Crazy Stupid Romantic Comedies

Went to see "Crazy Stupid Love" at the Big Picture in Seattle tonight. Firstly, this theater is fantastic. I remember my mom and I pulling up in front of it when I was about 15 years old, eager to see a movie featured in that summer's international film festival, and being told the theater was 21+. So that was a bummer, and I promptly forgot about it. But thank goodness for the rediscovery! It's a cocktail lounge with temper-pedic seats and bartenders will actually deliver drinks to you mid-way through the movie. It's swanky silly. Definitely feels like stepping into 1920s America.

Right, I was going to write about the movie. Ah, the rom com. We love em, we hate em. I mostly hate em. Or so I thought, but then I decided to take a peek at all-time favorite movies and realized that a couple fit the rom com genre (Amelie, The Princess Bride). Whereas I usually gravitate towards the dram com genre (A Room With A View, Match Point, harold and Maude, Moulin Rouge) I could not deny my penchant for laughs AND romance.

So despite refusing to see anything starring Sandra Bullock and/or hugh Grant (they've got to have been in a movie together by now) for years, I decided I kind of maybe wanted to see this new cute rom com. Also vastly important was the presence of Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, and Emma Stone, on all of whom I have vague celebrity crushes. (how grammatically maladroit!)

The acting was good, the wardrobe was incredible (seriously, more than anything this movie made me ache to shop for men's shoes) and the soundtrack cute (although Middle East's "Blood" seems to be getting overused recently). Don't be fooled by the title, there is nothing particularly "crazy" about the movie, so if you're looking for thrills, well, don't. Ryan Gosling's charm and body definitely made the movie, without which it would have been outweighed by the dull, formulaic scenes and structure which burdens it regardless. All in all, it's kind of a hit-AND-miss, so it just depends what you're jonesing for on this particular movie night.

A Trip to the Movies

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (2011)

I don't believe I need to post a trailer to this one as man, beast, and flora has been subject to its special effects.

Unnecessarily sarcastic comments aside, this movie was, by far, one of my favorite of the series. I actually saw it twice in theaters, and the first time I went with my poor brother who had no idea what he was in for. By that, I mean I wept through the entire Snape storyline and, after I had exhausted my own sweatshirt as a sponge, I moved on to my brother's tshirt. he was a very good sport.

Win Win (2011)

I stumbled upon this little movie while I was checking what was playing at the Crest, the $3 theater in north Seattle. It had quite a few little yellow stars by the title, so I decided to check it out. I should have avoided reading the glowing reviews before seeing it because I was a bit disappointed. To be fair, I was exhausted after a long day's work, but I found myself spacing out on more than one occasion.

Quoting myself in a phone conversation with a friend, Win Win is about "Paul Giamatti being fat and high school wrestling." Pretty accurate, that. Giamatti is a husband and father to a young daughter. his law practice is about to go to the dogs when he finds he can make a bit extra money per month by finagling his way into being a guardian for one of his dementia-riddled clients. Eventually Giamatti comes across the guardian's estranged grandson and through a series of events, becomes a father figure, coach, and mentor to this silly, bleached moptop. The movie tries to be quirky but comes off as a bit too cozy, and I'm not a huge fan of Giamatti, so I felt that I was forced to look at him a bit too often. The dialogue with the grandson got quite a few giggles out of me, but I think this independent film is being overhyped. I've seen much, much better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPJOmH9g8WM (embedding disabled, copy and paste)

The Tree of Life

Where to even begin with the The Tree of Life... This piece of art is a two+ hour meditative poem on the existence of faith and the meaning of life. It is exquisite, every frame is carefully crafted and could stand alone as a piece. The acting reaches unusual depths; there was not only a complete suspension of disbelief throughout the dream (?) sequences but immense emotional involvement.

The Tree of Life tells the story of a grown man, Jack (played by Sean Penn), who looks back on his life growing up in suburban Texas in the 1950s with his two brothers, father, and mother. he struggles to come to terms with the death of one of his brothers, his pubescent loss of innocence and period of rebellion, and most importantly, aches to reconcile the struggling forces of Nature and Grace, Father and Mother. The only frustrating part of this film was that the bits with grown-up Jack didn't seem to fit into the grand scheme of things. His scenes read as sad little add-ons and almost took away from the emotional depth of the flashback familial scenes.

This film works as a patchwork of scenes. It is totally anachronistic, has no plot, and includes a CGI sequence of considerable length that documents the creation of life, from the Big Bang to dinosaurs, and eventually back to our Southern suburbia. I would hesitate to recommend this movie widely, because, well, quite odd, and undeniably slow at times (though that never bothered me). Many people will be put off because they expect a linear story, or a story at all, and I respect that. But if you think you can handle the nonconventional nature of this film, I urge you to see it immediately. It is exquisitely beautiful, involving, and thought-provoking. The soundtrack is also unbelievable.

(If you've seen it, did the final beach scene remind anyone else of "Big Fish"?)

Bridesmaids (2011)

Silly, goofy, gross fun. Kristen Wiig doesn't turn off the funny. I'd say she is the funniest cast member of SNL. Sadly, this movie has been mismarketed as a typical chickflick (actually, it's really been undermarketed). It's fresh and although not surprising plot-wise, will cause you to belly laugh at least once. Probably during this scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABmTxZl4NK4

Horrible Bosses (2011)

Mehh, pretty funny. I laughed the most at Charley Day, and that's probably because I was getting "kitten mitten" flashbacks from that episode of "It's Always Sunny." It's far from original but the cast is impressive and the naughty bits are entertaining, obviously.

Red Velvet Cake!

This fine summer evening I baked a classic Red Velvet Cake. I had never made one before, although I had made it in the form of cupcakes. My greatest challenge when baking at home is to weasel my way out of many disasters that occur due to a paucity of baking paraphernalia. Translation: NOBODY BAKES HERE EXCEPT FOR ME. I'm lucky if I locate a measurement cup, and we don't even have a single flexible spatula. Oh! Nor do we own an electric mixer, so everything, including beating egg whites into stiff peaks for mousses and tiramisu, is done by hand. WITH A FORK.

Ok, I'm done bragging.

I used Paula Deen's Food Network recipe and replaced lemon juice for distilled vinegar (we had none), doubled the cocoa powder, and used my own recipe for the cream cheese frosting.

Updates

I haven't been much in a place to write because for two weeks I was in Walla Walla without consistent internet, and now I am back home working 10 hour days all week. Also in bed with a slight fever at the moment. But no worries! As soon as I get through this week, I'm all yours, blogosphere. I have a massive food post to share with you. My time in Walla Walla was wildly culinary, and I simply cannot keep all of the recipes to myself.

Meanwhile, I lay in bed, worrying about psychology vs. social work, re-watching Season 2 of Arrested Development for god knows which dozenth time, The Man Who Wasn't There in queue, and drinking adorable iced earl grey tea. heart shaped ice cubes that actually ARE earl grey tea so that as they melt your tea doesn't get diluted! Jump on board, folks!

Summer Reading, Installment 1

Every summer I read. Heck, I do it year-round! I'm going to share a bit of my conquests with you and perhaps in snooping you'll find some reading ideas for yourself.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

if you enjoy dandies, hedonism, and fiction of the Gothic persuasion

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

if you enjoy Paris, Paris, Paris

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

if you enjoy learning about what you're putting into your body and don't mind the fact that you will almost inevitably become a vegetarian and/or vegan once you've made it halfway through

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

if you enjoy the word "cunt" (seriously, if you don't, don't even bother trying to read this book), discussions of fecal matter, and stream of consciousness

Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov

if you enjoy beautifully-crafted sentences, character study, and aren't bothered by a lack of action

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

if you enjoy family trees, epic stories, and

(I re-read this one after a 3 year interval. It's one of my favorite books on the planet, and I cannot recommend it enough.)

and now I am moving on to Paris to the Moon, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, and Black Spring. Always open to reading recs.

More Moovies

Now that SIFF is over, I spend many of my non-working hours in bed watching them moovies, idly dreaming of a summer where the sun makes an appearance.

The Cook, The Thief, his Wife, and her Lover (1989)

Disgusting beyond belief; even I came close to gagging a couple--nay--several times. It's beautifully done with a streak of surrealistic paranoia. If you've previously heard about this film and written it off as pornographic savagery for the sake of simply that, please reconsider. It's carefully and artfully crafted, full of rage and exquisitely shot.

Love and Death (1975)

One of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Woody at his slapstickiest. A fellow Russian Jew recommended this film to me, and all I can say is if you have any Russian Jew in you, this is the movie for jew.

Window to Paris (1994)

'Window' is a satire from Russia. The gist is that a down-and-out music school teacher finds that he can crawl through the window in his apartment in St. Petersburg straight into Paris. It's about the greed of the easily-seduced Russians and the generally uncivilized mess of the times, but the director hits us over the head with one too many metaphors. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it.

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Ohh, it's just adorable. I was super turned off by the trailer, but after a fellow ex-IES Parisian recommended it to me (and I trust her taste), I decided to go for it. It was a fully enjoyable romp through Paris in the 1920's, which is a very seductive era for me. I had some issues with the film, like McAdams' character and her utter one-dimensionality, but in the face of all the cuteness and cleverness, it's no big deal. So it's a bit fluffy, but if you have any sentimental feelings at all about the City of Love, go see it. (Best part: Dali.)

Super 8 (2011)

Was anyone else super bored watching this movie? I feel like it was exactly the same as that other alien one... War of the Worlds, was it? Except with the older Fanning girl. Meh.

In other news, I was on my way to see Tree of Life today when it turns out I went to the wrong movie theater. So we'll save that one for later.

Incendies

Introduction and Disclaimer:

I have been told that I am picky when it comes to film, that I hardly enjoy anything, and that I should not be so dramatic and critical. At least I can totally contest the second statement. If you know me at all, you know that I will refer to at least 20 different movies as "the best thing I've ever seen" and that one of my favorite past times, if not my favorite, is watching the flicks. If you're looking for a review or encouragement to see "Incendies," stop reading. This will be dramatic and critical, because when it comes to reviewing something like this, it's the only way I know how.

Let me begin by saying this: an atrocity against the world of cinema has been committed (told you I won't stray from drama). "Incendies," the "awe-inspring" "film," is the story of a brother and sister on a journey to unearth a family secret. It has been nominated for Best Foreign Film by the Academy, it has accrued 91% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and garnered an unbelievable 8.2 rating on IMDb. I will attempt to explain why all of these reviews, ratings, and nominations are total bullshit, and how this film, in seeking to create a powerful and disturbing work about familial love, ends in cheapening every theme it crosses. If, against all solemn urging, you still want to see this film, stop reading immediately, as I will now proceed to give away the plot.

The trick with the plot is to imagine the very worst thing that could ever happen to anybody, and you have the plot of the film. No, really. Think about it for a minute. Chances are you'll concoct some nightmare about you and your family being deeply harmed as the groundwork. This is not surprising as our lives and the lives of those we love is exactly what we treasure most. Director Villeneuve seems to have also arrived at this simple conclusion, and proceeded to play off of a person's most basic protective instincts to receive a reaction (any sort of reaction). (This film is based off of a play written in 2005.)

So let's think of what could really suck for someone: your mom dies. Yep, that sucks. What could be worse? Well, your mom could have left you convoluted instructions to find a brother you never knew you had and a father who was supposedly dead. Yep, that sucks too. So then you go and find out that your mother had a child she had to give up and then spent 15 years in prison for assassinating some political leader. Yep, that would be difficult news to digest. Then you learn that your mother was tortured by the region's expert. She was raped over and over again by this very man until she became pregnant, gave birth in prison, and was forced to give up the babies until a later reunion. Pretty horrible. Then you learn that YOU are the children to which she gave birth in prison, the product of rape. You'd think that'd be enough for two poor children who had just lost their mothers. You'd think the melodrama was on the verge of ending.

Not so. Because next you find that the man who tortured and raped your mother repeatedly was actually her long-lost son, and so if you can even begin to think about it, you realize, simply, that your father and brother is the very same person. Perfect. herein lies the plot of this tortuous melodrama. A bit Oedipal, n'est-ce pas?

After the emotional bludgeoning, I had little energy to note the other weak points of the film, but they were certainly there. I did not understand that the film was set in the time of the Lebanese civil war until I researched it online after my viewing. That's a huge freaking failure on the director's behalf. The inter-titles were confusing and crude in appearance, and the efforts of poor Villeneuve to create an artful moment in the introductory scene depicting a young child having his head shaved to the wails of Radiohead was as wtf as wtf gets.

I wish that more people saw the soap operatic sides of this film and realize how easy it is to be taken advantage of instead of just subscribing to the notion that if it's cringeworthy and tragic, it's art.