thoughts on Celeste and Jesse Forever

Huh. Apparently I haven't updated this blog in like two months. I've seen some movies since then-- the new Spiderman, the new Batman, the new Bourne, the new Ice Age (with my niece while back in Nebraska), and The Campaign. (Wow. Four of those were sequels or remakes). I didn't feel compelled to write about any of them, apparently, so I'll give it to you quick: liked Spiderman; didn't like Batman, but in all fairness will admit that when I saw it I had just gotten new glasses and they kept sliding down my nose, plus I had a really bad headache; LOVED the new Bourne; thought Ice Age was okay; and thought The Campaign was just okay while watching it, yet kept giggling over certain parts of it throughout the week ("We're out of Honey Nut Cheerios.") Oh. I almost forgot that I also saw Savages, and while I like both Taylor Kitsch and Blake Lively a great deal, I'm pretty sure that I never need to see another drug movie again. I am also realizing that this list, along with the few movie blogs that I did write this summer, indicates that the best movie I saw all summer was Magic Mike, so that's interesting. Hmm.

So, Celeste and Jesse Forever. Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg play Celeste and Jesse, a couple who are separated and getting divorced yet, when we meet them, still consider themselves best friends and spend a lot of time together. He is still living in the guest house in her backyard and still is hoping they can work things out. We sort of get the impression that they're getting divorced basically because she thinks she can do better. Things change, though, when he learns that Veronica, a woman he slept with a few months after they separated, is pregnant. Now he's moving out of the guest house and becoming vegan and taking up Pilates and whatnot, while Celeste sort of spirals downward, not only having a few early dating experiences that range from "sort of awkward" to "oh my God, I can't believe this is happening right now," but messing up the logo for a Ke$ha-like client (played by Emma Roberts) her company is doing publicity for and-- well. At one point Jesse catches her going through his trash. At another, she passes out on a raft in the pool at her best friend's engagement party. There is a lot of pot smoking. There was also a lot of me shrinking down in my chair and covering my eyes and wanting to shout things like, "I'm so uncomfortable!" or "This is so sad!" or just "Stop it!"

In other words, as I commented to my friends afterwards, I haven't felt so uncomfortable watching a movie since I watched Young Adult. Yet this is a much nicer movie than Young Adult; Celeste is going through a rough time and has some habits/tendencies she needs to work on, but we sense that she *will* work on them, she *will* be okay, and that while she and Jesse are both basically good people, they probably are, in the long run, going to be better off apart. So, there were parts of the movie that were difficult to watch, but I thought it was well-done. I dug it.

Some randomness: Celeste eventually has a budding romance with a guy played by Chris Messina, who I had trouble placing until I was like, "OH! He plays EVERYONE'S dorky boyfriend!" And that is an exaggeration, but where I recognized him from was Six Feet Under, where he played Claire's Republican, Christian-rock-listening lawyer boyfriend. I can't help but like him, no matter what I see him in, and I think that's kind of the point with him-- he plays characters you don't necessarily want to like but do.

More randomness: I got my bangs cut a few days ago. I spent much of the movie obsessing over Rashida Jones's bangs. Hers are great.

That's it!