1) Previews: I'm only going to talk about one, and that is That's My Boy, starring Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg, which I was first appalled by when I went to see American Reunion a few weeks back. The premise of this movie is that at age thirteen, Adam Sandler's character had sex with a teacher and got her pregnant. She went to jail, and he raised the son by himself. He did such a bad job that the kid left home at age eighteen and never spoke to him again, but now Adam Sandler owes money to the IRS and he hears his kid is now rich, so he looks him up. As he spends time with his now-grown son (Andy Samberg), we learn about all the mistakes he made as a father. Okay. First of all: why are they making a COMEDY about a thirteen-year-old sleeping with his teacher? Second, I'm pretty sure that the courts would not give custody of a baby to a thirteen-year-old kid, even if that kid was the baby's father. Third, even if they did, he would have to be the biggest jackass in the world to do some of the things that we learn that Adam Sandler did while raising this kid, such as letting him drive a car at age eight and get a large tattoo of New Kids on the Block on his back while he was in the third grade. "I was thirteen!" Adam Sandler defends himself in the preview. Um, he would have been in his early twenties by the time much of this stuff went down, and people in their early twenties have children LITERALLY EVERY DAY. Many of them do a perfectly good job. For that matter, thirteen-year-olds are sometimes left in charge of small children for short periods of time and manage to keep them safe and not let them do anything stupid. GOD. This looks like it may just be the worst movie ever made.
2) Okay, now that I've gotten that out of my system-- The Five Year Engagement. This movie is terrible, everyone, which was very disappointing, because I really like both Jason Segel and Emily Blunt. The premise of this movie is that San Francisco couple Tom and Violet (played by Segel and Blunt) get engaged, but then keep deciding to put off the wedding. Violet gets offered a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan that is supposed to last only two years, but it keeps getting extended. Tom moves to Michigan with her; he's a promising chef who is offered a super sweet job just before he leaves San Francisco, but in Ann Arbor, he can only find a job making sandwiches at Zingerman's. Meanwhile, as Violet's job/their engagement stretches out longer and longer, Violet's sister, Suzie (Alison Brie) and Tom's best friend, Alex (Chris Pratt) meet, get married, and have two kids, and grandparent after grandparent dies.
Here's what's wrong with this movie: the characters don't really even try to solve their problems. Like, Tom applies for jobs at restaurants all over Ann Arbor when they first move there (some of which I've eaten at, by the way!), but can only come up with the job at Zingerman's. I can buy that this would happen at first...but wouldn't, if you were Tom, you keep applying? I know the economy's rough, and all, but you would think he would eventually be able to find a better job. He eventually, after their relationship disintegrates and he moves back to San Francisco, opens a food truck selling what are apparently awesome tacos; he couldn't have thought of that in all the years he lived in Michigan? Also, he is obviously MISERABLE the entire time they are in Michigan, and Violet doesn't seem to give a rat's ass. Like, I know firsthand that academic jobs are hard to come by and that you wouldn't just give up a sweet job at the University of Michigan with no back-up plan, but if your fiance was that miserable, then you would certainly be applyiing other places, or at the very least, not condescendingly telling him that he should be happy with his "cool job" at Zingerman's (which I hear is a very good place, by the way, but Tom is clearly capable of doing more than making sandwiches). And Tom seems to take all the blame for everything that goes wrong! Like, after they've broken up, they talk on the phone, and he asks her when she knew it was over. She acts like they broke up because he just randomly went crazy, and not because he was misterable and NEITHER OF THEM was trying to fix it, at all.
There is also the issue that many scenes that start off funny or cute last too long, to the point where I felt uncomfortable. For example: Alex sings a song in Spanish to Suzie at their wedding and is surprisingly good. This is entertaining for maybe thirty seconds. IT JUST KEEPS GOING ON AND ON. There is also a scene where Violet and Suzie are arguing, and Suzie's young daughter requests that Violet talk like Cookie Monster and Suzie talk like Elmo. Again: mildly amusing for a few lines. But this argument just KEEPS GOING ON with both of them talking in Muppet voices, and it's hard to understand what they're saying, and it gets really grating really fast.
Finally, I hate it when people in movies (or people in real life, for that matter) move from the big city to a smaller but pefectly nice town and act like they're in the total backwoods (this was my irritation with Young Adult, as well, though I liked that movie a lot better than this one). I visited Ann Arbor a number of times when I was living in Bowling Green, Ohio, and I thought it was great. Does it snow there? Of course. Would Tom have the same opportunities as a chef that he would have in San Francisco? Of course not. But there's not really a good reason that he would be as miserable there as he is, and the movie doesn't really give us one.
Really the only thing I liked about this movie was Alison Brie and Chris Pratt as Suzie and Alex. That is literally the only thing. Well, and I kind of liked that a lot of it took place in Ann Arbor. But that's pretty much it.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Three movies, one week!: thoughts on The Lucky One, 21 Jump Street, and Cabin in the Woods
I saw three movies last week, folks. Three! They were all movies that I might not have picked out on my own, but was invited to see with friends. I wound up having a pretty good time at all of them. Here are my thoughts:
The Lucky One
Zac Efron plays a Marine named Logan. While in battle, he finds a picture of a young woman sticking out of the rubble; he will later describe this experience as "like finding an angel in the middle of hell." He keeps this picture with him, and after he goes home, finding it difficult to adjust to life with his sister and her family in Colorado, he sets off to find the woman in the picture. There is a lighthouse in the background of her picture, and he finds out where that lighthouse is and takes off for Louisiana. Finding her isn't difficult, but when he does, he can't find the words to tell her why he's there. Fortunately, she runs a dog training/boarding facility with her grandmother, and she thinks that he has come to respond to a Help Wanted ad. Although she is actually a little creeped out by him-- particularly by the fact that he tells her that he has walked there from Colorado-- her grandmother hires him, and needless to say, she eventually warms up to him. Complications arise in the form of her young son, or more specifically, his father, who is constantly showing up to act menacing and threaten to take full custody if she (Beth) messes up. His family is a Big Deal in their Louisiana town, and he says he can make it happen. And of course, lurking around the edges of the film is the fact that Logan still hasn't told her why he's really there, though we begin to realize, as the story moves forward, why the picture was there for Logan to find.
It really isn't a bad little movie, you guys. I've read a few Nicholas Sparks books (though not this one) and seen the movies adapted from them, and they're usually fairly solid-- though someone usually dies, and I therefore spent most of this movie whispering stuff to my friends like, "Do you think Beth's ex-husband is going to murder Zac Efron?," and, "Do you think the kid is going to die in the water?" (Actually, we were the only four people in the theater, so I really didn't even have to whisper these things.) I don't think this movie will develop the following that The Notebook had, or anything (true story: a few years back when I asked my students to write a movie review about literally any movie in the world they wanted, roughly 20% of them chose The Notebook. A fairly even mix of girls and guys. I'm serious), but it was fairly enjoyable. I liked Blythe Danner as Beth's grandmother, and Zac Efron pretty much always does a solid job; like, even in those High School Musical movies (High School Musical 3 isn't bad, by the way), you can tell he's pretty game for anything, and giving it his all. I'll respect that. Anyway, I won't say this movie is for everyone, but if you like Nicholas Sparks and/or Zac Efron, give it a whirl.
21 Jump Street
This is probably my favorite of the movies I saw last week, you guys. Like, I never really watched the original TV series 21 Jump Street; when it was on, I was too young for it, I think. I was aware that it existed, but didn't watch it more than once or twice. However, I am fairly sure that it was not an R-rated comedy, or a comedy at all. The movie works as an R-rated comedy.
Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum play guys who went to the same high school, but weren't friends back then. Channing Tatum was a popular "dumb jock," while Jonah Hill was a nerdy kid who dyed his hair like Eminem; when he asks a girl to prom, she literally laughs in his face (high school kids are so mean in the movies. In real life, would that girl go to prom with him? No. Would she laugh in his face? Probably also no). As adults, they both go through police training together, and become friends when Channing Tatum needs help passing his exams. They later become bike cops, but mess up their first major bust because Channing Tatum can't remember the Miranda rights. They are then assigned to go undercover at a high school, where they are suprised to find that things have changed. Channing Tatum (whose name is Jenko in this movie, apparently, though he spends most of his time undercover, so I'll just keep referring to him as Channing Tatum) assumes that he'll be popular again, but now all of the popular kids are "all into going green and being tolerant and stuff." They like Jonah Hill, though, who gets the lead in Peter Pan and "sabotages" a school track meet.
It's funny, everyone. I laughed out loud throughout. I don't have a ton to say about it, but I had a good time.
Cabin in the Woods
I don't think I can even write about this without giving stuff away. All I can really say is that it starts with a group of college kids who appear to be the typical "types" from your average teen horror movie (the "slut," the virgin, the jock, etc.) heading off for a weekend in a creepy cabin, but right from the beginning, there are twists. It is simultaneously very aware of, and willing to poke fun at, horror movie conventions while still employing many of them. One friend (hi, Amy!) described it as "like Scream, but with monsters," and I guess that's pretty accurate, though I like the Scream movies better because there *isn't* anything supernatural in them, and because they include lots of actors from TV shows that I like. Anyway, I thought it was okay. Many of the people who I went with were big horror movie fans, and they loved it; I appreciated that it was sort of clever, and I enjoyed that Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford were in it, but it wasn't my favorite thing ever.
I maybe shouldn't have tried to review three movies at once. I feel like I kind of ran out of steam with that one. Oh, well.
The Lucky One
Zac Efron plays a Marine named Logan. While in battle, he finds a picture of a young woman sticking out of the rubble; he will later describe this experience as "like finding an angel in the middle of hell." He keeps this picture with him, and after he goes home, finding it difficult to adjust to life with his sister and her family in Colorado, he sets off to find the woman in the picture. There is a lighthouse in the background of her picture, and he finds out where that lighthouse is and takes off for Louisiana. Finding her isn't difficult, but when he does, he can't find the words to tell her why he's there. Fortunately, she runs a dog training/boarding facility with her grandmother, and she thinks that he has come to respond to a Help Wanted ad. Although she is actually a little creeped out by him-- particularly by the fact that he tells her that he has walked there from Colorado-- her grandmother hires him, and needless to say, she eventually warms up to him. Complications arise in the form of her young son, or more specifically, his father, who is constantly showing up to act menacing and threaten to take full custody if she (Beth) messes up. His family is a Big Deal in their Louisiana town, and he says he can make it happen. And of course, lurking around the edges of the film is the fact that Logan still hasn't told her why he's really there, though we begin to realize, as the story moves forward, why the picture was there for Logan to find.
It really isn't a bad little movie, you guys. I've read a few Nicholas Sparks books (though not this one) and seen the movies adapted from them, and they're usually fairly solid-- though someone usually dies, and I therefore spent most of this movie whispering stuff to my friends like, "Do you think Beth's ex-husband is going to murder Zac Efron?," and, "Do you think the kid is going to die in the water?" (Actually, we were the only four people in the theater, so I really didn't even have to whisper these things.) I don't think this movie will develop the following that The Notebook had, or anything (true story: a few years back when I asked my students to write a movie review about literally any movie in the world they wanted, roughly 20% of them chose The Notebook. A fairly even mix of girls and guys. I'm serious), but it was fairly enjoyable. I liked Blythe Danner as Beth's grandmother, and Zac Efron pretty much always does a solid job; like, even in those High School Musical movies (High School Musical 3 isn't bad, by the way), you can tell he's pretty game for anything, and giving it his all. I'll respect that. Anyway, I won't say this movie is for everyone, but if you like Nicholas Sparks and/or Zac Efron, give it a whirl.
21 Jump Street
This is probably my favorite of the movies I saw last week, you guys. Like, I never really watched the original TV series 21 Jump Street; when it was on, I was too young for it, I think. I was aware that it existed, but didn't watch it more than once or twice. However, I am fairly sure that it was not an R-rated comedy, or a comedy at all. The movie works as an R-rated comedy.
Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum play guys who went to the same high school, but weren't friends back then. Channing Tatum was a popular "dumb jock," while Jonah Hill was a nerdy kid who dyed his hair like Eminem; when he asks a girl to prom, she literally laughs in his face (high school kids are so mean in the movies. In real life, would that girl go to prom with him? No. Would she laugh in his face? Probably also no). As adults, they both go through police training together, and become friends when Channing Tatum needs help passing his exams. They later become bike cops, but mess up their first major bust because Channing Tatum can't remember the Miranda rights. They are then assigned to go undercover at a high school, where they are suprised to find that things have changed. Channing Tatum (whose name is Jenko in this movie, apparently, though he spends most of his time undercover, so I'll just keep referring to him as Channing Tatum) assumes that he'll be popular again, but now all of the popular kids are "all into going green and being tolerant and stuff." They like Jonah Hill, though, who gets the lead in Peter Pan and "sabotages" a school track meet.
It's funny, everyone. I laughed out loud throughout. I don't have a ton to say about it, but I had a good time.
Cabin in the Woods
I don't think I can even write about this without giving stuff away. All I can really say is that it starts with a group of college kids who appear to be the typical "types" from your average teen horror movie (the "slut," the virgin, the jock, etc.) heading off for a weekend in a creepy cabin, but right from the beginning, there are twists. It is simultaneously very aware of, and willing to poke fun at, horror movie conventions while still employing many of them. One friend (hi, Amy!) described it as "like Scream, but with monsters," and I guess that's pretty accurate, though I like the Scream movies better because there *isn't* anything supernatural in them, and because they include lots of actors from TV shows that I like. Anyway, I thought it was okay. Many of the people who I went with were big horror movie fans, and they loved it; I appreciated that it was sort of clever, and I enjoyed that Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford were in it, but it wasn't my favorite thing ever.
I maybe shouldn't have tried to review three movies at once. I feel like I kind of ran out of steam with that one. Oh, well.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
thoughts on Titanic 3D
So after yesterday's half-marathon festivities, I met up with a few friends to see Titanic in Imax 3D. I saw Titanic twice in the theater when it first came out, and I know that I owned it on VHS at one point, but before yesterday's viewing, I hadn't seen it for ten-fifteen years. I read one disparaging review of the movie upon its rerelease that indicated that it might not hold up for those of us who liked the movie as teens, but I've got to say, I still think it's a pretty solid movie.
For one thing, I'm impressed now in a way that I wasn't as a teen by the fact that it must have taken *a lot* of work to make this movie; I don't know a lot about the making of it, but the effects in the scenes where the ship was sinking were very impressive, so I've gotta respect that. Also, I remember when I saw the movie as a teen that I was less interested in the scenes where the ship was sinking than the rest of the movie because I was mainly just into the love story. However, this time around, I was really struck by the utter chaos that breaks out once the ship starts sinking, especially as the situation gets more and more dire: the utter disregard for the people in steerage; the futile attempts to maintain order, or an appearance of order, until it's absolutely impossible to do so; the fact that eventually it seems like people are pulling out guns left and right. It also struck me just how many mistakes had to be made for 1) the Titanic to sink and 2) its sinking to be as big of a disaster as it was. I'm sitting there all, "No! You don't need to go faster!," and, "Ahh! There aren't enough lifeboats!," and, "No! Why are you only putting twelve people in a boat for sixty-five?"
Other random thoughts: I remembered that Victor Garber was in this, but I didn't really even remember who he played, and certainly not that he had a slight Irish accent. After this viewing, I would definitely rank him in my top five favorite things about the movie. Also, while I remembered that Rose's fiance was a jerk, I did not remember just how crazy things get with him. He's chasing Jack and Rose with a gun at one point! And he just grabs some random kid and pretends she's his to get onto a lifeboat! Also, there were things that I didn't realize I remembered until I saw them: for example, when Jack is handcuffed and Rose is looking for a key, I'm all, "Doesn't this ship have an emergency axe somewhere? Oh! It does! That's actually what happens!"
Anyway, bottom line is, I enjoyed it quite a bit. You'll notice that I haven't even mentioned the 3D; that's because the 3D aspect of it wasn't all that impressive, and I don't really care for 3D that much as a whole. I don't hate it like Roger Ebert hates it, or anything, but I just haven't seen it used all that effectively, and it kind of gives me a headache. I don't think 3D really added a lot to Titanic, and I think if they needed an excuse to rerelease the movie in theaters, the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking would have been as good of one as any. Nevertheless, it didn't really hurt my viewing experience. I had a good time.
For one thing, I'm impressed now in a way that I wasn't as a teen by the fact that it must have taken *a lot* of work to make this movie; I don't know a lot about the making of it, but the effects in the scenes where the ship was sinking were very impressive, so I've gotta respect that. Also, I remember when I saw the movie as a teen that I was less interested in the scenes where the ship was sinking than the rest of the movie because I was mainly just into the love story. However, this time around, I was really struck by the utter chaos that breaks out once the ship starts sinking, especially as the situation gets more and more dire: the utter disregard for the people in steerage; the futile attempts to maintain order, or an appearance of order, until it's absolutely impossible to do so; the fact that eventually it seems like people are pulling out guns left and right. It also struck me just how many mistakes had to be made for 1) the Titanic to sink and 2) its sinking to be as big of a disaster as it was. I'm sitting there all, "No! You don't need to go faster!," and, "Ahh! There aren't enough lifeboats!," and, "No! Why are you only putting twelve people in a boat for sixty-five?"
Other random thoughts: I remembered that Victor Garber was in this, but I didn't really even remember who he played, and certainly not that he had a slight Irish accent. After this viewing, I would definitely rank him in my top five favorite things about the movie. Also, while I remembered that Rose's fiance was a jerk, I did not remember just how crazy things get with him. He's chasing Jack and Rose with a gun at one point! And he just grabs some random kid and pretends she's his to get onto a lifeboat! Also, there were things that I didn't realize I remembered until I saw them: for example, when Jack is handcuffed and Rose is looking for a key, I'm all, "Doesn't this ship have an emergency axe somewhere? Oh! It does! That's actually what happens!"
Anyway, bottom line is, I enjoyed it quite a bit. You'll notice that I haven't even mentioned the 3D; that's because the 3D aspect of it wasn't all that impressive, and I don't really care for 3D that much as a whole. I don't hate it like Roger Ebert hates it, or anything, but I just haven't seen it used all that effectively, and it kind of gives me a headache. I don't think 3D really added a lot to Titanic, and I think if they needed an excuse to rerelease the movie in theaters, the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking would have been as good of one as any. Nevertheless, it didn't really hurt my viewing experience. I had a good time.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
thoughts on American Reunion
So, I have kind of a soft spot for the American Pie movies. Remember what a big deal it was when the first one came out? I was twenty, I think, home from college for the summer and working as a temp; I went to see it with a friend from work after hearing how awesome it was from many people. I later went to see American Pie 2 and American Wedding; neither of them were particularly memorable-- like, I can remember the basic plot of both, but few really funny or awesome moments. Well, no, wait, there was a pretty funny dance-off scene in American Wedding. But anyway, I still have good feelings toward the series as a whole, so obviously I was going to see American Reunion.
For one thing, I enjoy seeing casts that I like reunited; like, the first Sex and the City movie didn't even come out that long after the show ended, and I remember sitting there in the theater thinking how happy I was to see everyone again. I felt the same way when I saw Scream 4. I think there's something about thinking that a series is over, then getting to catch up with the characters again. Like, I heard that there is a Sweet Valley High novel that catches up with the Wakefield twins as adults, and I totally plan to read it.
Anyway. American Reunion catches up with the gang as they return home for their thirteen-year reunion. Yes, thirteen. Their school didn't get around to having a ten-year reunion. This made me giggle. Jim and Michelle are married with a two-year-old. Oz is a sportscaster and appeared on a Dancing with the Stars-type show. Kevin is married and an architect. Paul Finch is supposedly a world traveler. Stifler is a temp. The plot involves Jim and Michelle trying to recapture the "spark" in their marriage whilst Jim is constantly being hit on by a girl he used to baby-sit; Jim trying to convince his widowed father to start dating again; Oz and Heather realizing they still have feelings for each other; Kevin having conflicted feelings about Vicky even though he loves his wife; etc. There are lots of parties and drinking. There are also lots of reminders of stuff that happened in the original movie (like the whole school seeing the video of Jim and Nadia), and lots of stuff that is similar to stuff that happens in the original movie; for example, there is a scene where Jim has to try to sneak the girl he used to baby-sit (Kara), who has gotten drunk, stripped naked, and then passed out in his car, into her house while the rest of the guys distract her parents. I thought to myself, "Oh, YEAH, there was always a part like this in those movies!" There is some grossness here and there. There is also lots of awesome nineties music and funny references to advances in technology that have happened since the first movie; like, Stifler's big plan for distracting Kara's parents is to knock on the door, say that their car broke down, and ask if he can use their phone to call Triple A. Kara's dad: "Um, none of you guys have cell phones?" Stifler to Oz: "The last time I tried this, cell phones hadn't been invented yet!" Oh! And the guys get into a little war with some high school kids, which is pretty funny.
So, basically, if you liked the first movies, I'd recommend seeing it. I'm not sure if it would have much appeal for people who hadn't seen the first ones, though there are some funny moments. There was this forty-something couple in the theater when I saw it who seemed to be enjoying *the heck* out of it; like during the closing credits, they show a bunch of pictures of stuff that happened in the first three movies, and at one point the guy was all, "Oh, do you REMEMBER that, from the second one? With the TROMBONE?"
Also: they showed a preview for a movie with Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg that I'm sorry to say looks like it's going to be the worst movie of all time. I really like Andy Samberg, but it looks HORRIBLE.
That's all.
For one thing, I enjoy seeing casts that I like reunited; like, the first Sex and the City movie didn't even come out that long after the show ended, and I remember sitting there in the theater thinking how happy I was to see everyone again. I felt the same way when I saw Scream 4. I think there's something about thinking that a series is over, then getting to catch up with the characters again. Like, I heard that there is a Sweet Valley High novel that catches up with the Wakefield twins as adults, and I totally plan to read it.
Anyway. American Reunion catches up with the gang as they return home for their thirteen-year reunion. Yes, thirteen. Their school didn't get around to having a ten-year reunion. This made me giggle. Jim and Michelle are married with a two-year-old. Oz is a sportscaster and appeared on a Dancing with the Stars-type show. Kevin is married and an architect. Paul Finch is supposedly a world traveler. Stifler is a temp. The plot involves Jim and Michelle trying to recapture the "spark" in their marriage whilst Jim is constantly being hit on by a girl he used to baby-sit; Jim trying to convince his widowed father to start dating again; Oz and Heather realizing they still have feelings for each other; Kevin having conflicted feelings about Vicky even though he loves his wife; etc. There are lots of parties and drinking. There are also lots of reminders of stuff that happened in the original movie (like the whole school seeing the video of Jim and Nadia), and lots of stuff that is similar to stuff that happens in the original movie; for example, there is a scene where Jim has to try to sneak the girl he used to baby-sit (Kara), who has gotten drunk, stripped naked, and then passed out in his car, into her house while the rest of the guys distract her parents. I thought to myself, "Oh, YEAH, there was always a part like this in those movies!" There is some grossness here and there. There is also lots of awesome nineties music and funny references to advances in technology that have happened since the first movie; like, Stifler's big plan for distracting Kara's parents is to knock on the door, say that their car broke down, and ask if he can use their phone to call Triple A. Kara's dad: "Um, none of you guys have cell phones?" Stifler to Oz: "The last time I tried this, cell phones hadn't been invented yet!" Oh! And the guys get into a little war with some high school kids, which is pretty funny.
So, basically, if you liked the first movies, I'd recommend seeing it. I'm not sure if it would have much appeal for people who hadn't seen the first ones, though there are some funny moments. There was this forty-something couple in the theater when I saw it who seemed to be enjoying *the heck* out of it; like during the closing credits, they show a bunch of pictures of stuff that happened in the first three movies, and at one point the guy was all, "Oh, do you REMEMBER that, from the second one? With the TROMBONE?"
Also: they showed a preview for a movie with Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg that I'm sorry to say looks like it's going to be the worst movie of all time. I really like Andy Samberg, but it looks HORRIBLE.
That's all.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Awesome Things About The Hunger Games movie (spoilers)
All right, friends. I saw The Hunger Games this afternoon. Many of you were with me =). I will first just say what I said at dinner afterwards, which was that it was a complete moviegoing experience: I was cringing in my seat and covering my eyes at times, near tears at others, and even giggled a few times. Here are the things that I particularly enjoyed, in no particular order:
1) Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. Totally knocked it out of the park. He was funnier and more charming than Haymitch in the book, who was mainly just gross. I enjoyed his performance a lot.
2) Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. There were parts of this movie where she was doubled over sobbing, and she totally sold it. She was awesome.
3) the way they incorporated the hosts' commentary to explain things that you wouldn't know unless you'd read the book, like what a tracker jacker is
4) the way the camera simulated Katniss's point of view when she was under the influence of tracker jacker venom
5) the scene when Katniss puts flowers over Rue's dead body. I know it had the same function in the book, but here I really *got it* that she was calling attention to the fact that someone was dead, and this was something we should feel bad about, not just view as entertainment.
6) the scene when Katniss goes to get the medicine for Peeta and gets into a really nasty fight with another tribute
7) the fact that they left out the scene where Peeta gets all mad when he finds out/determines that Katniss may have been faking her feelings for him. It was a life or death situation, and you didn't know for a long time whether Peeta was on the up-and-up, either, so I never really got where his anger came from, anyway.
8) Seneca Crane's beard, which, in his review, Roger Ebert humorously and accurately said that Satan would be envious of. There was debate over dinner about how you would shave a beard that way, or whether it was stuck on.
9)the random moments where I made myself giggle for no good reason. For example: Peeta can disguise himself to look like trees and rocks and stuff. There is one moment where Katniss is just walking around and Peeta just pops up, camouflaged. Katniss gives him this surprised look, like, "Peeta! You look like a f'ing rock!" Similarly, there is a moment where Peeta asks her to give him the bow and arrow, and she just looks at him like, "What are you going to do with it, bitch?" I commented over dinner that it was kind of too bad that it was a PG-13 movie, because I imagine that Hunger Games contestants would be swearing a lot more.
One random thought: I liked Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman, but thought it would have been funny if Ryan Seacrest had played that part, though that might have been too obvious.
Anyway, that's it! It was great! Go see it!
1) Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. Totally knocked it out of the park. He was funnier and more charming than Haymitch in the book, who was mainly just gross. I enjoyed his performance a lot.
2) Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. There were parts of this movie where she was doubled over sobbing, and she totally sold it. She was awesome.
3) the way they incorporated the hosts' commentary to explain things that you wouldn't know unless you'd read the book, like what a tracker jacker is
4) the way the camera simulated Katniss's point of view when she was under the influence of tracker jacker venom
5) the scene when Katniss puts flowers over Rue's dead body. I know it had the same function in the book, but here I really *got it* that she was calling attention to the fact that someone was dead, and this was something we should feel bad about, not just view as entertainment.
6) the scene when Katniss goes to get the medicine for Peeta and gets into a really nasty fight with another tribute
7) the fact that they left out the scene where Peeta gets all mad when he finds out/determines that Katniss may have been faking her feelings for him. It was a life or death situation, and you didn't know for a long time whether Peeta was on the up-and-up, either, so I never really got where his anger came from, anyway.
8) Seneca Crane's beard, which, in his review, Roger Ebert humorously and accurately said that Satan would be envious of. There was debate over dinner about how you would shave a beard that way, or whether it was stuck on.
9)the random moments where I made myself giggle for no good reason. For example: Peeta can disguise himself to look like trees and rocks and stuff. There is one moment where Katniss is just walking around and Peeta just pops up, camouflaged. Katniss gives him this surprised look, like, "Peeta! You look like a f'ing rock!" Similarly, there is a moment where Peeta asks her to give him the bow and arrow, and she just looks at him like, "What are you going to do with it, bitch?" I commented over dinner that it was kind of too bad that it was a PG-13 movie, because I imagine that Hunger Games contestants would be swearing a lot more.
One random thought: I liked Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman, but thought it would have been funny if Ryan Seacrest had played that part, though that might have been too obvious.
Anyway, that's it! It was great! Go see it!
Saturday, February 18, 2012
thoughts on This Means War
Yeah, so. I took a grading break today to go see This Means War. I hadn't really planned to see a movie today; however, as I was running past Showplace Cinemas South (Evansville's cheap theater) this morning, I noticed that We Bought a Zoo and Sherlock Holmes were playing, and I thought to myself, "Huh. I kind of wanted to see those. Maybe I will, now that they're at the cheap theater. Hey, I haven't checked the movie listings this week, I wonder what-- OH MY GOD THIS MEANS WAR COMES OUT THIS WEEKEND!" Yeah. I was excited. I could not talk myself out of going today.
Friends, it was all that I hoped it would be. You all know how much I love spy stuff, especially when it's fun. Like, I know most people will say that the first two seasons of Alias were the best, and objectively, they are right. However, I have a soft spot for Season Four, when they all went black ops, so basically they had access to all of the CIA's resources but were only accountable to each other, and EVERYONE was out in the field, including Marshall. It was kind of ridiculous, but very fun. It also included my favorite episode of the series, "Welcome to Liberty Village," in which Sydney and Vaughn were stationed in a village where Russian spies were being trained to act like American citizens. That's right: Sydney and Vaughn were Americans...pretending to be Russians...pretending to be Americans. It was awesome. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be writing about This Means War.
Reese Witherspoon plays Lauren, a career woman who tests consumer products for a living; like, she's the one who gets to, for example, set cooking pans on fire to see how they withstand heat, or whatever. It looks like a pretty fun job, and her knowledge of consumer products comes in handy in humorous and useful ways at key moments in the movie. Her story is that she followed a boyfriend to L.A. from her hometown, Atlanta, only to have him cheat on her. She runs into him early in the movie with his new fiancee, and of course she is wearing running clothes and has headphones on and is singing to herself like a crazy person, and of course after she lies that she has to go meet her (nonexistent) boyfriend, he catches her eating sushi at a restaurant that she goes to alone so often that the staff there refers to her as "Table for One." So, in a nutshell, she has a lot going for her, but her love life is in a pretty sorry state.
This leads her best friend, Trish (Chelsea Handler), whose function in this movie is to make sex jokes and act gross and generally just be Chelsea Handler (who I used to think was funny but have grown tired of), to set up a racy profile for her on an online dating site. There, Lauren meets Tuck (Tom Hardy), a CIA agent who tells people he's a travel agent, has a young son, and hasn't dated much since his divorce. He's very sweet, and they hit it off...but on her way home from the date, she also happens to meet FDR (Chris Pine), who unbeknownst to her is Tuck's best friend and also a CIA agent (he tells people he's the captain of a cruise ship). Lauren and FDR don't actually hit it off right away; he's one of those too-smooth guys with a line for everything, and she's on to him right away. However, he is persistent, and she agrees to go out with him. Their first date doesn't actually go well, either, until she runs into her ex-boyfriend again and FDR does a PERFECT job pretending to be her boyfriend, being super charming to the ex-boyfriend's new fiancee, and driving the ex-boyfriend crazy by repeatedly calling him by the wrong name. It's pretty great. Anyway, so before she knows it, Lauren has gone from dating no one to dating two great guys.
Tuck and FDR find out pretty quickly that they're dating the same woman. However, both of them really like her, so they decide that they will both continue dating her and just let her choose. The thing is that since they're spies, they have the means to spy on her, and spy on each other on their dates with her, and gadgets to sabotage each other's dates with her. It's all pretty silly, but very fun; I was grinning from ear to ear for most of the movie and laughed out loud repeatedly. I thought the movie did a great job of keeping it fun while raising the stakes-- allowing relationships to deepen, conflicts to develop, complications to arise, etc. I thorougly enjoyed it. If we're going to place this in some sort of "Spy vs. Spy Romantic Comedy" genre, of which Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Duplicity are also a part, then I'm going to go out on a limb and call this my favorite of that genre.
Side note: while buying a ticket for this movie, I witnessed a very funny exchange between a young (maybe five year old?) boy who was very excited to see Ghost Rider and his dad, who was acting all confused, like, "What? You don't want to see The Vow?" And the dad was being so convincing about pretending he was going to take this kid to see The Vow that it is to the kid's credit that he did not completely lose it. Anyway, good stuff.
Friends, it was all that I hoped it would be. You all know how much I love spy stuff, especially when it's fun. Like, I know most people will say that the first two seasons of Alias were the best, and objectively, they are right. However, I have a soft spot for Season Four, when they all went black ops, so basically they had access to all of the CIA's resources but were only accountable to each other, and EVERYONE was out in the field, including Marshall. It was kind of ridiculous, but very fun. It also included my favorite episode of the series, "Welcome to Liberty Village," in which Sydney and Vaughn were stationed in a village where Russian spies were being trained to act like American citizens. That's right: Sydney and Vaughn were Americans...pretending to be Russians...pretending to be Americans. It was awesome. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be writing about This Means War.
Reese Witherspoon plays Lauren, a career woman who tests consumer products for a living; like, she's the one who gets to, for example, set cooking pans on fire to see how they withstand heat, or whatever. It looks like a pretty fun job, and her knowledge of consumer products comes in handy in humorous and useful ways at key moments in the movie. Her story is that she followed a boyfriend to L.A. from her hometown, Atlanta, only to have him cheat on her. She runs into him early in the movie with his new fiancee, and of course she is wearing running clothes and has headphones on and is singing to herself like a crazy person, and of course after she lies that she has to go meet her (nonexistent) boyfriend, he catches her eating sushi at a restaurant that she goes to alone so often that the staff there refers to her as "Table for One." So, in a nutshell, she has a lot going for her, but her love life is in a pretty sorry state.
This leads her best friend, Trish (Chelsea Handler), whose function in this movie is to make sex jokes and act gross and generally just be Chelsea Handler (who I used to think was funny but have grown tired of), to set up a racy profile for her on an online dating site. There, Lauren meets Tuck (Tom Hardy), a CIA agent who tells people he's a travel agent, has a young son, and hasn't dated much since his divorce. He's very sweet, and they hit it off...but on her way home from the date, she also happens to meet FDR (Chris Pine), who unbeknownst to her is Tuck's best friend and also a CIA agent (he tells people he's the captain of a cruise ship). Lauren and FDR don't actually hit it off right away; he's one of those too-smooth guys with a line for everything, and she's on to him right away. However, he is persistent, and she agrees to go out with him. Their first date doesn't actually go well, either, until she runs into her ex-boyfriend again and FDR does a PERFECT job pretending to be her boyfriend, being super charming to the ex-boyfriend's new fiancee, and driving the ex-boyfriend crazy by repeatedly calling him by the wrong name. It's pretty great. Anyway, so before she knows it, Lauren has gone from dating no one to dating two great guys.
Tuck and FDR find out pretty quickly that they're dating the same woman. However, both of them really like her, so they decide that they will both continue dating her and just let her choose. The thing is that since they're spies, they have the means to spy on her, and spy on each other on their dates with her, and gadgets to sabotage each other's dates with her. It's all pretty silly, but very fun; I was grinning from ear to ear for most of the movie and laughed out loud repeatedly. I thought the movie did a great job of keeping it fun while raising the stakes-- allowing relationships to deepen, conflicts to develop, complications to arise, etc. I thorougly enjoyed it. If we're going to place this in some sort of "Spy vs. Spy Romantic Comedy" genre, of which Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Duplicity are also a part, then I'm going to go out on a limb and call this my favorite of that genre.
Side note: while buying a ticket for this movie, I witnessed a very funny exchange between a young (maybe five year old?) boy who was very excited to see Ghost Rider and his dad, who was acting all confused, like, "What? You don't want to see The Vow?" And the dad was being so convincing about pretending he was going to take this kid to see The Vow that it is to the kid's credit that he did not completely lose it. Anyway, good stuff.
Monday, February 6, 2012
thoughts on Smash series premiere
I dug it, for the most part. I like Debra Messing. I like Katharine McPhee (and have since her Idol days...I'm remembering an awesome performance of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" kneeling on the edge of the stage, as well as a truly bizarre duet with Meatloaf on the finale of her season). I didn't particularly care for the way that the musical numbers would switch back and forth between reality and fantasy, though I guess they have to, to some extent, if the characters are going to do things like walk down the street singing. And, during the part when Katharine McPhee went to the director's apartment, naturally I was sitting on my couch freaking out, all, "Does this kind of thing really happen?! This is so inappropriate! I'm so uncomfortable!" Anyway, I'll stick with it. I like it so far.
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