel obligated to, sometimes. Anyway, I thought that was great.
Another piece of randomness: Are big glasses with big frames coming back? Because two characters wear them in this movie, one in an "ironic hipster" kind of way, the other sincerely. All I have to say is, if they are, sign me up.
I won't give away the ending, but I will say that it comes too quickly and is a little too improbably happy. I especially didn't buy where Natalie ends up. As a whole, though, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. I'd recommend it.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
thoughts on The Help (spoilers on both the book and movie)
The main realization that both Skeeter and Aibileen come to at the end of the book The Help is that things aren't the same everywhere, and they don't have to stay the same in Jackson, either. It is fairly shocking and profound for Skeeter to realize that she can just leave Jackson-- that there are places in the world where Hilly Holbrook doesn't run the show, and she can have a completely different kind of life. It's the same type of thing when Aibileen gets fired; she has been a maid for her entire adult life and has assumed she would be forever, but now that's all over, and she's going to have to do something else, and that might be okay. I sort of wish, both in the book and the movie, that we would have gotten a similar revelation from Hilly, or at least more of a sense that she realized that things were changing, and it was beyond her control. I feel like, even though she somewhat got her comeuppance (moreso in the movie than in the book), and was perhaps knocked down a peg or two, she still was under the impression that she was mostly in control of things.
I'm also not sure how to feel about the fact that more people don't stand up to Hilly. Skeeter does; Minny does; both Hilly's mother and Skeeter's mother do (again, moreso in the movie than in the book). I guess this is not so much a problem with the story as me just trying to determine whether or not this is actually the way the world works. I guess my thing is that I am far from the most confrontational person in the world, but I will certainly say something if someone *right in front of me* is doing or saying something that is clearly very wrong. I think the book and the movie both would say that this is rare; in the movie, Skeeter's mother, Charlotte, tells Skeeter how brave she is, and that she hadn't had the strength to be that brave. If this actually is as rare as the movie suggests, then that bothers me quite a bit. I guess my frustration, here, is wanting many of the characters to be better, or to rise more to the occasions presented to them; I was disappointed in Stuart, for example, when he reacted so badly when Skeeter told him what she had written. I was disappointed in Elizabeth for firing Aibileen basically just because Hilly told her to. On the one hand, I feel like I wanted a happier ending than what maybe would have been realistic; on the other hand, I don't feel like it's that unrealistic to want people to do the right thing. Hmm.
I guess it's a good sign, though, that I'm responding more to the ideas presented in the book/movie than to the book/movie itself. Because honestly, I enjoyed both the book and movie quite a bit; I thought the performances from pretty much all of the actresses in the movie were incredibly impressive, and I thought they did a good job adapting the book into the movie. I didn't have a problem with much of what they cut or changed, though I do wish they would have done more to establish (in the movie) that Hilly, Elizabeth, and Skeeter were incredibly tight lifelong friends prior to the events in the story; in the book, Hilly and Elizabeth *genuinely are* happy for Skeeter when she gets the job at the newspaper, and Hilly *really is* trying to do something nice for Skeeter by setting her up with Stuart. I feel like since they didn't make it clear how close they all were, it also wasn't all that clear what was at stake for Skeeter; she's just losing some friends who were jerks in the first place, so good riddance.
So, bottom line: liked the book, liked the movie possibly even more than the book. Was disappointed with aspects of the story in both, but only because I wanted/expected more from the characters.
I'm also not sure how to feel about the fact that more people don't stand up to Hilly. Skeeter does; Minny does; both Hilly's mother and Skeeter's mother do (again, moreso in the movie than in the book). I guess this is not so much a problem with the story as me just trying to determine whether or not this is actually the way the world works. I guess my thing is that I am far from the most confrontational person in the world, but I will certainly say something if someone *right in front of me* is doing or saying something that is clearly very wrong. I think the book and the movie both would say that this is rare; in the movie, Skeeter's mother, Charlotte, tells Skeeter how brave she is, and that she hadn't had the strength to be that brave. If this actually is as rare as the movie suggests, then that bothers me quite a bit. I guess my frustration, here, is wanting many of the characters to be better, or to rise more to the occasions presented to them; I was disappointed in Stuart, for example, when he reacted so badly when Skeeter told him what she had written. I was disappointed in Elizabeth for firing Aibileen basically just because Hilly told her to. On the one hand, I feel like I wanted a happier ending than what maybe would have been realistic; on the other hand, I don't feel like it's that unrealistic to want people to do the right thing. Hmm.
I guess it's a good sign, though, that I'm responding more to the ideas presented in the book/movie than to the book/movie itself. Because honestly, I enjoyed both the book and movie quite a bit; I thought the performances from pretty much all of the actresses in the movie were incredibly impressive, and I thought they did a good job adapting the book into the movie. I didn't have a problem with much of what they cut or changed, though I do wish they would have done more to establish (in the movie) that Hilly, Elizabeth, and Skeeter were incredibly tight lifelong friends prior to the events in the story; in the book, Hilly and Elizabeth *genuinely are* happy for Skeeter when she gets the job at the newspaper, and Hilly *really is* trying to do something nice for Skeeter by setting her up with Stuart. I feel like since they didn't make it clear how close they all were, it also wasn't all that clear what was at stake for Skeeter; she's just losing some friends who were jerks in the first place, so good riddance.
So, bottom line: liked the book, liked the movie possibly even more than the book. Was disappointed with aspects of the story in both, but only because I wanted/expected more from the characters.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
thoughts on Rise of the Planet of the Apes (some spoilers)
First, of course, previews: For those curious, I still grin from ear to ear every time I see Michael Vartan, a.k.a. Agent Vaughn from Alias. And he's going to be in a movie! Colombiana, with Zoe Saldana! Yaay! Other memorable previews: Contagion, starring Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow, which I will not be seeing on the grounds that it looks scary; and Real Steel, starring Hugh Jackman, which I inexplicably want to see even though it involves a bunch of robots fighting each other.
Okay, so I thought Rise of the Planet of the Apes was pretty awesome, in spite of the fact that most of the human characters in this movie are either stupid, mean, or a dangerous combination of both. Like, even one of the nicest and smartest among them (James Franco's character, Will), does some pretty dumb crap in this movie, including (but not limited to) testing the new, unapproved Alzheimer's medication he has developed ON HIS OWN FATHER and letting a chimpanzee live with him, in his house, for several years and not getting, until the chimpanzee LITERALLY LEARNS TO TALK AND CAN SPELL IT OUT FOR HIM, that wild animals belong in the wild. Also-- check this out. The company that Will is developing the medication for shuts down the project, which is what leads Will to start testing it on his own father. He eventually tells his boss what he has done, and that while his father eventually stopped responding to the drug and started getting worse very quickly, he has modified the drug and thinks he can make it work. His boss's response? Something along the lines of, "Awesome! Let's get some more apes in here and start testing it, then!" WHAT?! Like, shouldn't Will face some repercussions, legal or otherwise, for giving someone unapproved, illegal drugs? And even if his boss doesn't have a problem with the unsanctioned experiments, shouldn't he at least want to see some data about how this stuff works instead of just taking Will's word for it?
In other words, much of what happens in this movie is completely ridiculous. And yet...I had a good time. It was extremely fast-paced; this movie takes place over the course of several years, and a lot happens, yet it never feels rushed-- there's just never a dull moment. The apes themselves (particularly Caesar, the ape that Will takes home) are pretty sympathetic characters; most of the humans in this movie are, as previously noted, so dumb and/or mean that you kind of want the apes to "win" the movie.
Actually, the theme that keeps coming up over and over throughout this movie is simply that you can't control nature, and you're dumb if you try. This is illustrated in multiple ways throughout the movie, but most clearly and effectively near the end of the movie, when the apes have all gotten incredibly smart from Will's drug and are running wild through the streets of San Francisco; everyone seems to think they can just rein them in like you would a large, violent stampede of humans, while I'm sitting there thinking, "JUST LET THEM GET TO THE REDWOOD FOREST, LET THEM HAVE IT, AND HOPE FOR THE BEST!" Because of what is revealed in the closing credits (which I won't give away, but trust me, just stay in your seat after you think the movie has ended), and because there will almost certainly be a sequel to this movie, we know that the best will likely not happen; however, it's fairly clear that there comes a point when you just need to let things be.
So, bottom line: in spite of the ridiculousness of much of this movie, the filmmakers create a scenario that, if real, actually would be legitimately terrifying. I liked it.
Okay, so I thought Rise of the Planet of the Apes was pretty awesome, in spite of the fact that most of the human characters in this movie are either stupid, mean, or a dangerous combination of both. Like, even one of the nicest and smartest among them (James Franco's character, Will), does some pretty dumb crap in this movie, including (but not limited to) testing the new, unapproved Alzheimer's medication he has developed ON HIS OWN FATHER and letting a chimpanzee live with him, in his house, for several years and not getting, until the chimpanzee LITERALLY LEARNS TO TALK AND CAN SPELL IT OUT FOR HIM, that wild animals belong in the wild. Also-- check this out. The company that Will is developing the medication for shuts down the project, which is what leads Will to start testing it on his own father. He eventually tells his boss what he has done, and that while his father eventually stopped responding to the drug and started getting worse very quickly, he has modified the drug and thinks he can make it work. His boss's response? Something along the lines of, "Awesome! Let's get some more apes in here and start testing it, then!" WHAT?! Like, shouldn't Will face some repercussions, legal or otherwise, for giving someone unapproved, illegal drugs? And even if his boss doesn't have a problem with the unsanctioned experiments, shouldn't he at least want to see some data about how this stuff works instead of just taking Will's word for it?
In other words, much of what happens in this movie is completely ridiculous. And yet...I had a good time. It was extremely fast-paced; this movie takes place over the course of several years, and a lot happens, yet it never feels rushed-- there's just never a dull moment. The apes themselves (particularly Caesar, the ape that Will takes home) are pretty sympathetic characters; most of the humans in this movie are, as previously noted, so dumb and/or mean that you kind of want the apes to "win" the movie.
Actually, the theme that keeps coming up over and over throughout this movie is simply that you can't control nature, and you're dumb if you try. This is illustrated in multiple ways throughout the movie, but most clearly and effectively near the end of the movie, when the apes have all gotten incredibly smart from Will's drug and are running wild through the streets of San Francisco; everyone seems to think they can just rein them in like you would a large, violent stampede of humans, while I'm sitting there thinking, "JUST LET THEM GET TO THE REDWOOD FOREST, LET THEM HAVE IT, AND HOPE FOR THE BEST!" Because of what is revealed in the closing credits (which I won't give away, but trust me, just stay in your seat after you think the movie has ended), and because there will almost certainly be a sequel to this movie, we know that the best will likely not happen; however, it's fairly clear that there comes a point when you just need to let things be.
So, bottom line: in spite of the ridiculousness of much of this movie, the filmmakers create a scenario that, if real, actually would be legitimately terrifying. I liked it.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
thoughts on Crazy, Stupid, Love (some spoilers)
I'm going to begin by telling you about my favorite scene in Crazy, Stupid, Love, which is not just my favorite scene in *this* movie, but my favorite movie scene in recent memory. Early in the movie, Ryan Gosling's character, Jacob, hits on Emma Stone's character, Hannah, in a bar in a very obvious, smarmy way; she blows him off (although a RIDICULOUS number of women sleep with him over the course of the movie, while I sit there all, "Really? Women do that? Sleep with a guy they don't even know? I know he's good-looking, but..."). Later in the movie, however, she has a horrible night and storms into the bar where she met him, finds him, and goes over and just starts kissing him, all, "Take me home." Once she gets to his house, though, she gets nervous, and she asks him how this usually goes-- what's his best move? After some hedging, he admits that he usually tries to bring the conversation around to the movie Dirty Dancing. When she expresses skepticism, he explains that he can do the lift from Dirty Dancing; he tells women that, then puts on "Time of My Life," and does it: "They usually want to sleep with me after that." So then, of course, he puts on the song, and he really does lift her over his head, and then they wind up talking all night, and if they do sleep together (which I think they probably don't, that night), it happens offscreen, and it's just unbelievably charming. In that scene, they start to fall in love, and the movie really sells itself to me, even though this actually happens pretty far in.
It is scenes like this that made me love this movie, even though it includes a lot of things that I normally hate, or rather, one thing that I normally hate a bunch of times. You see, I can't stand to watch people be embarrassed in movies; it makes me literally, physically uncomfortable. It's why I didn't like Meet the Parents and didn't want to see any of the sequels. And people in this movie are embarrassed A LOT. EVERY potentially embarrassing or somewhat wrong thing characters in this movie do comes back to haunt them, if they're not caught doing that thing on the spot. Characters make long, personal, impromptu speeches in front of large groups of people. They get into loud, painful arguments with multiple people watching. They run into failed one-night stands at the worst possible time and place. Parents find the embarrassing stuff their kids are hiding in dresser drawers and draw the worst possible conclusions. Pretty much every character in this movie is badly embarrassed at at least one point, and badly hurt at another. And yet...I think the reason I normally hate watching characters be embarrassed in movies is that we're supposed to laugh at them, and I don't find it funny. But here, we're not supposed to laugh, at all; we're supposed to feel for these characters, and the acting is good enough, and the characters are likable enough, that we do.
And the title is pretty much perfect. Love does make you do crazy, stupid things, and the characters do a lot of those things in this movie. But, the movie seems to argue, even when it doesn't work out, and even when it's hard, it's worth it, and you need to fight for it.
This movie also includes a twist that I absolutely did not see coming, but that totally worked. I won't ruin it for you here, but...it was awesome.
So...good movie! This summer has (so far) been pretty solid, movie-wise. Still looking forward to seeing The Help, and still will also probably see Cowboys and Aliens, The Smurfs, and Captain America.
It is scenes like this that made me love this movie, even though it includes a lot of things that I normally hate, or rather, one thing that I normally hate a bunch of times. You see, I can't stand to watch people be embarrassed in movies; it makes me literally, physically uncomfortable. It's why I didn't like Meet the Parents and didn't want to see any of the sequels. And people in this movie are embarrassed A LOT. EVERY potentially embarrassing or somewhat wrong thing characters in this movie do comes back to haunt them, if they're not caught doing that thing on the spot. Characters make long, personal, impromptu speeches in front of large groups of people. They get into loud, painful arguments with multiple people watching. They run into failed one-night stands at the worst possible time and place. Parents find the embarrassing stuff their kids are hiding in dresser drawers and draw the worst possible conclusions. Pretty much every character in this movie is badly embarrassed at at least one point, and badly hurt at another. And yet...I think the reason I normally hate watching characters be embarrassed in movies is that we're supposed to laugh at them, and I don't find it funny. But here, we're not supposed to laugh, at all; we're supposed to feel for these characters, and the acting is good enough, and the characters are likable enough, that we do.
And the title is pretty much perfect. Love does make you do crazy, stupid things, and the characters do a lot of those things in this movie. But, the movie seems to argue, even when it doesn't work out, and even when it's hard, it's worth it, and you need to fight for it.
This movie also includes a twist that I absolutely did not see coming, but that totally worked. I won't ruin it for you here, but...it was awesome.
So...good movie! This summer has (so far) been pretty solid, movie-wise. Still looking forward to seeing The Help, and still will also probably see Cowboys and Aliens, The Smurfs, and Captain America.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
thoughts on movie snacks, previews, and Friends With Benefits (some spoilers)
1) Girl working at movie concession stand: "Can I help you?"
Me: "Yes, I'd like a small popcorn and a cherry Icee, please."
Her: (Walks away to check Icee machine, then returns) "I'm sorry, the cherry Icees are still mixing. The blue raspberry and orange ones are ready, if you'd like one of those instead."
Me: "THEY MAKE ORANGE ICEES?! SINCE WHEN?! SIGN ME UP!" (Actually, I'm pretty sure I said something more along the lines of, "Okay, I'll try the orange, please." But I was DARN excited, and it was DARN delicious.)
2) Somehow, I always think that movie popcorn and an Icee will make a perfectly decent meal, only to find myself hungry like half an hour after I leave the movies and completely baffled as to why, since, after all, "I already had lunch." I think I should start eating actual lunch before the movie and forgetting the popcorn. Just thinking out loud here, people.
3) I'm sure they showed several previews at Friends with Benefits, but only two were memorable to me in any way: the preview for the remake of Footloose, and the one for that movie with Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds that may or may not be called The Switch. First of all, I know that some people aren't happy that they remade Footloose, but I gotta say, I was grinning from ear to ear by the end of that preview. It's got Dennis Quaid! And dancing! And I think also singing! I'm going to see it, in other words. Probably the weekend it comes out. Also, I'm pretty sure I've talked about the Jason Bateman/Ryan Reynolds preview before, but I'll address it, anyway: I like Jason Bateman, sort of. I like Ryan Reynolds, sort of. I like body switching movies A LOT. However, I will probably not see this movie on the grounds that it "looks gross," and I say that based on the fact that there is both farting and baby poop in the preview. Do with that what you will.
4) So. Friends with Benefits. It's directed by Will Gluck, who also directed Easy A. It is like Easy A in that it starts off really enjoyable and fun and then gets more serious as the characters have to deal with the consequences of what they did in the enjoyable/fun part and (in the case of Friends with Benefits) as we start delving more deeply into the characters' lives/problems. I found myself wishing, in the case of this movie, that it would have stayed more enjoyable/fun, and I don't feel like the shift in tone completely worked.
For example: we learn late in the movie that Dylan's (Justin Timberlake's character) father (played by Richard Jenkins, known best to me as the father from Six Feet Under) has Alzheimer's. In the context of the movie, this is supposed to be sad, and the fact that Dylan never told Jamie (Mila Kunis) about him is supposed to be evidence of how emotionally closed-off Dylan is. Later, when Dylan does learn to deal with this in a mature way (as opposed to pretending it isn't happening or trying to "fix" it), it's presented as a sign that Dylan is maturing. All of this is, I guess, necessary to the plot and to Dylan's character development. However, the Alzheimer's is also (if only to a small extent) played for laughs, which I didn't care for. For example: when we first meet Dylan's father, he has a conversation with Jamie that establishes that he gets confused about who people are, and that he doesn't remember some significant events that happened in the recent past. This conversation is shot so that you can only see the actors from the waist up. When he walks away, we see that...he isn't wearing any pants, and hasn't been throughout the whole conversation. Really? I don't doubt that this could and would actually happen; I just didn't like that the way it was revealed was meant to elicit laughter. Also, I felt like this storyline was almost more than the movie could handle. Like I said, I get that there needed to be something to show the source of Dylan's emotional/commitment issues; I just didn't like the "something" they chose.
I also don't really believe it's as simple as the movie would have us believe. Dylan tells Jamie early in the movie that he is emotionally unavailable; she tells him that she is emotionally damaged. Her emotional damage, the movie tells us, comes from the fact that she never knew her father and that not only could her mother never sustain a long-term, committed relationship, but that she was and is never there for Jamie in the way that Jamie needs her to be. The thing is, while I found myself relating fairly strongly to both Dylan and Jamie and their situation (being friends, realizing that there might be more than friendship there, but being reluctant to do anything about that realization), I just don't feel like in real life that it's so easy to point at one life event or one person and be like, "Oh, okay, THAT'S the reason they're emotionally unavailable. Once they deal with that, everything will be fine." It bugged me that the sources of their issues were so obvious.
However, in spite all of that, I did enjoy aspects of this movie quite a bit. There were some funny parts; like, at one point, when Jamie suggests that their relationship is a little "college-y," Dylan suggests that maybe he should sing some Third Eye Blind, then, only to break into..."Closing Time," by Semisonic. ("That's not a Third Eye Blind song." "I'm pretty sure that it is.") The dialogue was delivered in a very rapid-fire way, and there was some good physical comedy, as well, coming from MORE THAN ONE flash mob (which you all know I love), and from Jamie actually jumping onto a baggage carousel at one point to retrieve a lost sign. I really liked both Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis in this movie, as well as Patricia Clarkson as Jamie's flighty mother. (I did NOT, however, like Jenna Elfman as Dylan's sister, who, when Dylan and his father talk about basketball, in one scene, and baseball, in another, sits there loudly repeating, "WE GET IT. YOU'RE GUYS. YOU LIKE SPORTS," OVER AND OVER AGAIN. This is supposed to be charming and funny, I think. In reality, it is annoying.) I thought that Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis both really did a good job of capturing two people who just have way more fun with each other than with anyone else. There was also some randomly funny stuff, like how Dylan is RIDICULOUSLY bad at math (like, at one point he tries to multiply six times three and comes up with 92). Finally, I liked all of the discussions about movies and movie love; like, at one point I noticed Mila Kunis's hairstyle and thought to myself, "I wish I was better at doing hair," and then like five minutes later Jamie says how she wishes her life was a movie because "her hair would always be perfect."
So...bottom line, I had a couple of issues with it, but enjoyed it overall.
Me: "Yes, I'd like a small popcorn and a cherry Icee, please."
Her: (Walks away to check Icee machine, then returns) "I'm sorry, the cherry Icees are still mixing. The blue raspberry and orange ones are ready, if you'd like one of those instead."
Me: "THEY MAKE ORANGE ICEES?! SINCE WHEN?! SIGN ME UP!" (Actually, I'm pretty sure I said something more along the lines of, "Okay, I'll try the orange, please." But I was DARN excited, and it was DARN delicious.)
2) Somehow, I always think that movie popcorn and an Icee will make a perfectly decent meal, only to find myself hungry like half an hour after I leave the movies and completely baffled as to why, since, after all, "I already had lunch." I think I should start eating actual lunch before the movie and forgetting the popcorn. Just thinking out loud here, people.
3) I'm sure they showed several previews at Friends with Benefits, but only two were memorable to me in any way: the preview for the remake of Footloose, and the one for that movie with Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds that may or may not be called The Switch. First of all, I know that some people aren't happy that they remade Footloose, but I gotta say, I was grinning from ear to ear by the end of that preview. It's got Dennis Quaid! And dancing! And I think also singing! I'm going to see it, in other words. Probably the weekend it comes out. Also, I'm pretty sure I've talked about the Jason Bateman/Ryan Reynolds preview before, but I'll address it, anyway: I like Jason Bateman, sort of. I like Ryan Reynolds, sort of. I like body switching movies A LOT. However, I will probably not see this movie on the grounds that it "looks gross," and I say that based on the fact that there is both farting and baby poop in the preview. Do with that what you will.
4) So. Friends with Benefits. It's directed by Will Gluck, who also directed Easy A. It is like Easy A in that it starts off really enjoyable and fun and then gets more serious as the characters have to deal with the consequences of what they did in the enjoyable/fun part and (in the case of Friends with Benefits) as we start delving more deeply into the characters' lives/problems. I found myself wishing, in the case of this movie, that it would have stayed more enjoyable/fun, and I don't feel like the shift in tone completely worked.
For example: we learn late in the movie that Dylan's (Justin Timberlake's character) father (played by Richard Jenkins, known best to me as the father from Six Feet Under) has Alzheimer's. In the context of the movie, this is supposed to be sad, and the fact that Dylan never told Jamie (Mila Kunis) about him is supposed to be evidence of how emotionally closed-off Dylan is. Later, when Dylan does learn to deal with this in a mature way (as opposed to pretending it isn't happening or trying to "fix" it), it's presented as a sign that Dylan is maturing. All of this is, I guess, necessary to the plot and to Dylan's character development. However, the Alzheimer's is also (if only to a small extent) played for laughs, which I didn't care for. For example: when we first meet Dylan's father, he has a conversation with Jamie that establishes that he gets confused about who people are, and that he doesn't remember some significant events that happened in the recent past. This conversation is shot so that you can only see the actors from the waist up. When he walks away, we see that...he isn't wearing any pants, and hasn't been throughout the whole conversation. Really? I don't doubt that this could and would actually happen; I just didn't like that the way it was revealed was meant to elicit laughter. Also, I felt like this storyline was almost more than the movie could handle. Like I said, I get that there needed to be something to show the source of Dylan's emotional/commitment issues; I just didn't like the "something" they chose.
I also don't really believe it's as simple as the movie would have us believe. Dylan tells Jamie early in the movie that he is emotionally unavailable; she tells him that she is emotionally damaged. Her emotional damage, the movie tells us, comes from the fact that she never knew her father and that not only could her mother never sustain a long-term, committed relationship, but that she was and is never there for Jamie in the way that Jamie needs her to be. The thing is, while I found myself relating fairly strongly to both Dylan and Jamie and their situation (being friends, realizing that there might be more than friendship there, but being reluctant to do anything about that realization), I just don't feel like in real life that it's so easy to point at one life event or one person and be like, "Oh, okay, THAT'S the reason they're emotionally unavailable. Once they deal with that, everything will be fine." It bugged me that the sources of their issues were so obvious.
However, in spite all of that, I did enjoy aspects of this movie quite a bit. There were some funny parts; like, at one point, when Jamie suggests that their relationship is a little "college-y," Dylan suggests that maybe he should sing some Third Eye Blind, then, only to break into..."Closing Time," by Semisonic. ("That's not a Third Eye Blind song." "I'm pretty sure that it is.") The dialogue was delivered in a very rapid-fire way, and there was some good physical comedy, as well, coming from MORE THAN ONE flash mob (which you all know I love), and from Jamie actually jumping onto a baggage carousel at one point to retrieve a lost sign. I really liked both Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis in this movie, as well as Patricia Clarkson as Jamie's flighty mother. (I did NOT, however, like Jenna Elfman as Dylan's sister, who, when Dylan and his father talk about basketball, in one scene, and baseball, in another, sits there loudly repeating, "WE GET IT. YOU'RE GUYS. YOU LIKE SPORTS," OVER AND OVER AGAIN. This is supposed to be charming and funny, I think. In reality, it is annoying.) I thought that Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis both really did a good job of capturing two people who just have way more fun with each other than with anyone else. There was also some randomly funny stuff, like how Dylan is RIDICULOUSLY bad at math (like, at one point he tries to multiply six times three and comes up with 92). Finally, I liked all of the discussions about movies and movie love; like, at one point I noticed Mila Kunis's hairstyle and thought to myself, "I wish I was better at doing hair," and then like five minutes later Jamie says how she wishes her life was a movie because "her hair would always be perfect."
So...bottom line, I had a couple of issues with it, but enjoyed it overall.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
thoughts on Friday Night Lights series finale
Good Lord. I expected to tear up a little at the Friday Night Lights finale. I did not expect to full-on SOB like I did. Like, making noises, shoulders shaking. A closing montage that shows all of the characters in the future gets me every time: got me on the finale of Six Feet Under, got me on the finale of The OC (a VERY underrated show, for the record), got me here. Tami in her new Dean of Admissions position. Coach with his new team. Julie and Matt together in Chicago, with her at a new college. The Riggins boys working on Tim's house together. Just the name, "J. Street," written on the wall of the Panthers' locker room. Becky saying goodbye to Luke as he left for the Army. Jess on the sidelines at a new school. All ending with Tami walking up to Coach on his new field, wearing that same tan leather jacket she's worn since the beginning. HOW PERFECT WAS THAT?
This show has really gotten to me the past couple of episodes, probably moreso than it would under normal circumstances because of some things I've been thinking about with regard to my own life, but the thing I really took away from this was how things tend to work out for the best, even if there are times when we can't really see how that could possibly be true. I think in this episode that really hit me the most when Tim told Tyra that he would never do anything illegal again for the rest of his life. Like, I know he was resentful of his time in jail, and that at the time he felt like his life was ruined, but in a way I feel like he needed it to happen. He really only managed to be "okay" and go down a decent path during high school because he always had Jason or Lyla looking out for him, and there were hints all along at how bad things could end up for him. Like, he always got himself into bad situations. The drinking. That ridiculous business with the meth dealer. Then within his first year without Jason or Lyla, he winds up in jail, which again, seemed horrible, but I really feel like now he'll be okay on his own, for the first time (and yes: I realize that I'm talking about the character Tim Riggins like he's a real person. Obviously I know he's not. I'm just saying, I feel okay about the character's future). The finale just did a great job of making me feel like all of the characters are on the right track, which was awesome.
And good Lord, the finale worked in a lot of great moments: Matt practicing his speech to coach with Landry, and the two of them reflecting on how it wasn't so long ago that the two of them were trying to figure out how Matt was even going to talk to Julie. Coach laughing in Matt's face when Matt asked for Julie's hand in marriage, then basically completely losing it when he realized Matt was serious. And, very best of all, Coach asking Tami, "Will you take me to Pennsylvania with you, please?" I LOVE that the their marriage was never really in jeopardy, that the idea of Tami leaving him to go to Pennsylvania was never even brought up, but that Coach ultimately did the right thing, anyway.
And that was another thing that made me think about how funny life turns out: what, two months earlier, Coach thought he was turning down the college coaching position so that he could stay with the Lions, when unbeknownst to him, in the very near future there would be no Lions, and Tami would be offered a great job in Pennsylvania. I also loved Coach barging in to tell Tami about Matt asking for Julie's hand, and Tami thinking they were going to argue more about the job thing, and him just being like, "No. This is so much bigger than anything you're thinking right now." Just in the middle of the biggest fight of their marriage, something huge happens to put things in perspective. (And how much did I love Tami calling after him, "Why are you yelling at me? I agree with you!")
Also, I love that for as worked up as Coach and Tami got about the engagement, and that for all of the crap Julie has pulled that would rightfully make a parent question her judgment (most obviously, the whole sleeping-with-a-married-TA thing), it was clear that in the end they were going to let her make her own decision about marrying Matt. The older I've gotten, the more I've come to appreciate how important it is to be given the freedom to make your own decisions, so that even if those decisions turn out to be mistakes, they're your responsibility. I have been repeatedly blown away by how awesome my own parents are in that way, and I'm glad that Coach and Tami are, too.
So...it was pretty much the perfect finale. I kind of wish they would have found a way to bring Lyla back one last time, but I can see where her and Tim's storyline was really wrapped up last season, and her coming back probably would have just opened a whole new can of worms.
And, looking at the series as a whole, I think that Friday Night Lights has probably been the most consistently solid show I've ever watched. I know that that is a bold statement and that I am prone to hyperbole (as was discussed over the weekend =)), but-- like-- I loved Alias, but it definitely included some sub-par seasons and storylines that indicated a lack of planning. I really liked The West Wing, but it wasn't as good after Sorkin left. I liked Gilmore Girls, but there are chunks of that show that I flat-out refuse to rewatch. There is very little that I can find to complain about with regard to Friday Night Lights.
This show has really gotten to me the past couple of episodes, probably moreso than it would under normal circumstances because of some things I've been thinking about with regard to my own life, but the thing I really took away from this was how things tend to work out for the best, even if there are times when we can't really see how that could possibly be true. I think in this episode that really hit me the most when Tim told Tyra that he would never do anything illegal again for the rest of his life. Like, I know he was resentful of his time in jail, and that at the time he felt like his life was ruined, but in a way I feel like he needed it to happen. He really only managed to be "okay" and go down a decent path during high school because he always had Jason or Lyla looking out for him, and there were hints all along at how bad things could end up for him. Like, he always got himself into bad situations. The drinking. That ridiculous business with the meth dealer. Then within his first year without Jason or Lyla, he winds up in jail, which again, seemed horrible, but I really feel like now he'll be okay on his own, for the first time (and yes: I realize that I'm talking about the character Tim Riggins like he's a real person. Obviously I know he's not. I'm just saying, I feel okay about the character's future). The finale just did a great job of making me feel like all of the characters are on the right track, which was awesome.
And good Lord, the finale worked in a lot of great moments: Matt practicing his speech to coach with Landry, and the two of them reflecting on how it wasn't so long ago that the two of them were trying to figure out how Matt was even going to talk to Julie. Coach laughing in Matt's face when Matt asked for Julie's hand in marriage, then basically completely losing it when he realized Matt was serious. And, very best of all, Coach asking Tami, "Will you take me to Pennsylvania with you, please?" I LOVE that the their marriage was never really in jeopardy, that the idea of Tami leaving him to go to Pennsylvania was never even brought up, but that Coach ultimately did the right thing, anyway.
And that was another thing that made me think about how funny life turns out: what, two months earlier, Coach thought he was turning down the college coaching position so that he could stay with the Lions, when unbeknownst to him, in the very near future there would be no Lions, and Tami would be offered a great job in Pennsylvania. I also loved Coach barging in to tell Tami about Matt asking for Julie's hand, and Tami thinking they were going to argue more about the job thing, and him just being like, "No. This is so much bigger than anything you're thinking right now." Just in the middle of the biggest fight of their marriage, something huge happens to put things in perspective. (And how much did I love Tami calling after him, "Why are you yelling at me? I agree with you!")
Also, I love that for as worked up as Coach and Tami got about the engagement, and that for all of the crap Julie has pulled that would rightfully make a parent question her judgment (most obviously, the whole sleeping-with-a-married-TA thing), it was clear that in the end they were going to let her make her own decision about marrying Matt. The older I've gotten, the more I've come to appreciate how important it is to be given the freedom to make your own decisions, so that even if those decisions turn out to be mistakes, they're your responsibility. I have been repeatedly blown away by how awesome my own parents are in that way, and I'm glad that Coach and Tami are, too.
So...it was pretty much the perfect finale. I kind of wish they would have found a way to bring Lyla back one last time, but I can see where her and Tim's storyline was really wrapped up last season, and her coming back probably would have just opened a whole new can of worms.
And, looking at the series as a whole, I think that Friday Night Lights has probably been the most consistently solid show I've ever watched. I know that that is a bold statement and that I am prone to hyperbole (as was discussed over the weekend =)), but-- like-- I loved Alias, but it definitely included some sub-par seasons and storylines that indicated a lack of planning. I really liked The West Wing, but it wasn't as good after Sorkin left. I liked Gilmore Girls, but there are chunks of that show that I flat-out refuse to rewatch. There is very little that I can find to complain about with regard to Friday Night Lights.
Monday, July 11, 2011
thoughts on Friday Night Lights: "Don't Go," "The March," and "Texas Whatever"
Well, I watched the most recent three episodes of Friday Night Lights today in one long "It's so hot/I'm tired from my trip and kind of have a headache" clump. Since all three episodes kind of blur together, I thought it made more sense to organize this blog by character, rather than try to separate my thoughts on each individual episode. Here goes:
Tim Riggins: So. Tim Riggins returns from jail (prison?) a changed, bitter man. The whole "taking the rap for Billy" thing was so stupid, as is the way Tim seems to remember what went down. Okay, so if I remember correctly (and I believe I do), Billy was the one who got them involved in the chop shop, but Tim went along with it knowing full well that the whole thing was illegal. He had some reservations about the whole thing, but he still did it. Right? And then he decided to take the rap for the whole thing so that Billy wouldn't go to jail. Like, the way I see it, no matter whose idea it was, they were both participating in illegal activities, and probably both of them should have served some sort of time, even if it was minimal. I don't get how one of them could get away with taking full responsibility for the whole thing when obviously it would take more than one person to run an operation like that, and I don't get Tim telling Tyra that he had "nothing to do with it." Um, yeah. You did. Though the Riggins boys do some stupid, stupid stuff and obviously one or both of them was going to wind up in jail or worse at some point, that whole aspect of this storyline continues to bug me. I love this show a lot, but sometimes the logistics of the non-football, non-relationship storylines bug me, like how Tami could go from being guidance counselor to principal and back to guidance counselor and now, apparently, is qualified to be the Dean of Admissions of a college. What the heck does she have degrees in? Does that make any sort of sense? And Jason Street is apparently a successful sports agent even though he is like twenty-one and has never (as far as we know) taken a college class? This type of thing bothers me very much.
But anyway, back to Tim. I was a little suspicious when Buddy Garrity volunteered to speak on Tim's behalf at his parole hearing; like, even when he started talking, I thought he was going to mess the whole thing up. And when Buddy was going on and on about how he knew Tim well because Tim had dated his daughter "for several years" (I think it was like one, with a little fooling around before that, but whatever), I was like, "Um, really?" Seriously-- did Buddy ever really come around to liking Tim when Tim and Lyla were going out? Like, I thought he developed sort of a grudging respect for him because Tim stood his ground when Buddy was all pounding down his door trying to get Lyla to come home that one time, and I'm sure he liked that Tim helped convince Lyla to go to Vanderbilt, but I just didn't buy him going on and on about what an upstanding young man he was and all that. Like-- didn't Lyla once have to give Tim $3,000 so that a meth dealer wouldn't kill him? I'm sure Buddy didn't know the details of that, and I'm not saying that Tim's not a really nice guy, because he is. However, he is also dumb, and gets himself into ridiculous situations, and I just didn't really buy that anyone but Coach and Billy would be willing to speak on behalf of his "character" like that. Whatever, I guess.
I'm not sure what we're all supposed to think about the whole idea of Tim moving to Alaska to work on the pipeline. Like, I agree with Tyra that he should probably start speaking to his brother again, but I really don't think it would be a bad idea for him to leave Dillon behind him. It was interesting, seeing Billy's situation through Tim's eyes: his pregnant wife still stripping, Becky waiting tables at the Landing Strip, and Stevie being baby-sat by the strippers in the back room. Like, we've spent enough time with the Rigginses this season that we know that Billy and Mindy aren't bad people and that they really are doing the best they can, but that must have looked bad, especially when, as Tim pointed out, he took the rap specifically so that Billy could get his life back together.
Tyra: First of all-- when Tim told her not to go, I really hope he just meant for that night, because OBVIOUSLY she needs to go back to college in Austin. I wasn't really feeling it when the two of them started kissing, but probably only because I am still sort of attached to the Tim/Lyla relationship even though it's not really happening anymore.
I did, however, really like the thing Tyra said to Julie about how Dillon is like a drug-- how when you get outside of it, you see it for what it really is, but when you're inside of it, you think there's no other possible reality. That's so true about anywhere, really; you live somewhere and you start to feel like the things that go on there and the people that live there are just what's normal, only to move somewhere else and realize that that's not the case. Your situation/life can be totally different in one place than another, even if you mostly stay the same. But I digress...
Julie: "I finished exams early." What? She actually eventually went back to school? After Matt ran after her car, it honestly wasn't clear to me whether she stayed in Chicago with him or went back to school. I would think she missed enough classes that this semester would be pretty much a wash, but whatever.
Matt: Wow, I never even thought of Matt as my favorite character (though I always liked him), but I sure get excited when he shows up unexpectedly. And Grandma Saracen! Yaay!
Eric and Tami: Oh, Lord, how are they going to resolve this? I get her being upset that he didn't really seem to be taking her job offer seriously, and I get him wanting to stay in Dillon. I just hope they work things out in a way that makes them both happy.
I guess I'll end there. I hope Luke and Becky work things out, and I'm glad Vince's dad now seems to be out of the picture. Can't believe this Friday is the series finale.
Tim Riggins: So. Tim Riggins returns from jail (prison?) a changed, bitter man. The whole "taking the rap for Billy" thing was so stupid, as is the way Tim seems to remember what went down. Okay, so if I remember correctly (and I believe I do), Billy was the one who got them involved in the chop shop, but Tim went along with it knowing full well that the whole thing was illegal. He had some reservations about the whole thing, but he still did it. Right? And then he decided to take the rap for the whole thing so that Billy wouldn't go to jail. Like, the way I see it, no matter whose idea it was, they were both participating in illegal activities, and probably both of them should have served some sort of time, even if it was minimal. I don't get how one of them could get away with taking full responsibility for the whole thing when obviously it would take more than one person to run an operation like that, and I don't get Tim telling Tyra that he had "nothing to do with it." Um, yeah. You did. Though the Riggins boys do some stupid, stupid stuff and obviously one or both of them was going to wind up in jail or worse at some point, that whole aspect of this storyline continues to bug me. I love this show a lot, but sometimes the logistics of the non-football, non-relationship storylines bug me, like how Tami could go from being guidance counselor to principal and back to guidance counselor and now, apparently, is qualified to be the Dean of Admissions of a college. What the heck does she have degrees in? Does that make any sort of sense? And Jason Street is apparently a successful sports agent even though he is like twenty-one and has never (as far as we know) taken a college class? This type of thing bothers me very much.
But anyway, back to Tim. I was a little suspicious when Buddy Garrity volunteered to speak on Tim's behalf at his parole hearing; like, even when he started talking, I thought he was going to mess the whole thing up. And when Buddy was going on and on about how he knew Tim well because Tim had dated his daughter "for several years" (I think it was like one, with a little fooling around before that, but whatever), I was like, "Um, really?" Seriously-- did Buddy ever really come around to liking Tim when Tim and Lyla were going out? Like, I thought he developed sort of a grudging respect for him because Tim stood his ground when Buddy was all pounding down his door trying to get Lyla to come home that one time, and I'm sure he liked that Tim helped convince Lyla to go to Vanderbilt, but I just didn't buy him going on and on about what an upstanding young man he was and all that. Like-- didn't Lyla once have to give Tim $3,000 so that a meth dealer wouldn't kill him? I'm sure Buddy didn't know the details of that, and I'm not saying that Tim's not a really nice guy, because he is. However, he is also dumb, and gets himself into ridiculous situations, and I just didn't really buy that anyone but Coach and Billy would be willing to speak on behalf of his "character" like that. Whatever, I guess.
I'm not sure what we're all supposed to think about the whole idea of Tim moving to Alaska to work on the pipeline. Like, I agree with Tyra that he should probably start speaking to his brother again, but I really don't think it would be a bad idea for him to leave Dillon behind him. It was interesting, seeing Billy's situation through Tim's eyes: his pregnant wife still stripping, Becky waiting tables at the Landing Strip, and Stevie being baby-sat by the strippers in the back room. Like, we've spent enough time with the Rigginses this season that we know that Billy and Mindy aren't bad people and that they really are doing the best they can, but that must have looked bad, especially when, as Tim pointed out, he took the rap specifically so that Billy could get his life back together.
Tyra: First of all-- when Tim told her not to go, I really hope he just meant for that night, because OBVIOUSLY she needs to go back to college in Austin. I wasn't really feeling it when the two of them started kissing, but probably only because I am still sort of attached to the Tim/Lyla relationship even though it's not really happening anymore.
I did, however, really like the thing Tyra said to Julie about how Dillon is like a drug-- how when you get outside of it, you see it for what it really is, but when you're inside of it, you think there's no other possible reality. That's so true about anywhere, really; you live somewhere and you start to feel like the things that go on there and the people that live there are just what's normal, only to move somewhere else and realize that that's not the case. Your situation/life can be totally different in one place than another, even if you mostly stay the same. But I digress...
Julie: "I finished exams early." What? She actually eventually went back to school? After Matt ran after her car, it honestly wasn't clear to me whether she stayed in Chicago with him or went back to school. I would think she missed enough classes that this semester would be pretty much a wash, but whatever.
Matt: Wow, I never even thought of Matt as my favorite character (though I always liked him), but I sure get excited when he shows up unexpectedly. And Grandma Saracen! Yaay!
Eric and Tami: Oh, Lord, how are they going to resolve this? I get her being upset that he didn't really seem to be taking her job offer seriously, and I get him wanting to stay in Dillon. I just hope they work things out in a way that makes them both happy.
I guess I'll end there. I hope Luke and Becky work things out, and I'm glad Vince's dad now seems to be out of the picture. Can't believe this Friday is the series finale.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
thoughts on The Green Lantern
Well. That was better than I expected. Seriously. I went to see this movie simply because I felt like seeing a movie yesterday; I would have rather seen Midnight in Paris, but it was playing at an inconvenient time at a theater way across town. Fortunately, I wound up enjoying it quite a bit.
As superhero movies go, I tend to see about 80% of the ones that come out, even though I've never read any of the comic books on which they are based. My favorites so far have been the Christian Bale Batman movies and the Iron Man movies. I think I like those the best because 1) the heroes don't have actual superpowers, just skills, money, and gadgets, which make their feats both more plausible and more impressive and 2) those movies tend to be more...serious? Adult? Something.
The Green Lantern is nothing like those movies. It is, however, fun. I don't really have a strong opinion on Ryan Reynolds one way or the other; in fact, looking at IMDB, I realize that I have not seen a single movie that he has starred in (besides, of course, this one). He was apparently in Harold and Kumar go to White Castle; I don't remember seeing him in it. He was also apparently on episodes of Scrubs and My Boys, which I also probably saw but don't recall. However, I liked him as Hal Jordan in this movie, and I liked how Hal Jordan's main issue is that he can't commit to things because he's afraid. Relatable. I liked Peter Skarsgaard as the villain; I also found him very interesting/relatable. Tim Robbins is good in a minor role. I think Blake Lively does fine as Hal's love interest, Carol Ferris, but I will admit that I am such a Gossip Girl fan that I have a hard time separating Lively from the character she plays on that show, Serena van der Woodsen. Serena is such a great character and Lively does such a great job as her that it almost seems weird seeing her play someone else.
As for the plot...the explanation of how/why Hal Jordan must become the Green Lantern is sort of overly complicated, as far as superhero origin stories go, but at its core the movie is about Jordan accepting the responsibility associated with the role and overcoming his fear. It's entertaining; like in Thor, there is a fair amount of going back and forth between what's going on on Earth and the trouble unfolding on a distant planet, but I will say that this held my interest quite a bit better than Thor did. I should probably admit, however, that I had a terrible, terrible headache when I went to see Thor and thus spent a lot of the movie sitting there thinking, "Why does everything have to be so loud?" I did think the ending of this dragged out a bit. However, it was fun, and I enjoyed it, and the other moviegoers at the theater I went to seemed to agree: "That was a cool movie!" said one eight-year-old boy to another as we all walked out. "I thought it was a good movie," said a forty-something tattooed man who had attended the movie with a friend and their kids, one of whom was still wearing her 3-D glasses even after we had all made our way completely outdoors. "It had more of a storyline than I expected." Yes. Yes, it did.
Bottom line: entertaining story and performances that made it even more enjoyable. I had a good time.
As superhero movies go, I tend to see about 80% of the ones that come out, even though I've never read any of the comic books on which they are based. My favorites so far have been the Christian Bale Batman movies and the Iron Man movies. I think I like those the best because 1) the heroes don't have actual superpowers, just skills, money, and gadgets, which make their feats both more plausible and more impressive and 2) those movies tend to be more...serious? Adult? Something.
The Green Lantern is nothing like those movies. It is, however, fun. I don't really have a strong opinion on Ryan Reynolds one way or the other; in fact, looking at IMDB, I realize that I have not seen a single movie that he has starred in (besides, of course, this one). He was apparently in Harold and Kumar go to White Castle; I don't remember seeing him in it. He was also apparently on episodes of Scrubs and My Boys, which I also probably saw but don't recall. However, I liked him as Hal Jordan in this movie, and I liked how Hal Jordan's main issue is that he can't commit to things because he's afraid. Relatable. I liked Peter Skarsgaard as the villain; I also found him very interesting/relatable. Tim Robbins is good in a minor role. I think Blake Lively does fine as Hal's love interest, Carol Ferris, but I will admit that I am such a Gossip Girl fan that I have a hard time separating Lively from the character she plays on that show, Serena van der Woodsen. Serena is such a great character and Lively does such a great job as her that it almost seems weird seeing her play someone else.
As for the plot...the explanation of how/why Hal Jordan must become the Green Lantern is sort of overly complicated, as far as superhero origin stories go, but at its core the movie is about Jordan accepting the responsibility associated with the role and overcoming his fear. It's entertaining; like in Thor, there is a fair amount of going back and forth between what's going on on Earth and the trouble unfolding on a distant planet, but I will say that this held my interest quite a bit better than Thor did. I should probably admit, however, that I had a terrible, terrible headache when I went to see Thor and thus spent a lot of the movie sitting there thinking, "Why does everything have to be so loud?" I did think the ending of this dragged out a bit. However, it was fun, and I enjoyed it, and the other moviegoers at the theater I went to seemed to agree: "That was a cool movie!" said one eight-year-old boy to another as we all walked out. "I thought it was a good movie," said a forty-something tattooed man who had attended the movie with a friend and their kids, one of whom was still wearing her 3-D glasses even after we had all made our way completely outdoors. "It had more of a storyline than I expected." Yes. Yes, it did.
Bottom line: entertaining story and performances that made it even more enjoyable. I had a good time.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
thoughts on Scream 4 (mild spoilers)
I don't like scary movies. However, I didn't realize this until my mid-twenties, because some of the first scary movies that I ever saw and liked (the ones that came out during my teen years, a.k.a. my prime scary movie watching years) were, as I sensed at the time and would later confirm, not like other scary movies. Scream, its sequels, and even the not-quite-as-good-but-still-entertaining wannabe movies that followed it (I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend, etc.) were more fun than the average scary movie. They interspersed some funny moments in with the gore. They had entertaining characters. They (and I'm including both Scream and its followers, here) featured lots of the actors I liked from my favorite TV shows (including-- but not limited to-- Neve Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt from Party of Five; Courteney Cox from Friends; and Joshua Jackson from Dawson's Creek). So, I entered my twenties thinking that I liked scary movies, only to go on to watch "real" scary movies and find myself grossed out, disturbed, and well...scared. I stopped watching scary movies. I hadn't seen one in the theater since The Ring in 2002.
Then, Scream 4 came out. I was interested in seeing it, but not as interested as I was in seeing other stuff that came out at the same time, I guess, because I didn't see it until today, after it had arrived at Showplace Cinemas South, a.k.a. "the cheap theater." I am happy to say that it didn't disappoint. The fun (including not one but two "fakeout" opening scenes)! The familiar actors (including the stars of the original Scream movies and actors from current TV shows, like Lucy Hale from Pretty Little Liars, Aimee Teegarden from Friday Night Lights, and Alison Brie from Community)! And a storyline-- and characters-- that expressed not only a knowledge of the horror genre, but a knowledge of current teen culture: a culture where, as one character notes, everyone lives their lives in public, and you don't have to achieve anything to be famous-- you just have to have messed up stuff happened to you. I don't want to give too much away here, but let me just say that not only does it not disappoint, but that I could totally get behind a new Scream movie coming out every five or ten years or so. I'd definitely recommend this one, everyone.
Then, Scream 4 came out. I was interested in seeing it, but not as interested as I was in seeing other stuff that came out at the same time, I guess, because I didn't see it until today, after it had arrived at Showplace Cinemas South, a.k.a. "the cheap theater." I am happy to say that it didn't disappoint. The fun (including not one but two "fakeout" opening scenes)! The familiar actors (including the stars of the original Scream movies and actors from current TV shows, like Lucy Hale from Pretty Little Liars, Aimee Teegarden from Friday Night Lights, and Alison Brie from Community)! And a storyline-- and characters-- that expressed not only a knowledge of the horror genre, but a knowledge of current teen culture: a culture where, as one character notes, everyone lives their lives in public, and you don't have to achieve anything to be famous-- you just have to have messed up stuff happened to you. I don't want to give too much away here, but let me just say that not only does it not disappoint, but that I could totally get behind a new Scream movie coming out every five or ten years or so. I'd definitely recommend this one, everyone.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Friday Night Lights Season Five Episode Eight
You know what I love about FNL? I love how it's good enough that you don't necessarily miss the characters that have left Dillon, yet it's always so exciting to see those characters again. I love how the old Panthers are all making an appearance in the final season. I was especially excited when I thought that stupid Julie was turning her car towards Tennessee to see stupid Head TA Derek Bishop, but then who came to the door she knocked on but MATT SARACEN! MATT SARACEN! I also fully gasped during the preview for next week's episode when Julie tells Matt about her "affair." THAT is one conversation I can't wait to see. Stupid Julie.
(I've never cared for Julie Taylor all that much, in case you can't tell. I've thought she was pretty bratty since the very beginning of the series, with her whole "I don't date football players" business. And people let her get away with being a brat, is the thing. I have, however, thoroughly enjoyed this Derek Bishop storyline. Julie's really the only character who they could do this "fooling around with a married TA" storyline with and have it have any impact. Tyra and Lyla have both always acted a lot older than they are, so it wouldn't seem like nearly as big of a deal if the same thing happened to either of them.)
Anyway. I have mixed feelings about Billy Riggins being such a big part of this season, but I am enjoying watching Mindy and Becky be friends. Also enjoyed how the scenes with the girls getting ready for the pageant were cut and edited similarly to the scenes of the strippers getting ready backstage, yet all of the pageant people acted all uppity towards the strippers (though obviously the strippers didn't need to boo when Becky got second runner-up). Also, Luke Cafferty is pretty much the sweetest guy ever-- and I mean, he's on a show where like 90% of the guys are incredibly sweet, nice guys, and where even many of the guys who don't seem sweet are good guys deep down, so that's a bold statement. That said, Vince's dad is the devil.
(I've never cared for Julie Taylor all that much, in case you can't tell. I've thought she was pretty bratty since the very beginning of the series, with her whole "I don't date football players" business. And people let her get away with being a brat, is the thing. I have, however, thoroughly enjoyed this Derek Bishop storyline. Julie's really the only character who they could do this "fooling around with a married TA" storyline with and have it have any impact. Tyra and Lyla have both always acted a lot older than they are, so it wouldn't seem like nearly as big of a deal if the same thing happened to either of them.)
Anyway. I have mixed feelings about Billy Riggins being such a big part of this season, but I am enjoying watching Mindy and Becky be friends. Also enjoyed how the scenes with the girls getting ready for the pageant were cut and edited similarly to the scenes of the strippers getting ready backstage, yet all of the pageant people acted all uppity towards the strippers (though obviously the strippers didn't need to boo when Becky got second runner-up). Also, Luke Cafferty is pretty much the sweetest guy ever-- and I mean, he's on a show where like 90% of the guys are incredibly sweet, nice guys, and where even many of the guys who don't seem sweet are good guys deep down, so that's a bold statement. That said, Vince's dad is the devil.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Friday Night Lights Season Five Episode Seven
Okay, so Friday Night Lights is another show that I love but don't often blog about. However, just had to say how surprised I was at how happy I was to see Jason Street again. Also, when Luke was all, "Wait, you like it when I'm nice to you?," to Becky, I had to giggle. No one should ever take advice from Billy Riggins. Or I guess maybe they should, since it sort of worked. Anyway, I've been enjoying this final season thoroughly. Good show, FNL.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
thoughts on Glee season finale
First off: I'm glad that Kurt put things in perspective with his conversation with Blaine. Dude. They are a bunch of high school kids who got to go to New York City for the first time. They placed twelfth out of the fifty best show choirs in the nation. Two years ago, their school didn't even have a glee club, and last year, they placed dead last at regionals. COME ON. They have nothing to be upset about or ashamed of. In fact, they should be pretty darn proud. That's some impressive stuff.
So. You all know that I've thought Glee has been pretty hit or miss lately, but I pretty much loved this episode. It perfectly captured the excitement of a first trip to New York City. Also, I don't really give a crap about Rachel and Finn, but I do love that they got so caught up in the song that they kissed onstage. I also loved that when Rachel was all, "I'm going to New York City after graduation and I'm never coming back," like that was a valid reason for her and Finn not to be together, Finn was just like, "Um, graduation's a year away. What are you doing until then?" I also still like Jesse quite a bit. I enjoy that he and Finn are about two seconds away from punching each other in the face every time they see each other, and I went "Aw," when Jesse told Mr. Schue, "I couldn't stay away," and Mr. Schue was like, "From the show? Or her?" I'll say it again: AW! This year is coming up ALL Rachel! Also love that Mercedes and Sam are together, and loved Brittany and Santana's conversation. I'll bet they become a couple for real next season, but I like that this isn't coming easily or quickly. Oh-- and I LOVED Kurt and Rachel's duet on the song from Wicked. For a nationals episode, I didn't think that this episode really had a lot of overly impressive musical moments, but that was great.
Even though I basically loved everything about this episode, it did make me giggle that 1) they didn't even start writing their Nationals songs until they got to New York City and 2) Mr. Schue left a bunch of high school kids unsupervised in New York City for what looked to be a full 24 hours and seemed to honestly expect them to just sit around in the hotel working on their songs. He's so dumb.
So...that's it! Most of the shows I watch either have already had their season finales or are having them tonight, but hopefully I'll find some TV shows on DVD or movies to blog about over the summer =).
So. You all know that I've thought Glee has been pretty hit or miss lately, but I pretty much loved this episode. It perfectly captured the excitement of a first trip to New York City. Also, I don't really give a crap about Rachel and Finn, but I do love that they got so caught up in the song that they kissed onstage. I also loved that when Rachel was all, "I'm going to New York City after graduation and I'm never coming back," like that was a valid reason for her and Finn not to be together, Finn was just like, "Um, graduation's a year away. What are you doing until then?" I also still like Jesse quite a bit. I enjoy that he and Finn are about two seconds away from punching each other in the face every time they see each other, and I went "Aw," when Jesse told Mr. Schue, "I couldn't stay away," and Mr. Schue was like, "From the show? Or her?" I'll say it again: AW! This year is coming up ALL Rachel! Also love that Mercedes and Sam are together, and loved Brittany and Santana's conversation. I'll bet they become a couple for real next season, but I like that this isn't coming easily or quickly. Oh-- and I LOVED Kurt and Rachel's duet on the song from Wicked. For a nationals episode, I didn't think that this episode really had a lot of overly impressive musical moments, but that was great.
Even though I basically loved everything about this episode, it did make me giggle that 1) they didn't even start writing their Nationals songs until they got to New York City and 2) Mr. Schue left a bunch of high school kids unsupervised in New York City for what looked to be a full 24 hours and seemed to honestly expect them to just sit around in the hotel working on their songs. He's so dumb.
So...that's it! Most of the shows I watch either have already had their season finales or are having them tonight, but hopefully I'll find some TV shows on DVD or movies to blog about over the summer =).
Saturday, May 14, 2011
thoughts on Something Borrowed (spoilers)
First off: when I went to see Water for Elephants a few weeks ago, I watched the previews and thought to myself, "Wow. I am going to be at the movies all summer. I would see literally all of these movies." Larry Crowne, The Help, Something Borrowed, and a couple of others that I'm not remembering right now but that looked at least okay. Today's previews were more of a mixed bag: there were two that looked awesome (the last Harry Potter movie and Crazy Stupid Love, starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, and Emma Stone); one that looked surprisingly good given the concept (Friends with Benefits, starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis); one that could potentially be funny but also kind of crude and gross, which many of you know I don't really go for (The Change-up, starring Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds); and one that looked pretty dumb but had a good cast (Our Idiot Brother, starring Paul Rudd, Zooey Deschanel, and some other people). The thing is, even the ones that didn't look great looked like they would have some redeeming qualities, and let me just say, this summer's movie season looks like it has so much more potential than last summer's. I think last summer the only movies I was looking forward to seeing were Iron Man 2 and Sex and the City 2, and Sex and the City 2 wound up being Just Awful. So...yaay for Hollywood, I guess.
Okay, so...Something Borrowed. About once or twice a year, I feel like going to a romantic comedy. That romantic comedy usually stars Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner, or Kate Hudson, actresses who I became fans of largely because of their work in other genres, but who raise the level of pretty much any movie they are in. You may disagree with that. I think they're all fairly dependable; even if you don't love the movie they're in, they'll all usually make it at least somewhat enjoyable. Two of the romantic comedies I've seen in the past three years have also featured Ginnifer Goodwin. I don't think she's as likable of an actress; her characters usually come across as somewhat one-dimensional, somewhat shallow, and somewhat annoying. In other words, she's not exactly a major draw for me, but whatever. I wanted to see Something Borrowed. My verdict on it?
It was decent. All of the actors (including Hudson, Goodwin, and John Krasinski) do a good job, and they play characters who are like me and other people I know. However, those characters then do things that I don't entirely understand and probably wouldn't do myself, so I couldn't *totally* relate. For example: Ginnifer Goodwin's character, Rachel, often feels overshadowed by her louder, more vibrant friend, Darcy (Hudson); feels that she "wasted her twenties," I guess because she spent most of it in school (college, then law school) and didn't seem to have any serious romantic relationships; and lacks confidence: she missed her chance with Dex (Colin Egglesfield) largely because she couldn't fathom that a guy that good-looking would ever like her. She instead practically gave him to Darcy, who is now marrying him. This is all relatable. However, as someone who shares some of Rachel's qualities/problems, I can't fathom feeling overshadowed by a louder friend *practically every day of your entire life* without either making more of an effort to break out on your own or, at the very least, being more openly angry/resentful. She and Darcy rarely seem to clash, and not only does Rachel rarely have a bad word to say about her, she openly makes excuses for/defends her behavior. I wanted her to have more of a spine, I guess.
So does John Krasinski's character, Ethan, a friend of Rachel's who cheers her on; encourages her to stand up to Darcy; and encourages her to demand more from her relationship with Dex, who Rachel winds up having an affair with. However, Ethan also does things in this movie that I don't entirely understand. For example: he is constantly telling Rachel to stand up for herself more and be more forthright about her feelings and what she wants. However, there is this girl named Claire in the movie who he once had a one-night stand with, is part of their social circle, and who spends much of the movie actively pursuing him. He responds to her advances not by being as straightforward with her as he is constantly telling Darcy to be, but by...telling her that he's gay (which he's not, in case that was unclear). What? Who does that, especially to someone whose feelings they don't otherwise seem to be that concerned with hurting, and who, again, is part of their extended circle of friends and therefore will undoubtedly eventually learn that the gay thing isn't true? Stupid.
And then there is Dex, who...kind of sucks. He cheats on Darcy with Rachel and reveals that he's been in love with Rachel since they went to law school together. So, my question is...why get engaged to Darcy? Why never tell Rachel how you feel? I totally buy that, thinking that Rachel wasn't interested, he would date Darcy, who was blatant about being interested in him. But engaged? No. I can also buy that Dex and Rachel would like each other in law school and both be too shy to do anything about it. That kind of thing happens all the time. But given that they saw each other regularly for *six years*, what with law school and him dating Darcy, wouldn't you think those feelings would come to the surface before the time this movie begins? Also, Rachel flashes back to all of these moments from the past when she could have told Dex how she felt and instead just walked away. Yes. She should have been more forthright with her feelings from the beginning. But the thing is...he never goes after her. He lets her walk away again and again. If he's so in love with her, can't he take the tiniest bit of a chance or put forth the tiniest bit of effort? Similarly, he stays engaged to Darcy long after he tells Rachel he loves her. He just...sucks, like I said. We're supposed to want Dex and Rachel to end up together, but I just couldn't quite bring myself to want that.
There are also a couple of minor characters who are around a lot but never really developed, which I guess is probably a result of this movie being adapted from a book. One of them is the aforementioned Claire; I spent the whole movie wondering where I'd seen her before. Then I came home, looked her up on IMDB, and scrolled through her list of credits going "I never saw that...never saw that either...OH! Victoria! Ted's first season girlfriend on How I Met Your Mother!" So there's that.
So, overall, I guess I would say that while I found all of the characters and actors relatable and believable, I couldn't quite understand/approve of a lot of their actions. At least the situation and characters are somewhat complex, and like I said, the acting is good across the board. I guess if I were giving this movie a letter grade, I would give it a B- or C+.
Okay, so...Something Borrowed. About once or twice a year, I feel like going to a romantic comedy. That romantic comedy usually stars Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner, or Kate Hudson, actresses who I became fans of largely because of their work in other genres, but who raise the level of pretty much any movie they are in. You may disagree with that. I think they're all fairly dependable; even if you don't love the movie they're in, they'll all usually make it at least somewhat enjoyable. Two of the romantic comedies I've seen in the past three years have also featured Ginnifer Goodwin. I don't think she's as likable of an actress; her characters usually come across as somewhat one-dimensional, somewhat shallow, and somewhat annoying. In other words, she's not exactly a major draw for me, but whatever. I wanted to see Something Borrowed. My verdict on it?
It was decent. All of the actors (including Hudson, Goodwin, and John Krasinski) do a good job, and they play characters who are like me and other people I know. However, those characters then do things that I don't entirely understand and probably wouldn't do myself, so I couldn't *totally* relate. For example: Ginnifer Goodwin's character, Rachel, often feels overshadowed by her louder, more vibrant friend, Darcy (Hudson); feels that she "wasted her twenties," I guess because she spent most of it in school (college, then law school) and didn't seem to have any serious romantic relationships; and lacks confidence: she missed her chance with Dex (Colin Egglesfield) largely because she couldn't fathom that a guy that good-looking would ever like her. She instead practically gave him to Darcy, who is now marrying him. This is all relatable. However, as someone who shares some of Rachel's qualities/problems, I can't fathom feeling overshadowed by a louder friend *practically every day of your entire life* without either making more of an effort to break out on your own or, at the very least, being more openly angry/resentful. She and Darcy rarely seem to clash, and not only does Rachel rarely have a bad word to say about her, she openly makes excuses for/defends her behavior. I wanted her to have more of a spine, I guess.
So does John Krasinski's character, Ethan, a friend of Rachel's who cheers her on; encourages her to stand up to Darcy; and encourages her to demand more from her relationship with Dex, who Rachel winds up having an affair with. However, Ethan also does things in this movie that I don't entirely understand. For example: he is constantly telling Rachel to stand up for herself more and be more forthright about her feelings and what she wants. However, there is this girl named Claire in the movie who he once had a one-night stand with, is part of their social circle, and who spends much of the movie actively pursuing him. He responds to her advances not by being as straightforward with her as he is constantly telling Darcy to be, but by...telling her that he's gay (which he's not, in case that was unclear). What? Who does that, especially to someone whose feelings they don't otherwise seem to be that concerned with hurting, and who, again, is part of their extended circle of friends and therefore will undoubtedly eventually learn that the gay thing isn't true? Stupid.
And then there is Dex, who...kind of sucks. He cheats on Darcy with Rachel and reveals that he's been in love with Rachel since they went to law school together. So, my question is...why get engaged to Darcy? Why never tell Rachel how you feel? I totally buy that, thinking that Rachel wasn't interested, he would date Darcy, who was blatant about being interested in him. But engaged? No. I can also buy that Dex and Rachel would like each other in law school and both be too shy to do anything about it. That kind of thing happens all the time. But given that they saw each other regularly for *six years*, what with law school and him dating Darcy, wouldn't you think those feelings would come to the surface before the time this movie begins? Also, Rachel flashes back to all of these moments from the past when she could have told Dex how she felt and instead just walked away. Yes. She should have been more forthright with her feelings from the beginning. But the thing is...he never goes after her. He lets her walk away again and again. If he's so in love with her, can't he take the tiniest bit of a chance or put forth the tiniest bit of effort? Similarly, he stays engaged to Darcy long after he tells Rachel he loves her. He just...sucks, like I said. We're supposed to want Dex and Rachel to end up together, but I just couldn't quite bring myself to want that.
There are also a couple of minor characters who are around a lot but never really developed, which I guess is probably a result of this movie being adapted from a book. One of them is the aforementioned Claire; I spent the whole movie wondering where I'd seen her before. Then I came home, looked her up on IMDB, and scrolled through her list of credits going "I never saw that...never saw that either...OH! Victoria! Ted's first season girlfriend on How I Met Your Mother!" So there's that.
So, overall, I guess I would say that while I found all of the characters and actors relatable and believable, I couldn't quite understand/approve of a lot of their actions. At least the situation and characters are somewhat complex, and like I said, the acting is good across the board. I guess if I were giving this movie a letter grade, I would give it a B- or C+.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
thoughts on Glee: "Prom Queen"
I will preface my comments by saying that I enjoyed this episode quite a bit. Most of the songs were good, especially Rachel and Jesse's take on "Rolling in the Deep," and Sue and Artie's "torture" scenes were really funny: "You didn't spike the punch?" "No, I did." "With alcohol?" "Oh. No, then." And until all hell started breaking loose, their prom actually looked really fun.
That all said...I *do not* understand their school. Um, a bunch of jerks think it would be funny to write in Kurt as prom queen and Figgins...announces him as the winner? Wouldn't he just give it to the second place person? Or did he not realize Kurt would be embarrassed by that? And the glee club is supposedly so unpopular that *no one* shows up at their benefit concert and people throw stuff at them when they try to go Christmas caroling, yet everyone seems perfectly happy that they're the prom band? Just-- if they're going to have episodes like this, where everyone clearly enjoys watching the glee club sing, they need to never do another episode about how the glee kids are supposedly the biggest losers in school. They're clearly not.
Okay. So other than the stuff that made no sense, or would never, ever happen, it was a fun episode. Finn and Jesse get into a shoving match on the dance floor! Quinn slaps Rachel in the face! Prom! Whoo!
That all said...I *do not* understand their school. Um, a bunch of jerks think it would be funny to write in Kurt as prom queen and Figgins...announces him as the winner? Wouldn't he just give it to the second place person? Or did he not realize Kurt would be embarrassed by that? And the glee club is supposedly so unpopular that *no one* shows up at their benefit concert and people throw stuff at them when they try to go Christmas caroling, yet everyone seems perfectly happy that they're the prom band? Just-- if they're going to have episodes like this, where everyone clearly enjoys watching the glee club sing, they need to never do another episode about how the glee kids are supposedly the biggest losers in school. They're clearly not.
Okay. So other than the stuff that made no sense, or would never, ever happen, it was a fun episode. Finn and Jesse get into a shoving match on the dance floor! Quinn slaps Rachel in the face! Prom! Whoo!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Glee: "Born This Way"
Okay. So here's where Glee runs into problems, I think. It tries to be Important. It does these episodes about legitimately serious issues that real teens deal with, like sexuality, self-esteem, drinking, etc. Often, though, it's unclear where the show stands on these issues. Sometimes, this is because the issue they're talking about is too complex to have a clear black and white answer, and the show does a good job straddling the line; you all know that I enjoyed the "Blame it on the Alcohol" episode precisely because it managed to show the pitfalls of drinking without being preachy or acting like it is something that no one should ever, ever do. Other times, the show makes me go "Hmmm."
"Born This Way" made me go "Hmmm." Overall, the message was, "You should accept yourself the way you are and embrace your flaws/quirks, because those things make you unique." At the same time, however, it acknowledged that sometimes it's more complicated than that: some of the things we think of as flaws/quirks are legitimate problems that are actually damaging our quality of life. Rachel's somewhat large nose? Just something about her that's different, not bad, that she should learn to love. Emma's OCD, on the other hand? A legitimate problem that she should seek professional help for. While this is all fine and good, there were a couple of things that bothered me about it:
1) The show seemed to be sending a mixed message about where the line should be drawn. Like, there was the whole storyline about how Quinn used to be overweight, and the other kids called her Lucy Caboosey, but then she discovered that she was athletic, lost the weight, and also asked her dad if she could have a nose job. Now, I *think* the moral of the story was that exercising and getting fit was a good thing, but that getting a nose job was going too far, which I can get behind. However, then you have Finn holding up the picture of Quinn in her "Lucy Caboosey" days all, "This is a picture of my girlfriend. I used to have another picture, but I like this one better. It's the real her." (And I'm not getting that quote 100% correct, but that's the gist.) Umm...what? Like, again, I get that self-improvement can go too far, and that Quinn always should have felt good about herself no matter what she looked like, but I don't think she was necessarily a *better person* back in those days. Like, yeah, she's clearly *too* concerned with appearances now, but discovering that she was athletic and taking up dance and gymnastics seem like good things to me. Like I said: made me go "hmmm..."
2) Some of the kids-- and adults-- seemed to be digging a lot deeper than others. Like, they're all supposed to be embracing what's different/unique about themselves, and everyone's supposed to wear a t-shirt with a word or phrase that represents that thing. So Will gets on Emma's case for wearing one that says "Ginger," telling her that she knows her issue isn't her red hair; it's her OCD. Her t-shirt, he flat-out tells her, should say "OCD." And then he comes out at the end wearing a t-shirt that says..."Butt Chin"? Really, Will? That's the biggest issue you have with yourself? You have a butt chin? And Kurt's up there in a t-shirt that says "Likes Boys" while Finn has one that says..."Can't Dance"? Oh, please, Finn, tell me all about how not being able to dance has negatively affected your life. For God's sake. (And, I got kind of confused while even writing this section, because what was supposed to be on their shirts, exactly? Something that they once didn't like about themselves or that other people didn't like about them, but that they've come to love and accept, right? If so, why should Emma's say "OCD"? Didn't they establish that this is something she should try to CONQUER, while Rachel, for example, should love and accept her nose? Do you see why I get frustrated watching this show?)
Other than that...I like that Kurt's back. Blaine and the Warblers got the best musical number of the show. I also liked "Born this Way," despite my issues with the t-shirts. "Unpretty" was pretty good, as was Finn and Mike's song and dance number.
So...yeah. More interesting than last week with better songs, but somewhat frustrating.
"Born This Way" made me go "Hmmm." Overall, the message was, "You should accept yourself the way you are and embrace your flaws/quirks, because those things make you unique." At the same time, however, it acknowledged that sometimes it's more complicated than that: some of the things we think of as flaws/quirks are legitimate problems that are actually damaging our quality of life. Rachel's somewhat large nose? Just something about her that's different, not bad, that she should learn to love. Emma's OCD, on the other hand? A legitimate problem that she should seek professional help for. While this is all fine and good, there were a couple of things that bothered me about it:
1) The show seemed to be sending a mixed message about where the line should be drawn. Like, there was the whole storyline about how Quinn used to be overweight, and the other kids called her Lucy Caboosey, but then she discovered that she was athletic, lost the weight, and also asked her dad if she could have a nose job. Now, I *think* the moral of the story was that exercising and getting fit was a good thing, but that getting a nose job was going too far, which I can get behind. However, then you have Finn holding up the picture of Quinn in her "Lucy Caboosey" days all, "This is a picture of my girlfriend. I used to have another picture, but I like this one better. It's the real her." (And I'm not getting that quote 100% correct, but that's the gist.) Umm...what? Like, again, I get that self-improvement can go too far, and that Quinn always should have felt good about herself no matter what she looked like, but I don't think she was necessarily a *better person* back in those days. Like, yeah, she's clearly *too* concerned with appearances now, but discovering that she was athletic and taking up dance and gymnastics seem like good things to me. Like I said: made me go "hmmm..."
2) Some of the kids-- and adults-- seemed to be digging a lot deeper than others. Like, they're all supposed to be embracing what's different/unique about themselves, and everyone's supposed to wear a t-shirt with a word or phrase that represents that thing. So Will gets on Emma's case for wearing one that says "Ginger," telling her that she knows her issue isn't her red hair; it's her OCD. Her t-shirt, he flat-out tells her, should say "OCD." And then he comes out at the end wearing a t-shirt that says..."Butt Chin"? Really, Will? That's the biggest issue you have with yourself? You have a butt chin? And Kurt's up there in a t-shirt that says "Likes Boys" while Finn has one that says..."Can't Dance"? Oh, please, Finn, tell me all about how not being able to dance has negatively affected your life. For God's sake. (And, I got kind of confused while even writing this section, because what was supposed to be on their shirts, exactly? Something that they once didn't like about themselves or that other people didn't like about them, but that they've come to love and accept, right? If so, why should Emma's say "OCD"? Didn't they establish that this is something she should try to CONQUER, while Rachel, for example, should love and accept her nose? Do you see why I get frustrated watching this show?)
Other than that...I like that Kurt's back. Blaine and the Warblers got the best musical number of the show. I also liked "Born this Way," despite my issues with the t-shirts. "Unpretty" was pretty good, as was Finn and Mike's song and dance number.
So...yeah. More interesting than last week with better songs, but somewhat frustrating.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
thoughts on Glee: "A Night of Neglect"
Didn't care for this one, folks. Really the only parts I liked were when Mike Chang danced to "Bubbletoes" (I was just thinking about that song this past week, by the way. I hadn't heard it in awhile. It's pretty fun.) and the moment between Will and Emma with the grapes. That was the first sweet moment between them since...well, all season, really. He was creepy and stalkery for the majority of the time she was with Carl. Oh, and okay, I did giggle when the final category in the Smarty Pants competition was "Hermaphrodite Nazi Sympathizers."
As a whole, though, I just didn't think the episode was very much fun, especially for a Paltrow episode. I know people have varying opinions on Gwyneth Paltrow, but I like her on "Glee;" her musical numbers are usually fun, and she usually gets some pretty funny lines in. Tonight, though, she really didn't get anything good to do; I mean, they might as well just have had Will say she moved away to Cleveland, if they weren't going to give her any more to do than what she got in this episode. Also, other than the aforementioned dance to "Bubbletoes," I did not enjoy a single musical number this episode, which is pretty bad for a show about a glee club. Also...
A lot of the continuing storylines on this show are getting pretty old. Make Sue a legitimate competing glee club coach if you want her to continue to be a legitimate rival for Will, but come on. All of her little plots to sabotage the glee club are just getting stupid. Also-- and I might have complained about this before-- I just don't buy that the glee club wouldn't have more support from the student body at this point. Like, I buy that the glee club kids wouldn't necessarily be *popular*, and that certain jerks might bully them. But if a high school glee club was that good, and was going to *nationals*, the majority of people in school would at least be happy for them, even if they weren't super into it. More than six damn people would have shown up to their benefit concert. Like, let's assume that they didn't do a very good job advertising because they thought Sunshine was bringing her Twitter followers, but where were these kids' parents and family friends? Why didn't Kurt and Blaine invite the rest of the Warblers? Wouldn't at least some of the other teachers and at least a handful of students have been there? I'm just sick of this Everyone Hates the Glee Club business when there's no way that could possibly be true.
So...yeah. A few good moments, but not nearly as entertaining as I've come to expect.
As a whole, though, I just didn't think the episode was very much fun, especially for a Paltrow episode. I know people have varying opinions on Gwyneth Paltrow, but I like her on "Glee;" her musical numbers are usually fun, and she usually gets some pretty funny lines in. Tonight, though, she really didn't get anything good to do; I mean, they might as well just have had Will say she moved away to Cleveland, if they weren't going to give her any more to do than what she got in this episode. Also, other than the aforementioned dance to "Bubbletoes," I did not enjoy a single musical number this episode, which is pretty bad for a show about a glee club. Also...
A lot of the continuing storylines on this show are getting pretty old. Make Sue a legitimate competing glee club coach if you want her to continue to be a legitimate rival for Will, but come on. All of her little plots to sabotage the glee club are just getting stupid. Also-- and I might have complained about this before-- I just don't buy that the glee club wouldn't have more support from the student body at this point. Like, I buy that the glee club kids wouldn't necessarily be *popular*, and that certain jerks might bully them. But if a high school glee club was that good, and was going to *nationals*, the majority of people in school would at least be happy for them, even if they weren't super into it. More than six damn people would have shown up to their benefit concert. Like, let's assume that they didn't do a very good job advertising because they thought Sunshine was bringing her Twitter followers, but where were these kids' parents and family friends? Why didn't Kurt and Blaine invite the rest of the Warblers? Wouldn't at least some of the other teachers and at least a handful of students have been there? I'm just sick of this Everyone Hates the Glee Club business when there's no way that could possibly be true.
So...yeah. A few good moments, but not nearly as entertaining as I've come to expect.
Monday, April 11, 2011
thoughts on How I Met Your Mother: "The Exploding Meatball Sub"
Okay, so I don't normally blog about How I Met Your Mother (even though I love it), but may I just say, that was the best episode I've seen in awhile. It's been really good this season, but very serious; this episode managed to contain serious moments, to move a couple of different storylines forward, and to make me laugh out loud really hard. Good TV, people. Good TV. Pretty sure this one was a classic.
More specifically, I liked that 1) they didn't try to act like the fact that Ted and Zoey argue all the time is normal or healthy and that 2) while neither Lily nor Marshall is perfect, when it comes down to it, they've basically got their heads on straight, and they both usually manage to bring themselves (and each other) back when they're about to go too far. They've come along way from Lily running off to San Francisco at the end of the first season. I also liked that, though things have been serious for Barney lately, tonight they gave him a storyline that was pretty much pure comedy. Also loved that during the flashforward at the end, he's the only one who hasn't aged or changed at all.
Yaay! Good show!
More specifically, I liked that 1) they didn't try to act like the fact that Ted and Zoey argue all the time is normal or healthy and that 2) while neither Lily nor Marshall is perfect, when it comes down to it, they've basically got their heads on straight, and they both usually manage to bring themselves (and each other) back when they're about to go too far. They've come along way from Lily running off to San Francisco at the end of the first season. I also liked that, though things have been serious for Barney lately, tonight they gave him a storyline that was pretty much pure comedy. Also loved that during the flashforward at the end, he's the only one who hasn't aged or changed at all.
Yaay! Good show!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
thoughts on "The Lincoln Lawyer"
I liked this movie a lot, everyone. This was mainly because the casting was ridiculously perfect: Matthew McConaughey as Mick Haller, a charming but slightly skeezy lawyer with something of a drinking problem; Ryan Philippe as Louis Roulet, a smug, entitled young rich man who isn't telling his attorney everything; and Marisa Tomei as Maggie McPherson, Mick's ex-wife, a prosecutor who clearly still loves, likes, and is incredibly attracted to her ex-husband. She presumably divorced him because of his skeeviness (she makes a comment at one point that she just can't get behind the fact that, as a defense attorney, he's constantly helping the bad guys go free while she's trying to put them away) and his drinking; she's too good for him in a lot of ways, really, but you can tell that he knows that. You get the impression that the two of them are crazy about each other and don't really want to be with anyone else, yet they could just never quite make it work. I liked their relationship a lot, and both actors did a good job with it; I thought it was a fairly realistic, complex adult relationship between two people with a history that is never fully explained.
That's another thing I liked about this movie; they don't waste a lot of time explaining any of the characters' pasts or history with each other, just sort of let you pick it up as you go along. At the heart of this story is a mystery, and it is the type of story where I just sort of sit back and let the characters do their thing and not try to spend a lot of time figuring everything out, not because it doesn't make sense but because I feel like most of the characters are much smarter than I am. I used to feel the same way when I used to watch Veronica Mars; I haven't often felt the same way before or since then, but I'm usually pretty impressed with a movie or show when it makes me feel like that.
So, bottom line: intriguing story, great casting and performances. I know I'm going a lot less into the plot than usual, but it is one of those movies where new discoveries are constantly being made, and there are like two surprise twist endings before the movie actually stops; for this type of movie, I feel like it's more important to not give away the plot as much as I usually do. Just take my word for it that if you like legal thrillers, this is one of the better ones I've seen in awhile.
On a side note, during the previews I decided that it is highly likely that I will be seeing Soul Surfer, the movie about the surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack. It's got surfing. And Dennis Quaid. And Carrie Underwood. What more could you want, really?
That's another thing I liked about this movie; they don't waste a lot of time explaining any of the characters' pasts or history with each other, just sort of let you pick it up as you go along. At the heart of this story is a mystery, and it is the type of story where I just sort of sit back and let the characters do their thing and not try to spend a lot of time figuring everything out, not because it doesn't make sense but because I feel like most of the characters are much smarter than I am. I used to feel the same way when I used to watch Veronica Mars; I haven't often felt the same way before or since then, but I'm usually pretty impressed with a movie or show when it makes me feel like that.
So, bottom line: intriguing story, great casting and performances. I know I'm going a lot less into the plot than usual, but it is one of those movies where new discoveries are constantly being made, and there are like two surprise twist endings before the movie actually stops; for this type of movie, I feel like it's more important to not give away the plot as much as I usually do. Just take my word for it that if you like legal thrillers, this is one of the better ones I've seen in awhile.
On a side note, during the previews I decided that it is highly likely that I will be seeing Soul Surfer, the movie about the surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack. It's got surfing. And Dennis Quaid. And Carrie Underwood. What more could you want, really?
Saturday, March 26, 2011
thoughts on Limitless (spoilers)
This movie is pretty dumb, you guys.
I might as well come out and say right off the bat that I don't particularly care for Bradley Cooper. I hated his character on Alias and I haven't been overly impressed with anything he's done since. I mean, The Hangover was pretty funny, I guess, but not really because of him, you know? And though I enjoyed that movie when I saw it in the theater, I haven't ever really felt the urge to watch it again. I'd probably try to catch it if I heard it was going to be on cable, or something. That said, I don't dislike Bradley Cooper so much that I will actively avoid movies he's in; like, if he's in something that looks good, I'll see it.
Limitless looked good. The idea of a drug that allows you to access your entire brain is a pretty cool idea for a movie. Unfortunately, this movie is about 80% less interesting than a movie with that concept at its core should have been. Like, if the movie actually explored the possibilities that that would open up and how it would change you, that would be interesting. Instead, the plot of Limitless is basically, "guy who isn't particularly interesting or likeable uses the increased brainpower he gets from a drug to make a lot of money, which makes him a target for some unsavory types."
Not only is that not that interesting, but the way this drug works is pretty suspicious. When Bradley Cooper's character runs out of the drug, he starts getting sick, and he learns that other people have actually died from quitting the drug cold turkey. His ex-wife-- whose life pretty much fell apart after she stopped taking the drug-- advises him that your brain can't keep working that fast or hard for very long without some pretty serious consequences, but that he shouldn't stop taking the drug all at once; he should slowly wean himself off of it. Like...I'm no expert or anything, but has any drug in the history of drugs worked like that? Like, the message here is basically, "If you abuse this drug, it's bad, and if you stop taking it all at once, it's bad, but if you use it in moderation, it's awesome, and you will eventually be able to be almost as awesome even without it." Isn't that kind of a socially irresponsible message to be sending about any drug, even a fictional one? And the ex-wife's warning that your brain can't work that fast or hard for long without consequences apparently only applies if you use too much of the drug at once, or use the drug for too long, which really doesn't make any sense.
And then there's the fact that Bradley Cooper's character basically comes out on top of the world while everyone else either dies, loses a lot of money, has their life ruined, or falls in love with him. That's right: he basically outsmarts everyone else in the whole movie and gets all of the positive effects of the drug with very few of the negative consequences. Not only is this ridiculous, but Bradley Cooper is just not the kind of guy you want to see win that big. So, basically, in a nutshell, this movie: 1) squanders a very interesting concept; 2) is almost wholly unplausible in a very uninteresting way; 3) would have been much better with an actor who would actually make you want to root for this character; and 4) is at least borderline socially irresponsible. In other words...yeah, I hated it quite a bit.
I might as well come out and say right off the bat that I don't particularly care for Bradley Cooper. I hated his character on Alias and I haven't been overly impressed with anything he's done since. I mean, The Hangover was pretty funny, I guess, but not really because of him, you know? And though I enjoyed that movie when I saw it in the theater, I haven't ever really felt the urge to watch it again. I'd probably try to catch it if I heard it was going to be on cable, or something. That said, I don't dislike Bradley Cooper so much that I will actively avoid movies he's in; like, if he's in something that looks good, I'll see it.
Limitless looked good. The idea of a drug that allows you to access your entire brain is a pretty cool idea for a movie. Unfortunately, this movie is about 80% less interesting than a movie with that concept at its core should have been. Like, if the movie actually explored the possibilities that that would open up and how it would change you, that would be interesting. Instead, the plot of Limitless is basically, "guy who isn't particularly interesting or likeable uses the increased brainpower he gets from a drug to make a lot of money, which makes him a target for some unsavory types."
Not only is that not that interesting, but the way this drug works is pretty suspicious. When Bradley Cooper's character runs out of the drug, he starts getting sick, and he learns that other people have actually died from quitting the drug cold turkey. His ex-wife-- whose life pretty much fell apart after she stopped taking the drug-- advises him that your brain can't keep working that fast or hard for very long without some pretty serious consequences, but that he shouldn't stop taking the drug all at once; he should slowly wean himself off of it. Like...I'm no expert or anything, but has any drug in the history of drugs worked like that? Like, the message here is basically, "If you abuse this drug, it's bad, and if you stop taking it all at once, it's bad, but if you use it in moderation, it's awesome, and you will eventually be able to be almost as awesome even without it." Isn't that kind of a socially irresponsible message to be sending about any drug, even a fictional one? And the ex-wife's warning that your brain can't work that fast or hard for long without consequences apparently only applies if you use too much of the drug at once, or use the drug for too long, which really doesn't make any sense.
And then there's the fact that Bradley Cooper's character basically comes out on top of the world while everyone else either dies, loses a lot of money, has their life ruined, or falls in love with him. That's right: he basically outsmarts everyone else in the whole movie and gets all of the positive effects of the drug with very few of the negative consequences. Not only is this ridiculous, but Bradley Cooper is just not the kind of guy you want to see win that big. So, basically, in a nutshell, this movie: 1) squanders a very interesting concept; 2) is almost wholly unplausible in a very uninteresting way; 3) would have been much better with an actor who would actually make you want to root for this character; and 4) is at least borderline socially irresponsible. In other words...yeah, I hated it quite a bit.
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