adventures in popular culture

An Education

jenbudzek — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:26:34 +0000

Don’t read this if you don’t want to know what happens. I really enjoyed this film. It’s a “coming of age” type of movie based on a memoir of a girl in the 1960s who falls in love with a married man who she doesn’t know is married. There isn’t too much to say about the movie because it was short and sweet, and the acting was quite good. Carey Mulligan, who I have never heard of, played the lead role of Jenny Miller and she was fantastic. Peter Sarsgaard was also great, and so was the guy who played Dr. Octavius is the Spiderman movies. She’s up for Best Actress, and I would love for her to win, but I still think Sandra Bullock has a lock on it.

This was a great movie, though, and there are tons of people who will never see it, which is sad because it’s great. Once she found out he was married, she went to see his wife and son, and found out that it wasn’t the first time he had cheated and he’d even gotten a few girls pregnant. Her parents performed wonderfully in the film as well, and though there weren’t many roles and the film wasn’t very long, it was absolutely fantastic. See it.

Inglourious Basterds

jenbudzek — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:00:40 +0000

Starting off, this movie seems like it’s going to be sweet. It’s broken into chapters, and the first chapter seeems great. (I am telling the plot now, so stop reading if you don’t want to know)… The first chapter shows a dairy farmer and his family in France being visited by a German soldier, Colonel Hans Landa, who discovers there is a Jewish family hiding beneath the floorboards of his house – one girl gets away. This part is awesome, and the actor who plays the Colonel is genius. Right from the start you figure this is going to be compelling and interesting to watch. His pipe is also awesome in that first scene.

The second chapter was about the Basterds, led by Brad Pitt, who can’t really act too well but is always charasmatic and funny and thus is fun to watch. Quentin Tarantino is a weird guy, but his movies are campy, a little more over the top than Sam Raimi (who I love). I never really liked Tarantino’s stuff because the music is very strange, like western/horror or something – especially in Kill Bill – yuck. But I will say this – you definitely know when you’re watching a Tarantino movie, so at least he leaves his stamp. The guy who played Hitler was okay, but didn’t hold a candle to the genius who played him in Downfall – that guy should always play Hitler.

In the third chapter, the movie got slow and a little boring. I hate when a movie starts out super great and kind of fizzles. Anyway, there’s this plan to burn down a movie theatre (run by the girl who got away in the first chapter) when all the most powerful Nazis, including Hitler, were in attendance. And they totally do it and they totally kill Hitler – when they actually shoot him up it’s awesome. But the show stealer was the actor who played the Colonel – it was just amazing to watch him act because he was perfection. Oh, and by the way, what the hell is Mike Myers doing in this movie? Weird.

Anyway, I enjoyed the film, but not as much as I wanted to. Inglourious Basterds is nominated for Best Picture against Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Precious, and Up In The Air. I honestly can’t imagine any film winning but Avatar, but I fear Precious has a chance. Tarantino is nominated for Best Director, which he might have had a chance at if James Cameron wasn’t nominated. I mean, come on. It’s the future of film. It’s also up for Best Screenplay, which I think it has a chance at – it was funny and smart. And huzzah! Christoph Waltz is nominated (the Colonel) for Best Performance by a Supporting Actor, and I hope he wins. I haven’t seen any of the other nominated performances yet, but Waltz was an absolute genius and should win. Seriously.

500 Days of Summer

jenbudzek — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:18:42 +0000

I have never been a huge fan of quirky comedies (a good example is Juno and movies like it) because they make me irritated. They make me irritated because it’s quirky-ness for the sake of quirky-ness. I can’t really explain it any better than that and I’m not going to try. As a result, I knew this movie wasn’t really for me, but it was on the list of nominees, so I’m watching it right now. So far, I don’t like it.

Joseph Gorden-Lewitt, otherwise known as the obnoxious kid from 3rd Rock From the Sun, is the lead male in this film, and he always looks really tired and isn’t a good actor. Like, at all. He also isn’t funny and this is supposed to be a comedy. Zooey Deschanel, however, is adorable. I’ve always liked her, even if I didn’t like the film. This movie is about their relationship and, apparently, the 500 days they were together. Of course, because it’s a quirky comedy, the days aren’t particularly sequential. There’s a scene, then a black screen with “Day 71″ or something and then another scene. You piece together that they’re going to break up. Ooh. Exciting. For me, I don’t get why she likes him in the first place because he isn’t particularly attractive, is stuck in a job he hates, and is needy and kind of creepy about it. Maybe others see it differently. I mean for real, in the beginning of their relationship she tells him that she isn’t looking for anything serious, but of course he doesn’t listen at all. To him that means she’s just trying to be cute, but seriously, sometimes that means the relationship is doomed. There are all kinds of warning signs for him and he doesn’t realize any of them. Ugh. Annoying.

The highlight for me was the character Paul, played by Matthew Gray Gubler, known for being in Criminal Minds. It’s funny how in movies like this it’s the secondary characters that are always better, like on Will & Grace. Meh. And there are parts that are narrated! By a character that doesn’t exist. Ugh. Irritating. And why in all of these movies is the guy the weak and whiny one and it’s NEVER the girl? It’s so unrealistic and I swear I’ve rolled my eyes like 20 times during this film.

It got slightly better once they were broken up because he was depressed and a little more funny. But then it was obnoxious again. These things go in cycles I guess. I mean, there was no mystery or wondering about what was going to happen. You knew they were going to break up and then you knew he thought he had a second chance but he didn’t. Duh. There were moments that were really cool, like when he left her apartment everything turned into an architectural drawing. I also wonder if Zooey Deschanel has it written into her movie contracts that she has to sing in her movies, cause she always does.

Anyway, 500 Days of Summer is up for Best Musical/Comedy against The Hangover, It’s Complicated, Julie & Julia, and Nine. There’s no way it’s going to win – no way. Joseph Gordon-Lewitt is up for best male in a comedy and I think again he’s in dead last. Grumble. Avoid this movie if you can. Maybe there were no awesome comedies this year.

Avatar

jenbudzek — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:53:29 +0000

From the previews, you have no idea how amazing this film is. It is the future of film and it is probably the greatest movie I have ever seen, and that is seriously saying something. It’s so good, I don’t even know how to talk about it. So I included a 10-minute featurette about the film and how it was shot and conceptualized. [http://www.filmofilia.com/2009/11/30/10-minute-avatar-behind-the-scenes-featurette/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Filmofilia+%28FilmoFilia%29] It is shockingly amazing. I saw it in 3D, which was headache-y but I’m really glad I did because it’s not like any 3D movie you’ve seen before. 3D used to be just a regular movie with hands or objects occasionally reaching out towards you. This film was ALL 3D and it was insane. The characters were real and although it was about 3 hours long, I never got bored. Even Michelle Rodriguez was good, which is shocking.

I hope that people don’t overanalyze this film and try to make it about something it isn’t, or delve too deep into Pandora or the civilization. I hope that people watch it and are amazed and energized and excited about the future of film. This was a huge leap forward for filmmaking and it represents what the future will be like in movies. Seriously, watch that featurette and you will be amazed. Because the characters aren’t just CGI. They are really doing those performances.

Avatar should win everything it’s up for, which is Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Song, and Best Score. I mean, it should be the only film nominated because it was that much better than anything I’ve ever seen. So go see it if you haven’t, and watch it in 3D, at least the first time. It’s worth it, trust me.

The Blind Side

jenbudzek — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:08:05 +0000

In Sandra Bullock’s first real scene, she was amazing. And it never stopped. I’ve always had a soft spot for her, especially in Miss Congeniality, but she is great in this film. She also looks great as a blonde. I want to pause and note that apparently Tim McGraw is an actor now, but I must have missed that. I’m pretty sure he’s just a singer. But the movie is set in Memphis, so maybe that’s why he got the role? Who knows. Anyway, this film is about a high school age boy named Big Mike who has had a tough life and is basically adopted by Sandra Bullock and her family. I find it strange that Sandra Bullock did a film like this one where she did such an amazing job, but this year she also did The Proposal, which was not so good. Anyway, Big Mike becomes a football player, no surprise there, and eventually is an All-American. The film is based on the true story of Michael Oher, who I would have probably heard of if I knew anything about football.

I honestly cannot say enough about Sandra Bullock’s performance in this film. She truly shined in this film in every way. It was reminiscent of her performance in Crash, which was small but awesome. Sandra Bullock is nominated for Best Actress in a Drama at the Golden Globes, and so far she is the frontrunner for me. The movie itself isn’t so great, so I’m glad that it’s being recognized at all.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

jenbudzek — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:15:19 +0000

After reading the Harry Potter and Twilight series about a million times, I wanted something new and fun to read. I saw a preview for a movie series called Percy Jackson and the Olympians and couldn’t tell if it looked good or horrible. Recently, I’ve rediscovered how awesome the library is and I’ve been using it a lot lately to read books I would never buy or read more than once. Books are hit and miss sometimes, so I usually make it a point to only buy books that are really good or I will read more than once. As a result, sometimes I miss really good stuff. I put the five Percy Jackson books in my library queue and got them just a week or two ago. I just finished book four and am moving onto the last book soon, possibly when I’m done writing this.

Don’t get me wrong, Rick Riordan (the author) is no J.K. Rowling or even Stephenie Meyer, but the books are fun and entertaining and fast to read. Sometimes that’s just what you want. The series centers around a kid (who is 12 in the first book) who has a lot of behavioral problems at school, and at a trip to a museum gets attacked by one of his teachers who is a monster. It turns out that Percy Jackson is actually what they call a “half-blood” (I know, it’s a lot like Harry Potter), which means he is half human and half god. Yes, like Hercules. At the camp, they have a cabin for each god (except Hades, cause, you know) and the children of that god stay in the cabin. Percy gets claimed by Poseidon, and he’s the only one known. In each book there’s a problem or something they have to find or fight. The plotlines aren’t particularly genius, but they keep the story moving. He has a few friends that he fights with and the gods show up in different capacities.

I don’t want to tell too much about the series because maybe the few people who actually read my blog might want to read them, and I don’t want to ruin it. The movies should be fun, and I’m excited to have a new series. It seems like the trend right now in both books and film is to work with the supernatural. The trend also seems to be focusing on young adults and tweens. I’m just saying, there might be something to that. The titles of the books are good though, The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian.

Precious

jenbudzek — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:15:37 +0000

[Warning: If you don't want to know the detailed plot of the movie, don't read this]

When I first heard about this book, and then the movie, I wasn’t really interested. I knew the plotline, but it didn’t sound like something I would like. But like I said before, that’s the beauty of award season: it makes you see movies you wouldn’t be interested in otherwise.

Well. This was possibly the most disturbing movie I’ve seen in a long time. And sometimes the word disturbing can be a good thing and sometimes it can be bad. I’m still not sure which one this is. It’s the story of Clarisse Precious Jackson, who, when the film starts, is pregnant at 16 with her second child by her father. She goes to an alternative school and seems to be making progress, but the whole time you see her relationship with her mother go from bad to worse, culminating in a pushing fight, Precious falling down the stairs with a newborn in her arms and her mother throwing a television at her. Crazy. At first the film is compelling because you’re waiting for the “big event” to happen, but once it does the feeling is just freaked out. Things were looking up for Precious after the “big event,” but then she found out her father died from AIDS. The hits just keep on coming.

I remember when I first saw the movie Monster with Charlize Theron – it’s the kind of movie that is amazingly done and deserves every award it got, but I could never watch it more than once because it was seared into my memory. I’m not sure that Precious is as amazing as Monster or anything, but it’s definitely one of those movies that I won’t need to see more than once. I’ll remember. Gabourey Sidibe, the actress who played Precious, gave a neutral or lukewarm performance – there was nothing spectacular about it, but nothing terrible either. Mo’Nique played her mother, and gave a realistic and chilling performance. I never really liked Mo’Nique, but I was definitely impressed. There was a teacher who tried to help Precious, and those scenes were like a montage of Dangerous Minds and Freedom Writers.

After about an hour and fifteen minutes, I started to get the sense that this is the kind of movie that wins awards, but it somehow feels a little cheap. Kind of like The Hours or other movies like that – films that are there just to win awards or shine light on some particular issue. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the book was written for that purpose or even that the film was made for that purpose. I think you know what I mean. This was definitely a powerful movie, and I think most of that is because of Mo’Nique. There’s a scene towards the end of the film where she describes the abuse to Precious that is captivating and amazing acting. Mo’Nique is up for a Golden Globe for best supporting actress. Definitely.

Precious is up for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture, Drama, and the other nominees are Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, and Up in the Air. I haven’t seen any of the other nominated films yet, but this is the sort of movie that wins awards, so we’ll see. Sidibe is up for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama. She’s up against some big actresses, so I don’t think she will win, and I also don’t think she should win.

Julie and Julia

jenbudzek — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:04:01 +0000

I am in love with Meryl Streep. Always have been, always will be. So when I sat down to watch Julie and Julia, I expected to love it, at least the parts with Meryl Streep. I had tried to read the book the film is based on, but I didn’t make it very far. I’m not sure if it was the writing or the story itself, but I imagine it’s a little bit of both. Anyway. The film was definitely slow starting, and although I think I like Amy Adams, or at least I loved her in Enchanted, she’s not so good in this movie. Maybe the overacting in Enchanted is just the way she acts, because she was definitely overdoing it as Julie Powell. The costuming and makeup department seemed to do their best to make her look homely and unattractive, and although that might be what the author wanted, it made her a lot less likeable.

The film is about a writer named Julie Powell writing a blog about cooking her way through a Julia Child cookbook. There are two stories happening at once: One of Julia Child, playing brilliantly and amazingly by Meryl Streep, and the other of Julia Powell, played by Amy Adams. As expected, the segments with Meryl Streep were genius and adorable. It’s amazing what she can do and the different voices she is capable of. The thing that strikes me the most about Streep is that even though you know it’s Meryl Streep, somehow she becomes the character she is playing. It’s truly amazing.

As the movie progressed, it became slightly more interesting, but I was still eagerly anticipating the sections with Meryl Streep. About a quarter of the way through the film, I decided Meryl Streep was the main character, and she stole the show in more ways than one. Sort of like The Devil Wears Prada and, well, every other film she has ever been in. Largely, Amy Adams as Julie Powell is insane and has frequent meltdowns about cooking and life in general. I mean, I know we all do that all the time, but it’s a little scary to see it on screen. I also want to point out that I was blown away to see Jane Lynch (from Glee and many other fabulous things) act next to Meryl Streep. Stanley Tucci as Julia Child’s wife was fantastic as always, but Meryl Streep is truly a joy to watch on the screen. The problem for me was that I got so caught up in the story about Julia Child that just when I was settling into the story, they switched back to irritating Julie Powell whose husband puts up with way too much. The flaw of the script and the direction is that Julia Child’s storyline had depth and was about her going to cooking school, teaching, writing a book, and dealing with her husband being investigated by HUAC. On the other hand, Julie Powell’s storyline was just about her writing a blog and cooking, and then her husband left her. You can definitely see which plotline is more compelling.

Ultimately, it was a good movie and I enjoyed it. Seeing a Meryl Streep film always makes me want to see more Meryl Streep films, and I love that. I will reserve my judgement about the Best Musical/Comedy category until I’ve seen the others on the list, but so far I imagine Julie and Julia will not be the winner. The other nominees for the category are 500 Days of Summer, The Hangover, It’s Complicated, and Nine. So, like I said, without even seeing the others except The Hangover, which I didn’t really think was all that funny, I can’t imagine Julie and Julia will be the winner. Meryl Streep is nominated for Best Performance by and Actress, Musical/Comedy at the Golden Globes, up against herself in It’s Complicated, Sandra Bullock in The Proposal, Marion Cotillard in Nine, and Julia Roberts in Duplicity. Meryl Streep should win. She is awesome.

Golden Globes: Television

jenbudzek — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:42:42 +0000

I will definitely see most of the movies nominated, but I don’t have enough time or energy to watch all of the television I’ve missed that is nominated. Because of this, I am now able to give you my predictions for television.

- Best Drama: Big Love, Dexter, House, Mad Men, True Blood: I give it to Big Love because I love that show. Dexter is also good, so that would be awesome. However, I’m pretty sure it goes to Mad Men.

- Best Performance by an Actress, Drama: I give this one to Mad Men too, or maybe Kyra Sedwick in The Closer. To be honest, I don’t watch any of the nominated shows in this category, but I watched The Good Wife a few times and really liked it. My personal pick is Julianna Margulies, but anyone really has a shot at this one.

- Best Performance by an Actor, Drama: Although I would love Bill Paxton to win this for Big Love, he probably doesn’t have a chance. My second pick is Michael C. Hall who is a complete genius in Dexter, but I’m guess it goes to Mad Men once again, or maybe Hugh Laurie gets it. But I’m guessing Jon Hamm in Mad Men.

- Best Musical/Comedy: 30 Rock probably gets this, but I don’t watch that show, nor do I think it’s particularly funny. I think the most deserving show is Modern Family because it is absolutely hysterical and has some of the funniest and best writing in forever. Glee is good too, but not even close to Modern Family.

- Best Performance by Actor/Actress in Musical/Comedy: I really don’t care. I don’t watch many of the shows, so I want Steve Carell to win and that’s about all that matters.

I also have not seen any of the miniseries or tv movies nominated, and I probably won’t, but I’m willing to bet that Grey Gardens and Into the Storm clean up.

- Best Performance by Supporting Actor/Actress: MICHAEL EMERSON FOR LOST!!!!! He probably won’t win, but I can’t imagine anyone else was as good as him this year. Amazing. Neil Patrick Harris is always a favorite too, and it would be super awesome to see Jane Lynch win for Glee because she is comedy perfection.

More predictions to come!

Golden Globes

jenbudzek — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:22:59 +0000

The Golden Globes nominations have been announced and the ceremony is 17 January 2010. Usually I wait until the Oscars to see the nominated movies, but it’s usually the same stuff that gets nominated so I’m giving it a go this year. Thanks to torrents, I’ve been able to download a bunch already. What sucks is a big chunk of the movies don’t come out in theatres until the end of the year, some not until January. Lame. But I’m doing good so far. I’ve already seen The Hangover and District 9 and Coraline but there are a TON I haven’t seen, mostly because they aren’t yet. In my queue to watch at the moment are:

- Inglorious Basterds
- Precious
- 500 Days of Summer
- Julie and Julia
- Brothers
- The Young Victoria
- The Blind Side
- Duplicity

I wasn’t really interested in seeing any of those except Brothers because it looks awesome, but what I think is awesome about awards like the globes and the Oscars is it makes people see movies they wouldn’t otherwise see – it’s why I saw Crash and I’m glad because that movie rocked. There are still a bunch of movies to see, and some are ones I’m super excited about like Sherlock Holmes, Avatar, Nine, and It’s Complicated. Especially the last one because it has Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin – I’ll probably see that one in the theatre. Anyway, I’ll be blogging about the movies as I see them, including who I think deserves to win each category. Every year I make two lists; One is who I think should win, and the other is who will probably win. They are usually completely different, especially where television is concerned because I hate a lot of the shows that always win. We will see!