Wednesday, 17 March 2010

Life In 2009, According To iTunes; Movies

Why am I still doing this? I don't know, but I will know better when I have finished. So, either quietly ignore me or spill your own thoughts below. They make it really hard to reply to anyone on this thing, but I do read them all.

UP

I saw this with Luke and Brooke and Molly... or just Brooke... or just Molly. I can't really remember. It was dark. And both are blond. As am I, but still... I just asked Luke and he can't remember either. Both were in our life so much that year. Aww. Hugsnickles.

The short film before UP almost made me cry and the opening section of UP did make me cry. I found the journey fun and quotable, but I still couldn't help thinking of all the real world problems he would face when he returned home.

1. He hit some government employee.
2. They wont believe that he didn't kidnap the kid.

So he probably went back and spent a lot of his time in court and probably died in jail. That's a DOWN to me.

STAR TREK

I saw Star Trek twice, the first on IMAX and the second with one of those horrible balcony bars cutting off the bottom half of the screen, where a lot doesn't happen, but somehow you feel like you're missing out anyway.

I loved it. I know next to nothing about Star Trek apart from that I once won the Star Trek: Next Generation chess game on this TV Show with a bunch of other shit I no longer remember... I really wanted the Crayola prize. So badly. Anyway, back on track. I thought Abrams did a good job and all the actors seemed committed and judging by all the laughter in the audience at certain jokes that must have been referencing the show that I also found funny, most general Trek fans also enjoyed it.

I didn't know the difference between Kirk's dad and Kirk the first time I watched it, so that seriously confused me, but looks good genetics-wise. I loved that Simon Pegg was in it. I loved that the Leonard Nimoy was in it. I can't get the shaky-zoom-in shot of them plunging into the planets atmosphere out of my head, because they made it look so real, it's just burnt into my memory and I just like thinking of that shot for fun.

A great film. I didn't think it got enough wins at the Oscars.

THE HANGOVER

Only saw this with Molly on DVD a few weeks ago. I thought it was very funny and instantly recognized the guy from Community who is just brilliant. I also enjoyed seeing Vegas drenched in Sun, since we saw mostly clouds when Kate and I were there. I don't really have much to say about it except maybe that the commentary isn't that interesting, but I did really love the real-life looking photos they took. They could have looked like the standard photos you see that you can tell were taken by a professional on professional equipment... and even if these photos were taken by a professional on good equipment, it looks so much like a decent click-and-shoot camera that it gave the story this whole other element. I don't know, that's a wee bit over the top, but I just thought that was brilliant. They really made it look like everyone had the time of their lives that night and that just made you reflect on the story with so much more fondness.

ADVENTURELAND

This movie just didn't feel 80s to me. Only a few of the side characters did. Like Lisa P. and her crone. The rest just seemed like they were in a modern day indie flick and even though it was nice they didn't make the 80s this over-the-top decade, it also really displaced me because their are so many teen-angst movies out there that were made in the 80s and set as modern day, so it didn't feel very authentic.

I adored Jesse Eisenberg in this film. I liked the way he leaned with his hips. Kristen Stewart was fun too, though her evil stepmother didn't appear that evil next to her. Party Down actor, Martin Starr was also brilliant. I really liked him more than the other characters. I enjoyed it more the second time around at home, because the first time I saw it with my freaking cab driver because I didn't know how to tell him how to leave me alone. He bloody drove me to the theater for the midnight session, asked to come with me and then sat through it. I told him it was long. He didn't care. Maybe when he realized I wasn't a prostitute or into him at anyway (I mean, does he just go out with strangers just to hang? That's just creepy. Sure, do it at a bar. But with a young girl at midnight? Fuck off.) he started to want it to hurry up and so I wanted the film to hurry up so that I could leave, but I somehow couldn't not tell him I didn't need a ride home.

At least I didn't have to pay cab fair... because I paid for his ticket. What was I thinking? It was fine. He's a nice guy I'm sure. But man was it awkward.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

I saw this in my least favourite, always crowded theatre at Union Square and I loved it. I love the time Tarantino took with the dialogue. He's said himself that he's good at dialogue and somehow that annoyed me at the time, how confident he was... it almost came off arrogant, but he really did a beautiful job with this film.

I wish he wasn't writing his own history but that it was real. It really was a much better way for things to end than the way they did. Malicious and bloody yes, but unjustified... Well, I can't possibly be the judge of that can I?

I adored the oozing charm of Christopher Waltz and his nomination was just a hands down guarantee of an Oscar. A film I'm sure I will enjoy again and again in years to come.

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER

I saw this film with Luke the first time I saw it, and he already dressed like the lead character, so it was hard for me to not constantly nudge him and say, "Hey, look, it's you." But only style wise.

When we left the theatre I was depressed. I didn't feel like I'd ever have that kind of experience with somebody and I also loved the stylized look of the movie and wanted to have been a part of it so badly, that it made me sad... or envious.

Then I saw it again for a birthday outing, and enjoyed it much more the second time around.

I love the musical dance down the street. As a musical/Disney person, it made me so happy and now whenever I hear Hall & Oates "You Make My Dreams Come True", I have to dance around like a loon, as I did in the lobby of a Las Vegas hotel. Though when quizzed about who actually sung the song, I wasn't able to remember the name, and though it wasn't said, the man with the question was instantly able to peg me as a, "Oh, you're just one of those (500) Days girls."

SUNSHINE CLEANING

I saw this by myself at the cinema on 12th St early in the afternoon when it was just me and an old man in the theatre.
I enjoyed the story, and Emily Blunt just rocked it in the movie. I found the weird lesbian vibe between her and the woman she follows a little confusing. I didn't mind the vibe, but because it was left unexplored I was left wondering whether I had stereotyped the woman, placed a vibe where there was no vibe, or took what I thought was a look of attraction as a look of desperate loneliness and a need for companionship.

ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL

I was just saying to Luke, "Wow, it's so obvious that we lived together in 2009" because almost every film I've seen I could relate to him in some way, either that I saw it with him OR texted him about seeing it (aka, rescuing me from Taxi Man during Adventureland). This is another film that begins with Luke. Or, let's switch it up and start it with Jake. Jake actually invited me to the New York premiere of the film, but I was out of the state, I think, during the day so I couldn't go, which sucked because I ended up really loving the film and missed out on one of their special Movie plus Show performances which would have been so wicked. Luckily, Luke, also wanted to go see it, and took me along to a session.
I was SO FREAKING HAPPY when the actual bloody stars of the film walked down the aisle at the Angelika and proceeded to give a Q&A. I even got a photo with them and they are REAL. It was a highlight, that's for sure. Just a brilliant film. Really made me want to get some balls and spend my whole life working for my dreams too.

CORALINE

Another Luke. I should just refer to the first 9 months of 2009 as The Year of Luke with an Extra Dose of Brooke Brodack. HEE!
I was bored and watched this with him on his Air. I only saw the last half an hour but was thoroughly confused. It felt the same as other Tim Burton films. Steady and not entirely climactic. I'll have to see the rest of it some day... BUT WAIT A MINUTE! Tim Burton didn't direct this film. Henry Selick did. So when I saw the tagline, 'From the Director of The Nightmare Before Christmas', I assumed that was Tim, but Henry must have just helped steer the ship while Tim was busy with the art on Nightmare, possibly? That happens in a lot of films... but I'm not that much of Burton fan girl, so I don't know how much of Selick's role on Nightmare was just a sort of "Yes/No Man" role or if he had a large hand in how Nightmare came about. Either way, I tip my hat to the marketing people. Who obviously must have known that a lot of people think that Tim Burton also directed the film, so it was a cunning but also true way of marketing itself. Clap, clap, indeed.

Films done. You can see some of the films I saw in 2009 (I didn't start recording them until after the Summer, I believe) on my YouTube page

The Left Butt Cheek Feels Hollow and the Too Sweet Brownie That Really Shouldn't Go In The Same Sentence as a Butt Cheek

5 comments:

RnB said...

one question. Who's Kurt in Star Trek? If you're talking about Chris Pine's character originated by the Shat, it's James Tiberius Kirk. :-P

I'm quite the movie person too. I never feel like I see enough movies in any calendar year though :-(

Chris in the Studio said...

My work schedule did not allow me much time to see movies last year and when I did it was usually a rainy Sunday with child so kids/family movies were the order of the day. I thought I would take my son to see Avatar but my x said she thought it was to much for a 7 year old. Then she took him. errrrr. :) So I plan on seeing most of these but your review of Inglorious Bastards really makes me want to see that first.
Kids movies, nothing really spectacular in my opinion. "Land of the Lost sticks out in my head but there was a lot of language that was just downright uncomfortable and I felt myself looking around embarrassed that I brought a 7 year old to this movie. Not to mention the tripping scene which is impossible to explain to a child. Otherwise it was a good b movie with a style visuals.
"Race to Witch Mountain" good remake and I don't remember the first so I did not feel the need to compare. I like that they cameo'd the original Disney Kid stars in the remake. Its respectful No? Also, I'm not to cool to admit I really like the Rock although his talents as a comic/badass are somewhat stretched in this role.
Night at the Museum, Battle of the Smithsonian, Entertaining but predictable. Even Owen did not want to get the Dvd for Christmas.

Oh yeah wait this is your blog. Enough from me!

Goober said...

is luke your boyfriend?

david1082 said...

Being in the dark with mememolly is something I can but dream of, alas. In a Twitter @reply I recommended The Seventh Seal to Molls.

EarleWidrich said...

Thanks for the movie reviews. I'll quickly add my 2 cents. I've seen most of these films in their entirety, and I've certainly seen parts of all of them since part of my job entails watching lots of movies/screeners and all that.

"Up" was another brilliant Pixar film. It didn't grab me the same way that WALL·E did, but it was excellent.

STAR TREK
I loved loved loved this film. I'm a big star trek fan and have been for many years. The franchise definitely needed a huge boost, and Abrams definitely delivered. I was very pleased at how many non Trek fans (like yourself) enjoyed it. I have to disagree with you about the Academy aspect. It got 4 noms and won 1. That's at least a decent amount of recognition...certainly more than any other Trek film has ever gotten, so I was pretty pleased with that. It would have been nice if it were among the 10 films up for Best Picture, especially since it was favoured to be. But the fact that the Academy has moved to 10 nominations just dilutes the field and one can pretty easily divide those into 5 films that had a chance of winning and 5 films that had literally no chance in hell of winning Best Picture. So if Star Trek were in there, it would have been in the latter category anyway. I know that at least in part, The Academy moved to 10 noms to encourage more competition which would result in more screeners being produced, but that didn't happen this year. In fact less screeners were ordered this season than in recent memory (as I'm looking at the order sheet right now)....but I digress. So yeah, I loved Star Trek. My second favorite film of the year. And I know it's already been mentioned, but it's "Kirk", not "Kurt". : )

"Adventureland" was excellent. I had little to no expectations about it, but I kept seeing clips of it in our lounge here on the plasma (I think we did Foley or ADR for it) and decided to check it out. I thought it really captured that youthful teenage summer experience. And setting it at an amusement park was a brilliant idea. I think it's Kristen Stewart's best role to date. That was definitely my sleeper film of the year.

Inglourious Basterds was my favorite film of the year. I never miss a Tarantino film in the theatre. I really do think that he is the best director and writer in Hollywood, and his casting is consistently surprising and genius in each of his films. He totally revolutionized American cinema with Pulp Fiction, and continues to put out original, breath-taking films. Whenever I see a Tarantino, I always get my money's worth.

"ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL"
One of the best docs I've ever seen. A friend of mine saw it and recommended it to me. An amazingly honest and beautiful film. An excellent portrait of loving what you do and never giving up, no matter what. It's amazing how many positive comments and general support I've seen since this film. It seems that whoever watches it just falls in love with them and wants nothing but the best for the band. It's so cool being able to walk into HMV here in downtown Toronto and seeing their latest album right there, along with a bunch of their back catalogue, all remastered and repackaged. The film obviously has a bit of a personal connection to me since the band is from Toronto, and in fact the house that Lips was living in (at least at the time of the movie) is just down the street from my friend's place). So it was cool watching the film and seeing that area, which I know fairly well along with places like Moe Pancer's Delicatessen, which I've eaten at and driven past like a hundred times. It's interesting to note that the scene in which Lips is contemplating suicide with Robb saying that we would just stop him, is a scene that Michel Gondry now shows to his actors as an example of being real and genuine in a film.

I could go on and on, but I'll shut up now. So so Sorry for the long post. : /

-Earle : )

Totals