31/365 Neo Ned

Starring:  Gabrielle Union,  Jeremy Renner

Genre: Romantic Drama

Discovery: Watching all movies Jeremy Renner, one by one.

Summary:  Young man, Ned, who idolizes his dad & joins a white supremacy gang gets himself put in a mental hospital where he meets Rachel, a black woman who believes she is Hitler.

First Glance:  These two actors give it all they have got.  I can’t believe I went into this film leery of the journey it would take me on.  Would it be too race-based? Would it be believable? Would it smack of desperation to lead me on a certain path?  None of those things happened.  Instead, I was treated to the story of a lost soul of a man trying to find love where he can & it happens in the least likely of places.

Deeper Look:  It takes a very nuanced director to create such a provocative film and not have it be heavy-handed or degrading.  Gabrielle & Jeremy have chemistry in spades.  It isn’t just the romantic kind either.  I felt as though I was watching two peeps foil off of each other in a very special way.  For all of Ned’s posturing that happens in the beginning of the movie, you can see that he is clearly a guy in need and wanting to give ‘great love’.  No stereotypes here.  Real, honest emotion in this almost coming-of-age story except Ned is not a teen. (Since I try to be spoiler free: the scene near the end will show you just how fine an actor Jeremy really is.) Don’t expect a story with a fabricated hollywood ending.

What I Took Away from this Movie: This is one of the hardest ones to share what I took away.  It would have to be:  You love who you love.  Change is always possible.

Final Glimpse:  Beautiful.  Left me aching at the end.  Now that is a powerful film.

30/365 Couples Retreat

Starring:  Vince Vaughan, Malin Akerman, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Faizon Love, Kristin Davis, Jean Reno, Kali Hawk, Kristen Bell

Genre: Comedy (although there were very few laughs)

Discovery:  I wanted to see if it was as bad as the critics made it sound.  I like to give movies a fair shot.

Summary:  How do you sum up the stories of four separate couples?  Here goes: Jason & Cynthia are having marital problems so they decide to go on a retreat for couples.  They end up getting all their closest friends to take the trip with them. From there you have a hodge podge of mishaps & innuendo which ultimately lead to all the couples reconciling and falling more in love (cue the mariachi band).

First Glance:  Glossy, ridiculous, half-hearted comedy (and I use that term VERY loosely since i only laughed once).  Normally, Vince Vaughn is right up my alley.  I dig his sense of humor and often laugh at his shtick, not this time.  Sorry.  Shot in Bora Bora, beautiful location. Paradise.

Deeper Look:  In the hopes of having a deeper message this movie ‘jumps the shark’ and becomes the most unfunny glop I have watch in awhile.  Not to mention I think having a friend direct them might have been a big mistake.  Director Peter Billingsley seems to not know how to get a good performance out of his actors.

What I Took Away from this Movie:  NOT FUNNY.

Final Glimpse:  Please Hollywood stop churning out these waste of celluloid films. I’m begging you.

29/365 Dahmer

Starring:  Jeremy Renner, Bruce Davison

Genre: Drama (to many creative liberties taken to be a biopic)

Discovery:  Watching all Jeremy Renner’s films.  This guy is a force of nature.

Summary:  The story takes you into the mind of Jeffrey Dahmer by revealing pieces of just how this guy became one of the most notorious serial killers.

First Glance:  This movie is shot in a very disjointed way; flipping back & forth between past and present.  The DP does a wonderful job of using lighting to capture the raw emotions of certain scenes.  Red is often used to show the ‘hidden’ evil inside of this complex man.  Jeremy is brilliant.  Gave me the creepies.

Deeper Look:  I am not a serial-killer movie girl.  This type of movie gives me the major ickies.  Perhaps because it is real unlike the horror genre.  What these men do is completely out of my realm of comprehending.  What is interesting is how a man can be such a “model citizen” on the outside & be filled with rage and self-loathing inside. The liberties that are taken are not false more changing the timeline to flow the story in a different manner.  Jeremy Renner channels Dahmer, awesome performance.  You don’t see the whole story, it ends before he gets captured.  The director wanted to leave you with a somber look of where he was headed.

What I Took Away from this Movie:  Hard to feel sympathy for such a ruthless killer. Renner somehow captured a few moments where you can see the tortured soul.

Final Glimpse:  If you do watch this, listen to the commentary.  Jeremy & the director give some interesting insights and trivia surrounding the shooting of this dark indie film.  Not for the faint of heart, touches of gore.

What am I thinking?

One thing…

Am I living my most true life?

This thought has been inspired by a few different things.

1) I have been involved in “the courageous year” course.  it is helping me challenge the limited way I have been viewing life.  you know, like i’m trapped.  part of me has been feeling like things happen to me and I have no choice in the matter.  that is an illusion. we all have choices.  you have to make them though.  consistently and not just when you “feel like it”.

2) I watch this show called “The Buried Life”, it is on MTV (yea, I know, MTV sucks major ass but trust me, it’s a great show.)  You have these four boys: Ben, Jonnie, Dave, and Duncan, each week they reveal to you another piece of their journey where they are trying to accomplish crossing a task off their ‘bucket list’.  The real gem of this whole thing though, is they ask a person “what is one thing you want to do before you die?” Then they help that person accomplish it.  I can’t explain it but this show brings up some intense feelings in my heart.  Like, why am I sitting here watching a show like this when I could be taking my own adventure.  Peeps, I was built for adventure. Always known that about me and yet, because I have listened to the peeps around me I didn’t trust that.  It was like I felt wrong for being interested in forging my own path.  I should want to have that steady job & live “right”.  I’m questioning that belief.

3) No more victim.  No more drama. No more hiding.  Seriously, time for that old life to be shed.  I can’t live there.  It might make zero sense to you if you have just entered my bloggy world * that is ok.  I know what I mean.  This is about MY journey.  MY heart.  MY truth.

4) Feel the fear, and keep to steppin‘.  My version of Kate’s words in her ebook: (“Courage is feeling the fear, and doing it anyway, transforming”).

5)  None of these thoughts are ‘new’; this is me on my path.  I used to think you got “fixed” and all would be well.  Now I think it is more like a marathon.  You have this long road ahead of you & it takes all the tools in your nap sack to make it to the finish line.  Lots of steps along the way.  Different stages.  New challenges. Peeps to help.   Exploring feelings.  A water station. Listening to music. Basking in your endurance. ‘Hitting the wall’. Snack bars for your belly.  Pushing through.  Life is like that.  At least that is what I think right now.  A process.

Thanks for listening.

28/365 Peter and Vandy

Starring:  Jason Ritter, Jess Weixler

Genre: Indie Romantic Comedy

Discovery:  Jason Ritter is the reason I watched this.

Summary:  A story of two people who meet by accident and go through the joys and trials of relationships.

First Glance:  At first I got confused because this movie was trying to be 500 days of summer but without letting me know that is what was happening.  When the audience doesn’t know that you are taking them on a back and forth version of the journey you have to give a cue, otherwise, we may struggle to keep up.  That aside, I related the characters, they had A LOT of issues and were doing the best they could. Did not enjoy the way they cut this movie.  At times it felt very choppy and disconcerting.  I loved that the actors wore ‘real people clothes’. (Behind the scenes girl says:  You know, things like sweats, worn in t-shirts, dresses that are from TJMAxx not Neiman Marcus)  Jason Ritter can do very little wrong in my eyes; like his dad.

Deeper Look:  Relationship movies are hard to do.  If you go too much into any given direction it becomes overly schmaltzy or too ‘real’.  Either one sucks (IMO). This movie made me feel schizophrenic, that can be good if done right.  It was disorienting & full of “what the heck just happened?  are they fighting AGAIN.” More than a few times I was NOT rooting for the characters, I thought “run away as fast as you can because you are toxic together!”  Of course I don’t say this stuff out loud, I’m not nuts!  LOL.  In the end though, somehow, and don’t ask me why I was hoping they would work it out.  The director duped me into buying the notion that sometimes you got to commit.  Your partner deserves you to love them for them.  You can’t just throw in the towel when it gets rough.  That message won me over.  I dig “stick-to-it-ness”.

What I Took Away from this Movie:  Love is complicated & wonderful & messy & totally worth it.

Final Glimpse:  Overlooking some minor quibbles, I like.  Not a 10 but a solid 6.

26/365 Zombieland

Starring:   Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin, Emma Stone

Genre: Campy Horror

Discovery:  I kept hearing about this movie.  Into the netflix queue it went.  Then I saw it was a ‘very long wait’ so I ran to the video store to rent.

Summary:  Imagine a world that has been overrun with zombies and you are the last peeps on the planet, throw in a dose of dark humor, little bit of love and you have Zombieland.

First Glance: I dig this film so much; right down to the voiceovers by the main character, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg).  It has these quirky “popups” explaining the rules of survival that he lives by that added some visual interest.  The DP definitely has an unique ‘eye’ and captured the zombies in a truly interesting way.  (Behind the scenes girl says: the opening sequence is perfection!  You can’t beat having a zombie eating someones guts as the credits play.)

Deeper Look:  I found that this isn’t your typical slasher horror zombie film.  It had a dark edge to it but still stayed funny.  That is a delicate balance.  Keeping the gore there without going to over-the-top so we zone out with too much violence.  Woody Harrelson does funny, odd zombie killer better than anyone around.  He was fantastic in his role.  Twinkie, anyone?  *wink* A theme that really struck a cord is how over the course of the film these characters connected like a family.

What I Took Away from this Movie:  Zombie films are cool.

Final Glimpse:  Enjoyable, campy fun.  Please try it.  Tell me what you think.

25/365 The Stepfather

Before I started watching my movie for today, I went to a really neat little book that my friend Gina gave me.  It is called “Ever Wonder”, inside are all these cool questions to get you thinking.

The one I opened to is

If what’s in your dreams wasn’t already inside you how could you even dream it?

Interesting point.

Now on to my review:

Starring:   Penn Badgeley, Amber Heard, Sela Ward, Dylan Walsh

Genre: Thriller

Discovery:  The original spooked me, wanted to see if the remake had the same ability. (guess what my answer is?)

Summary:  Basically, you have a guy that has killed his whole family and goes to a new town in search for “the perfect family”.  He finds them in recently divorced Susan and her kids.  Oldest son, Michael, doesn’t like it and instantly distrusts ‘David’.  Pushed to his limit, ‘David’ decides he has had enough of his new family.  The result is…well, watch and see.

First Glance:  What can I say, today I am feeling kind.  So, hmm, let’s see. Sela Ward is beautiful.  I liked her in Once and Again.  Anything else?  Nope nothing kind I can say.  Supremely shallow remake of a pretty dark, creepy movie.  (PS. Penn, yea, don’t ever quit Gossip Girl.)

Deeper Look:  The first one came out in 1987 and starred Terry O’Quinn.  An actor who is infinitely more scary & sinister than Dylan Walsh.  It didn’t help that my mom had just gotten remarried the year before.  As a pre-teen I began to think ‘what if my stepdad had another family that he killed’.  I know pretty dark thoughts but just goes to show.  The movie was creepy.  Even more, it played up the suspense so you weren’t sure if the daughter was just being a brat or she was on to something.

Back to the 2009 version, I kind of wish I had trusted my first instinct that I wouldn’t like this film and let myself pass over it at the video store.  That’s another lesson learned.  Sometimes though, you have to take the good with the bad, right?

What I Took Away from this Movie:  Remakes are almost never as good as the original.

Final Glimpse:  Kind girl says:  Do yourself a favor and rent just about any other movie.

22/365 Friday Night Lights (Season 4)

Howdy.  I’m breaking mold today because I have been holed up on my couch with a snuggly blanket watching episodes of Friday Night Lights.  It has been almost a year since I saw this show.

I didn’t realize how much I missed it.

This show has so many of the best qualities that TV needs right now.

It values family.

Honors relationships.

Respects integrity.

Great acting.

Good stories.

Cool cinematography (if you dig handheld, feel-like-you’re-there shots)

Just plain awesome.

How in the world that this show has not gotten more attention I will NEVER understand.  I guess we are turning into a culture that values shows like The Bachelor & Jersey Shore over true quality dramas.  I want to say right here, right now: If Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton don’t get Emmy nods next year, they were robbed.

It is in its 4th season; that was hard won.  They cut a deal between NBC and DirectTV so it wouldn’t just go away.  The fans fought for their beloved show; however, the compromise is all the DT’ers get to see it first.  That’s ok, it’s worth the wait.  Trust.

Unlike many of the shows I watch, it is only getting better.  I wasn’t sure they could keep up the charm & realism that it’s known for considering they introduced a plethora of new talent.  Only a select few of the original cast are still around: Eric, Tami, Matt, Julie, Landry, The Riggins Boys, and Buddy.  With Matt disappearing half way through for Chicago.

The new peeps are bringin’ it, big time.  You have Luke, the kid with a bunch of talent forced to relocate to a lesser team, the East Dillion Lions, and become the leader they desperately need.  Becky, a girl who is charming and bubbly but in love with a guy she can’t have.  Vince, kid from the “wrong side of the tracks” with heart who wants only to succeed where others in his group have not.  Jess, the smart, intelligent, funny young lady in the middle of a love triangle, trying to figure out where her loyalties lay.  Joe McCoy (not quite new but has a bigger role this year), the ultimate bad guy & foil to Coach Taylor. That’s a few of the characters that are making this year so compelling to watch.

I won’t get too much into the story lines.  You need to watch.

The season starts on NBC in April…

until then, catch up by watching past seasons.

*It’s all about keeping on.

When I started this 365 Movie Challenge, I knew it would be tricky because I have these great ideas and after a few weeks the excitement fizzles.  This one is no different.  Yes, I am waning.  Watching a movie & writing a review EVERY day is way much.

So what do I do?  Quit.  No way, man.  Not this time.  Going to keep on.  There will be little glitches along the way in this journey.  Not stopping though.

Today was all about a migraine.  That made watching my movie about as much fun as going to the dentist (and I don’t say that lightly because I LOVE movies and HATE the dentist.  LOL!)

Today I will do review-lite for 21/365 A Perfect Getaway:

Starring:  Milla Jovovich, Steve Zahn, Timothy Olyphant, Kiele Sanchez

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Discovery: I picked it because I have a little crush on Timmy Olyphant

Summary:  Young newlywed couple, Cliff and Cydney, are honeymooning in Hawaii.  As they travel they encounter a group of teens that tell them about serial killers that are somewhere on the island.  Not long after they meet Nick and Gina walking. As the group hikes to the falls, it becomes unclear if Nick and Gina can be trusted. Or are things what they seem?

First Glance:  This was one of the better thrillers I have seen lately because it gave me a few surprises.  I like that.  I enjoyed the relationship between Nick and Gina. Odd & quirky but engaging; they kept me on my toes.  The DP really captured the beauty of Hawaii, the falls they hike to is stunning.  The story unfolded in such a way that you have to really pay attention because everything is not to be taken at face value.  (Behind the scenes girl says: the scene at the end where the “bad guy” gets his hand split in half is crazy good.  I wish I had been there to see how the makeup peeps pulled that off.  Very cool.)

What I Took Away from this Movie:  Look twice.  What do you see?

Final Glimpse:  MUST SEE.  Very satisfied with this flick.

19/365 Love Happens

**missed a few days, the goal is to keep trucking with my challenge.

Starring:   Jennifer Aniston, Aaron Eckhart, Martin Sheen, John Carroll Lynch

Genre: Romantic Comedy (with dramatic undertones)

Discovery:  I will watch any movie with John C. Lynch (worked with him on this film, check it out later this year).

Summary:  Girl meets guy.  Girl doesn’t like guy.  Guy wins her over.  Girl loses guy because of crisis.  Girl and guy fall in love.  The end.  The one saving grace is John C. Lynch’s performance as a dad who has lost his son.  Aaron Eckhart does the best he can with the material he is given.  Some really poignant moments.

First Glance:  Super, high gloss rom-com.  You know you are in trouble when the best parts of the movie involve the B story plot line involving a dad who is grieving the loss of his young son in a freak accident.  The love story is completely lacking. Mostly, I feel as though I am not given a chance to figure out who _______ is. See? I even forgot her name.  (Behind the scene girl says: Jenny gets to wear the best clothes.  Per usual.  Although, not for realism.  What florist wears $900 designer leather jackets?  I don’t know any. *wink*)

Deeper Look:  There are some very emotional scenes in this flick that kept my attention:  watching a husband (Aaron Eckhart) process his role in the death of his wife and a dad (John C Lynch) embracing his life again.  They gave the necessary weight to keep this movie from being a trite piece of mush.  I did find the lighting beautiful & mood enhancing. (More from BTSG:  The “hot coals” looked pretty real and that is quite a feat, it could have come off as phony baloney.)

What I Took Away from this Movie:  Love Happens and is banal as the title.

Final Glimpse:  Watch it for the subplot.  Fast forward through the rest.  Just my 2 cents.

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