Movie freewrite: Singles (1992)

JOP has enough movie reviews, movie articles, reviews in general, but something I've been missing lately is a good fifth grade-style FREEWRITE. I sat down tonight after a long day of moving, hoping to relax to some early-90's romantic comedy...here it goes: Singles!

- Nothing really compares to Reality Bites. Was RB derivative of the trailblazing (?) grunge collage aesthetic of Singles and Slackers and offered only a slicked-up, Ben Stiller'd version of it for the masses? Or was RB simply the best synthesis of those elements and a really good movie after all? Would I have enjoyed Reality Bites as much as I do if I had been in the target audience (18-25 yo) when it was released, or would I have been pissed at how "inauthentic" it is?

- Wondering where Bill Pullman is.

- Why does the male romantic lead (Campbell Scott? more generic name please!) send out such a teacher-y vibe? Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Williams my 10th grade Chemistry teacher...channeled by this actor. Blech.

- Bill Pullman shows up as creepy plastic surgeon, hits on Bridget Fonda so overtly it's surreal and the movie doesn't make sense anymore.

- Matt Dillon = never hot.

- JOP already has a "Bill Pullman" tag--this one's for you, Clamz!

- the Expect the Best dating service sequences are maybe the best thing about this film...and heyyy, is that Peter Horton from Thirtysomething??!? it is!

- holy crap, these girls are arguing over Peter Horton..."does that give you the right to just bone him in my kitchen?!"

- welcome to 1992: the computers in this movie actually make boop-beep-boop-boop sounds when you hit keys! (and the screen is black with green type, obv)

- dozed off for a while, but I saw enough to say that things wrapped up satisfyingly but not too crazily; no Garden State-like horrors here. It's sort of a feel-good movie!

- so: Singles gets a solid B from me.

Book v. Film: An Education

Maybe I mentioned it, or not, but a few weeks ago I lived out a dream of mine: my department sent a few people to a publishing vendor fair. This means all kinds of publishing houses, from Penguin and Random House to smaller art, medical, and religious presses, showed up at an Embassy Suites to talk shop and give away books. It was much better than my already crazy expectations, and I left with 3 shopping bags full of advance copies, unproofed galleys, and things I had waited literally months for in stores (R. Crumb's The Book of Genesis)...all for free. So if you need new reading material, hit me up. No way can I finish these on my own!

Back to Book v. Film. It's been a busy semester, and this tiny little book has been the only thing I've read from my haul so far. An Education is very short (172 pages) and reads quickly. The movie version is based only on a few pages from this book, and frankly the movie seems boring for that reason. The 150 pages not dealing with the cradle-robbing affair (see below) are super engrossing, and Lynn Barber is relatable and funny. The majority of the book is about Barber's climb through publishing and journalism in London, starting with her job at Penthouse at its start in the '70s, and ends with a long and--really--breathtaking reflection on her marriage and family. I give An Education my very highest recommendation. I'll even let you borrow my copy!

We've all seen the trailers for the film version of An Education, or heard the actors on Fresh Air, or seen something related to the Oscars hyping it up. Peter Sarsgaard is an adult man having an affair with a 16-year-old schoolgirl in England in the early '60s. YAWN! It won't be out on DVD for another week, and like I said, I'm not too crazy about watching it. I will, for the sake of this beloved blog feature, but I might not like it...but then, I said the same thing about the book. Wink!

Merry Christmas

Christmas movies are vast and varied. You've got comedies, sentimentals, "quirky", romantic...and the list is endless. My favorite is White Christmas. Yes, it's true! I was born 65. The AMC marathon today is a Christmas miracle. I keep catching random scenes and can quote them. I've still got it! My sister and I used to act out the Sisters number. We probably still would with enough eggnog.

*~*~*~* CrUsH @lert *~*~*~*

Well ladies and germs, my crush is none other than the fabulous Bill Pullman. Do I even have to talk about how great he is? We loved him as Kat's dad in Casper. And we loved him as the furniture-making, bad-with-words-yet-charming Jack in While You Were Sleeping.

The thing about Bill is that he could walk down the street and maybe not even be recognized, yet he's done a million movies. I also loved him in a League of Their Own, which holds a special place in my heart. It was really moving when I saw it in the theater, especially because I was eight!

Bill is classically handsome, always has great hair, and yet still looks approachable and friendly. And some how, deep in my heart, I just know he's a great guy! Here's a pic of him with his lovely wife, you go Bill!

Box Office Prediction Update

The summer movie season is over. Yes, it’s sad. Dry your eyes. You’ll have to wait for the DVD to see stupid robots portray stereotypes. I hate it too.

But how did I do? I made some predictions in April. Some shined, some tanked, some neared the mark, some aren’t out yet.

Not bad

Wolverine: I guessed #6 for the year and $208 million. It’s #8 now, so I guess it can’t get better. I went about 13% too high.

Up: It blew away analyst guesses, including mine by about 30%. Yikes. But, I did put it at #5 for the year, which should be close in the end. It currently sits at #3 for the year.

What the?

The Hangover: Who knew this low-budget comedy would make more than seven times its production cost? It’s lasting as long as the hangover the guys had in the movie. At $270 million it will stay in the top 10.

Ice Age 3: It is just behind Monster vs. Aliens for second on the animated gross list and #7 overall. Yet it’s made more than $600 million overseas, beating Spider-Man, The Phantom Menace, and every animated movie ever made.

Failed it

Terminator: Salvation: Yikes. Ouch. Yeesh. These are sounds coming from me and Warner Brothers. I missed its total by only, oh, more than $100 million. It is number one in bust of the year.

Star Trek: It attracted the nerd crown, the geek crowd, and enough of the mainstream, I-pretend-to-be-neither-nerd-nor-geek crowd to make it #1 for several weeks. Though it is at #5 now, it should slip closer to my guess of #9 for the year.

Nailed it

Night at the Museum 2: Original guess: $170 million. Current total: about $177 million.

Harry Potter 6: My guess: $317 million, #2. Current total: $298 million, #2. It should scrape past $300 million.

Transformers 2: My guess: $415 million, #1. Current total: $400 million, #1. BAM!

Barcelona: 1.5

I've been watching so many movies this summer that I should turn it into something productive...like reviews! I'll watch these so you don't have to. The variety of films lately has been off the charts, because I've basically been clicking indiscriminately around the "You might also enjoy" page on my Netflix.

So here we are at Barcelona, a film with one of the least likeable protagonists I've ever even heard of. He wasn't a bad guy, just extra-whiny and obnoxious and weak. Which might be ok if he was George Clooney or otherwise attractive at all, so we could assume he's just going through a rough patch or whatever. It would make sense then that women would like him. This guy just looks like such a weakling. Picture Andrew McCarthy's disgusting older brother, the one with a porn addiction.

The next count against Barcelona is that the two protagonists, Ted and Fred, sound exactly alike when the Spanish women they hang with address them. Confusing! But it goes with the territory, because although Ted and Fred are supposed to balance each other, foil-style, they aren't that different. Something terrible happens to one of them (the better-looking one, can't remember if it's Ted or Fred), and you don't even care. You just want the movie to be over.

Whit Stillman, the guy in charge of this thing, has an unimpressive resume. Which is not surprising. Barcelona looked ok from the description: some American guys in the early 90's spend time in Barcelona and they date some women. Sounds fine, except for the ultra-ambitious political subplot that attempts to tackle communism and the CIA and anarchist youth movements. It's just not happening, Whit! As a result of the political problems, somebody gets shot in the face and you're already yawning; the face-shooting is followed by a medical drama that is excruciating(ly boring). Finally, getting back to the other plot, some sexual tension gets resolved in a way that is literally unbelievable.

I'm already bored, just thinking about it. Sexist cliches, over-ambitious nonsensical political subplot, unsuspenseful "suspense." I guess the good parts are that the guy who gets shot in the face is a likeable character. He's ok.

Let's Talk...Movies

ABCFam had a Mother's Day Marathon of Mom Movies. This basically seemed to include every Julia Roberts pic and The Sound of Music. Julie Andrews - yes. Julia Roberts - I could take or leave her. She's like Tom Hanks to me - are we better with or without her?? I think they generally don't contribute a lot. BUT! Then I was reminded of how great Stepmom is. Stepmom and I have had a varied history - I would catch parts of it on college weekends, but I was never sure of the story timeline. In New York, my roommate had a copy of the DVD and I became hooked.


awesome!

-the setting: Ed Harris' NY penthouse is so cool. Even 11 years later. Well done set designers. Susan Sarandon's home is cute in it's country casual chic way as well. They've basically let me have both of my home fantasies in 1 movie. The scenes in Central Park are spectacular as well - who doesn't love the castle photo shoot??

-the little boy: This kid is cute.

-cheesy musical numbers: The classic Thanksgiving scene where Ben is the turkey and is "shot" for dinner. Kids + a holiday = movie gold. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" also gets a lot of airtime - they sing it in the car with Julia and the big "dance" number with the kids and Susan in their house.

hilarious!

• -Julia's hair in this movie. Is it blonde? Is it brunette? Is it a bad dye job? Yes to all 3.

-Ed Harris. Sometimes I find his love story with Julia hard to believe, but then again this is called Stepmom. Emphasis on the mom.

-Susan toking up. Because we all know she does it in real life.

-"Don't touch me. You bring bad luck." -probably my favorite line in the movie.

-Julia getting a male "model" to make Anna's ex-bf jealous. This kid looks like he came from Home Improvement's 1989 set.

-Julia wanting to get her soon-to-be stepdaughter tickets to a Pearl Jam concert on a School Night! Susan says "Are you kidding?". Only to have Susan get the tickets and take her daughter anyway! Bam! Pearl Jam?? On a school night!#$! This movie is so hip! I love it.