god bless ozzy osbourne

i checked out god bless ozzy osbourne after darlene told me that she and her husband watched it one night. and she was right.  it is an excellent documentary and i learned a lot about the osbournes.

to start, i have to explain that ozzy is coherent in this documentary!  he talks and he makes sense!  i know it's shocking to hear, especially those who watched the mtv series the osbournes.  it turns out that what we saw on that show was not the effects of alcohol and drug abuse, but rather someone on drugs and alcohol.  i had no idea, here i thought ozzy was just getting old, but it turns out that ozzy was just fucked up.  it was great to see him functioning like a normal person in this documentary, so watch it just for that.

also aimee, the sibling that did not want her face to be shown on the tv series is gorgeous!  at first, it hought kelly had just lost some weight, i mean they look like twins.  but it turns out that was aimee.  she really is quite beautiful.  no offense, but kelly must have some secret hatred/jealousy of her sister based on her looks. 

also ozzy has two children from a previous marriage, i did not know that.

sharon also shared what happened with dove biting and the bat bitiing.  he thought the bat was fake, and it wasn't.  

all in all, it's a really great documentary, tommy lee shared some crazy story about ozzy osbourne which was gross and entertaining.

if you have showtime, you should definitely take the time to watch it.  it's great to see his life and to now see him sober.

also i have to add, ozzy was super hot when he was younger!  and boy did he have some amazing outfits.  i especially loved all the fringe that he wore.  as seen below: 

the tree of life.

i waited a year for this movie.  there were that many requests for this film that i did not get it for an entire year.  sadly i must say that the wait was not worth it.

i planned on seeing "the tree of life" in theaters.  brad pitt and sean penn!  this movie had to be amazing. my cousin erin and i even went to the theater to see it.  however, we were late and missed the first 10 minutes and decided to see "midnight in paris" instead.  the employee at the movie theater, a girl i know, even warned us that people had asked for their money back and it was actually a good thing we didn't see "tree of life."

i should have listened to that warning.  but i must add that when i heard jimmy kimmel (i think) make a joke about dinosaurs being responsible for the brother's death.  i had to see it.

this movie was bad.  not that it was bad but it was too artistic-y.  i mean i didn't need to see the beginning of time.  and the whole close ups and shots from different angles to make it feel like you were in the movie, just made me nauseated.  if i saw it in theaters i probably would have been sick.  that jerky first hand perspective was spooky in "the blair witch project" not so much here.  and that whole time sequence from the beginning of time was  bit pretensions.  it was beautiful but came across as some sad christian bragging, like look at all that my god has made.  i don't know it was weird.

the movie in itself was horrible.  it was a son justifying his hatred of his father, but i couldn't sympathize with the son.  so your father didn't like the way you picked weeds and mowed the lawn, seriously get over it.  i mean brad pitt seemed like the product of the era, that is how men were.   i mean its horrible to feel unloved by a parent but move on instead of telling on it.  i had an absent father but i didn't go around moping about, nor did i allow it to effect my self-confidence and self-worth.  it was difficult to sympathize with the son because he was for lack of a better world, a crybaby.  life is tough some time deal with it.  yes that flare up from brad pitt was bad but once again wasn't it all because of lawn work?  really???

also i couldn't handle all of the christian propaganda at the end.  seriously i hope that heaven isn't a beach because if i die and god allows me into heaven and it turns out to be the heaven from "tree of life", i will ask to be sent to hell.   and seagulls in heaven???? i hope not.  that would definitely be hell.

"the tree of life" was beautiful but lacked any real substance.  i would have appreciated it more if it was an art installation, dialogue less and project on different walls of a room.  but as a movie, it was horrible.

the producers. young frankenstein. a history of the world part 1.melbrooks.

i was channel surfing one day and came across a show honoring mel brooks. as i watched, i realized i had never seen a mel brooks movie! i know outrageous!! my facebook friends were outraged.  i decided to check out some of his films from the library and play catch up on life. i must add that i enjoyed all of them, though they didn't make me laugh out loud the whole time, i did appreciate the humor.  also loved seeing so many older actors young.  and last but not least, i was definitely scared of gene wilder as a kid thanks to "willy wonka" but thanks to these movies discovered, he truly is amazing!!

"the producers"- i found it great though a little sad how he hustled the old ladies.  and seriously L.S.D. as hitler, hey man, seriously so funny, really cool, baby, really hilarious, man.  lol. loved him. i would totally go see the musical, "springtime for hitler", i mean the theme song was so catchy!! i also about died when they did the swastika formation on stage. so clever yet so horrible at the same time.

also random note but the nazi playwright was the voice of king triton in "the little mermaid"!

"young frankenstein"-  i thought gene wilder was amazing!  loved his instance on the correct pronunciation of "frankenstein".  but who really stole the show was igor, marty feldman!!! i got was my favorite with his "walk this way" and jokes about his eyes.  his dirty jokes were the best too.  i also loved that cloris leachman was in it, love her, though her character was minor.  i will admit that i missed it but thanks to imdb discovered that gene hackman played the blind man!  i will add i did appreciate the allusion to the blind man in the book.  i was also not expecting the "puttin' on the ritz"

performance with the monster, his singing was superb!  lol.  and all of the jokes about the monster's privacy were too much.  

"the history of the world part 1"-  i was shocked by how x-rated this movie was, i mean some of the jokes!  loved that it opened with a 2001 parody though the humping primates got gross.  but i was impressed by how edgy it was!  the joke about the homo sapiens wedding followed by the homosexual homo sapiens wedding was great, also nice to see that cavemen were so tolerant. gregory hines was great.  i couldn't believe he rolled a huge joint to escape the romans!  but my favorite was the inquisition musical number, such bad yet catchy songs!! i mean seeing the jews being tortured was horrible but that is how it went.  also the esther williams-esque number and sparkler helmets for the menorah! amazing!!!!  it was great but will add i did get bored during the french revolution but other than that great!

hello i must be going.

i forgot what i was watching but when i saw a preview for "hello i must be going" i had to see it. i've been a fan of melanie lynsky ever since she played the adopted mother of those "sound of music" singing kids in "away we go". there is something sweet and likable about her. but what i was most excited was that charlie from "girls" was in it! (random "girls" note but amy's (lynsky) brother looked oddly familiar, i imdb-ed him . . . and it was jessa ex! the one she sexed with shosh still in the room!) since i didn't see it in theater, i checked it out.

the film is about amy, a thirtysomething divorcee. her world has fallen apart due to mentioned divorce. she moved back home and when we mert her, hasn't left the house in 3 months (ridiculous and sad). but things change when she meets jeremy (aka charlie!). he's nineteen and her dad's potential business partner's stepson. they hang out and have sex and eventually fall in love. and from
their secret relationship, amy learns a valuable lesson about love and jeremy learns how to live for himself and do what he wants in life. it's sweet.

the film has a great supporting cast. my favorite was jeremy's mom, who is a psychologist so is open to everything. she believes that her son is gay, though he isnt. and when she finds amy and jeremy skinny dipping buys the story that is a firm of therapy. it's silly but would be nice to have such a support parent though at time she is naive.

there was also a great analogy about love. amy's old high school friend tells her “love isn’t a prize you get at the carnival for squirting water in a clown’s face the longest. if someone loves you, they just love you. love just happen." at the time it seem profound as a future thirtysomething looking for love it's comforting to think love not as a reward for your hard work. but more as something that will just happen. but love is work so i kinda don't agree with it though i think love at first is random but love in a relationship requires work. oh and i love when amy drunkenly butchers this analogy by telling her mother, "it’s not like coming in the clowns face at a carnival.” lol

also the soundtrack was amazing. it was all music by laura veir and the saltbreakers. check her out.

and check out the movie, it was a grand jury selection at sundanese. and also hot sex scenes with charlie! who can say no??!?!

ps the title comes for a groucho marx song. amy and her dad used to watch his films late at night when she was a kid.

tell them anything you want: a portrait of maurice sendak by lance bangs and spike jonze.

on june 10th, google celebrated maurice sendak's birthday with this doodle:

adorable right? when i clicked on the doodle, it brought up a bunch of sendak info and i realized i never watched the documentary lance bangs and spike jonze made about him.  so of course i requested it from the library.

i didn't see "tell them" when it first came out because i didn't have hbo but i regret waiting this long to watch it. it was a beautiful yet sad documentary and my heart is now filled with even more love for maurice sendak.

as a kid i was always drawn to "where the wild things are" because of the illustrations but it wasn't until i was an adult that i became emotionally attached to the the book.  it wasn't until 2009, when i heard about spike jonze's film adaption of "where the wild things are", and i reread the book, did i finally identify with max.  i wrote a blog post about it, which your can read here: where the wild things are.

 

this emotional attachment to "where the wild things are" mixed with the honesty of sendak and then soundtracked by karen o (like the the movie) resulted in me crying throughout most of this documentary.  i just wanted to love sendak and make him feel loved, he has brought so much joy into the world with his stories yet he doesn't realize it (when jonze tells him this in the doc, he admits he spoiled).  maurice also suffered so much in life that the darkness of his books came to light.

i loved all of the stories maurice shared.  i will highlight some of my favorite parts but if you haven't seen the documentary, stop here.  go watch it and enjoy it and then come back to read my blog.  

(start here again)

 

here are my favorite stories:

the tale of his parents attempting to abort him and constantly telling him about it was sad but like he said it was different time.  they were not being cruel but honest.  children are a financial burden.  i always saw myself having at least four but now that i am older, it might be only one.  (i am also getting too old to have multiple kids)

when discussing his parents at a different time in the documentary, maurice made a very important point, "having children requires talent."  people have children but are not prepared to raise them. especially today, people are still children themselves and having kids.  as maurice said, raising kids is like an art.  i have always been extremely grateful that my grandmother raised me because she knew how to raise kids.  it was not simply because she had raised her own kids but grandma bea had also gone back to school to become a teacher when she was in her fifties.  my uncle boon always jokes that her kids got spanked but the grandkids didn't because grandma learned about child development.  i always tell people i had the best childhood and i know it's because of grandma bea's experience as a preschool teacher.  she provided a home in which we learned the importance of education in addition to feeling loved and valued.  i did well in school and was a well behaved child because of my grandma.  i consider myself a lucky one because not all parents know good parenting.  

maurice did not speak highly of his parents but it was sweet to hear him talk about his older siblings.  he truly loved them and they influenced all he accomplished in his life.  his brother jack was the one that taught him how to draw and they created these wonderful toys together.  when he talked about his brother, it brought me to tears.  i know i am not the perfect sibling but hope that i have been a good influence on my brother and sister.

though the story had happy memories, it was also filled with sad stories.  one story that made me sad was maurice's struggle with his homosexuality.  he did live in a different time but he spent most of his life wishing he wasn't gay.  jonze asked him when he stopped beating himself up about being gay and he said never.  when he made the point that he was worried about his career it made even more sense.  people would not be accepting of a gay children's book writer, but luckily his books were viewed on his skill versus his sexuality.  thought he felt like he missed out on a lot of fun, he did find love.  

another sad story was the one about the lindbergh baby.  the story in itself is devastating but the story of a young maurice seeing a photo of the mutilated baby's body in a newspaper was terrifying.  it was even more horrible considering that his family did not believe him and how it scarred him for life (he became obsessed with the case).  i haven't read "outside over there" (i have heard him allude to it in interviews) but saw it as a form of therapy for him to come to terms with the image that was etched into his mind.  and again he brings up another sad fact about childhood, how children probably see horrible images like this but never tell anyone.  it reminded me of how "world weekly news" traumatized me as a child. i mean why was that newspaper allowed near the grocery checkout stand within eyeview of kids shopping with their parents!  thanks to "world weekly news" i was scared that my mother was going to be kidnapped by the werewolf man and that if i swallowed a watermelon seed, a plant would grow in my belly (there was an edition that featured a kid with a vine coming through his belly button).  also bat boy was the most frightening picture ever.  i remember seeing these images on a family trip to san diego and though i was frightened, i never told anyone.  just like sendak shared, kids do experience scary things all the time but how many times do they share it with someone else? i mean i never discussed my "world weekly news" fear until now.  childhood can be scary.

when spike jonze's film adaptation of "where the wild things are" first came out i remember reading a critique calling it dark and scary.  jonze made the point that childhood is dark and scary but no one every really discusses it.  sendak's books show how childhood can be dark because he is all about honesty.  he makes the important point that he was often told he couldn't say this or that to kids but he believed that you can tell kids anything you want, as long as it is honest.  and this is why "where the wild things are" is so great.  it demonstrated how parents and children do act.  we fight and we argue and we have moments of anger but it's all temporary because at the end of all it, our love for each other is tolerant and forgiving.  it is important for kids to know that their parents love is boundless and that we are all human and will make mistakes but they can always count on their family love.

i have not read all of maurice sendak's catalogue but plan on reading them all. he mentioned specific books that i have yet to read and so i put in some requests. sendak was an amazing person and author and i am sure his books will teach me invaluable lessons about life.

i really loved this documentary. if you have not seen it please see it as soon as possible.  your heart will be happier after watching it.

new york, i love you.

while walking through central park, last saturday, my cousin apollo and i started talking about the vignette in "new york, i love you" with the boy that takes the girl (the bff in "juno") to prom and she is in a wheelchair.  they have sex thanks to a belt in a tree in central park.  and in the end, it turns out that she isn't in a wheelchair but just a method actress!  we couldn't remember any other ones other than the one with natalie portman and the odd one with shia labeaouf.  i mentioned hoping that netflix had it so you can imagine how happy i was when it was at the library! so of course i checked it out!

i didn't see "new york, i love you" in theaters, i either rented it or caught it on tv.  i love "paris je t'aime" so had high expectations for this, though it wasn't as good as "paris" i still enjoyed it.  i will say i forgot how many good and newish actors were in this:  justin barba, bradley cooper, orlando bloom, christina ricci, rachel bilson, james caan, blake lively, maggie q, and ethan hawke.

i won't discuss all the vignettes, just my favorites.

the prom one is definitely my favorite.  and i forgot james caan was in it! he was the perfect new york dad, i mean he is sonny.  i loved when the kids are rushing back and stressed cos it is way past curfew but all he is concerned with we're the yankees!

i loved the one with natalie portman as the hasidic jew and her hindu business partner and their fantasies of marrying each other.  all of the banter on diets was  funny.  also discovered thanks to wikipedia this this vignette was directed by mira nair who directed "monsoon wedding" which is a favorite of mine!

the shia labeouf, though confusing, there's a yahoo answer about it.  i still think it is beautiful.  my interpretation is this the older woman was going to attempt suicide by jumping out her window but labeouf was her guardian angel, preventing it from happening.

i also adore the one with cloris leachman.  that little old couple is too cute trying to get to coney island to celebrate their anniversay.  i hope i find someone that i can grow old with.  

i enjoyed the orlando bloom one for its references to the dakota.  i made sure to go pay my respects to john lennon by going to the dakota and listening to my favorite beatles songs.  i also loved the literary references.  note to self:  i need to read "crime and punishment" and "the brothers karamazov".  also what is with bloom and falling in love with girls over the phone (see: "elizabethtown").

and last but not least loved how the ethan hawke one was so tongue-in-cheek.

also loved all fillers.  i want a boyfriend like justin barba that will surprise me with a trip.  i laughed every time bradley cooper got in a cab.  also maggie q at the cleaners hilarious.

i will add the ending was cheesy.  i liked the paris ending more.  but a great complication and i will check it out anytime i miss nyc.

eyes wide shut.

i was 16 when "eyes wide shut" came out in theaters and i remember all of the controversy about it due to the sex.  back then i had no desire to see it, it wasn't the type of film i would see. i probably would have never saw it but since the lacma has their kubrick exhibit so i finally watched it.

and i know it was critically acclaim and all but i wasn't impressed by it.  i wouldn't even place it in kubrick's top 5.  its called a erotic thriller but there was nothing too suspenseful about it, not like "the shining" suspenseful.  other than maybe expecting nicole kidman to be revealed as the masked woman.  the orgy didn't shocking for me.  maybe it's because i knew what to expect or maybe our media is so sex driven that what was controversial in 1999 is kid's play in 2013.  also i am not surprised that the super rich engage in things like orgy, i mean with all the money, time and power they have, of course they would have some weird sex fetishes.

"eyes wide shut" was based on (just like all of kubrick's work) a literay work, arthur schnitzler's novella "dream story" which was written in 1926.  it did raise an interesting discussion of gender roles and sex and of course the repression and denial of female sexuality.  but again being in 2013 versus 1999 and a woman raised by "sex and the city" and catchy commercials about birth control, i feel i am free to have sex as i want and on my own terms.  i am not saying that prejudices do not exist but i am not affected by them; i do not need to conform to society's views of female sexuality.  it's like being samantha from sex and the city.

the film did not have any wonderful shots or scenes like kubrick's other films.  though all the naked ladies did remind me of "a clockwork orange".  the lighting especially with the christmas lights did remind me of "barry lyndon".  but other than that nothing really stood out.  i did appreciate the inclusion of the prostitute with HIV, with all of the sex in that film, there did need to be a cautionary tale of AIDS/HIV.  and i also wonder if tom cruise being called gay in the film was kubrick poking fun at rumors about cruise's sexuality.  and alan cummings was great as the hotel clerk, the perfect element of weirdness, reminiscent of peter sellers. i will add, i could have done without cruise and kidman, cruise was fine but i do not find kidman attractive and so seeing her naked and during sex scenes was more gross than sensual.

though the film was ho-hum, i will say i loved all the conspiracy theories about the illumanti killing kubrick. i mean would the world really pay attention if kubrick revealed their secret.  also kubrick is one man, it seems impossible for him to actually topple the illumanti.  but while looking up articles about kubrick's death and all of the illumanti signs in his films, I came across gawker's comprehensive guide to the illumanti, enjoy!  lol

spartacus.

as i was watching, i had planned on writing this cute little introduction about how surprised i am with myself for not seeing this sooner since it was referenced in my all time favorite movie "clueless". (chee and christian watched "spartacus" on their first date because christian had this thing for tony curtis. and yes, curtis was dreamt in this with those blue eyes! swoon).

i had also planned on writing how disappointed i was by how the film looked and felt very hollywood. and very un-kubrickesque. it looked more like "the ten commandments" and "ben-hur" than "a clockwork orange" and even "barry lyndon." as i was watching i was certain kubrick didn't direct it, it was so mainstream. (i just read on wikipedia that there was a previous director and kubrick did not have complete artistic control. so that explains that.)

[quick random sidenote but wikipedia also told me the movie was based on a novel, which upholds kubrick's movies being based on literary works.]

i was also going to complain about how
long it was! 3 hours and 15 minutes! actually i will still complain about that. seriously 3 hours and 15 minutes?!?!

anyway, all on judge-iness went on the window with the last 45 minutes and that ending. my god! that ending!

how beautiful and tragic the last 15 minutes were! the irony of the fight between spartacus and antoninus. they actually fought due to their love for each other; spartacus wanted to save antoninus from a slow and painful death, and antoninus did not want the romans to crucify spartacus! but at least they were able to declare their love and appreciate for each other.

and then the ending!!! i was so unprepared. spartacus still partially alive and hanging on the cross, while varinia introduced him to his son. so compelling yet so weird. i mean i still cannot get my head around it. it was beautiful but spartacus was literally hanging on a cross with his newborn at his feet. though maybe my issue with the scene is due to the sacredness of the cross due to my christian upbringing. (mormons do not recognize the cross as a symbol of christ which makes it ultra taboo which might be why i was uneasy with the last scene. uneasy is the wrong word, just surprised. it did pull at my heartstrings.)

since we are on the topic of shocking scenes, i was surprised by the showing of the curfixiaions along the road. but then i guess i got my wish of the film being more kubrickesque. also the battle scenes with limbs being chopped off and sword fights. also those fights scenes were good considering how low tech they were. like how did they do the fire scenes unless they just fired up people? also all of those extras?!?! how did they do that.

and of course, one of the most memorable scenes, "i'm a spartacus". i first hear that phrase in "that thing you do!" (the drummer). and kinda wished i didn't cos it kinda killed the scene. but again so compelling, all of the slaves. standing by spartacus' side. and in a way, they were all him. and of course just single tear down douglas' face, so powerful!

seriously though i was not enjoying "spartacus" at all, but that last hour just reinforced how amazing of a director kubrick truly was.

and one last thought, how lovely was jean simmons? very.

the shining.

we didn't watching scary movies growing up. so never saw "the shining" until i was in high school and caught half of it on ktla one sunday afternoon. but i still knew all of the pop cultural references from "the shining" ie redrum, scary twins, "all work and no play makes jack a dull boy" and "here's johnny!!!" thanks in large part to that simpson's parody. so when i saw pictures of the twin's blue dresses at the lacma exhibit i figured i should finally give it a real watch and i did.

this movie is so freaking scary!!!! mind you, i knew how the story ends and i have seen all of the signature scenes and i was still scared. so scared that i kept lowering the volume and considered pausing the DVD because i didn't want to see what was going to happen next (and i knew what would happen next so there was really nothing to be afraid off.) i was relieved when danny covered his eyes during his second confrontation with the twins because i wanted to cover my eyes. lol. and i felt better knowing he was scared because to be honest his whole talking finger "tony" was creepy and if that creepy kid was scared than i shouldn't be embarrassed about my fear.

what made the movies so scary and suspenseful was the soundtrack. the music for the scenes were just too eerie. and kept me scared about what waited behind a door or down a hallway. also the lack of sound which reminded you just how empty the hotel was, like when jack was throwing the ball against the wall. one of the creepiest sounds was danny riding around on his big wheel, and when it went from carpeted sound to loud sound on the wooden floor. it was so scary because you knew those creepy twins were going to show up. (i hope the big wheel is on display at the lacma.)

wikipedia described this as psychological horror and that is the best way to describe it. it's not scary because things jump out at you but because it gets you thinking. you know what is going to happen and there is nothing you can do to stop it, you just have to watch it all go down. you know from the beginning during jack's interview with the story of the previous caretaker that the same fate is going to meet them. having this knowledge is what makes it torture to watch.

kubrick did a great job of building suspense and then cutting to random scenes. there were so many times that my heart was racing and then the next scene was "tuesday" and nothing more. and if you think about it other than the scenes of the twins hacked in the hallway, the creepy lady in room 237, and the killing of dick hallorann (which broke my heart when he died), there aren't many gory scenes. the scariest scenes are when you realize jack is going bat shit crazy. jack nicholson really did an amazing job, he was a cold hearted sociopath. when tells wendy, "i'm gonna not to hurt ya, i'm just going to bash your brains in", he said so matter of fact like it was a logical explanation (which it was in his twisted head). i also loved the scenes when wendy discovered his "writing" and i think what made it creepier was that the typing wasn't perfect but had typos and then when it was typed as if it was dialogue and paragraphs, it was like wow! he is insane!

and i remember jack's picture being in the 1921 photo from my first ktla watching of the movie. however, this time i interpreted the ending has jack being the reincarnation of the crazed caretaker. one reason being that jack told wendy how he felt like he was returning home when he first came to the hotel. and then jack's interaction with the ghost of the caretaker made it seem like his previous self was guiding him to repeat his fate. it seems far fetched but after looking on wikipedia, kubrick did mention that jack was a reincarnation.

regardless, of how you think the movie ends its still scary. and i will say one of the scariest movies according to me.

last but not least, i have to add what a fashion icon, shelley duvall was in this film! i wanted to wear everything she had one! the yellow native american jacket was my favorite! i loved the detail of brooch on her blazer when she first walked through the grounds. the purple coat she has on when jack screams at her was great. i also love her overall outfit too, i wish i could find a better pic but no luck. but so many cute outfits! i will have to copy some looks!

the killing.

currently, the lacma has a stanley kubrick exhibit.  i heard it's amazing but i haven't seen it, the reason being that i haven't seen all of his films.  i've seen "the shining", "a clockwork orange", "full metal jacket" and "dr. strangelove" but figured the exhibit would be pointless if i haven't seen them all.  now i am on a personal mission to see all of his films before the end of june (when the exhibit closes). 

to start my mission, i typed "stanley kubrick" into the catalog search engine and "the killing" was one of the first to come up, so i decided to check it out.  i wasn't sure what to expect.  considering the "ultra violence" of kubrick's films i have seen, i imagined that this movie was going to be quite gruesome.  but in fact it wasn't.  without giving too much away, there is some killing but nothing horrible.

"the killing" is the story of johnny clay, who is fresh out of jail and planning a heist.  sounds like "ocean's 11", the premises are the same but this is darker and better, but with less attractive men of course.  johnny plans on stealing money at the peak of a pony race.  i know, a pony race?  but he got 1.2 million which back in 1953 was a lot of dough.  the movie is how the heist goes down.  i don't want to ruin it for those of you who haven't seen it but let's say the ending was surprising, great, very clever and well done.

at the risk of sounding dumb, at first i thought the movie was a nod to the noir films of the 50's, kinda like "chinatown".  i loved that it was in black and white and the narrator's voice was perfect, very gumshoey.  however, it turns out that kubrick made movies for a time and that "the killing" was made in 1953.  and though i'm not an expert, it seems to embody film noir perfectly.  i took a history of los angeles course at ucla and film noir was covered in it. from what i can remember, film noir always has a femme fatale.  "the killing" continued with this traditon of women as evil, the heist goes awry because of woman, (played by marie windsor, who i thought was perfect and lovely).  

the dialogue and narrator definitely gave it that gumshoe, film noir vibe.  it was quick paced and clever and filled with great lines.

my favorites:

johnny to sherry: "you like money.  you've got a great big dollar sign there where most women have a heart."

sherry:  "it isn't fair. i never had anybody but you. mot a real husband. not even a man. just a bad joke without a punch line."

the film is really well done.  visually it is stunning, there are so many great scenes.  SPOILER WARNING:  STOP READING WILL RUIN THE TWIST IN THE MOVIE FOR YOU.

for example, when george shot sherry and he stands there with the birdcage next to him.  i also love when george falls and the birdcage does too and they lie side by side. that would make a lovely picture

or when clay changes into his outfit for the heist and he takes his time to make sure that the flower box is covered properly and placed carefully into the locker.

and of course the last scene with all of the money whirling around the airport.  amazing.  i have to add, i knew something was up, i wasn't sure why we watched that silly woman and her stupid dog at the counter, but then it all came together.

also the music was great, added an element of suspense and drama.  it made the most mundane scene interesting, like when johnny left his jacket and guitar case in the motel room.

i highly recommend it, especially if you plan on seeing the kubrick exhibit.  and if you hate it, it's fine, it's only 84 mintues so not that long of your life wasted. 

the edition i checked out also had "the killer's kiss" on it, i tried to watch but sadly had to return the dvd before i could.  (i had the dvd for two weeks, and didn't feel like checking it out for the third time.)

i watched like half of it.  i'm not sure the premise, i think it's about a boxer who falls in love with his neighbor.  i will say that it looked good.  the visuals were great, especially the b-roll around new york, like the store windows, especially the one with the doll swimming in the bowl of water. that series of scenes could be a collection for art gallery.

i also loved how when the neighbor shared her story (which was sad and beautiful) it was a voice over while the audience watched her sister, who was a ballerina dance.

i will prolly look for it online to watch and see it before the exhibit, so if you get the criterion version, please watch the second dvd.

ira & abbey.

after watching chris messina in "ruby sparks" i was inspired to look into what other movies he has been in and came across "ira & abby".  i knew nothing about it but since he's cute and i love romantic comedies, i assumed it couldn't be that bad.

plus when i picked up the movie, i saw that the cover touted as "the best manhattan love story since 'when harry met sally'". so figured i was in for a treat. however, i wasn't. it wasn't that the movie was bad it's just wasn't good. the story premise was kinda lame. ira and abbey meet when ira goes to sign up at the gym that abbey works at. they hit it off and sort out the type of person the other is and about a hour of knowing each other abbey proposes to ira. and they get married!

it goes well at first. then things fall apart. they go to therapy (btw his parents are analysts not therapists.) all of the therapist were random actors/comedians ie jason alexander which was cool. then ira's mom has an affair with abbey's dad. so even more therapy. (ps ira's mom is played by the mom from "who's the boss"; never a fan of the show so forgot her name.)

oh and random appearance of jon hamm as abbey's second husband who is a heroin addict in recovery but still hot if you like longish hair.

but they figure life out thanks to a large therapy session with everyone.

it was okay. nothing that struck a cord with me. i didn't want to cry which is always a sign of the romcom. the only thing i loved was how abbey's family did their christmas card in costumes. so going to steal that.

but regardless of the movie, chris messina was adorable and totally drool worthy. but watch him in old episodes of "the mindy project" versus adding this to your netflix queue.

happythankyoumoreplease

what is with me and tv character obsessions? but yes i did check this out because "ted mosby" wrote and directed it. i wanted to see it in theaters (especially because the landmark did a q&a with josh radnor) but it got bad reviews so was okay when i didn't see it in a theater. what re-sparked my interest in it was my new girl crush zoe kazan starred in it too. well not major but minor.

so the thing that i have to remember when i watch my favorite tv actors in movies is that they are not their tv characters. i realized that when sam (radnor) started cussing, ted mosby doesn't say fuck well more like i never heard him say it. i was expecting to watch a ted mosby movie and that was not the case.

this movie was okay, nothing really to write home about. it follows the life of sam, a writer and his friends. sam helped this foster kid who was left on the subway and instead of sending him back into the system, kept him for a few days (yes which is essentially kidnapping) and discovered the kid is good at art and tried to develop that talent in him. he also met a girl named mississippi and they decide to have a "three night stand" which is kind of a cute concept. act like a couple for three days to see how it works versus just one night of sex. i would have signed his contract. and she is this singer and she asked him to her show but he doesn't want to go cos what if she is bad? then his attending her show becomes this symbol of his commitment to her. and in the end he goes. she is supposed to be amazing but i thought she sucked. she sang this bad show tune kinda song. it ended the movie on a bad note in my opinion.

another storyline is his friend annie who has alopecia which they treat as this horrible ailment. she even hosted an awareness dinner. and i get everyone has their own self-image battles but i think the head wraps made her look more ridiculous than her hair loss. she looked like a wannabe black girl, kinda like a wigga but that is not the right phrase. she didn't read bohemian but more like a wanna-be erykah badu, so i couldn't take her seriously. her whole thing was that she doesn't realize her beauty until she started dating this guy she was initially annoyed by from her office. btw this guy was buster from arrested development!!! anyway the title comes from story she shared at dinner where this taxi driver teaches her this mantra so she could have more happiness in her life.

then there is mary catherine (played by kazan) who was sam's cousin. her boyfriend wanted to move to la and she is anti-it because she hates la. but he gives this amazing description of la which is very true.

--

she gets preggers and then crazy. her bf proposed to her (without knowing that she was knocked up). but she freaked out because she is not the marriage type. but they end up happily ever after.

see the story lines were ho-hum. i didn't become invested in any of them.

but you know what i did love! the soundtrack!!! it was amazing and sadly not available anywhere. but wikipedia listed out the track list and surprise surprise the music supervisor is andy gowan from "how i met your mother". the man is really amazing!!!

tiny furniture.

if you know anything about me or have been around me, you know that i've been on a "girls" kick.  and so in desire to be up-to-date on all things lena dunham, i decided to check out "tiny furniture". also will be attending a "girls" party and don't want to be embarrassed by the fact that i haven't seen it.

"tiny furniture" is a look at the life of aura, who just graduated from college, broke up with her bf and moved back home. btw aura's mom and sister are played by lena's actual mom and sister! her sister has some crazy long legs(i wonder if she has the same complex as me about a skinner younger sister?). also found out that her mom is an artist just like her "character".

due to this art imitating real life element, and of course the similarities of this film to "girls", i wonder how much of lena's productions are really just her life.

things that are for sure her life:
-bathing with company. she is always having deep talks about life with someone while she is bathing
-a fear of aids though not necessarily but probably due to "forrest gump"
-she really does have a tattoo on her bum that jemima kirke gave her
-she's a big fan of woody allen
-she's a masochist when it comes to sex and relationships.

i also came to realize that not only is lena just hannah but jemima kirke is really just jessa because her character charlotte was just jessa. i saw in an interview that lena has to beg jemima to be in the tv series and after watching this i have to assume that she didn't want to turn her actual personality into a tv persona. i also now kinda hate her because who could be that fabulous in life. yes jessa is a bit of a mess but she is the bohemian i could never be. if i get a second chance at life i want to come back with her spirit.

[ps just found this article online at vanityfair.com with jemima kirke. looks like i was wrong:

Did you have a hand in shaping your characters in Girls and Tiny Furniture?

Yes, I think there’s a reason why she gave me these roles. Not necessarily because our behaviors are the same, but because perhaps there was a similarity historically between the characters and me. I definitely don’t act like those characters, but there is a lot that I can understand. I think there is also a reason why she gave me such a similar character in the show to the movie. And that reason is that I don’t know that my range in acting is that big. I think that I can do just a few different things. I’m not trained.]

also alex karpovsky also finally grew on me. not that i didn't appreciate his doucheness in "girls", his mickey d's rant, genius! but finally found him attractive. or maybe it was just the fact that he dressed up like a cowboy on a toy horse with these really cool cactus balloons in the background. (i am going to look for said cactus balloons for a future photo session and maybe coachella).

so "tiny furniture" is a very honest look at how it is to be back from home after college. it sucks cos you don't really fit into your home life anymore because though it is your home, it really isn't. i thought aura's freakout was great because that is how you feel sometimes that your family doesn't get you anymore.

the film also shows how much it sucks having to get some random job because let's face college does not give you any real work experience. ability to write last minute paper or takes detailed notes can never be listed on a resume. and the pay is never what you need to survive aura works as a daytime hostess at a restaurant and meets the man of my dreams though he turns out to be a dick! which sadly still makes him the man of dreams but a sous chef that reads! why can't i find that on okcupid. but he turns out to be a male slut and they end up hooking up in a pipe which sounds gross but is also kind of amazing.

also realized just like i have on the series that as much as i love lena's characters they are also so damn selfish. aura screwed over her college friend who moved out to new york. aura was supposed to her roommate but bailed on her the day before she heads out to nyc. which is really messed up. but i get the selfishness, as a gemini it's in my zodiac coding.

there is a lot of praise for it and it won a lot of rewards. but i wasn't mad for it like i am mad for "girls" but still worth a watch.

i has the criterion copy but sadly didn't watch special features because our DVD remote is broken. but may watch them on the criterion's youtube channel.

last but not least do not like lena with long hair. and actually love it super super short. so cute!

how i met your mother. season seven.

i came late to the "how i met your mother" game. my friend larry was a huge fan but didn't think much of it (though i should start to trust him, he surprisingly has good taste in tv). then my friend saba started watching old episodes via netflix and i got hooked. and thank goodness for lifetime and fx airing it because i have gotten somewhat caught up. however new episodes are a bit of challenge. my lack of a dvr causes me to miss new episodes because monday is "dancing with the stars" night for grandma bea. plus i don't get home til 9pm. but thankfully the library has it on dvd. though i will have to wait for season 8 to come out so i can be completely caught up.

the first thing that shocked me was the number of episodes in one season. there were 24!!! i thought it would take me forever to watch but only two days. episodes were like pringles, once i popped i couldn't stop!

so here is my breakdown of the episodes (well some of them, i mean there are 24):

episode 1: so first of all, i knew barney was going to marry robin. for a while, i thought it was nora but they way lily tells ted the bride wants to see him, it had to be robin! (and i was right!)

so love love loved the "groove is in the heart" dance sequence! really neil Patrick harris is so darn cute!!! why must he be gay?!?! also love love loved robin's new hairstyle! and marshall and lily should have waited three months before they announced they were preggers (i'm superstitious about stuff like that!)

episode 2: edward forty-hands reminded me of my guy friends, they were doing that back in like 2004. this episode also made me grateful that all of our crazy partying was done pre-iphones cos we would def have some "beercules" videos on youtube.

episode 3: seriously victoria is back?!?! I hated her. she was so lame and boring. i mean she made ted wait for sex and that whole the lead up to the kiss thing, was a sad attempt to be sexy. i also hated her for her planting that seed of doubt in ted about robin, barney and his friendship! so it is kinda weird but they are such good friends who would want to ruin that? lame victoria! i hate that they brought her back!

but i do love them for their cleverness! when barney sneezed early in the episode i bought it was so random but figured they kept it in cos it happened during taping but didn't disrupt it. but it turns out that barney trained marahall like a pavlov dog to want shinjitsu every time he sneezed. so funny and clever!!

episode 4: i don't like kumar being on the show. i knew from seeing the nye episode when it aired that he and robin date this season. but do not like them as a couple.

episode 8: i always wanted ted to find the slutty pumpkin. but really katie holmes?!?! normally there are great surprise actors on the show but they really drop the ball on this one. i was mixed emotional, was so excited ted finally found the slutty pumpkin but was annoyed it was katie holmes. also the slutty pumpkin needed some sexier lingerie. it's actually a good costume, maybe i'll do it for halloween next year. was it a thing this year? i didn't go out so can't say.

it also got me thinking, he looked for her for 9 years, that is kinda crazy. but i think of missed connections i had that long ago like this crazy haired guy jeff i went to school with or this other random guy who picked me up (though didn't get my number, he was kinda drunk) by asking me to hug him like there was no else in the world (he was really cute so that line worked cos if not it would be freaky). and i wonder what happen to them, i mean if i knew they would randomly show up at some party every year, would i go? honestly probably not, well maybe for jeff. but i do have a missed connection from about 6 years ago i would try to rekindle. it wasn't a missed connection exactly because he did find me on myspace and we exchanged numbers. but he had a gf so it was more of a severed connection once she found out about his new friend, me. i did see him about two years ago at a food and wine event with a new girl. i should have said hello but didn't. he was cute and going to law school and liked to karaoke and interpol! i am quite the stalker and have found him on fb (i do know his full name) but that seems way too stalkery to message him. maybe i'll post a missed connection on craigslist and see if that works. so though it seems crazy, i commend ted for putting himself out there and at least trying.

also i need to make that tootsie roll drink!

episode 9: i really need a sign up in a place because something i have done. challenge accepted!

episode 10: i know in the post about junot diaz's book i said boo to cheating, but in a fictional world it is a okay! so yes i was in support of robin and barney cheating, i really liked them as a couple.

the concert: hilarious! it reminded me of our lady gaga cousin adventure (quick digression: the last time i hung out with my cousin danielle, she told me that my stories were himym-ish, i was quite flattered). we lost joann and roamed around the entire arena and even had security help is look for her. and then we found her in the very first bathroom we went into and had a huge party in.

anyway, i have to admit that i am pretty amazing at concerts in this regard. last coachella during florence at the machine i had to pee badly, like piss on myself bad. so i went by myself in the middle of their set. as i was walking back i thought to myself, how am i going to find my friends? but guess what! i did!!! those light up tambourines sure did help. my friend mona was amazed, she was sure they had lost me. we were all really drunk and/or "full of sandwiches" so i could have been a goner but i'm quite resourceful when i'm trashed!

ps love that the guitar man was a cardboard cut-out! lol

episode 11: bro-parents! when i saw this episode i texted larry to see if he and peter could become bro-parents. though i realized later that they did try it once before with stella, their dog. in the end, peter kept the dog, which is how it would probably play out if they ever had a kid.

i was also excited about the robin and barney kid news!

ps loved jai from queer eye for the straight guy was on this episode!

episode 12: i had read about this episode online. and thought it was kinda weird and very serious. i thought this season had some very serious moments but that is life as we get older, our lives are no longer just fun and games. i felt bad for robin, not being able to have kids. it's one thing to decide not to have kids and quite another to physically not be able to. i am always scared this is going to happen I me, that i will end up like charlotte from "sex and the city". i think it was great that himym did an episode about this because this is an issue for thirtysomething women. however i did not like how forlorn it was, that she had no children at all, i mean adoption is always an option for women. i also can't imagine barney not being a dad. but maybe there will be a twist? she had no real kids in that episode so there is still an opportunity for adopted kids.

episode 13: i skipped this on the dvd because i saw it when it aired. this episode made me cry, i was pms-ing. it was just so sweet to see marshall still bonding with his dad.

episode 14: this is a great example of why this show is so great! how they redid the opening credits to do "how i met your barney" then the russian opening! when the gang changed. it's things like this that have caused me to fall in love with the show. like how some of te made up websites for the show are actual websites online. it's kinda amazing tha they do things like that!

episode 15: i didn't like this episode. found it uninteresting. though i did what to know what happen to the gouda.

episode 16: i was not at all excited about kevin and robin. and though it was sad was happy that he un-proposed because she couldn't have kids. sad but kevin wouldn't make her happy he was too easily weirded out by the gang for it to work.

episode 17: seriously ted! he just can't get over robin. it was kids sad that he is still hung up on her but then again i spent about 4 years of my life hung up on someone that only saw me as a friend. so i get it.

and though it was sad when marshall asked robin to move out but i understand it too. as much as i hate the bakery bitch (victoria), their friendship was hindering ted from finding the one. i think the reason why i have been single for the past 5 years or so are due to the friendship that i had. i didn't need a boyfriend because i spent all of my time with cody. even now i am never lonely for companion because i have a guy friend that can fill any void. dinner? larry. art date? jerry. concert? danny. happy hour? shawn. i am never in need. and let's be honest my body's current state has ruined any desire for sex. i am so fat that i wouldn't want to have sex with myself. so it's tough because as much as i love my guy friends i am never sadly lonely so am never motivated to date. but now my age is staring to kick me in the butt on the dating front. (wow himym really captures all of these awkward stages in life.)

ps i saw on wikipedia that conan was in the background in this. i totally missed it and returned the dvd to the library so will youtube it.

episode 18: hated the introduction of karma. barney couldn't get over robin that quickly! it was as if he was a completely different person that the first half of the season was a different character. made no sense!

episode 19: i want to start having intervention for my group of friends.

episode 20: i have never seen the star wars trilogy and i need too. this made me sad because so much can change in 3 years. this made me hopeful that maybe in 3 years i'll have a kid like ted. my only complaint was why did they still have the apt after three years, marshall and ted are both dads. moving out should have happened.

episode 21: barney and i would be the best of friends. i would be game for any of "the night that . . ." adventures he came up with. especially the mariachi one. seriously through if we were friends, it would be lengen---wait for it---dary!!! i mean i am good at laser tag, and by good, i mean i get super melodramatic and act like i'm in some vietnam reenactment. but seriously he's awesome, and i am awesome so we would be super awesome together. though not as awesome as he and robin together.

episode 22-24: WTF ted?!?! the bakery chick?!?! seriously??? she shows up in her wedding dress! red flag! she is obviously not marriage material! robin is right you do go for wrong the people. you are goddamn idiot. did you forget she held out on you? that again is not marriage material! good luck but your life is end up going to shit if you stay with her!

on a happier note that was a great birth story! and that kid does have the coolest middle name though i would never give it to my kid. and i knew barney was going to propose but thank god he ends up with robin!!!!! so happy for them!

so that was lone but the season was. thanks for reading this much.

bottle rocket.

i adore wes anderson but i have never seen his early movies and by early i mean "bottle rocket" and "rushmore" (yeah i know it's horrible that i haven't seen the later, especially if i claim i love anderson but i haven't and i do.)

and to be honest, good thing this is the first time i saw it because if "bottle rocket" was the first anderson film i ever saw i would have never watched the others. i mean the only thing that reminded me of the rest of the anderson movies was the music. the music was quirky but perfect for every scene like all of his movies. and also pagoda is in it! i googled and his name is kumar pallana but he'll alway be pagoda to me.

this movie was missing whimsy. there is this feeling of warm fuzzies one gets watching anderson films and i didn't get them watching this. normally i get lost in his films, i become a member of that dysfunctional family and love them quirks and all. and there are also cute moments sprinkled through out his films, like the plays of margot tenebaum, the random sea creatures of "the life aquatic", the letter writing between sam and susie but none of that in "bottle rocket." there were no memorable scenes either.

visually it was nothing close to an anderson film. there were no cute sets. nor did he do his single shot scan through multiple rooms thing. wes probably hadn't seen "the graduate" yet so "bottle rocket" didn't have any mike nichols-esque shots. it lacked heart, it was as if wes was trying to be late 90's cool when he just needed to be his oddball self.

james caan couldn't even save it. i was so excited to see him in it. sonny back and alive but his character fell short for me.

i mean not everyone can be amazing from the beginning. a lot of people have strong debuts and than suck so i'm glad he made this. but let's be honest, i feel no need to buy the criterion version of this film.

harold and maude.

"harold and maude" has been on my to watch list for at least 10 years. i first heard about it from my friend leslie, it is her favorite movie. so when bill had charlie watch it in "the perks of being a wallflower", i decided i should finally watch it.

"harold and maude" is a love story but what makes it unique is that harold is in his early twenties and maude is a seventy-nine year old woman. the idea of them together grossed me out but it's only because i think of the sex involved. oddly the priest in the film shared my opinion. though i hope to be in my seventies and still getting my kicks, the idea of being a twentysomething and sleeping with some that old is gross. but i mean people love this film so i needed to get my mind out of the gutter.

due to its status as a cult classic, i wasn't sure what to expect and then seeing the drawing of harold hanging himself on the cover, i was all sorts of confused.

quick endorsement for the criterion collection edition. it comes with a booklet with interviews and the illustrations for it and the disc menu are adorable.

so harold hanging himself is actually how the movie opens. turns out harold is obsessed with suicide. he fakes his own suicides throughout the film. i find most offbeat protagonist quirks attractive however did not find this endearing at all. it was just creepy especially since his mom turned a blind eye to it. it is eventually revealed why he does it and within that context it makes sense so
he becomes less weird. but initially i was like what is wrong with this kid?

and i guess that is why i didn't enjoy this film. i didn't get the appeal of the characters, i wasn't attracted to harold or maude. if a love story is good, you will fall in love with both characters: tom/summer, celeste/jess (though both of these couples do not end up together). think of "sleepless in seattle" you love both hank and ryan's characters so you want them to be together, you root for their love. sadly, this did not happen for me, i did not fall completely in love with harold or maude.

i did think harold was cute, especially in his little 70's outfits, though the suits he wore for dates were horrid. also i dug the sound of voice. i actually found the pranks he played on his dates funny and would not have ran out screaming like the girls did. however the dealbreakers were definitely his mommy issues and his immaturity. at the dinner table he seemed more like a 12 year old than a twentysomething. i often couldn't gage his age which made him unattractive because he seemed like jailbait.

maude was a delightful character. i read the first part of the essay written by film critic, matt zoller seitz in dvd booklet and i got what she was supposed to embody, the counterculture ideals of the sixties but within the older generation versus the youth. i found her interesting with her smell machine, vagina sculpture (that was a vagina he sticks his head in right?), desire to free trees and her lust for life. i also appreciated her philosophies in life, understanding that we are a special individual and not all the same flower or part of a larger group of flowers. however, i hated the fact that she stole cars and her reckless driving. there was nothing cute or spunky about those two things. i mean i'm all for damning the man but you should still have respect for private property. i was disgusted by how she just took cars and this kinda ruined her for me. i mean steal government cars as a form of protest but not your neighbors. also cars can kill people so did not like the reckless driving. i could see how harold would fall for her but she was not my cup of tea.

and let me clairfy, i didn't support their love because of the age gap but rather because i didn't fall in love with them myself. in fact, i was disappointed with myself for being judgey earlier. people should be allowed to be with those that make them happy. it reminded me of the may-december romance in "dandelion wine" and how upset i was that others did not understand it, yet here i was being close-minded. and at the risk of like a lolita (cos that was not the case), i feel like i could have had my own "harold and maude" friendship with my high school english teacher, mr. brice. my senior year we bonded over mullets (i had an "i heart mullet" pin on my backpack and he used to have one, he showed me his id as proof), "a clockwork orange" (i tired to get him to have our class read it), and my civil disobedience (he gave me a pep talk about doing what you believe in, when i called into the office for trying to stage a student protest). he also wore vans. he was totally my maude down to the bohemian-counterculture-free spirit though i prolly wasn't his harold. lol

even with all this, i was not crazy about the film. maybe i need to give it another watch. i know it was a black comedy and i got the humor, but still no sparks. i do understand why bill had charlie watch it. maude does share some very valuable gems about life with harold:

"vice, virtue. it's best not to be too moral. you cheat yourself out of too much life. aim above morality. if you apply that to life, then you're bound to live life fully."

"harold, everyone has the right to make an ass out of themselves. you just can't let the world judge you too much."

"a lot of people enjoy being dead. But they are not dead, really. they're just backing away from life. reach out. take a chance. get hurt even. but play as well as you can. go team, go! give me an L. give me an I. give me a V. give me an E. L-I-V-E. LIVE! otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room."

i think these are important life lessons for everyone. but i guess i watched this too late in life. these thoughts aren't new to me though they are important. i should have watched it my first year of college when leslie first mentioned it. i mean i understand why it is great and it is, and it deserve all the praise it received and more, it just didn't blow my mind.

ps also without giving any spoilers. i did love the ending in terms of maude. she did live life to the fullest!!!

pss oh and damn you at&t for ruining the cat steven's song that harold and maude sing in the movie! and way to go cat steven's on the soundtrack!

psss the night that i watched this totally dreamt that i was dating an old man, not just older but old. lol

ruby sparks.

grandma bea and i do not have fancy cable or satellite that gives you a guide to look for tv shows. instead we have to use a tv guide or channel 2 which scrolls through a listing of shows. though it can be a pain to use channel 2 because you have to wait for the channel you want to come around, it has kept me informed on what is new on dvd. it was in one of these said segments that i learned about "ruby sparks".

"ruby sparks" is the story of a struggling novelist who writes about the girl of his dreams, only for her to come to life. the storyline caught my eye and so did the actors. it's stars paul dano who we all adored in "little miss sunshine". i also saw a movie with him and zooey deschanel called "gigantic", it was cute but not super great. i also just learned thanks to his imdb that he voiced "alexander" in "where the wild things are". but who really caught my eye was chris messina. i first fell in love with me as the sweet adoptive dad with the great syrup/love analogy in "away we go". i am also loving that i get to see him on a regular basis on "the mindy project". he is so flippin' cute! he plays calvin's (dano) older brother.

at first i thought ruby was played by erin from "the office" but it's actually zoe kazan. and after watching this movie, i have a huge girl crush on her! you may remember her as the youngest sister in "it's complicated". anyway i learned on wikipedia she wrote "ruby sparks"!!!! and she and dano have been dating for 5 years now, so cute! and way to go her for writing such a great screenplay!

so as i said before the movie is about a lonely novelist who has a lot of issues (he sees a therapist). he wrote this amazing debut novel (everyone thinks he is a genius, though he hates the word). he even has bookish groupies, aka maeby from "arrested development"(!).

random digression but i could totally see myself as a bookish groupie, but have never thought of who i would sleep with based on book alone. i will do this now. please note this is based on their writing not the picture on the book jacket.

contemporary writers, i would want to sleep with: nick hornby, chuck klosterman, kevin wilson and maybe chuck palaniuk (though he would probably be into some crazy shit though i would be open to try. lol)

olden days: hemingway (we'd get along drunkenly and i would forgive him for his cheating), f. scott fitzgerald (ditto for what i said about hemingway, lol), garcia marquez and bradbury, definitely ray bradbury!

back to the movies. so calvin's therapist has him write about a person willing to meet his dog scottie (who is named after f. scott, i'm not a dog person but would consider someone with a pet name that cute!) and that is when he begins to write about ruby, a girl he has been dreaming about. and then one day she appears and she is real! i don't want to give any spoilers but will say that calvin realizes the power he has over ruby because he did write her. i will add that not everything is perfect for them, even though he created her but his love for her is real which is kinda odd. this also provoked another question for me as i read: "do author's fall in love with their characters?" like did austen love mr. darcy, fitzgerald- daisy, kerouac- sal, or tolstoy-natasha? it would make sense also because they were probably based on people they knew in real life.

oh and if you want to know what happens check it out or look for it on netflix.

also ruby is absolutely adorable, which is in part because zoe is so cute. she was the quirky girl that every boy falls in love with. i have a love/hate relationship with these types of girls in movie (see: sam in "garden state", claire in "elizabethtown", "allison" in "yes man", summer in "(500) days of summer" [yup those last two are zooey deschanel]). because i consider myself a quirky-ish girl yet i can't find a artsy boy that looks cute in cardigans to fall for me! where is my romantic comedy?!?! soundtracked by the shins?!?!? lol. but seriously these types of film fill me false hope. but than again this movie proves you need to be in love with the person and not the idea of the person. so i'll shut up now.

oh and before i forget, love love love loved that this movie was filmed in la. i have a soft spot for movies in which i can spot the filming locations. like where calvin gives a talk is totally the billy wilder theater at the hammer musum and the after party is in the hammer gift shop!

so yes go check out this movie!! also if you like books, you'll like this.

p.s. the book cover for the book that calvin writes at the end is totally cute. if it was a real book, i would have picked it up simply based on the cute cover.