27 Dresses (Rating: 3 Crow’s Feet)

27 Dresses stars Katherine Heigl as Jane, a girl who is a perpetual Maid of Honor. In the opening scene she is Maid of Honor at two separate weddings across town. One is a traditional East Indian wedding with saris and the other is a more American style wedding. She speeds back and forth between the weddings, changing in the back seat of a taxi she hired for the night. Surprise! At the end of the night, she leaves her trusted day planner in the taxi and a reporter attending one of the weddings picks it up. This reporter, Kevin, just happens to be a writer for the wedding and society section of the local paper and sees this ‘Perpetual Bridesmaid’ as a perfect story to help him get promoted.

We learn that Jane has a crush on her boss, George. One night, George and Jane are at a benefit and her sister, Tess show’s up. Another Surprise! Tess and George hit it off when she pretends to like all the same things he likes…and they decide to get married. Of course Jane becomes the Maid of Honor and is in agony as her little sister plans Jane’s dream wedding to Jane’s dream guy.

Another Surprise! Enter Kevin the reporter. He asks Tess if he can do an article on her wedding. He feigns interest in her wedding in order to get more information on Jane for his ‘Perpetual Bridesmaid’ article. Not realizing that Kevin has other motives, Jane agrees to an interview and after a while shows Kevin all of her past Bridesmaid dresses. There is an excellent montage of her trying on all of her dresses while Kevin takes pictures.

Kevin’s boss sees the draft of the article and decides to publish it on Sunday. But, Kevin asks her to wait a week so he can get more information. The boss says, “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were developing feelings for this girl.” Dun-dun-duh….

On Saturday, Kevin and Jane have another interview and end up stranded in a bar when her car breaks down. Surprise Again! They get drunk and sing a silly song which leads to their first kiss. They end up spending a loving night in the back of her car.

The next day the article comes out in the paper with multiple pictures of Jane in various dresses. This article causes Jane embarrassment and Tess becomes a bridezilla. Of course it ruins any feelings Jane may have had for Kevin.

Jane discovers that Tess has cut up their dead mother’s wedding dress to make it more fashionable. This ruins Jane’s dream of wearing it at her wedding, and she has a huge argument with her sister. Later, at Tess and George’s rehearsal dinner, Jane prepares a slide show that shows the true nature of Tess. George discovers that Tess is not what she seems and calls off the wedding. Kevin is waiting in the back of the room and gives her back her day planner along with a new blackberry to help her stay organized. He apologizes and tells her he was proud of her.

At work, George thanks Jane for her honesty at the rehearsal dinner. Jane tells him that she has to quit. She has only stayed there because she’s been in love with George. She kisses him and realizes she is no longer in love with him…SURPRISE!! She is in love with KEVIN!!! She races to the wedding where Kevin is reporting and interrupts the festivities by announcing that she is in love with Kevin.

A year later she puts on her Wedding dress and has 27 attendants, each wearing the dress Jane wore in their weddings.

This movie was very predictable. There must be some sort of a formula that writers use to make romantic comedies. The writer can simply change the characters and situations around slightly and come up with a ‘brand new’ movie concept.

Although it is predictable, it is also very sweet. Jane is a hopeless romantic who wants everyone to like her and can never say no. I know several real women who share these same characteristics…in fact a lot of my best friends have many of these characteristics. Perhaps that is why I was drawn to this movie.

27 Dresses should not be nominated for any awards that I can think of…but, it would make a great Friday night movie. Order a pizza, put a facial masque on, paint your toe nails, and pour some wine…this is a simple movie to help you unwind at the end of the week.

Grey Gardens- HBO (Rating: 4 Crow’s Feet)

I probably shouldn’t have watched this movie in my current condition; crying is painful. This movie was a tribute to two reclusive socialites related to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith ‘Edie’ Bouvier Beale have a supposedly perfect life as the wife and daughter of a prestigious New York Lawyer in the 1930’s. They summer in East Hampton at their family house, Grey Gardens.

Each woman has aspirations that are seemingly unobtainable based on their social status. Edith has always valued her voice and longs to be center stage singing; similarly, Edie wants to dance and act on Broadway. Phelan Beale, the patriarch has other ideas for the women in his family. He is portrayed as a conservative, philanderer who has never understood his wives need for singing; and he certainly doesn’t believe his debutante daughter should be performing on the stage.

In 1936, Phelan Beale asks his wife Edith for a divorce. He puts the boys in boarding school and takes Edie to New York with hopes that she will meet someone to marry. After finding out about Edie’s love affair with a married man, Mr. Beale sends Edie back to East Hampton. From this point on, the women are put on a very low allowance and things around the house begin to deteriorate. When Phelan Beale dies in 1956, the son’s ask Edith to sell Grey Gardens because they can’t afford the up-keep. She refuses. Grey Gardens continues to deteriorate, while the women become more demented.

Although these women were considered strange and a bit crazy, they had something special about them that attracted a film crew to do a documentary on their lives in 1973. The combination of dementia and denial of failed lives makes these two women magnetic. Even though you feel sorry for the two female Beales, you also see their courage, compassion and love. Their surroundings are decrepit and they blame each other for their misfortune, but they still support each other.

I never saw the 1973 documentary that shows the actual Beale women. But, Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange do an excellent job of enticing me to find out more about this mother-daughter duo. I felt sad when Edie’s relationship failed, and empathetic when Edith’s relationship with her pianist ended. It doesn’t take much to make me cry…but I believed that Drew and Jessica were these women. I forgot that they were two famous actresses on the screen. It made me think about the house I’m currently living in, and how quickly it could deteriorate if there was no one to pay for the leaking pipes, or the broken screen door. Perhaps the original documentary directors meant to contrast the damaged house with the damaged occupants?

When You Wish Upon a Star...Close Encounters.

When You Wish Upon a Star…Pinocchio. This song was played within the final musical sequence of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Pinocchio was mentioned several times in this film; when the father tried to take the kids to see the movie, there was a figurine on the table when he was cleaning up and, as mentioned before, the song played within the final musical sequence. Perhaps the father was attracted to Pinocchio because he felt he had followed his life’s course as a puppet and was finally able to be a ‘real boy’ during this process of finding the aliens? Or, maybe he was attracted to the idea of Pleasure Island, where you can do whatever you want? Whatever the reason, Steven Spielberg has again put a Disney or Fairy Tale theme into one of his films.

My neighbor recommended that I see this film in order to compare it to ET. It was also noted that throughout many of Spielberg’s movies, he has portrayed women in a condescending manner. I have to agree with this sentiment. In both ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the women were whiney, flakey, and bad house keepers. Although these movies took place in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, women by this time were certainly more prevalent in the workplace; in popular culture, women were often depicted as ‘super-mom’s’. Spielberg showed no competent women in either film. Almost all of the scientists and workers in the films were men (I think I may have saw one woman at the final scientist scene in 3rd Kind). The mothers’ main communication with their children was yelling. The mothers’ all had cluttered, dirty houses. And the mothers’ often did not manage their children; instead, they allowed them to discipline themselves and only yelled and whined at them.

Spielberg’s depiction of women in both films is very disappointing. Many people watched his films and perhaps they took these depictions to be natural. It makes me wonder is some of the problems women still face today, in regards to equality, stem from what children saw in the 70’s and 80’s? I also wonder if Filmmakers have a duty to promote equality for their characters. Or, does creativity trump any responsibility?

Finally, it is interesting to note similarities between many other directors and Steven Spielberg. One of my favorite directors is M. Night Shyamalan. I find a lot of his earlier work to be creative, exciting and interesting. In Shyamalan’s film ‘Signs,’ there are a lot of similarities to ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The scene in the farm house, in my opinion, almost entirely mimics ‘Close Encounter’s of a Third Kind’ where the young boy was taken by the alien ship.

All About Steve (Rated: 3 Crow’s Feet)

This movie is about a quirky, lonely cruciverbalist (cross word puzzle constructor) who decides to try to be ‘normal’ by going on a blind date. Sandra Bullock plays the perfect Mary Horowitz, the lead role. She is pretty (yet cute), spazzy, and magnetic. Her blind date with Steve, a local camera man for CCN (played by Bradley Cooper), quickly fizzles after she comes on too strongly and starts discussing their future with him. After leaving the ill-fated date, Steve forgets all about Mary until she shows up at one of his assignments. He realizes she is stalking him and becomes increasingly scared. Mary continues to show up to Steve’s various news assignments until she falls into an abandoned mine shaft; now becoming the news assignment.

Although this movie is somewhat predictable, it is still very cute. Mary is a flawed woman that some viewers may find annoying or even pity. The other people in the movie encourage her to try to fit in to be happy. I enjoy her individuality and of course her red, go-go boots. I found her to be more ‘normal’ than most other characters because of her originality. I would rather young girls see characters like Mary Horowitz rather than other ‘normal’ characters. When Mary is not trying so hard to be ‘normal,’ she ends up winning the hearts of everyone; including Steve.

I recommend this movie as a matinee. I might even splurge for a medium popcorn. Of course, you can always wait for it to play on TNT?

As a side note, Mary’s hair, mannerisms and sense of style greatly resemble my best friend Holly. Perhaps this is why I found the movie so darling?

Step Brothers (Rated: 1.5 Crow's Feet)

Step Brothers is a movie starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. This movie was produced by Judd Apatow, so it had a bunch of the great actors that populate his many of his movies: Ken Jeong, Seth Rogen, Horatio Sanz. Additionally, Mary Steenburger and Richard Jenkins play the parents of Mr. Ferrel and Mr. Reilly. None of these actors made this film worth seeing.

There were a few ridiculous parts involving male genital and a drum set that got a few chuckles. But overall this movie was tired. Don’t get me wrong, I often enjoy a good raunchy joke. But, the jokes in this movie were out dated and played.

I gave this film 1.5 Crow’s Feet out of 5. Only watch this movie in a large, intoxicated group :)

ET -- How do you rate a Classic?

Today I watched the classic movie ET the Extra Terrestrial. I haven't seen this movie since the 80's. Watching it now, it still caused the same emotions. (On a side note, it also reminded me that I saw this movie at the Drive-In Movie Theater in my footie pajamas...I miss Drive-In Movies.)

During the movie, I wikipedia'd to find out information about the film that I never knew. I learned about supposed themes within the movie: Peter Pan, Jesus, Wizard of Oz. Most of these supposed themes, in my opinion, are a stretch. However, I could relate to the Peter Pan theme and was surprised to hear the mother reading Peter Pan to Gertie while Elliot and ET watched through a window. Peter Pan claims that he 'ran away from home' when he was a baby...and yet, throughout his adventures, he constantly craves a mother and father. Similarly, Elliot’s father has recently left the family and ET was unfortunately left stranded on this foreign planet. Both Elliot and ET seem to be searching for attachments and end up finding each other.

I also learned that Steven Spielberg shot the scenes in rough sequential order. This is not how most films are shot. Most films are shot all over the board in order to cut down on location costs, editing, etc. Mr. Spielberg decided to shoot this movie in this manner to help the young, inexperienced cast-members to emotionally attach themselves to their characters and to ET. He also helped them to really feel attached to ET by keeping the puppeteers away from the children. This allowed them to better imagine that ET was a real creature. It’s not hard to see that the children’s ‘beliefs’ in ET helped to make the final scenes so emotional.

My original intention for wikipedia’ing was to find out about the actor who portrayed ET. I didn’t remember ET being so small, so I was curious if it was an actor inside a puppet, an animatronic, or simply a puppet? The original ‘puppet’ was created for $700,000…it was thrown out by Spielberg. Instead he commissioned the same guy who did the aliens from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Carlo Rambaldi created 4 heads, an animatronic, a costume, and hands to make this creature come to life. They also spent a large amount of time on making sure the eyes were perfect to better engage the audience. Two little-people and a 12 years-old boy born without legs wore the costume at different times depending on the needs of the film. The main voice for ET was an elderly woman who smoked 2 packs a day. ‘She spent nine-and-a-half hours recording her part, and was paid $380…for her services.[ISBN 0-8065-1540-6]’ Additionally, they used animal sounds, Debra Winger (star of Terms of Endearments), and over 16 other people for the voice.

As a parting note on this film, I discovered that Spielberg had originally wanted to use M&M’s for the scene when Elliot befriends ET. But Mars candy apparently thought the creature was too ugly and would frighten children. This allowed Hershey candy to market Reese’s Pieces. According to Wikipedia, Hershey’s profits grew by 65% due to the prominent use of Reese’s Pieces in the movie. I am a huge supporter of product placement and enjoy spotting the advertisers in films and tv shows.

Enter Silence

I can't sleep, so I'm watching one of my new favorite shows, The Colony on the Discovery Channel.

This show places several people of various occupations (nurse, marine biologist, rocket scientist, handy man, etc.) in a simulated apocalyptic environment. The scenario is a viral outbreak in Los Angeles. This group of people is placed in an abandoned warehouse in an abandoned area of Los Angeles. There are also actors who play looters and create a lot of havoc for these survivors. The survivors stuggle for basic necessities, while trying to protect their stake. They purify river water, create energy sources, scavange for food, and create an environment that has allowed them to live in a warehouse for more than 45 days. Now they are making a solar truck to allow them to get out of the city, try to find other survivors, and get to a new area where they can obtain sustainable life.

It is so interesting to see how these smart people create something out of nothing. The emotions and interactions between the starving people are facinating. You can really dislike some of the people, but you have to try to understand what sleep deprivation and malnutrition will do to a person after 45 days.

It is also daunting. Based on some of my Girl Scout training, I think I could survive in a suburban area or in the woods. But an abandoned warehouse in the middle of dilapidated Los Angeles seems impossible!

This show gives me great ideas for my book about an apocalypse in Seattle. When I'm feeling a little less loopy, I'm planning to expand my concept.

Hope you enjoy my first post. Thank you for reading!

Getting Ready for Silence

On September 23rd, 2009, I will have my tonsils removed. Following this surgery, I will be unable to speak for 2-3 weeks. As a professed 'talker', this is a bit scary for me. So, I've decided to make this blog to communicate with the outside world. I hope you enjoy my discussion of movies, books and other pop-culture. Please visit me and help me aclimate to my non-vocal, temporary life-style.