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.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
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.
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