May 21, 2011

#129: Bridesmaids (7/10)

I don't like to read reviews before I write my own, but this time I did. After seeing Bridesmaids I wasn't blown away by it... at least not as much as all the hype that I'd heard about it from the public and critics alike. I had to check them out and see what everybody liked so much about it. I started with the staples... Ebert and Armond White. Everybody should read Ebert's review just to enjoy the awkwardness (fyi I am reviewing reviews right now... meta!). I read a few other reviews and I came up with a consensus of why everybody liked it... because it proves women actually can be funny and that is such a refreshing surprise from their usual bitching and moaning.

May 11, 2011

#128: Wet Hot American Summer (5/10)

Back in high school, especially the last couple years of it, I didn't watch all that many movies. I felt like I did, but other than going out on dates from time to time I really didn't. Even in college I didn't see that many. Later on I started watching more, but for the first couple years I watched almost nothing. This means I have a gap from 1998 to 2003 where I saw very few movies (by comparison to what I see these days anyway). I missed out on a lot. I've been trying to go back and fill in the gaps. The good part is that I can pretty easily filter out all the crap movies that came out during that time and focus on the good ones. One that I'd been meaning to catch up with forever finally came to Netflix instant... Wet Hot American Summer.

May 8, 2011

#127: Before Sunset (7/10)

Last week I treated myself to a couple of talkies... ones about love you see.  You should have already read my thoughts on Before Sunrise.  I couldn't wait to sit down to see what became of my two favorite jabber mouths. Most people who watched the original film in 1995 had to wait 9 whole years to know if they met in December on that train platform. I cheated the system and only waited mere hours before learning what happened to the young lovers.  I'm not sure if Before Sunset was better or worse because of that.

Celine and Jesse meet again, this time in Paris. Just as before... they walk and they talk. We resume our role as voyeur, taking in their conversational musings on life and love. Just as before there is a pretentiousness that makes each of them unlikable in their own special way. Now they don't have the naivety of youth to use as an excuse.  I am nearly 29 years old. I am much closer in age to the Celine and Jesse in this second film.  Yet, I felt much more connected to the younger versions. There is probably some meaning in that... I should think about that more at a later date.