“Bridesmaids” or how bad is too bad?

Wow…..I don’t know what to say, that may have been one of the worst movies ever;  not funny, not charming, not good. While it is true that I like bad movies, this is just bad/bad.

A great bad movie is bad/funny or bad/cheesy or bad/stupid; this wasn’t any of those things, it was just dull. Dull, dull, dull.  The story - lame, the acting – flat, the dialog – unsparkling, the jokes – unfunny.  This movie had some pretty solid performers, but it sucked any remnant of talent from all of them. 

Even the title is misleading, this was not an ensemble piece, it was all about one character played by Kristen Wiig who also wrote the movie.  From this outing my perception is that she sucks.  The dialog lacked wit, and the performance lacked charm.  You don’t care about her sad life or her stupid behavior; you just wish it would end, sooner rather than later.  Two hours of my life I can never get back.  ; P

Actresses, or why an actor should have a penis.

Actresses!!! As you can see from my rant written this year on July 7^th, the day after the Sag awards, I have issues, here goes:

  

Ok, so I watched the SAG awards this weekend, and I have to say Kudos to Natalie Portman for calling herself and the other women in her category Actresses!!!  This is one of my biggest pet peeves.  Women in Hollywood calling themselves Actors, as though being an actress is less valid. It pisses me off, being  a woman is not less valid than being a man and using a feminine nominator is not devaluing.    Especially when they say the best Female Actor and the best Male Actor.  That is so stupid!!! If you are both actors, then there should just be one category, Actors, that should include men and women.  But of course the reality is that they are not the same, women understand specific things about women and men understand different things about men, and the perspective is different, but one is not better than the other.    

A woman is an ACTRESS, OWN IT!!

"Twilight" or the most fun you can have at tweeners expense

I actually wrote this in December of 2009, but wanted to share it again:

All right, I just have to tell people, I went to the midnight movie last night to see “Twilight”. Any of you who know any girls between the ages of 15 and 25 should be familiar with this book. It is all the rage right now. 

This was probably one of the most interesting movie experiences I have ever had, and for those of you who know me and my frequent movie going habits, you know that is saying something. So, last night I went to get tickets and the first theatre I went to had been sold out for two days. The second theatre still had tickets, but the line was out the door at 10:30 and the movie didn't start until midnight. I didn't stand in line, instead I went home and had dinner, and then went back at 11:45 when they started seating, by that time they had gone ahead and opened two theaters, so I went on in and sat down, there were probably 3 to 1 girls to guys, and the crowd was all twitchy and excited. When the words "feature presentation" came up on the screen they were already cheering and clapping. 





Once the movie started, they didn't really calm down like movie goers usually do instead they clapped and laughed at every little thing. Then when "Edward" came on the screen, OMG!! They squealed and screamed and giggled like they were at a Jonas Brothers concert (That would be like a Beatles concert for those of us over 25). It was hilarious!! I don't know if you would have the same reaction anywhere, but if you have the chance, it is totally worth going just for the crowd. As a Plus, I think this is the first time ever that I can say, I liked the movie better than the book. So if any of you read the book and are interested in seeing the movie I would recommend going on this weekend for the opening, total crowd entertainment! Plus plenty of eye candy!! 


"Drive" or how I love Ryan Gosling

Up until this year Ryan Gosling has been something of and Indie idol. But with his recent releases, like the very fine “Crazy Stupid Love”, “Drive”, and the upcoming “The Ides of March” he is showing us he can carry big films.   I’m so glad.

Because I don’t think I could be more in love with Ryan Gosling if I tried!  In true cougar fashion, I could eat him up!!  Ever since his early appearance as Young Hercules, I have found him immensely charming.  In movies like “Half Nelson”, “Murder by Numbers” and “The Notebook”, I saw him as a really fine actor.  But it wasn’t until “Lars and the Real Girl” (a movie everyone should see but few have) that I saw his incredible ability.  He makes you care about a doll, really care, because he does.  I cried so hard at the end of that movie it took a little while to recover.  He really knows how to draw on our emotions, by being willing to show his vulnerability.  "Drive" is no exception.

I just saw “Drive” and I loved it, but it also left me with some mixed, confused feelings.  I found the music odd, but it did help the atmosphere of the movie, which was very quiet, yet hyper violent too.  Ryan’s nameless character, the driver was both sweet and sociopathic.  You could feel that his smile, which was always so sweet, was sometimes obviously used as a shield of his deep anger.

The quietness was not specifically the movie itself, but Ryan Gosling’s portrayal.  He was an island of stillness, and silence.  The entire mise-en-scene was designed to emphasize his isolation from the world around him.  The dark lighting in his apartment, and the way nothing personal of his character’s background was introduced.  The darkening of the light in the elevator scene, used to echo the dark about to manifest in him. The way he stood at his window, looking out at the world, yet separated from it. You could feel from his performance, some deep early trauma, echoed in the young boy seeing his father beaten. Then when his tentative connection with the Carey Mulligan’s character Irene is interrupted by the release of her husband from prison, you can see he is crushed, but so quietly crushed she does not realize how hurt he is.  His eyes tell the story.

This is a movie that does not talk down to the viewer, many of the things happening are left unsaid, but we understand anyway.  The creators of this movie did not feel they had to spell everything out for us.  Sometimes when you see a movie like this there is so much exposition that it feels ridiculous.  We don’t need the characters to explain their feeling to us, their action do it for them.  I wish I saw more movies like this that let you understand the plot through a natural progression instead of a forced voice over or unnatural dialog.   This one is a keeper!