He's Just Not that Into You

Saw this movie last week. It was very well done, smart and funny, and also poignant and, at times, cringe-worthy.

A scene from the movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScWKul0JXp8

And here is the actor, Bradley Cooper, explaining his character (the married man who couldn't make a decision):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhENFIQx0RY

There were some very good points made. At one point, the single girl comes up to her two friends (one married, one in a committed long-term relationship) and announces that she has figured it out: whenever a girl is in a situation with a guy who's a jerk, or won't commit, there is invariably a friend who says something like "oh, i knew a girl who was dating a guy just like that, and now they are happily married!" The single girl says "But that girl is the exception. In reality most of us are the rule." She was trying to point out that we all give each other false hope instead of grounding each other in reality.

I also liked the fact that it was an ensemble cast. You don't see many movies like that these days. Go see it!

movie: Youth without Youth

I rented this movie last week, and I've been mulling it over since then. While rather sensational and exciting at times, this movie overall was like a slow burn. Stretches of time where things are moving slowly, giving you time to mull over what was happening. The movie is beautifully shot, and Tim Roth gives a great performance (at one point he is talking to himself, and its as if he is two different characters).

There are no easy answers in this movie. I was left wondering about reality and the timeline of the events. Recommended!

movie trailer:

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn0XGlwTKCI)

movie: conversations with other women

Feeling a bit melancholy, I searched my Netfliz watch instantly queue for something appropriate. This movie was scarily more appropriate than I could have planned. Its about two people who are reunited at a wedding. The whole night is a conversation on what was, what is, and what could be. My heart ached for him, for his longing and his romanticism. But the cynical part of me sided with her pragmatism. She says "there are no happy endings in our story" and part of me agrees.

I won't give away the ending...
Conversations With Other Women on IMDB



I had a dream about D last night. That we were getting reacquainted, as friends. I started questioning whether we should get back together, and then he died. He died and left a huge hole in my heart. I wept in my dream, and when I awoke, I was surprised my cheeks were dry.

movie: one for the mummy! no? oh mama mia

After the day I had yesterday, I decided to take myself to see the Mummy. Action-adventure fluff seemed like just the ticket. Only... when I got there, the schedule was wrong: Mama Mia started at 7pm. Not wanting to wait until 945 for the Mummy, I bought my ticket. I had been mildly interested in the film, as my sister and I would sing along with ABBA videos when we were kids (we had them on LASERDISC! ha!) Here is the movie trailer:



SPOILER ALERT:

As I remarked to the concession attendant, part way through the film "there is a lot of singing in this movie". This reaffirmed the fact, for me, that musicals are very tricky things to get right. One of my favorite movies of all time, the Moulin Rouge, is one of the few musicals I actually like.

The girl behind the counter came back with "yeah there is a lot of Pierce Brosnan singing". I was confused, because I hadn't seen him sing yet. And then... whoo boy. I really like Pierce, and love that he has taken a risk, but it was too much for me to see him sing. The audience laughed, which, because this is a comedy, isn't a complete insult. But still, he is the leading man.

Okay and here I have to admit that the romantic in me got caught up in how he asked her to marry him (and she said yes!!) - that was sweet. But the best part is at the end, during the first part of the credits: the three women perform a song, in full disco drag, and then the three MEN come out in the most over the top costumes EVER and sing as well. Had me rolling in the aisles.

I made the mistake of sitting next to a very enthusiastic fan, who had already seen the movie once. Lots of clapping and laughing at all parts of the film. But she was on the side that I can't hear much, so it wasn't too bad.

Then I came home and had a breakdown around my studio. Still feeling bummed out about that.

movies: tropic thunder

Saw Tropic Thunder today while my dear son played with his cousin. I have to say, I'm not a big Ben Stiller comedy fan. In fact, the first 15 minutes or so I was wondering if I should walk out. But I stuck through, and actually enjoyed the film (although there will still plenty of wincing moments).

The best part (for me) was Tom Cruise playing a balding, fat, hairy, meglomaniac Hollywood bigwig. Man, I could NOT stop laughing, he was awesome!! He is the whole reason I am glad I saw Tropic Thunder.

Weird site note: the guy who plays the sycophantic assistant to Tom Cruise's character looks SCARILY like my ex-boyfriend, who's life imploded before he left the Bay Area. Check it out:





Maybe its just an Irish thing. I don't know. Anyway, I couldn't stop staring at him everytime he was on screen. It was odd. Still trying to shake it.

movie: the red violin

Since I started playing the cello this year, this movie caught my eye. I picked it up at my local library. It tells the complex story of a very special violin, one that spans 400 years, from Europe to Asia, to America. From its passionate beginnings to suspenseful end, I found myself wondering what the final fate of this instrument might be.

And to think I almost returned it before I watched it!


The Red Violin

Relationship burn out

Just watched two days in Paris. It was ok. Seemed to follow a similar format to Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, only it didn't grab me like those movies.


What I did find mildly interesting (if somewhat morbid) was her final monologue. She and her boyfriend of two years took a trip to Venice (which sounded like it didn't go well at all) and then decide to stop in Paris for two days before going home. While there, he meets a bunch of her exes, and ends up accusing her of having an affair with one. They part on the streets, and meet up again a couple hours later. They have this last conversation, which appears to be a break-up conversation (although it was unclear at the end if they stayed together or not).

Anyway, she narrates over their whole conversation:

It always fascinates me how people go from loving you madly... to nothing at all

nothing.

it hurts so much

here is it. one more, one less. another wasted love story

i really loved this one

...

we will slowly think of each other less and less
until we forget each other completely...

almost.

its always the same for me:

break up, break down
drink up, fool around
meet one guy, then another,
fuck around, forget the one and only,

then after a few months, of total emptiness,
start again to look for true love
desperately look everywhere

and after two years of loneliness
meet a new love and swear it is the one
until its gone as well

movie review: the Fall

I swear, I wanted to see Indiana Jones. I bought the right ticket and everything. I went upstairs, saw the door to the theater closed, then hopped the railing and went in the other theater.

The movie was late, about 20 minutes late starting. That should have tipped me off. The previews rolled on and then the movie started... only... it didn't look like Indiana Jones. The intro was gorgeously shot, overexposed color and slow motion. It looked like an older time, there was a steam engine on train tracks, high above a river. Men shouting, working hard to haul something out of the water. A horse, slumped in straps. Then the title of the movie came up: The Fall

I used my iphone to check out the synopsis to see if I should stay or go. Here is the synopsis:

In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman (Pace) begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm (Untaru), a fantastical story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the tale advances.

So I sat back and watched. It was really quite fanciful at times, and sad at others. I got the same feeling I got when I watched Cinema Paradiso. Touched and enthralled. And I had no idea what I was in for.

I think you should see it too. Here is the trailer.

movie review: Sex and the City

Tonight I saw Sex and the City (the movie). Although there were some annoying moments, overall, it was cute and sweet. They did a great job with the beginning sequence to summarize what has happened in the series.

WARNING: spoilers

Recently I've been getting more comments about my resemblance to the woman who plays Miranda. I started getting that when I was pregnant with Skyler, so its nothing new. In the movie, Miranda has married Steve (the father of her child). All seems to be going well, except they haven't had sex for a bout 6 months. Steve admits one night that he slept with another woman. Miranda moves out, they have shared custody of their son. Eventually they end up in this therapy program in which they have a series of sessions, then decide that they will take a break for two weeks, and if, after that time, they want to move forward, they will meet on the Brooklyn bridge. If they meet there, they agree to let the past in the past and to move forward together, despite their past hurts. Of course, they end up both there on the bridge together.

There is a moment when they are separated, and Miranda is relating this funny thing about Steve to the girls and they are looking at her like she is a complete idiot for not staying with him. I've definitely had moments like that. Once I was telling my best friend some story about D, and afterwards she paused and said "You know, now I know why people kept asking me if [her longtime sweetheart] and I were going to get back together after we broke up". I know. You hear someone tell the story and its like "so... why couldn't you guys work it out?"

Because stories don't tell the whole story... as it were.

I think I deliberately stayed emotionally distant from that character. I think she is like me in some ways. There was a scene when she is trying to decide whether to go to the bridge. She is looking at a yellow legal pad of pros and cons about Steve. I know I definitely drew up lists myself, trying to sort it all out. In the end, Miranda and I both followed our gut... with very different results.

Ahhhhh its just a movie.

Juno

Last night saw Juno by myself at the Piedmont Theater. I had dinner at the Bar & Grill across the street. The bartender/waitress, Katie?, was so dear, called me sweetie, told me that I didn't look old enough to have a five year old.

They have a chalkboard with the movies playing across the street, and you can cast your vote for whether or not you liked them. I told Katie I was seeing Juno and she positively gushed over it. So I came back after the movie to cast my vote and tell her how much I loved it.

Super sweet movie, the main character is whip smart and very grounded. The teenage boy is so endearing and earnest. I realize I have a teeny crush on Jason Bateman, although his is a pretty ambivalent character.

The music was all great, acoustic singer/songwriter stuff. I need to get the soundtrack. The twist in the movie broke my heart, spent the last 20 minutes with little tears sparkling at the corners of my eyes.

As I left the Bar & Grill, Katie said "have a good night sweetie!"

eternal sunshine

I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in the theater (March 2004), and at the end of the movie, I agreed with the main characters. I thought that I would make the same life choices over again if I had the opportunity, even if there was the promise of pain.

I saw it again tonight on DVD and wept at the ending. Is it because now there are memories I would rather have erased? Or is it because I, like Clementine, wanted my Joel to come after me and insist that we be together, no matter what the ending might be?