(500) Days of Slightly Annoying Quirkiness

We have been slacking off on MNMN because, well, life got in the way. And there's not much you can do about that. But Tuesday, we pulled it together and trudged on over to Tower for (500) Days of Summer. Thanks to Cody for letting us in for free.

Also, Dear Tower: it was fucking hot in there. I'd appreciate it if you would turn on the air during really crowded movies. What was more clautrophobic? An airless theatre or a doomed indie romance?

Anyway, the movie stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, both of whom I love. I've had a long-standing crush on JGL for quite some time (love Brick, love Mysterious Skin, can pass on 3rd Rock from the Sun). And who doesn't like Zooey Deschanel? One time I sold her a movie ticket and she was quite pleasant. I'm also a She & Him fan.

The movie itself was... cute. Maybe a little tooooo cute. It's like that time the guy at the Crest wanted his money back because the movie was "too real". Anyway, the outfits, the little montages, the Ikea scenes, the make-up-in-the-rain segment was a little too much. And he's so tortured! I know that the story is about heartbreak and there were definitely parts that I identified with, but at some point you just want to tell him to buck up. Also, was I supposed to hate her? I'm not sure. She was really flightly and kind of a jerk, in my opinion. And totally selfish.

Additionally, the soundtrack was like listening to my "folksysmolksy" pandora station.

All-in-all, I enjoyed the movie, even though it was a little much. Is this movie supposed to be like the new Garden State?

Note: we did go see the Proposal, but it was so awful it was not blog-worthy and we discredited it from being a movie.

A case for the happy ending.

I've kind of been on a tirade about this for the past few days since seeing Slumdog Millionaire, so forgive me if you've heard this before.

I'm just going to put it out there and say I really liked the film a lot. It's one of the best movies I've seen in a long, long time. I mean, I didn't weep with pleasure when it ended, but maybe I just got all my crying taken care of last week.

But Slumdog's a solid piece of movie magic. It's entertaining, kind of has you on the edge of your seat -- without being too stressful -- and it all works out in the end.

Now, I'm the first to admit that I am a huge sucker for a happy ending. Sports movies are a huge weakness for me. Or any movie that ends in thunderous, applause really. But it's not very often that a movie like that comes to an "indie" theater (Yes, I realize Tower isn't all that indie, but still).

But back to Slumdog. There are those who say it doesn't deserve to be in the Best Picture category, nevertheless win. But I don't buy it.

I think naysayers might be mostly film snobs who have become so cynical and desensitized by the number of so-called "intelligent" movies that end in a flurry of confusion or circumstances so depressing that you want to leave the theater, crawl into bed and stay there for three days. Maybe this sort of thing has tainted the kind of movie that typically wins or is nominated for Best Picture awards. They're either totally depressing or have casts and/or budgets bloated by excess so much so that the movies aren't even remotely good, but have excellent PR (cough, Crash, cough).

Sure, Slumdog is by no means realistic -- I think it's more Dickens than documentary. But why can't we have it all? Compelling tale, stellar acting, appealing cinematography, two-hours-or-less running time and, of course, an ending that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. At least Slumdog comes pretty close.

MILK made me cry

We braved the crowds yesterday to see MILK at Tower. Even though we had to sit too close to the front for comfort, I was mesmerized by the film.

It's really good. The parallels between then and now are staggering. Prop 6. Prop 8. It all feels the same sometimes. It's all infuriating.

I cried at the end. I really feel like I can't write too much about this film, except that I recommend it. Maybe I can find the words for it soon.

Oh, but I think that James Franco is doing his best for the gay cause, turning the straight men into homosexuals one viewer at a time!

If A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words...

Update!

For those of you who wanted to see Synecdoche New York ... it's not playing at Tower any more, but it is playing at the Crest! Why have a lot of movies been starting at Tower and then moving to the Crest? Does that always happen?

You know what's sad? When I look for movie times on my computer and it automatically gives me NYC times. Boo on that!

Movie Mayhem!

Tonight is the last night of Synecdoche, New York at the Tower. This also means it is your last opportunity to make the Synec-douche joke at Tower. They'll appreciate it, trust me. Also ask the staff why there is no "e" at the end of the word on their auditorium mylars.

Who has Twilight fever?! I'll admit that I have read all the Twilight books (I was unemployed this summer, if I need a defense). Who doesn't love young adult fiction, though? I'm pretty pumped to see the movie with my friends, though we're not going to make it to the midnight showing (I don't think we're superfans by any means). I'm pretty excited to see Bella on the big screen, however, considering I pretty much hate her character.

Orange Peel Mouth

Because Cody doesn't have enough to do or enough to blog about, he started a LOST blog. Look forward to that once LOST starts... January 21, 2009, 9/8c.

MNMN tonight. It's either Role Models or Happy-Go-Lucky. It's a toss up. I do love Paul Rudd, but we may need to go to the Tower, due to new changes at the Tower that will be in effect in the next couple of weeks.

After eating a lot of it this week, I can assure you that stale popcorn is chewier, but still tastes great.

The Secret Life of Tower Employees

Last night we went to the Secret Life of Bees at the Tower for MNMN. The reasons for this choice was:

1. Two of the three participants had read the book, most likely stolen off my mom's bookshelf.


2. It was at Tower, thus allowing us to visit Tower employees, making the experience whole.


3. I had to bring a particular Tower manager/younger brother his dinner.
   

I was pretty much expecting this movie to be like the book. I can barely remember the book and I hope for the same from the movie. It was a run-of-the-mill feel-good type stuff. My initial thoughts are:

• with all those singers "acting" why didn't they ever get to sing a song?


• how freakin' old IS Dakota Fanning? (she's 14 according to wikipedia)


• didn't the mom look like Elizabeth Shue?
  

I'd like to do a photo comparison, but will just give the links to their imdb pages. The actress who played the mom is Hilarie Burton.

Hilarie: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3401946880/nm1122026

Elizabeth: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1249155840/nm0000223

Obvs, I don't know how to blog yet.

There were a few other notes about MNMN. One being that I got to go into that space behind Tower's office, below the actual tower, on those rickety stairs to the projection booth of the main theatre. Man that room/loft/space is so creepy! I love it!

Also, I started questioning my attention span. I was bored with that movie within the first 30 minutes or so. I don't know if it was because I had read the book and knew the story (kind of), it was just a bad movie, or I can't pay attention to anything due to constant stimulation (the internet is to blame). I was so looking forward to MNMN and yet during the actual movie, I was kind of waiting for it to be over. This isn't the first time...

Needless to say, my favorite part of Monday night was watching How I Met Your Mother and eating brownies with my friends.