Giving Me the Warm Squishies!

So there's this site I pimped out a few months back, Pajiba? In addition to great movie industry news, reviews and random lists, the site has this great, loyal fanbase who make hilarious comments. (Pajiba even has a weekly feature "Eloquent Elegance" where they countdown the 10 best comments of the week. Awesome.) At least once a week they have this feature called "Comment Diversion" where someone comes up with a topic or question, usually, but not exclusively, movie-related, and the commenters have free reign. It's always a good place to find some distracting, time-wasting discussion for the night or weekend.

I just got around to last Friday's comment diversion and the topic was: last really great compliment you either gave or got (or both). And reading through everyone's stories about the things that inspired them, got them past an insecurity, comfort them to this day, was really just heartwarming to read. In the world of entertainment reporting, reviewing and blogging, where so many of us are bonded by the things we actually hate together (you know what I'm talking about - who hasn't been part of a Twilight, or Sex and the City, or Nicholas Cage bashing community around here? Sometimes combined hatred is more fun than agreement!) it was really nice to read about people being the best versions of themselves, and knowing that sometimes what makes you feel like a more worthwhile person is genuinely complimenting someone else. If you feel like getting a dose of sentimental goodiness, here's the link: Pajiba Weekend Comment Diversion.

In other internet wanderings, how scary is this photo?



And it has nothing to do with the weapons. It's the combined angry eyebrows. Reminds me of the awesome episode of "Angel" where he was turned into a puppet and had to fight a whole bunch of other puppets possessed by demons with red eyes who used people as human puppets. That was scary. Although puppet Angel turning into a vampire was mostly just cool. Anyways, this photo's giving me nightmares already. Ernie is soooo going to kill me in my sleep!

Have a great night! I'm off to watch Greek and Gossip Girl! (Why, oh, why did the CW have to move GG to 9pm so that it's once again on at the same time as Greek?)

Summer Bummer

Well, it's been awhile. I would say sorry for the lengthy absence, but it seems I'm not the only one around here who either took the summer off or really cut down on the production rate. We all seem to be dragging our asses. Wish I could say that I've been really busy with something important and cool, but the reality is I've been clicking my heels. But I didn't stop watching movies. So let's catch up, shall we?

Favorite Recent DVD Rental: The Wackness
Was not expecting to fall in love with this movie the way I did. Great recapture of 1994 New York and the revolutionary rap discoveries of that year, fab supporting turns from Ben Kingsley and Olivia Thirlby, and a fantastic, dorky, vulnerable, frontin' lead turn from Josh Peck, previously known as the fat comic relief on that Nickelodean show "Drake and Josh." Blew me away here, and has just about the greatest smile I've seen all year.

Favorite Movie I Saw in a Theater: 500 Days of Summer
To be fair, I only saw about 4 movies in the theater from July-September, and I'm ashamed that I still haven't seen The Hurt Locker. But this Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Zooey Deschanel vehicle completely lived up to the expectations I had based on that rocking teaser trailer back in March. It's definitely indie fare - look for the alt-approved soundtrack, use of side-by-side camera fantasies, dance sequence, animation coming to life, and repetitive editing - but the script and performances are so strong that these flashy technical devices enhance the film rather than become a crutch.

In celebration of that movie, and also of random dance sequences in general (still loving the ridiculous end of the Jim and Pam "Office" wedding) this is a music video starring Levitt and Deschanel. Yes, that's Deschanel singing as part of her indie group, She & Him. I watched this video repeatedly back in July when the film first came out. (Check out the serious acrobatic chops of Levitt!)



Favorite Movie I DVR'd: The Station Agent
Been trying to watch this for years but my local video store never carried it. It's written and directed by sometimes actor Thomas McCarthy, who also wrote and directed last year's wonderful The Visitor. It stars a somber, quietly sexy Peter Dinklage as a dwarf and train enthusiast who inherits a train depot in a small town. He eventually becomes friends with other small town prisoners Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Canavale, forming a bizarrely sweet threesome (of the friendship variety). It's a quiet film and I don't think it builds to any earthshattering revelations, but the characters are well-formed and excellently acted and it's one of those movies that I find comforting to come back to, almost like revisiting old friends.

Least Favorite Movie I DVR'd: Carmen Jones or A Woman Under the Influence
I've been marathoning through old classics and Ebert picks, and both of these films fall under the category of "Glad I saw it, never want to see it again, EVER." Carmen Jones has a modernized operatic score taken from Bizet's famous "Carmen" and an Oscar-nominated performance from Dorothy Dandridge, but man did I hate the lead character! And co-star Harry Belafonte was a total drip. Could not root for the romance, or revel in the downfall, at all! A Woman Under the Influence was a great acting vehicle for star Gena Rowlands (also Oscar-nominated) and very indicative of lauded director John Cassavetes' style, but the subject matter was just too real. Imagine a really great episode of "The Office," a fabulously uncomfortable one, but take away all the funny and make the characters mentally unstable, alcoholic and abusive. It's an actor's showcase and the subject matter was well-handled, but it was beyond uncomfortable to watch, and was just 2 and a half hours of the same problem being handled badly, though realistically.

Latest TV Discovery: "Arrested Development"
Completely late to the party here, but better late than never. My friend Abby has recommended this to me several times and I finally partook when I saw the entire first season was posted on Hulu. Fantastic group of comedic actors here, a completely ridiculous premise, and writers willing to venture into the absurd. I'm laughing aloud all the time watching this. It also has some of the very best continuity I've ever seen; if the writers created a phobia in episode one, it still exists in episode 22. And there are too many hilarious running gags to keep track of.

Current Song Obsessions: "Fire Burnin' on the Dance Floor" - Sean Kingston (love it so much! *hangs head in shame*), "I Drove All Night" - Cyndi Lauper, and "We Are Golden" - Mika, "Don't Dream It's Over" - Crowded House (gah, the surest way to turn me into a nostalgic pile of goo)

Books I've Read:














EPL: This was my lifesaver during a down time in July. Don't know if it would have meant as much to me in another stage of my life, but Gilbert's narrative was like finding an understanding kindred spirit.
Lucky: Really straightforward account of the author's true-life rape. It was obviously carefully constructed with as much attention to detail as possible while still maintaining a novelistic flow. The details of the rape and recovery are harrowing.
TTTW: Much less sappy that I was expecting given the target demographic. It takes a sci-fi premise and makes it relatable and believable within today's world. I appreciated the way the characterizations of Clare and Henry (the husband and wife) stuck to specific details and emotions. Neither character became a melodramatic plot device, but retained an authentic grounding force.

Can't Stop Playing: Sudoku
Andrea left a deck of cards with Sudoku games on them here and I can't stop completing the puzzles. I've already finished off the Easy puzzles and am struggling through the difficult ones (although I admit, I have to cheat occassionally in order to make progress on those - but only one number at a time!) I'm just so relieved to have actually figured out how these work cause I felt like a real dunce failing so spectacularly at them before.

Last Movie I bought on DVD: Away We Go
I can't decide if the overly broad characterizations of all the supporting characters are genius or a massive overstep, but that doesn't stop me from laughing. I love the soundtrack (which features a lot of great Alexi Murdoch) and as the lead couple John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph create a very touching warmth; I believe this couple is in love and that they make each other happy. Flawed, but ultimately worth it for me.

Rules of Nostalgia

It's impossible to gage how others will react to films you loved at the age of 8. In many cases, you yourself no longer really like those movies, but the memory of how much you loved them carries you through. Case in point: Elizabeth *hated* Summer Magic, one of those twee Disney movies from the '60's starring Haley Mills, and I was rather flummoxed. How can you hate an old school Haley Mills flick? It has this fantastically ridiculous song called "The Pink of Perfection" and it ends with all the girls fancied up and on the arms of their beaus at a dance! But, unfortunately, my sheen of nostalgia would not transfer.

I may have mentioned this phenomenon before, but it was on my mind this week after I watched the new trailer for Tron Legacy. The original Tron was yet another twee live action Disney film from back in "the good ol' days" (you know, before Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers and Drake and Josh ruled the Disney channel?) about a computer programmer who gets stuck inside a virtual reality program inside, much like a video game. It was one of the first, real CGI films I ever saw (I mentioned it's lack of special effects nomination in my 10 Most Egregious Oscar Snubs post last year) and as someone who isn't really that into video games, I get a little stoked talking about the neon characters and low-rent computer games that comprised Tron.

This is the teaser trailer: for those of you who didn't know, Jeff Bridges was the star of the original - the computer programmer sucked into the game - so seeing his character again is supposed to be a big thrill to those who saw the original. The landscape of the game is especially exciting to me because it looks exactly like it would have in the 1980's if CGI technology were yet capable of it. And YAY for the neon bikes! Hope I'm not the only person out there who's happy to see you again!




In other nostalgic news, I'm currently hooked on season 7 of "Beverly Hills 90210" airing on Soapnet. Turns out I did have a little crush on Jason Priestly back in the day. But I'm only watching until he and Kelly get back together. I swear.

Coming Soon!

So no offense to the good movies that are out and about, but I feel like this summer really blows. I haven't seen The Hangover yet, which sounds worth it, but other than that, all I've really been interested in is Star Trek (seen it and loved it) and Away We Go (love John Krasinski) and I find myself scouring the movie sections and being thoroughly disappointed every week. But July and August have a lot of promising options. With that in mind, here's what *I think* I'm looking forward to for the rest of the summer.

• Public Enemies (out now): If you would have asked me two weeks ago, this would not have been high on my list of priorities. But it's getting pretty rave reviews, has a stellar cast (Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard) and is directed by Michael Mann (Last of the Mohicans and Collateral). In the absence of any great, big, adult films coming soon, this will have to do.
  

• Cheri (out now): It's a small film about French courtesans and love in the 19th century and the trailer reminds me a little of the adaptations of Oscar Wilde's plays, The Importance of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband. I feel like seeing something pithy and dramatic and old-fashioned. It also stars Rupert Friend, this up and coming British actor with God's gift to cheekbones, previously best known to me as Keira Knightley's boyfriend and Mr. Wickham in Pride and Prejudice. But then I caught most of this 2005 flick Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont starring Friend and Joan Plowright and kind of fell in love with him. And in this drought of a movie summer, I could use a little charming. Plus all the word about Michelle Pfieffer's performance is pretty outstanding.
  

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (7/15): Well, duh! In truth with all of the expectation and impatience building up since they delayed the film in November, this is definitely the most anticipated movie of the year for me. The full length trailer looks absolutely fabulous, like they really did tell the entire story and not leave anything important out. It hits the Dumbledore and Harry beats, the Ron and Hermione beats, has sad Malfoy, and impenetrable Snape, and Fenrir Greyback and Slughorn and Death Eaters destroying London and the memories and the love potion and the cave and it all looks beautiful. I can't wait!

• In the Loop (7/24): Small film, only read a little about it before looking up the trailer. It's got a great cast of British character actors (Tom Hollander is great) and it looks funny and clever. It's about the stupidity of political figures, I think.
  

• 500 Days of Summer (7/17): I posted the teaser trailer for this back in March and my excitement to see his has not yet abated. If not for Harry Potter this would be #1. Most of what I've read promises a real love story with a lot of quirk and some great performances. I'm so in.

• Julie & Julia (8/7): I'm on the fence about this one. I love Meryl Streep and Amy Adams and there is something about cooking and using another person's book/receipes to help pull yourself out of our own head (I'm so getting that right now), plus it's directed by Nora Ephron and it would be nice to see her have a success here. But I think it will largely depend on the reviews that film gets.
  

• Taking Woodstock (8/14): It's directed by Ang Lee, has a great supporting cast including Emile Hirsch, Liev Schreiber, and Imelda Staunton, and it stars Demetri Martin, that comedian who performs deadpan with a guitar and an easel? Love him. And it's apparently the *true* story of how Woodstock came to be performed when and where it was. That means lots of hippies and great music.
  

• The Time Traveler's Wife (8/14): Rachel McAdams. Eric Bana. He time travels without control, kind of like "Quantum Leap." It's a melodramatic weepie. I once read a Veronica Mars fanfiction using the premise of this book and I totally loved it.

• The Young Victoria (out now?): This is a British movie that came out earlier this year but I have no idea if it already came out here or if it's ever gonna come out. I saw a TV movie about Queen Victoria and her husband Albert once and they were so adorable. Basically, they married for love. She was the Queen and her was her biggest support and when he died she spent years mourning him (think Judi Dench in Mrs. Brown). This film stars Emily Blunt and, again, Rupert Friend and I love period pieces about British royals.
  

• Post Grad (8/14): This is Rory Gilmore and Matt Saracen go to college where they are best friends until his feelings for her cause a fracture in their friendship. It's also about how Rory can't find a job and about that period after college, but before you feel like a real adult. I dig that feeling. The trailer features Carolina Liar's "Showing Me What I'm Looking For." But you had me at "Rory Gilmore and Matt Saracen."
  

Fuck me, that was a much longer list than I had anticipated! Sorry! Anything I've left off?

Things Annoying Me Today...

• Nancy Grace and her endlessly yapping mouth! I realize that the case of Caley and Casey Anthony (the 2-year old apparently killed by her mom) is hot news and right up Nancy's aisle of sensationalistic journalism revolving around the deaths of young children, but if I have to listen to her call Casey Anthony "tot mom" one more time, I'm gonna seriously slash my wrists. It's one thing to debate the case on your show, but shouting down anyone who doesn't immediately advocate for the death penalty and makes any point apart from "the prosecution is gonna slam dunk this case because "tot mom" is 100% guilty and there's nothing else to discuss" is getting so old. And her constant "tot mom" refrain just seems like a pathetic and demeaning attempt to make the story compact and soundbitey (similar to the horrendous moniker "Octomom").
• All the press coverage of the Sascha Baron Cohen Bruno movie. It might be hilarious - I thought Borat was a riot - but I'm already sick of seeing this guy show up everywhere in character looking like a goddamn rejected stunt cupid with Zoolander face. It's making me not want to EVER see your movie, dude! The upside of Michael Jackson's death is that it's pushed this loser off the front burner on E News (not that I'm particularly proud I watch that), but now I'm sick of the MJ coverage on every single news station. Can't win.
• Those Credit Report dot com commercials seem personally aimed at me in order to make me feel as pathetic as possible. Isn't it bad enough that I'm in massive debt without being reminded of the fact that I may end up a decrepit spinster as a result? "Hey loser, not only will you never be able to by a brand new car but your husband's gonna leave you!!! How do you like dem apples?!!?" What if I promise my future prospective husband that even though I'm his "dream girl with bad credit" we won't live in my parent's basement? (They don't have one, ha!) And what's really so bad about working at a Renaissance Faire anyway?
• Is Pixar sexist? So that's a huge exaggeration of the issue at hand. Apparently a female writer at NPR posted an open letter to Pixar requesting a female lead in one of the upcoming films. (See the original letter here.) This has sprouted a lot of controversy and an extreme distortion of her request. Cinematical has covered this debate and links to another blogger's overly defensive response: "Dear Pixar, How about a Chick Flick?" (See that article with link to the "Chick Flick" post here.) So now both sides are getting overly reactionary. The feminists are complaining about the lack of female leads in the Pixar cartoons and the guys are complaining about feminist shit that wants everything to be politically correct. But here is what I think the actual point of that open letter was: Pixar, you make the best cartoons around. And though you have created a lot of great female characters, the stories haven't been theirs - they've been supporting characters. And since you're the best around, could you please make one of your future flicks about an awesome female lead who's not a princess, cause the lead female characters are always princesses. That's all. It's not a criticism of Pixar or their films, or a request for there to be an equal number of male/female films. Just that we'd like to someday see a Pixar cartoon where Ellie from Up or Violet from The Incredibles were the main character.
  

But there are a couple of redeeming bits of pop culture on the horizon...

• I found this great clip of an SNL "Sex and the City" sketch with Christina Aguilera doing a kick-ass impersonation of Samantha. It gave me a chuckle. This is the only clip of it I could find.
  

• I really liked ABC's recently canceled mid-season replacement show "The Unusuals." It had a great cast (Harold Perrineau, Adam Goldberg, and Amber Tamblyn to name a few) but the guy that stuck out to me was Jeremy Renner. I've seen this guy around a lot, mostly in small, forgettable roles, and Elizabeth likes to tell me he was terrifying in a movie about Jeffrey Dahmer (where he starred), but other than that, don't know much about the guy. But after watching him in "The Unusuals" he's on my radar, I have a little crush, like his ability to be tough and tender and funny and cute. His current film, The Hurt Locker, is getting great reviews, so be on the lookout for that if you're interested. (Reviews of The Hurt Locker: Stephanie Zacharek, Entertainment Weekly, Pajiba)

Reviews and Snark and Lists, Oh My!

I found another dependable site for movie talk. It's called Pajiba - Scathing Reviews for Bitchy People and it has brought me a lot of honest joy over the last week as I have devoured their entire review index (the site only dates to about 2004, that's only about 4 1/2 years of reviews - didn't take long). The writers of this one seem more in my age range, and also seem to have a lot of my movie sensibilities. They're crass and they cuss and they're occasionally unprofessional (this site isn't affiliated with any major publication or news agency, so I guess they're free to stink it up) but that doesn't mean these people can't write or that they don't have some great insight. The fact is, they like most of the same movies as I do, only they're much more articulate about why which makes me feel smart and right. How very self-righteous of me. But it's a good feeling. As much as I love a good, serious film board - like the Scanners or The Cooler blogs - sometimes I just wanna feel validated and laugh. And this site offers that in abundance while continuing to adeptly analyze movies. (They also have a great group of readers/commenters who are inappropriate and funny and full of opinions, but don't take themselves too seriously and don't meanly jump on people who disagree - it's all plays out like warm banter.) Here's a smattering of quotes I really liked and agreed with:

From the review of Sideways:

The exuberantly physical Jack doesn’t hold himself back from Miles, as men in films (and life) usually do; he hugs him, he jumps on him, he mimes rutting on him when he’s teasing Miles about going to bed with a woman. It’s what saves Jack from being wholly unlikable: He loves this uptight sad sack and so, after a while, do we, so we forgive Jack for being coarse and selfish.

From the review of August Rush:

Because while August Rush is not an important film, while it is not a serious one, or an Oscar contender, or subversive, or destined to be a cult classic, it is a movie that — if you allow it — will liquefy your innards, that will make your small little atrophied hearts grow three sizes and then melt into a giant puddle of gop that those poor, put-upon theater workers will have to mop up while you’re out singing and holding hands with the denizens of Whoville. It is a magically romantic movie in the way that movies are meant to be romantic, a feel good movie that still feels good after you’ve taken stock, after you’ve digested it all and checked the undercarriage for faulty lines because you may just find that you’ve sprung a goddamn leak.

From the review of Brokeback Mountain:

Jack struts around like a stud horse, intoxicated with the idea of being a rodeo star and proving his worth to his disapproving father and, by extension, the world. Gyllenhaal’s performance at first seems a little out of place; everyone around him ... seems entirely at ease and unactorish, but on a second viewing I realized that what I was watching wasn’t Gyllenhaal’s performance — it was Jack’s. Jack is constantly trying to fill the role of Western hero, trying to impress; when we first see him he leans against his truck in an exaggeratedly casual posture, with a “hey, cowboy” leer. The pose seems tentative here, but when he strikes it again later, after he knows he’s won Ennis, it’s triumphant. Unlike Ennis, Jack knows what he wants and is willing to go after it, though he may be only a little better at understanding it.

From the review of Brick:

Brendan’s fights with the jock and Tug are fairly close together, and they’re disturbing in their visceral honesty. This kid just starts beating on people, and gets plenty bloody in the process. The fight scenes, and there are several more, are often completely free of music, and what few melodies do appear in them are far from the bass-heavy bombast of typical genre brawls. Composer Nathan Johnson, the director’s brother, interweaves spare melodies and reworks haunting themes for each of the characters, ranging from something like loose, instrumental indie pop to piano-based ballad lines that play like an uber-depressed Gershwin. But his silence in the fight scenes serves to ground the film even more in its own sad realism: We start to understand that, far from the neutered deaths of a Bruckheimer movie, these people might actually kill each other.

From the review of Wedding Crashers (confession - I can't even adequately describe how awesome Vince Vaughn is in this movie. He's on crack, in a good way.) :

The film is really about the interplay between Owen Wilson’s wise-assed honeyed drawl and the rapid-fire, morally valueless interjections from Vaughn, a comedy duo as energetically complimentary as Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell would have been if they were allowed to use verbiage from the Urban Dictionary. These two have played scene-stealing sidekicks for so long that the combination, at first, seemed unsustainable. But Vaughn and Wilson battle in a game of one-upmanship throughout, effortlessly competing in a volley of witty crassness that doesn’t let up (though, it is Vaughn who ultimately wins out), and in which the only danger is one of comedic over-stimulation.

From the review of Juno:

I’m almost at a loss for words to describe just how good — how deeply and honestly good — Juno made me feel, and how its big bright beating heart is capable of delivering moments of genuine love and heartache and confusion and the general feeling of being left to the cold mercy of the universe in the hell that is growing up.....There’s a moment in Juno when it becomes clear that the film will not walk the well-trodden ground of easy comedies that have come before it but instead aim for — and grandly achieve — something greater, and truer, and full of the shivering joy of life itself. And it’s a small moment, too. Juno shows up on Paulie’s lawn one morning and tells him she’s pregnant, deadpanning that her situation typically leads to “you know … an infant.” and Paulie pauses for a few moments before asking, “What should we do?” His eyes show just the barest glint of tears for the rest of the conversation, and you can tell he’s working through too many emotions to count. He doesn’t freak out at her, and he doesn’t swear at her; he doesn’t even ask if it’s his. He just knows, and acknowledges it, and in that moment he cements everything he feels about Juno and everything the film itself will be: blunt, funny, and warmly accepting.

Occasionally the reviews are fucking hysterical, like this following excerpt from the review of The Lake House. (Disclaimer: I don't actually think Keanu Reeves is the worst actor in the world, but this cracked me up nonetheless.)

But then again, I suppose if Hollywood scriptwriters (or in this case, South Korean scribes) abided by the rules of logic and common sense, then we’d never be treated to pointless bullshit romantic sci-fi films like The Lake House, in which the only moments of amusement come when Keanu Reeves is asked to sneeze or cry onscreen — two actions that look remarkably similar when Neo is trying to sell his dramatic talents. Granted, I’ve been a fan of Reeves since he provided unheard-of levels of unintentional comedy in Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing, but Keanu’s talents do not run toward weepers, where his tears look about as natural as Ashlee Simpson’s new nose, and whatever chemistry he shared with Sandra Bullock in Speed was clearly eradicated when that bus fell below 55 miles an hour.

Also found this great little gem in the review of Sex Drive - it has nothing to do with the movie, but everything to do with the certainty one feels as a teenager when the first movies you see and love will always be the best"

Of course, as a product of the late ’80s/early ’90s, I like to believe that I grew up on the golden age of teen comedies, but I’ve come to the realization that, for most folks, the teen comedies they were given when they were teens are the ones they are most fond of (this explains, in my mind, the inexplicable fascination with Empire Records, for those who were born between 1978 and 1983, and also why I don’t get Fast Times at Ridgemont High as much as people who are a little older than I am do.). So, essentially, what I’m saying is this: Modern teen comedies need to be judged, not against Say Anything or Pump Up the Volume (do today’s teenagers even know what a short-wave radio is, or a boombox?), but against the teen comedies of the era they grew up in because those are likely the only ones modern teenagers are familiar with. After all, I doubt there are a lot of high-school sophomores troubled with the derivative nature of Superbad. Movie critics, on the other hand, are going to shit all over Sex Drive because they’ve seen it too many times already. But if you’re 16, fuck the critics. You know why most of them loved The 40-Year-Old Virgin? Because it spoke to them. And they’re still pissed off that John Hughes promised dorks all that trim and didn’t deliver, and now they’re too bitter to see a new generation of sex comedies with fresh eyes.

My favorite part of that passage is the section about Empire Records; I heard about this movie all over the place in 7th or 8th grade and it used to play on our one movie channel all the time (probably Encore) and I fucking loved it. Seeing it today I can admit the plot is ludicrous and the acting mostly absurd, but the music is fun and I'll always remember loving it then. And you just can't explain that to someone who didn't know at the time. (I wonder what my kids will think of Titanic. How can I possibly explain the beauty and freshness of a young Kate Winslet when she will be well into her 40's before I even conceive? And how can a child of of the 2020's possibly understand why Leonardo DiCaprio was such a phenomenon, or why those special effects were amazing? By 2020 we'll be on Transformers 5: Decepticons Go Nuclear on Our Asses; all special effects, no plot, for two and a half hours. We're talking gooooood special effects. Titanic's gonna look pretty lame in comparison. Especially if my kid's a fucking boy.)

Other favorite part about this site? They make lists!!! That's actually how I found it in the first place; I clicked a link to their most recent "Seriously Random" list, which I can't remember right now - I think it was either the 15 Mot Influential Classic Movies of All Time or the Best Movie Dweebs - and I found this great site. Other favorite lists include the 5 Most Unattractive Hot Women, Men Heterosexuals Believe Gay Men Love, Best Coming of Age Movies (which included personal faves Billy Elliot, Almost Famous and What's Eating Gilbert Grape), If They Have to Remake The Breakfast Club Dream Cast, and the Biggest Paycheck Whores. A little something for everyone and good time suckage during a slow day.

Father's Day Top 10

After I made my mom pick her 10 favorite movies, I thought it was only fair to subject my dad to the same treatment. Lucky for me, dad and I have already talked about our favorite movies enough that I knew he'd be able to come up with a list without me coaxing it from his soul. He even ranked them for me! Thanks dad!

• 10 - The Mexican (2001): If it didn't have so much cussing in it, dad would undoubtedly find a way to show this in his classrooms every year as a "treat." In my opinion, it's pretty funny, perhaps overly maligned by critics, Brad Pitt is actually really funny and should play comedy more often - he's good (see Burn After Reading), and I love the James Gandolfini/Julia Roberts dancing, handcuffed together, to '80's classic "Safety Dance" scene - you know, "you can dance if you want to..."?
• 9 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969): It's been a lotta years since I was familiar with the early James Bond catalogue (I used to regularly watch my dad's collection and even though they sucked, I had a fondness for Live and Let Die and The Man With the Golden Gun) but my dad and I have always liked the sole George Lazenby entry the best. The plot is equally ludicrous, but hey! Telly Savales was Blowfelt and Diana Rigg was Bond girl Tracy, whom Bond MARRIED. I loved that. Apparently it's still dad's favorite Bond movie (although his favorite Bond will always be Connery). As for me, Casino Royale blew the other Bond movies out of the water for me. I still think Connery was the best, but I never wanted to sleep with him the way I do Daniel Craig. Brosnan didn't do it for me either.
  
• 8 - Quigley Down Under (1990): Never seen this one though dad frequently talks to me about it as though I have. Just yesterday, actually, he started talking about how much he likes Laura San Giacomo's character in this (you know, the awesome Kit DeLuca in Pretty Woman?) and he started being all, "you know" about specific scenes, and I had to remind him for the zillionth time that I've never actually seen this movie. Very similar to his music quizzes: he likes to ask my sisters and I random classic rock/pop questions when certain things come on the rasio, but then completely forgets having already asked about that song before. Example: without fail, everytime "Incense and Peppermint" plays he will quiz, who sang this one-hit-wonder, and we'll roll our eyes and respond, "Strawberry Alarm Clock, duh. You've asked this question a million times. I know this answer better than my social security number." But it's sweet.
  
• 7 - Notting Hill (1999): Yes, my dad really likes romantic comedies. That Reese Witherspoon.Mark Ruffalo bomb Just Like Heaven? Probably in his top 20. But Notting Hill is definitely number one. Loves Julia Roberts. Loves Hugh Grant. Really loves Rhys Ifans. Favorite scene: probably the dinner party where they all tell their sad stories to win the last brownie. He also really likes the scene where Anna asks Will if he wants to come up to her hotel room because she's so nervous and vulnerable, but asks him twice anyway because that's what she really wants. He also psycotically loves the songs "She" by Elvis Costello, and "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone," as well as the visual scenes changing scene that accompanies it.
  
• 6 - Live Free or Die Hard (2007): I can't believe this is here instead of the original Die Hard, which is vastly superior, but never underestimate my dad's love for Justin Long. Bruce Willis is the man, and dad loves the character of John McClane, but this one wins because he thinks Long is hilarious. (I kind of agree, my crush on Justin Long is definitely coming along and I love those Mac/PC commercials despite being a proud PC user.) Personally, I think Kevin Smith is awesome in this, because you know in real life he's totally that guy, sitting in his Lazy Boy in the basement, lamenting the end of Star Wars. But, hot as he is, Timothy Olyphant is no Alan Rickman. Too bad.
  
• 5 - Gattaca (1997): I've written about this before (see it here) and dad pretty much agrees with me. Great atmosphere, interesting futuristic premise, asks a lot of good questions, Jude Law as Eugene is awesome, fantastic montage at the end with triumphantly sad score and good voiceover. If I had to guess, his favorite scene (excluding ones with Law) would be Vincent's nighttime swimming race against younger, genetically superior brother Anton. Anton can't believe Vincent's winning and he asks him how he does it. Vincent's reply: "You wanna know how I did it? This is how I did it Anton. I never saved anything for the swim back."
• 4 - Blade Runner (1982): Confession time: I have never particularly warmed to Blade Runner. I get it's visionary qualities and the way it has influenced all future sci-fi flicks, and the story is interesting, but I just always come aways thinking, "Is that it?" However I won't deny the awesome cinematography and set design, or the great performance of Rutger Hauer as replicant Roy Batty. The final fight between him and Harrison Ford in the rain is touching and cuts to the heart of the material. I also enjoy a younger and skinnier Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos) as this mysterious figure in a trenchcoat, dropping origami all over the place. And remember when Sean Young had a promising career?
  
• 3 - A Hard Day's Night (1964): Ah, the Beatles. Dad's a huuuugggge Beatles fan. They are gods. Can do very little wrong. He has all the cartoons and decorates his classroom walls with posters and clippings of their careers (he still has the original "McCartney Quits" article from 1970), so of course he adores their first feature. I do too. There are no bad scenes in this movie. All of the songs are lip-synched but the Beatles still perform them with joy. The train, the "clean" grandfather, Ringo's lonely montage, George at the ad-man's, John in the bathtub, it's all gold.
  
• 2 - Arsenic and Old Lace (1944): Most critics would consider this one of Cary Grant's lesser films. It's a little too broad and slapstick for their sensibilities, but I suspect that's why dad loves it: it is so very ridiculous. There's a criminal who looks like Boris Karloff and uses Peter Lorre as a sidekick, two dotty aunts who are sweet as pie but poison people, and have their mentally impaired brother, who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt, bury them in the basement, which he thinks is the Panama Canal. Cary Grant is the poor nephew who's just trying to introduce his fiance to this mess of a family and cover up all of their misdeeds before anyone finds out. It's a mad scramble and very funny.
  
• 1 - Dances With Wolves (1990): I've talked about this one plenty too, both in my Top 100 and my best Bromances list, so I don't have much to add. Let's just say that dad used to play the soundtrack for this movie ALL THE TIME. I think John Barry's a great composter too, but damn, did I get sick of this one. To this day I still get this score confused with his score from Out of Africa - they are remarkably similar. Kind of like how all of Rachel Portman's (Emma, The Cider House Rules, Chocolat, etc.) scores use the same instruments and rhythms. Lately I've run into a lot of criticism of this film from writers I respect, but I still get choked up watching this movie, so I'm just gonna take that con-crit with a grain of salt.
  

While on Vacation...

I found some art I absolutely fell in love with. ("With which I absolutely fell in love"? Why do so many sentences naturally end in a preposition?) When we were down in San Francisco for Andrea's graduation we skipped over to Sausalito (which is like a fab combination of Ashland and Newport) for a day and I popped into this art gallery (The Fingerhut) which was showing a Dr. Seuss collection (pretty fun stuff - I always wanted a poster size print of the Friendly Lorax). But I stumbled across this other artist, Victoria Montesinos, and I want to make out with her work. That hasn't happened in forever. If I had had $2,000, I would have plunked it down then and there. Her pieces are mostly just big florals, but the colors are amazing in person. And she does this airbrush lace detail that is totally lost in thumbnail form. Here's a sneak peak:


I don't want to post all the pieces I like cause I'm pretty sure it's copyrighted, but here's the link to her work at the gallery. My favorites are "Lillies Become a Dream" (which is beyond beautiful in person, I stared at it for at least 10 minutes) and "Let's Dance." For some reason my favorites were the yellow and blue ones, despite the red/orange/hot pink family being more my style.

New Show Alert!!!

Anyone watching "American Idol" this season probably saw the promos for the new Fox series "Glee." I fully intended to watch the pilot after the performance finale of Idol, but fell asleep at 8:30pm like the freak of sleeping nature that I am (because I'm up til at least 2am every other night, of course). The show had a lot of buzz because it's from Ryan Murphy, the creator of the WB's cult hit "Popular" and FX's "Nip/Tuck." Both of these shows are primarily known for their outrageousness, so combining that kind of balls-to-the-wall crazy with a high school music club? Seems like a winner.

I finally got around to watching the pilot on Hulu this weekend and it was even better than I thought it would be. Not only does it have all those fantastic musical aspects of "High School Musical" (yes, I really like those movies) but it combines it with the darkly humorous voice-overs and characterizations of Election (Reese Witherspoon has never been better) and the oddball misfit vibe from "Freaks and Geeks" (and shocker, I LOVE that series too!) It's a pretty winning combination. I think the humor of the show could stand to be improved a bit in certain areas, but I also unexpectedly snorted soda out of my nose in others, so it's doing something right. I also look forward to seeing the writers flesh out more of the characters. The show has been criticized for ripping off the HSM premise (popular jock wants to sing and dance too, faces scorn of teammates) and to a lesser extent, as I mentioned, Election (overachieving lead female character who is often unlikable/main character teacher with occasionally underhanded practices, etc.) but because the tone of the show mixes elements from all of these inspirations, it still feels vitally different from those original premises. However I'm glad to know that the teacher has an adorable soulmate in a fellow teacher, and that the other members of the Glee Club (an assortment of oddballs) have personalities that can be fleshed out in a series.

"Glee" doesn't officially premiere until next fall; for whatever reason, Fox decided to air the pilot now to take advantage of the post-Idol glow and pick up some momentum. Unfortunately, that means there are no other episodes to watch except the pilot. It's still available on Hulu (for at least a couple more days, I think) and I'm embedding it here in hopes that some of you will check it out. At least skip ahead to 39:42 in the episode for the showstopping number of "Don't Stop Believing." Yes, that Journey. It's meant to show what's possible in the future for the Club and I'm telling you, the enthusiasm is infectious. (Not to mention, that song will be stuck in your head for days.) Please enjoy!






Other fun things I've found this week:

• The 20 Most Underrated Movies
  
• The 67 Most Influential Films Ever Made
  
• The Top 40 Movie Music Moments
• 5 Kid's TV Shows That Could Actually Make Watchable Movies
  

Lost: The Finale

ETA: This wasn't supposed to get so long, but I had a lot to say, so read in increments if necessary.

I haven't been writing much about Lost lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been watching. The problem is, recapping every episode is just so draining because that show was completely PLOT PLOT PLOT this season and trying to sift through the meanings and surprises every week was just too much - more strenuous than just picking Chuck's best outfit, for example. But I've been riveted and totally enjoyed the season. I just hope that next year slows down just a little bit and focuses on character a little more. That would make me happy.


With that in mind, what do we all think about the game-changing season finale? Or was it even game changing? One of the initial complaints I read about the finale was that after Juliet hits the bomb, the show fades to white and there's no "skipping ahead, we have to go back to the island Kate, OMG that's Locke in the coffin" kind of moment. We can't really speculate as to what might happen, or what might have happened, because we didn't get a little peek at what next season entails. I didn't see this at first - there's plenty to guess about with NotLocke and Jacob and "the incident" - but the truth is we have absolutely no idea what's coming. There were no clues.

For example, Miles could be totally and completely right: maybe them setting off the bomb is what causes the damaging, plane-crash inducing energy in the first place. In which case, nothing changes. They just set in motion what was already going to happen. But then the story doesn't move because they all either die in 1977, or they don't, but the past doesn't get rewritten. I doubt this is the way it will go because if setting off the bomb is the actual catalyst for the future, and not the source of it's change, then that means Juliet, Sayid and most likely (because of their proximity to the bomb) Jack, Kate and Sawyer are all dead, yo. They're not killing off half the main cast in 1977 if they're not bringing them back at LAX in 2004. Also, the bomb could have blown up the entire island (possible?) and that kills 90% of the original Lostaways. The bomb had to have changed something in the future.


But what does that mean? Desmond no longer comes to the island? Juliet is still stuck working on the Others' fertility issues? Or did the Others all blow up too? Will Jack and Kate and Sawyer and Hurley get off the plane in 2004 not knowing each other, but feeling some inexplicable pull to one another? Does this mean we'll be seeing Boone, Shannon, Michael, Ana Lucia, Libby, Mr. Eko, Claire and Charlie again? (Maybe Daniel, please? And how would they recast young Walt?) Will the original cast all be called back to work? Cause I see only two possibilities: Either the bomb worked and they do end up back at the beginning (everyone), or it didn't and Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Hurley, Jin and Miles are still stuck in 1977 trying to find another way back to Sun, NotLocke and Ben in 2007. But I just don't see that happening. Especially if it means Sayid and Juliet (and Locke?) stay dead. Basically it's impossible to know how to discuss next season and it's possibilities until we know what that bomb actually did. (Although, if it did work and they all land in LAX, it won't be about the island anymore. Will Jacob be coming by, somehow drawing them all to the island another way? Will they have strange dreams? Or will the plane crash on Craphole island anyways - without Desmond's button-not-pushing energy pulse? I just don't see how this will happen and it's driving me nuts!)


Mystery crap aside, I thought the episode was pretty well-done, with one glaring exception: character motivations! It's all well and good for the love triangle/quadrangle to be alive and very present in the 1977 happenings. And for the most part, I think it's been well-handled. I understand the confusion Kate and Sawyer feel about seeing each other again - both still have feelings but Sawyer obviously loves Juliet and is committed to her regardless of his feelings for Kate, and Kate is reeling from the confusion of her relationship with Jack and grieving the loss of Aaron (btw, thanks for finally doing the right thing in that regard, Kate. I almost liked you for minute) - I love that Juliet and Kate are being very mature with each other and not on the verge of a passive aggressive catfight every minute, and most of Jack and Sawyer's pissing contest has had more to do with their leadership roles than any kind of fight over Kate or Juliet. Basically, I like that these relationship ties are present, but aren't overwhelming the show at every turn.


Which is why Jack and Juliet's motivations in the finale pissed me off so badly. It's all well and good for Juliet to notice the lingering attraction between Kate and Sawyer, but does it have to be the catalyst for all of her decisions involving detonating a hydrogen bomb. There were plenty of reasons for both stopping Jack and helping Jack and none of them had to do with Kate and Sawyer:

• Pros for Stopping Jack: He doesn't know what he's doing and is reacting to a lack of purpose and destiny, he may very well cause the event he's trying to stop, he may blow up the entire island pointlessly killing thousands of innocent people (i.e. children and spouses of Dharma Initiative assholes, Rose and Bernard - btw, thanks for finally showing us what happened to them!).

• Pros for Helping Jack: Daniel was right, the entire destiny of the passengers of Oceanic #815 has been caught in a bloodbath between Charles Widmore, Benjamin Linus and the mysterious deity of Jacob, Jack, Kate, Sawyer and everyone else were never supposed to come to the island so it is only right to stop the cycle before half of them die.

Do you see "Because Sawyer still kind of has feelings for Kate" on that list, Juliet? No.

But Juliet's reasons for initially helping Kate stop Jack seemed to be that she wanted Kate and Jack out of their hair so she and Sawyer could escape without guilt, and her reason for the sudden about face was that Sawyer looked at Kate and Juliet realized she didn't want to one day lose him to her. AHHHHH!!!! Why writers??? I think rather than have Juliet shift allegiances so quickly based on a look, it would have been perfectly reasonable for her to notice the looks between Kate and Sawyer, say nothing about them, and instead be swayed while talking to Sayid and Hurley (while Jack and Sawyer are talking in the woods), because Sayid could certainly explain the pros of the Help Jack plan more clearly than Jack (even with a bullet in his gut) and Hurley could bring up the possibility of having his friends Claire, Charlie and Libby not die needless deaths. Juliet's decision could easily be a combination of doing the right thing and knowing that she has to let Sawyer go to potentially save his life so he never has to come to Craphole island. Knowing how much she loves him, this seems like a more reasonable reason for her change of heart than all this "If I never meet you then at least I'll never have to lose you" crap. The love between Sawyer and Juliet will still be well established by the end of the episode with that heartbreakingly tragic crying and falling into the hole death of hers.


And Jack's reasons aren't any better. For all his talk about finally knowing what he was supposed to be doing there, and his new special destiny (God, was he jealous of Locke), when it boiled down to it, he just wanted Kate back. And somehow wiping out all their history and leaving it to fate (a fate that possibly brought you to Craphole in the first place) will win her back. Well, I'm with Sawyer on this one: "Well damn, Doc, she's standing right on the other side of those trees. You want her back? Just go and ask her." Seems a lot easier than blowing up an entire island, especially since it seems like Kate would probably take you back with minimal groveling on your part. See? There were plenty of good reasons for Jack to blow up the island (saving the lives of all their fellow passengers and friends who have died on this island for no good reason seems like a perfectly valid argument to me) but it has to be about Kate. Wouldn't it be more bittersweet and touching if he were blowing up the island, changing their futures, for the right reasons, to save lives, to make their lives better, and doing so with the knowledge that he might lose her forever as a consequence of the right thing, rather than just so he gets a cosmic clean slate with Kate? I was kind of like, "You had me, Jack. Then you lost me."

And why didn't anyone but Kate ever bring up the valid reason they shouldn't change their futures: that they won't know each other anymore. (Okay, yes, Sawyer brought that up briefly as well.) I'm not saying that it justifies all the deaths, but without the island, Jack never would have made internal peace with his father because he never would have heard what Christian said to Sawyer about loving his son. Kate would most likely have gone straight to jail and without Jack's character testimony, the infamy of being one of the Oceanic 6, and being a (false) mother, Kate would be rotting in jail right now. Sawyer would still be a no good conman, without a chance to work for redemption. Charlie would have probably died anyways, of an overdose. Hurley would be crazy and friendless and still convinced he's bad luck in a mental institution. Rose would have died of cancer. Locke would be rolling around, without purpose, in a wheelchair. And Sun and Jin would be distant and out of love and she never would have gotten pregnant because in the real world Jin is sterile. About the only person who comes off that plane the better for never having gone to Craphole is Sayid. He never would have become a killer again. So I as least understand why he's doing this. But everyone else's motivations are suspect. I have no problem with what they all eventually did, but their reasons were so badly written.


Wow, sorry for the rant, but I couldn't believe no one brought all this up on the show. That is straight where my mind went.

As for the Jacob, NotLocke, Ben stuff, I really don't know what to make of all that. It was great to finally see Jacob, get some idea of who he is, but I don't know how that will play out next season. Is he good or bad? He certainly seemed like a decent guy, it seemed like he was looking out for all of our Lostaways at various points in their lives, he was calm and reasonable and didn't like Ben. All good points. But were the Others and Richard always taking their orders from him? Did he really have Ben gas the entire Dharma Initiative and then live in their houses? (Now that I've met the Dharma Initiative I'm less upset about that, but still, that was harsh!) Did Jacob really tell Widmore to steal Rousseau's baby? It's impossible to know whether we can trust Jacob or not until we know exactly what he has ordered and why and exactly what his purpose on the island is. And who are these new people on the island who're supposedly the "good guys," and who are there to help Jacob. What's their deal? I'm at a loss.


As for the guy who hates Jacob? (Don't know his name - IMDb doesn't have a name listed - but the writer at TWoP has cleverly been calling him Esau. Check your bible stories about the birthright between brothers Jacob and Esau to see what that's all about, although I have no idea if that's what the Lost writers intended since I don't know if that's his real name. Would be cool if it was.) Apparently he hates Jacob and has been trying to figure out a way to kill him for centuries. And now he finally found a way: get Ben to do it. But Ben was only doing it because he thought this guy was Locke, which is wasn't, and because the Smoke Monster told him he has to do everything Locke says. But the writer at TWoP had another theory: what if the the Smoke Monster is this Esau/Not Locke guy. And I also think he's been masquerading as Christian Shepard, giving bad advice, stealing Claire's soul, etc. But what is his beef? I don't know. Does Jacob need to be killed? Is he actually a bad guy? No idea. (See the ep recap, which includes all the theories, here.)

So the finale sets up this great reveal about NotLocke (and btw, kudos to Terry O'Quinn for playing him so well because he was still Locke-like but with this greater confidence and kind of creepy edge and it's been so fun to watch), that he's trying to kill Jacob and that Locke is really dead, but we know next to nothing about these characters and how they really fit into the story. So the episode felt like it simultaneously spent too much and not enough time on these guys. Also, if the great Bomb-Time-Reset of 1977 works, doesn't that just wipe out the killing of Jacob? Is that what Jacob meant when he said, "They're coming" or was he talking about the Shadow of the Four-Toed Statue people? I'm so confused. Did Jacob bring everyone to the island to save himself from this killer? AHHHHHH!!!!! I don't know what any of this means.


Final thoughts:

1.) I really enjoy Miles as a character and a second source of comic relief. Keep him around. Although I still want Daniel back - he was fun and strange and twitchy. 2.) Favorite moment was definitely that tragic Juliet and Sawyer scene. Fantastic acting from both. First time I cried all season. 3.) Please find a way to keep Sayid and Desmond around more next season. I just plain like Desmond and Sayid is about the only character I always trust. 4. I hope we do see Charlie again next year. I liked him. Or maybe I just like Dominic Monaghan. 5.) I felt for Sawyer being yanked around all episode. His incredulousness to Juliet after she changed her mind was priceless. 6.) That fight with Jack was awesome and a long time coming. 7.) Never make me watch that asshole Radzinsky ever again. Hate. With the fire of a thousand suns. 8.) I feel a little cheated out of a Jin and Sun reunion. An entire season and the only scene they shared was the flashback to their wedding day (where they did look fantastically happy). 9.) I actually really liked the moment when Jack dropped the bomb and him, Kate, Juliet and Sawyer looked so hopeful and sad at the same time.


Overall, I was pretty pleased with the season and though the season was a tad plot heavy, I enjoyed every minute while it was happening and really appreciated getting answers about the Dharma Initiative, the island, Jacob, the Others, and just having the characters talk about whether they have a choice in all this or not. And I think the finale has set up next season nicely, I just have no idea what that will be. So if the show will just slow down a little next year and allow me to like some of the characters again, that would be really nice.