I'm normally pretty up on these things, but my boyfriend and I are so poor that we had to wait until we could use the free passes he had in order to go. And for the first two weeks of its release, ST had those damn "No Passes" notes next to its name on Moviefone.com. (P.S, I'm evidently going to have to be even more selective about what I see in the theater, as tickets are now a nice, round $10 a pop).
Now I have never been a Star Trek fan. I don't know anything about what goes on in the ST world, aside from a few key characters and the actors who played them. Oh, and "KHAAAAAAAAAN!!"
This new film just looked too awesome to resist though, and I was pretty much right. I was taken in immediately with the backstory of George Kirk and I liked the cameo by that chick who plays Dr. Cameron on House.
Now, I thought James T. Kirk was totally bad ass (and it didn't hurt that he was nice to look at, either). My boyfriend thought he was a little too renegade for his own good, as in "Who just goes looking for fights like that?" and whatnot. I was fine with this. It could have been a problem if his character wasn't developed at all, but I felt like we got to know him and what he was all about.
The time travel stuff confused me a bit, but I tried not to think about it too hard and I don't think I really lost anything by not understanding precisely what was happening.
Spock was fantastic. Zachary Quinto nailed it, and even brought a little sexiness to the role. I appreciated the fact that the most emotional story line in the film revolved around a guy struggling with having no emotions (or trying NOT to have emotions?).
There were a few times when I felt like crazy shenanigans were thrown in just for the sake of crazy shenanigans: The red monster thing on the Hoth-like planet, and Scotty getting stuck in the water tube. I realize that these things technically furthered the plot but I started getting frustrated. Oh, similarly, the fact that after they finally got rid of the Romulans, they were then being sucked into the black hole. Unnecessary. I had a moment of fearing a Return of the King-esque never ending ending.
I think the film was cast perfectly, especially Simon Pegg. Every time he opened his mouth I laughed and I particularly loved his relationship with that creature he was stuck with on "Hoth".
In other pop culture news, I mostly have questions: Why did they turn 10 Things I Hate About You into a TV show? And why do they want to remake the original Buffy The Vampire Slayer, without the TV show cast or Joss Whedon? Now, I was never a fan of the series, to be honest. But I loved the original film. You already made a TV show that had very little to do with said film, and now you want to ruin the movie too. Thanks Hollywood.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
I've Been Slacking, or, an Overview of Recent Events
For some reason I haven't felt motivated to post the last few days, even though I've had things to post about. Here has been my week in a nutshell:
1. Saw Sunshine Cleaning. Didn't care for it. The characters made me so angry through out the film that by the time things worked out for them in the end I didn't give a shit anymore. They made stupid decisions without motivation, Emily Blunt occasionally phased back into a British accent, and Alan Arkin played essentially the same character as he did in Little Miss Sunshine, but not as endearing. And not on heroin.
2. The next night I saw Tokyo!. I also didn't care for this movie, but purely on a preferential level. My company really loved it, but I may be the only person alive disinterested and confused by Asian culture. These three short films all fell to absurdity, either at the end of a fairly straight forward narrative, or right out of the gate as in Merde, the second of the three films. Basically, when I watch a movie I need to gain something from it, even if the gaining is just a sense of utter numbness and despair (Requiem for a Dream, Brokeback Mountain). Tokyo! left me feeling nothing at all. So while I didn't really LOSE anything (except for the $8 admission fee) I didn't come away with anything either. I would rather watch a poorly made film that made me laugh or cry than a technically sound film that makes me feel nothing.
3. I watched the pilot for Glee on Hulu.com. Cheesyness aside, I loved it. As with most pilots, I was left wondering where they could take this story, especially if it's a hit and tries to stay on the air for X amount of years. But this same fact was probably said of many of our greatest and longest lasting shows. I also wonder if the show will end up moving more in one direction or the other: the edgy, subversive humor, or the touching, uplifting coming of age bit. If they can maintain the proper balance I think we've got a keeper.
4. I started reading Harry Potter again, from the beginning. It's been quite some time since I read the earlier books and it will be nice to read the whole thing in one chunk. Not only is the next movie coming out in July, but HP seemed like the only thing that may fill the emptiness left by Twilight.
5. Yesterday, before heading to my Aunt's house for food and card playing, I went to see a teen production of Tommy for which my boyfriend was playing bass. I was EXTREMELY impressed. The bits of Tommy that I've heard as a musical have disappointed me, and when my college did it as a workshop piece I wasn't thrilled. As a musical it seemed to take some of the edge off of the story, casting beautiful people with perfect voices who don't really seem to know how to rock. Other than a few flubs, the teens really got it. And I must admit, I cried my way through most of the production.
6. I've eaten a lot this weekend, it being a holiday and all. Lots of food, family and beer. Tomorrow it's back to the regular routine and classes start in two weeks.
1. Saw Sunshine Cleaning. Didn't care for it. The characters made me so angry through out the film that by the time things worked out for them in the end I didn't give a shit anymore. They made stupid decisions without motivation, Emily Blunt occasionally phased back into a British accent, and Alan Arkin played essentially the same character as he did in Little Miss Sunshine, but not as endearing. And not on heroin.
2. The next night I saw Tokyo!. I also didn't care for this movie, but purely on a preferential level. My company really loved it, but I may be the only person alive disinterested and confused by Asian culture. These three short films all fell to absurdity, either at the end of a fairly straight forward narrative, or right out of the gate as in Merde, the second of the three films. Basically, when I watch a movie I need to gain something from it, even if the gaining is just a sense of utter numbness and despair (Requiem for a Dream, Brokeback Mountain). Tokyo! left me feeling nothing at all. So while I didn't really LOSE anything (except for the $8 admission fee) I didn't come away with anything either. I would rather watch a poorly made film that made me laugh or cry than a technically sound film that makes me feel nothing.
3. I watched the pilot for Glee on Hulu.com. Cheesyness aside, I loved it. As with most pilots, I was left wondering where they could take this story, especially if it's a hit and tries to stay on the air for X amount of years. But this same fact was probably said of many of our greatest and longest lasting shows. I also wonder if the show will end up moving more in one direction or the other: the edgy, subversive humor, or the touching, uplifting coming of age bit. If they can maintain the proper balance I think we've got a keeper.
4. I started reading Harry Potter again, from the beginning. It's been quite some time since I read the earlier books and it will be nice to read the whole thing in one chunk. Not only is the next movie coming out in July, but HP seemed like the only thing that may fill the emptiness left by Twilight.
5. Yesterday, before heading to my Aunt's house for food and card playing, I went to see a teen production of Tommy for which my boyfriend was playing bass. I was EXTREMELY impressed. The bits of Tommy that I've heard as a musical have disappointed me, and when my college did it as a workshop piece I wasn't thrilled. As a musical it seemed to take some of the edge off of the story, casting beautiful people with perfect voices who don't really seem to know how to rock. Other than a few flubs, the teens really got it. And I must admit, I cried my way through most of the production.
6. I've eaten a lot this weekend, it being a holiday and all. Lots of food, family and beer. Tomorrow it's back to the regular routine and classes start in two weeks.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Finders Keepers, or, Someone at the White House is an Asshole
A hard drive went missing at the White House. It was from the Clinton Administration and evidently contained 1 terabyte of information, including the names, addresses and social security numbers of many people. Awesome.
The aide, who of course refused to be named, claimed that he (or she) was extracting information from it, set it aside to do other work for "an unspecified amount of time" and when he went to finish his project the hard drive was *GASP* missing.
Come on guys. Just do what we all do nowadays: Put it on your keychain.
The aide, who of course refused to be named, claimed that he (or she) was extracting information from it, set it aside to do other work for "an unspecified amount of time" and when he went to finish his project the hard drive was *GASP* missing.
Come on guys. Just do what we all do nowadays: Put it on your keychain.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Twilight Saga Analyzed
Have you ever read a book and been painfully sad when it ended? This has happened to me before for sure. It usually happens with series of books, such as Harry Potter or the Tales of the City, but it has also happened when reading lengthy books such as IT or The Stand. When it's done, when you've spent so much time with these characters, when they've almost become your friends, a searing lonliness sets in for me. It was no different when I closed Breaking Dawn just a few minutes ago. The story ends on a totally happy note, but when I got up from my bed there was this pang of lonliness...a feeling of "What do I do now?"
I was able to tear through these books so quickly because I have a large amount of free time on my hands since school ended for the semester. I was happy to have something so gripping to do with myself that didn't really cost much money. And now it makes me wonder what WOULD I have done if I hadn't had Twilight to keep me company over the last few weeks.
Many thoughts about the books have crossed my mind while I was reading, and I hope to chronicle some of them here.
Stephenie Meyer is not the strongest writer in the world. I would never argue with someone over that. The writing was very simple and she had to work extra hard to draw you into this world: it wasn't so hard for me to get drawn in, already loving the subject matter. She had a different challenge than, say, J.K. Rowling because Rowling had both the luxury and the struggle of truly creating a new world. While the wizarding world technically exists in tandem with the real world, the atmosphere and everything in it is otherworldly. She got to make up new words, new items, new creatures to dazzle you with. Now don't get me wrong, J.K. is hands down a better, tighter writer than Stephenie could probably ever be. But Stephenie did a competent job of creating an otherworldly atmosphere within our own world, of making us question whether or not perhaps these things (vampires, werewolves, etc) exist without us knowing.
Her most compelling characters are the vampires, hands down. Edward remained the most interesting to me until the end, even though he became somewhat of a pussy in the last two books. Each family member, and the extraneous vampires as well, were drawn so vividly, from the facets of their beauty to the extraordinary powers that some of them possessed, even for vampires.
Unfortunately, Bella, our heroine, could never compete with the level of interest piqued by the vamps. And now that I'm finished, I wonder if this was Stephenie's plan all along. We go along with Bella, getting annoyed by her decisions, annoyed that she sees herself as so plain when Edward clearly thinks she's the bees knees, annoyed with her general grumpiness and whining. And just when I hated her the most, during the whole pregnancy terror, she turns around on you. When Edward turns her into a vampire to save her from the impending death looming due to giving birth, she becomes an amazing character. All of her annoying human qualities dissipate and she's a strong, ass-kicking, powerful vampire who stuns everyone. Which is exactly why I wonder if this was the plan all along. I haven't met anyone who likes Bella much, and more people who hate the last book. I was with them for the first half. I was horrified at the introduction of this baby, horrified that Bella was making Edward so miserable, and really horrified at the horrible choice of baby names: Renesmee. Horrible.
The only thing I have to say about the pregnancy stuff is that it presented the most gruesome images to date in the books: Human Bella drinking cups and cups of human blood to appease her unborn child, Bella getting bruised and broken from the inhumanly strong being inside of her, and Edward using his teeth to tear the baby from her nearly unconscious body. This was the sort of imagery I found terribly lacking in a story about vampires. This is also imagery that I can't imagine them including in the eventual film.
Another general complaint I have involves content. She could have made these books a lot shorter by NOT having her characters argue about the same shit over and over again. Edward is constantly feeling bad about putting Bella in danger. Bella is constantly making bad decisions and trying to put her own life before Edward's. Jacob is constantly trying to win Bella's love. Stephenie could have eliminated a half a books worth of content by toning these arguments down a bit. Another piece of annoyance that is usually necessary comes from the lame recaps given at the beginning of each book. I'm used to this with book series but I hate it still. Anyone who picks up a series in the middle deserves to be confused.
Another thing that I champion J.K. for over Stephenie is J.K.'s willingness to kill people. With what Stephenie had going on at least ONE major character should have, logically, gotten the axe. I didn't especially want to see any of them go but with so much fighting all the time it seemed logical, but in the end everything was tied up in a neat little bow. Which is okay sometimes.
Mostly I just feel sad to be done. These characters have plagued my mind and even my dreams for weeks now so...I don't quite know what to do with myself. None of the things I can think of seem as comforting as hunkering down with those books. Especially because no matter what, I can never recreate the magic of reading them for the first time. The second time around, knowing what's coming, the things that annoyed me initially will be more annoying exponentially.
But I'm happy to have made this a part of my life. I got a thrill today when, walking from my car to the movie theater, a couple of teenagers on a bench complimented me on the tattoos on my arms. They didn't even ask to read them. After I thanked them, I turned to walk away and the SCREAMED when they saw the TWILIGHT on the back of my teeshirt and cheered me as I continued on my way.
One of the screamers was a boy.
I'm pretty sure he was gay.
I was able to tear through these books so quickly because I have a large amount of free time on my hands since school ended for the semester. I was happy to have something so gripping to do with myself that didn't really cost much money. And now it makes me wonder what WOULD I have done if I hadn't had Twilight to keep me company over the last few weeks.
Many thoughts about the books have crossed my mind while I was reading, and I hope to chronicle some of them here.
Stephenie Meyer is not the strongest writer in the world. I would never argue with someone over that. The writing was very simple and she had to work extra hard to draw you into this world: it wasn't so hard for me to get drawn in, already loving the subject matter. She had a different challenge than, say, J.K. Rowling because Rowling had both the luxury and the struggle of truly creating a new world. While the wizarding world technically exists in tandem with the real world, the atmosphere and everything in it is otherworldly. She got to make up new words, new items, new creatures to dazzle you with. Now don't get me wrong, J.K. is hands down a better, tighter writer than Stephenie could probably ever be. But Stephenie did a competent job of creating an otherworldly atmosphere within our own world, of making us question whether or not perhaps these things (vampires, werewolves, etc) exist without us knowing.
Her most compelling characters are the vampires, hands down. Edward remained the most interesting to me until the end, even though he became somewhat of a pussy in the last two books. Each family member, and the extraneous vampires as well, were drawn so vividly, from the facets of their beauty to the extraordinary powers that some of them possessed, even for vampires.
Unfortunately, Bella, our heroine, could never compete with the level of interest piqued by the vamps. And now that I'm finished, I wonder if this was Stephenie's plan all along. We go along with Bella, getting annoyed by her decisions, annoyed that she sees herself as so plain when Edward clearly thinks she's the bees knees, annoyed with her general grumpiness and whining. And just when I hated her the most, during the whole pregnancy terror, she turns around on you. When Edward turns her into a vampire to save her from the impending death looming due to giving birth, she becomes an amazing character. All of her annoying human qualities dissipate and she's a strong, ass-kicking, powerful vampire who stuns everyone. Which is exactly why I wonder if this was the plan all along. I haven't met anyone who likes Bella much, and more people who hate the last book. I was with them for the first half. I was horrified at the introduction of this baby, horrified that Bella was making Edward so miserable, and really horrified at the horrible choice of baby names: Renesmee. Horrible.
The only thing I have to say about the pregnancy stuff is that it presented the most gruesome images to date in the books: Human Bella drinking cups and cups of human blood to appease her unborn child, Bella getting bruised and broken from the inhumanly strong being inside of her, and Edward using his teeth to tear the baby from her nearly unconscious body. This was the sort of imagery I found terribly lacking in a story about vampires. This is also imagery that I can't imagine them including in the eventual film.
Another general complaint I have involves content. She could have made these books a lot shorter by NOT having her characters argue about the same shit over and over again. Edward is constantly feeling bad about putting Bella in danger. Bella is constantly making bad decisions and trying to put her own life before Edward's. Jacob is constantly trying to win Bella's love. Stephenie could have eliminated a half a books worth of content by toning these arguments down a bit. Another piece of annoyance that is usually necessary comes from the lame recaps given at the beginning of each book. I'm used to this with book series but I hate it still. Anyone who picks up a series in the middle deserves to be confused.
Another thing that I champion J.K. for over Stephenie is J.K.'s willingness to kill people. With what Stephenie had going on at least ONE major character should have, logically, gotten the axe. I didn't especially want to see any of them go but with so much fighting all the time it seemed logical, but in the end everything was tied up in a neat little bow. Which is okay sometimes.
Mostly I just feel sad to be done. These characters have plagued my mind and even my dreams for weeks now so...I don't quite know what to do with myself. None of the things I can think of seem as comforting as hunkering down with those books. Especially because no matter what, I can never recreate the magic of reading them for the first time. The second time around, knowing what's coming, the things that annoyed me initially will be more annoying exponentially.
But I'm happy to have made this a part of my life. I got a thrill today when, walking from my car to the movie theater, a couple of teenagers on a bench complimented me on the tattoos on my arms. They didn't even ask to read them. After I thanked them, I turned to walk away and the SCREAMED when they saw the TWILIGHT on the back of my teeshirt and cheered me as I continued on my way.
One of the screamers was a boy.
I'm pretty sure he was gay.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Yusuf, or, The Artist Formerly Known As Cat Stevens
I am not a religious person. I've even been accused of having no faith, no spirituality. But I don't think that is necessarily true.
Two of my biggest heroes are Sister Helen Prejean and Cat Stevens. Both seriously religious. And both have set me on a certain course in life.
I saw Yusuf on the Colbert Report the other night and it almost brought tears to my eyes. He's still the same. He still plays guitar awesomely. And he still has a certain dignity about him that other rock stars don't have. All of his songs, even before he was "Yusuf", were about peace and love and finding your own way in life. He still does that today. I don't care that he's Muslim. I barely even know what that means. What I do know makes me want to sing a little song:
"Plane through the World Trade Center, and you're to blame/ You give Muslims/ A bad name"
Right?
This is the man that called the Peace Train, who reminded us that "my body has been a good friend, but I won't need it when I reach the end". This is a man of faith and peace and going your own way (not to discredit Fleetwood Mac for the same sentiment).
All I know is this is a man who affected me so profoundly that I have his words tattooed on my body.
And I don't even think that is the right use of "affect".
Everyone should listen to some Cat Stevens. He does a body good.
Two of my biggest heroes are Sister Helen Prejean and Cat Stevens. Both seriously religious. And both have set me on a certain course in life.
I saw Yusuf on the Colbert Report the other night and it almost brought tears to my eyes. He's still the same. He still plays guitar awesomely. And he still has a certain dignity about him that other rock stars don't have. All of his songs, even before he was "Yusuf", were about peace and love and finding your own way in life. He still does that today. I don't care that he's Muslim. I barely even know what that means. What I do know makes me want to sing a little song:
"Plane through the World Trade Center, and you're to blame/ You give Muslims/ A bad name"
Right?
This is the man that called the Peace Train, who reminded us that "my body has been a good friend, but I won't need it when I reach the end". This is a man of faith and peace and going your own way (not to discredit Fleetwood Mac for the same sentiment).
All I know is this is a man who affected me so profoundly that I have his words tattooed on my body.
And I don't even think that is the right use of "affect".
Everyone should listen to some Cat Stevens. He does a body good.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Yesterday, or, I'm Fairly Certain I Almost Went Insane
From about 1 p.m. on Saturday until about 8 p.m on Sunday I was, for the most part, alone. I'm sure I've spent this much time completely by myself before, but for some reason the effects of this alone time left me feeling...kind of out of touch with reality.
Saturday wasn't so bad. I read, relaxed, watched a movie, caught the season finale of SNL. Frankly, I probably needed the break after the ridiculous party on Friday night that kept me up, and drunk, until 5:30 in the morning. So fine, Saturday was a day of cooling out.
Then Sunday came. I woke up around 6 in the morning after dreaming of Edward Cullen: Symptom #1. This is already the 3rd dream I've had of him this week. So at this point it's already clear that I'm spending too much time with fictional characters. I spent one hour with my soon-to-be-brother-in-law while we watched my sister run the Cleveland Marathon. I was home by 8:30 and back in bed. Where I had an even more disturbing dream that also involved Edward Cullen. We were at my grandparent's house, cleaning perhaps, and a bunch of my family was there, as well as my real life boyfriend. I had to run an errand and asked Edward to come with me, and I remember being very excited to get some alone time with him. As we were about to leave my family started shouting that something was wrong with my mom. We went in to see her laying on the couch and struggling to breathe, yet no one called an ambulance. Then there was a black cat there, and its eye fell out. This dream was probably Symptom #2.
I finally rolled out of bed around noon, showered, and planned on being productive while I waited for my boyfriend to get home from work and be ready for a dinner party type thing we wanted to attend. The hours rolled by. I sent out some resumes, and settled in to read for awhile. "Awhile" evidently meant another six hours of my life spent with vampires, werewolves, and one annoying mortal. Every once in awhile I would stop to smoke a cigarette and check Facebook to see if boyfriend was awake yet. I called him a few times.
These moments started getting frantic. I was very hungry but couldn't bring myself to eat. The only thing I'd eaten was a Sausage McMuffin. By 4 p.m. I was ravenous, but waiting for my boyfriend. And reading. And reading. And reading. By 7 p.m. my blood sugar was dangerously low and I had spent my entire day in a complete and total fantasy world.
When I did see my boyfriend pop up online and told him I was hungry but waiting for him, I got irrationally angry when he confessed he had just eaten. Symptom #3.
He agreed to pick me up in a half hour. I went to wait outside for him and he was late. By a half hour. Instead of going back into my apartment I stood outside smoking cigarettes. I couldn't go back in there just yet. This apartment suddenly felt like a prison: a prison of vampires, werewolves, and one annoying mortal.
So yeah, outside smoking cigarettes, trying not to text him and harass him. Instead, every once in awhile, I'd curse him out loud, thus becoming one of the many crazy people in Lakewood who talk to themselves. Symptom #4.
We didn't end up at the dinner party. I didn't feel like I'd be fit company in that state, babbling about people that don't exist because they were the only thing I had to talk about at that point.
And I'm glad because I spent a lovely evening with my boyfriend. After consuming too much food, we drank beer, played slaps and bloody knuckles, and did some other things that I choose not to discuss here.
Today I feel better. But I still have much much more to read.
Saturday wasn't so bad. I read, relaxed, watched a movie, caught the season finale of SNL. Frankly, I probably needed the break after the ridiculous party on Friday night that kept me up, and drunk, until 5:30 in the morning. So fine, Saturday was a day of cooling out.
Then Sunday came. I woke up around 6 in the morning after dreaming of Edward Cullen: Symptom #1. This is already the 3rd dream I've had of him this week. So at this point it's already clear that I'm spending too much time with fictional characters. I spent one hour with my soon-to-be-brother-in-law while we watched my sister run the Cleveland Marathon. I was home by 8:30 and back in bed. Where I had an even more disturbing dream that also involved Edward Cullen. We were at my grandparent's house, cleaning perhaps, and a bunch of my family was there, as well as my real life boyfriend. I had to run an errand and asked Edward to come with me, and I remember being very excited to get some alone time with him. As we were about to leave my family started shouting that something was wrong with my mom. We went in to see her laying on the couch and struggling to breathe, yet no one called an ambulance. Then there was a black cat there, and its eye fell out. This dream was probably Symptom #2.
I finally rolled out of bed around noon, showered, and planned on being productive while I waited for my boyfriend to get home from work and be ready for a dinner party type thing we wanted to attend. The hours rolled by. I sent out some resumes, and settled in to read for awhile. "Awhile" evidently meant another six hours of my life spent with vampires, werewolves, and one annoying mortal. Every once in awhile I would stop to smoke a cigarette and check Facebook to see if boyfriend was awake yet. I called him a few times.
These moments started getting frantic. I was very hungry but couldn't bring myself to eat. The only thing I'd eaten was a Sausage McMuffin. By 4 p.m. I was ravenous, but waiting for my boyfriend. And reading. And reading. And reading. By 7 p.m. my blood sugar was dangerously low and I had spent my entire day in a complete and total fantasy world.
When I did see my boyfriend pop up online and told him I was hungry but waiting for him, I got irrationally angry when he confessed he had just eaten. Symptom #3.
He agreed to pick me up in a half hour. I went to wait outside for him and he was late. By a half hour. Instead of going back into my apartment I stood outside smoking cigarettes. I couldn't go back in there just yet. This apartment suddenly felt like a prison: a prison of vampires, werewolves, and one annoying mortal.
So yeah, outside smoking cigarettes, trying not to text him and harass him. Instead, every once in awhile, I'd curse him out loud, thus becoming one of the many crazy people in Lakewood who talk to themselves. Symptom #4.
We didn't end up at the dinner party. I didn't feel like I'd be fit company in that state, babbling about people that don't exist because they were the only thing I had to talk about at that point.
And I'm glad because I spent a lovely evening with my boyfriend. After consuming too much food, we drank beer, played slaps and bloody knuckles, and did some other things that I choose not to discuss here.
Today I feel better. But I still have much much more to read.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Son of Rambow, or, This Movie Was Delightful!
Last night I watched Son of Rambow and it was charming and adorable. In a nutshell, a super religious kid (religion unknown. I think it was called The Brethren) befriends the school bully, who is remaking First Blood for a film competition. Here is what I liked most about it:
The whimsy
The triumph over kooky religions
The strange French foreign exchange student who is totally ridiculous looking
Ed Westwick
There isn't a witty remark I could make that could do this little film justice. It warmed my heart, it made me laugh, and it accomplished these things by being completely unique and never cheesy.
A note about movies being good, bad, or cheesy:
L.P made an observation about The Last House On The Left which I appreciated. He found a way to take a mediocre film and find some amount of merit in it. This is how I try to live my life when observing any art form. I'm not sure if this would make me the best or the worst film critic ever. I have a hard time coming up with lists of really horrible movies because it's very very rare that I think something was SO bad it wasn't worth my time. I can only think of two examples (and they're certainly not the worst movies ever) where my viewing experience was so unpleasant that I resorted to behavior that isn't like me.
The first was the second Matrix. I think it was Reloaded. I hated it so much that I actually fell asleep in the movie theater, which I had never done before or done since. It was confusing, poorly executed, and that awful rave/sex scene was one of the worst scenes in any movie ever.
The second time something like this happened was not very long ago, for the Bob Dylan "biopic" I'm Not There. I was SOOOO excited for this movie and I was totally disappointed. So disappointed in fact, that we walked out...another first for me. This may have been partly because my boyfriend and I had just gotten back together and we didn't want to waste our time finishing a bad movie. The only redeeming quality I saw was Cate Blanchett whose performance was so stellar, I kind of wished they just would have cast her and been done with it. The concept was good, but the execution was overly artsy and often painful to watch. However, on this one I may give it a second chance and watch it again some day. All the way through.
But, generally, I find something good in everything. If a movie is bad, I laugh my way through it and make fun of it with people. If a movie is supposed to be stupid, then you already know what you're getting into and just go along for the ride.
There's always something: an awesome hero, an evil villain, one hilarious scene, awesome costumes. But if nothing else, pray there are at least some pretty faces to look at.
The whimsy
The triumph over kooky religions
The strange French foreign exchange student who is totally ridiculous looking
Ed Westwick
There isn't a witty remark I could make that could do this little film justice. It warmed my heart, it made me laugh, and it accomplished these things by being completely unique and never cheesy.
A note about movies being good, bad, or cheesy:
L.P made an observation about The Last House On The Left which I appreciated. He found a way to take a mediocre film and find some amount of merit in it. This is how I try to live my life when observing any art form. I'm not sure if this would make me the best or the worst film critic ever. I have a hard time coming up with lists of really horrible movies because it's very very rare that I think something was SO bad it wasn't worth my time. I can only think of two examples (and they're certainly not the worst movies ever) where my viewing experience was so unpleasant that I resorted to behavior that isn't like me.
The first was the second Matrix. I think it was Reloaded. I hated it so much that I actually fell asleep in the movie theater, which I had never done before or done since. It was confusing, poorly executed, and that awful rave/sex scene was one of the worst scenes in any movie ever.
The second time something like this happened was not very long ago, for the Bob Dylan "biopic" I'm Not There. I was SOOOO excited for this movie and I was totally disappointed. So disappointed in fact, that we walked out...another first for me. This may have been partly because my boyfriend and I had just gotten back together and we didn't want to waste our time finishing a bad movie. The only redeeming quality I saw was Cate Blanchett whose performance was so stellar, I kind of wished they just would have cast her and been done with it. The concept was good, but the execution was overly artsy and often painful to watch. However, on this one I may give it a second chance and watch it again some day. All the way through.
But, generally, I find something good in everything. If a movie is bad, I laugh my way through it and make fun of it with people. If a movie is supposed to be stupid, then you already know what you're getting into and just go along for the ride.
There's always something: an awesome hero, an evil villain, one hilarious scene, awesome costumes. But if nothing else, pray there are at least some pretty faces to look at.
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