Big Screen: Trainwreck

The first Judd Apatow movie I’ve ever outright liked! Knocked up = NO THANK YOU.

It was really, really funny. And THE CAMEOS. Man, they got so many people to be SO GOOD in this movie. LeBron James and Jon Cena are not just cameos, they’re actually full-fledged roles and they throw their whole selves into it.

Tilda Swinton is so unrecognizably herself, at first I thought it was Emily Blunt!

Very worthwhile.

OnDemand: White House Down.

Channing Tatum = like. Jamie Foxx = like. Gutsy young girls = like. Jason Clarke = like to dislike. Maggie Gyllenhall = like. James Woods = like to dislike.

Fun, entertaining. Predictable? Sure. Unlikely? OK. Whatever!

Might put you in the mood for some other political thrillers like In the Line of Fire (I rewatch this one so much, my first DVD of it wore out!), or Shooter, or A Few Good Men (another movie I have seen approximately 94 zillion times).

Big screen: Magic Mike XXL

From the super high to the lowly low. Hey, that’s life, isn’t it.

This was a LOT of fun and about 9,685,432 times funnier and sexier and more enjoyable than the first one. BY FAR.

SO much more dancing, better dancing, more enjoyable little conversations between the dancing.

Some of the end of movie dances were more silly than sexy (which is fine). My overall favorite was the dance Channing did by himself at Rome’s house. V. sexy.

Big screen: Testament of Youth

This is just a truly lovely movie, from top to bottom and beginning to end. The story is lovely, and heart wrenching, and brutal–the sleeve of my hoodie was soaking wet by the end of the film from wiping my eyes. The sets, and costumes, and backdrops, were SO well done, so of their time and place. The acting was fabulous. I want to go see that lead actress in everything she ever does, including maybe Ex Machina which I really didn’t want to see.

I had been dithering about, sulking over there not being any movies to see, and Dad said “Oh, Testament of Youth! GO TO THAT! That’s based on Vera Brittain’s book, she’s fantastic.” And I’m so glad I did.

I’m obsessed with learning more about her, I’m obsessed with the clothing from this movie. I’m certainly going to see it again if it stays around long enough.

Big Screen: Inside Out

Maybe this was too overhyped for me. Or maybe I never like animated movies that much anyway. Or maybe I think movies that try to ride that middle ground between 1) kids will find this funny and 2) adults will still find it smart! tend to just annoy me. Why? Because there is no real middle between those two grounds. Most of it was over the heads of both the kids I went with while concurrently being too simplistic for me. We get only one positive emotional base versus four negative? Come on. Wouldn’t our global suicide rate be even higher if that were the case?

I see why other people liked it. I laughed at times. But I didn’t cry or feel all “OMG that was ME as an 11 year old girl” or any of the kinds of things my friends and reviewers have been saying. Sorry, it just wasn’t for me.

Big Screen: Big Eyes

Christoph Waltz is SO (appropriately) creeptastic in this movie. And then I think about who and how he is in other movies…and then I listened to him being interviewed by Elvis Mitchell on The Treatment…and I’m wondering if creepy is where his true acting forte lies. (GAH. Horrifying.)

This is such an intensely weird, unsettling story. Well acted, well directed. But certainly not lovable.

There were some things about it that I thought could have been fleshed out more. And in some ways it’s one of those movies that doesn’t really GO anywhere with what it’s got to say (it just calmly tells this woman’s story from one point to another). But it’s worth seeing.

Love Actually.

Although I have watched this movie numerous times, and will probably continue to do so*, I pretty much agree with every single thing this (long) article details about its true non-romanticness. Especially this:

The fundamental problem with Love Actually is that it presents romance as either absurdly easy—something that strikes you like a thunderclap and requires only a single grand gesture in order to be fulfilled—or all but impossible. Notably absent is the idea that love might ever be worth a little sustained effort: some mutual exploration and discovery, a bit of care and nurture, maybe even the overcoming of an obstacle or two.

*I really watch it because I enjoy the Hugh Grant performance so much. It is a nice pairing with either Two Weeks Notice OR Music and Lyrics, both charming lovely movies.

p.s. I just rewatched it last night after totally cracking up over this tweet (& video).

Pros, cons; six of one, half a dozen of another.

Things I hate about this year: I’ve been to see/hear very little live music (so far) this year.

Things I love about this year: All the (FOUR) shows I’ve been to were magnificent performances by bands I love.

*Note: I do have tickets to Spoon in September! Or October. Can’t remember which. I have it written down somewhere.

Things I hate about this year: I didn’t see a single movie in April, and wasted my February movie-going energy on Wolf of Wall Street, a completely ridiculous movie with zero redeeming qualities if you ask me.

Things I love about this year: I saw Only Lovers Left Alive and Words and Pictures, two flicks which are still serving my soul with reminders of things I love, things that are important, things to strive for.

Things I hate about this year: It’s somehow so much easier and faster to record having read a book on goodreads than to take the five seconds longer than that to record it here and who knows maybe even a quick review.

Things I love about this year: At least I’m keeping up with goodreads.