The Greatest Update Ever: Part 1

So remember when this blog was supposed to be an outlet for me to write about movies? I write about non-commercial foodservice all day, so I created this blog so I'd have a place to write about movies and other things that inspire me, but movies primarily. However, life intervened. The last movie I wrote about in length was American Teen, more than a year ago.

I am ashamed.

Apart from my post about the Oscars and the extensive list of my feelings on the movies of the year, I haven't written in present tense about a movie I've seen in more than a year?! This stops now. So to catch you all up, and in the interest of brevity, I will detail the movies I've seen since the post about favorite movies of the year with my feelings on each. I want to share with you all what I've seen but I know, as all writers should, conciseness is key.

Bride Wars
Sometimes you need a mindless chick flick. Sometimes you need one with one of your oldest friends. Yes, this was terrible. Probably everything that is wrong with movies made for women. But Anne Hathaway is a girl crush of mine. And she wore a really cute dress/cardigan pairing, so it was almost worth it.

He's Just Not That Into You
Again, another bad choice made for reasons of mindless entertainment. But hey, the early part of the year is movie dumping ground. So when the urge strikes, you go see drivel like this. However, it wasn't as terrible as Bride Wars, so that's a plus. I still will watch Jennifer Aniston in almost anything and this is one of her lesser crimes. Although I do dislike Justin Long and don't buy him as a cool guy at all. Overall, I agree with one Adrienne Aggen's assessment of, "not terrible."

Gomorra
For those not familiar, Gomorra is a film about organized crime in and around Naples. Praised highly in the pages of the NY Times, I am struggling to remember anything about it besides a ::yawn:: AND IT'S ABOUT GANGSTERS. Come on Italy, you can do better than this.

Two Lovers
Better known as the movie Joaquin Phoenix was supposed to be promoting when he went crazy on David Letterman, Two Lovers is actually a sweet little movie. Set in Brighton Beach, land of Russian immigrants, the film follows Leonard as he juggles two romances. One with a parent-approved good girl and one with a manic-depressive hottie (Gwyneth Paltrow). Needless to say, Leonard doesn't do the male gender any favors in his actions, but the film is still really interesting to watch, both in regards to performances but also as an example of a type of a movie that isn't made much anymore: a smart and simple New York romance.

Watchmen
Full disclosure: I knew very little about Watchmen before I went to see it. I had read a few things about it (Patrick Wilson sex scene! Billy Crudup blue and naked!) and seen the trailer (Smashing Pumpkins song!) but otherwise I'd only heard raving fanboys (Chris Raine) talking about how great the comic is. I pride myself on being a girl who likes this sort of thing (Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc), so I was hoping for the best. To say I wasn't impressed would be a lie. It's visually a beautiful movie. But I just didn't care about any of the characters or particularly like any of them. And it's hard to watch a three hour movie where you don't have anyone to root for. Even if they are played by Patrick Wilson and Matthew Goode (Chasing Liberty!).

Coming soon...Duplicity, Adventureland and more.