Hello readers!
Tonight I watched the movie Adam and Steve. The plot was easy to follow... two guys meet in the 80's, and the meeting goes terribly. They don't see each other again for years and when they do they end up dating and falling in love without realizing they had already met.
This movie made me laugh for several reasons. My best guy friend is madly in love with another man, so I sympathize with the "female friend" role played by Parker Posey. I've had the friend who sleeps on my couch for years and turns into my best friend - played by my ex-husband lookalike Chris Kattan. I've also definitely had the horrible first date and so to be able to be optimistic that maybe we'll meet again is whimsical and romantic.
I'd definitely recommend this movie as a funny romantic comedy. Maybe not a "buy it new" but definitely a "buy it used".
It should be mentioned that while it does not contain nearly as many homosexual lovey-touchy parts as Brokeback Mountain, it does contain several scenes of it so if you are offended by that, pass this one up.
For tomorrow, a book review!
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
10.09.2007
8.22.2007
The Virgin Suicides
Time for another movie review by Mary!
The Virgin Suicides. Wow. I watched it last night and I am not sure if it was because I was also putting away laundry/doing chores in my room at the same time or if it was due to the depth of this movie, but it's been a long time since I've felt like I need to watch it again to get everything.
From what I gathered, the movie is told by a narrator and it is all a flashback. The main story is about a family in the mid to late 70's. The parents are incredibly strict on their 5 daughters. The youngest commits suicide and the family seems to become an urban legend of sorts. The neighborhood boys (now the narrator) fall in love with the remaining girls. Upon the advice of a therapist, the parents start allowing the girls to have friends over, and go out on occasion. Lux (Kirsten Dunst) ends up staying out all night after homecoming and their home becomes a virtual prison. The girls are taken out of school and forbidden contact with outsiders. In the end, they develop communications with the boys and invite them all over one night after the parents go to bed. The boys discover them all dead [yeah, spoiler, but the name of the movie is the virgin suicides so you had to know it was coming.]
I'm going to watch it again tonight for further reflection.
The screenplay was written and directed by Sophia Coppola, based on the book of the same title. She does an amazing job of capturing the boys' love for the girls, the strictness of the parents ... I think she is an amazing director, but it probably is genetic ;) .
Names to note :
Kirsten Dunst
Josh Hartnett
The Virgin Suicides. Wow. I watched it last night and I am not sure if it was because I was also putting away laundry/doing chores in my room at the same time or if it was due to the depth of this movie, but it's been a long time since I've felt like I need to watch it again to get everything.
From what I gathered, the movie is told by a narrator and it is all a flashback. The main story is about a family in the mid to late 70's. The parents are incredibly strict on their 5 daughters. The youngest commits suicide and the family seems to become an urban legend of sorts. The neighborhood boys (now the narrator) fall in love with the remaining girls. Upon the advice of a therapist, the parents start allowing the girls to have friends over, and go out on occasion. Lux (Kirsten Dunst) ends up staying out all night after homecoming and their home becomes a virtual prison. The girls are taken out of school and forbidden contact with outsiders. In the end, they develop communications with the boys and invite them all over one night after the parents go to bed. The boys discover them all dead [yeah, spoiler, but the name of the movie is the virgin suicides so you had to know it was coming.]
I'm going to watch it again tonight for further reflection.
The screenplay was written and directed by Sophia Coppola, based on the book of the same title. She does an amazing job of capturing the boys' love for the girls, the strictness of the parents ... I think she is an amazing director, but it probably is genetic ;) .
Names to note :
Kirsten Dunst
Josh Hartnett
8.20.2007
Pumpkin
Time for another amazing movie review.
After I netflix'd Prozac Nation, next on my list was another Christina Ricci movie called Pumpkin.
At first this movie seemed to be very sappy. It starts with Carolyn (Ricci) starting her senior year of college. She is in a very preppy sorority, competing with a rival sorority for Sorority of the Year. She has a perfect tennis star boyfriend, and everything seems to be going fantastically for her. As a charity project, her sorority is working with Challenged athletes for their upcoming Challenge Games. Long story short, she falls in love with a mentally challenged young man named Pumpkin, and it completely throws her life out of whack. She leaves her so-called-perfect life after she realized that perfect isn't always perfect.
Now this movie touched me in several different ways. The primary one being watching the internal struggle she faces as she initially resists the feelings she is forming for Pumpkin. You see her actions progress from contempt to curiosity to affection. Her friends and family's reaction to this development is very realistic. It's a natural progression, it doesn't seem rushed or forced.
Another reason this movie appealed to me was that it is a non-traditional love story. As much of a sap as I am, it's nice to deviate from the standard "girl meets boy, girl falls in love with boy, they have some sort of hardship, girl wins boy" that most love stories follow. Here she already IS in love, and has to deal with that added aspect in her search for the answers. She tries to hang on to her "normal" boyfriend in order to hide from her growing feelings for Pumpkin, and she seemingly flip-flops between the two of them multiple times.
Overall, this movie is one to watch if you tend to prefer romantic movies [read: like sappy movies like me].
The only really well known name in this movie is Ricci.
Up and coming reviews : The Virgin Suicides, Four Brothers, Adam and Steve, Adaption, Rounders
After I netflix'd Prozac Nation, next on my list was another Christina Ricci movie called Pumpkin.
At first this movie seemed to be very sappy. It starts with Carolyn (Ricci) starting her senior year of college. She is in a very preppy sorority, competing with a rival sorority for Sorority of the Year. She has a perfect tennis star boyfriend, and everything seems to be going fantastically for her. As a charity project, her sorority is working with Challenged athletes for their upcoming Challenge Games. Long story short, she falls in love with a mentally challenged young man named Pumpkin, and it completely throws her life out of whack. She leaves her so-called-perfect life after she realized that perfect isn't always perfect.
Now this movie touched me in several different ways. The primary one being watching the internal struggle she faces as she initially resists the feelings she is forming for Pumpkin. You see her actions progress from contempt to curiosity to affection. Her friends and family's reaction to this development is very realistic. It's a natural progression, it doesn't seem rushed or forced.
Another reason this movie appealed to me was that it is a non-traditional love story. As much of a sap as I am, it's nice to deviate from the standard "girl meets boy, girl falls in love with boy, they have some sort of hardship, girl wins boy" that most love stories follow. Here she already IS in love, and has to deal with that added aspect in her search for the answers. She tries to hang on to her "normal" boyfriend in order to hide from her growing feelings for Pumpkin, and she seemingly flip-flops between the two of them multiple times.
Overall, this movie is one to watch if you tend to prefer romantic movies [read: like sappy movies like me].
The only really well known name in this movie is Ricci.
Up and coming reviews : The Virgin Suicides, Four Brothers, Adam and Steve, Adaption, Rounders
8.15.2007
The New Diary
Greetings all you blog readers-
Another thing I like to blog about is movies. I have Netflix, and enjoy chosing the more obscure movies rather than the big titles my sister often chooses.
I recently Netflixed the movie Prozac Nation. As someone suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar disorder, this movie was pretty high on my to-rent list. It is based on the biographical book by the same name, authored by Elizabeth Wurtzel. The main character Lizzie (played fantastically by Christina Ricci) comes from a broken home. She does not have a realationship with her father other than resentment, and her relationship with her mother could be described as, well, insane. She goes to college at Harvard, thinking things will be different but she quickly falls back into an atypical depression. She begins to do drugs (coke, e, pot), sleep with multiple partners, and very quickly becomes "the Harvard bag-lady". Her relationships quickly unravel at the seams and she struggles to get back to being normal. At one point her psychiatrist prescribes her prozac. Anne Heche plays a fairly convincing shrink here. The tear-jerker moment for me was a scene where Lizzie is at the home of Dr. Sterling and decides to go upstairs and slit her wrists. Dr. Sterling comes upstairs and looks very disappointed, then her child comes to see what all the commontion is about. The look Anne Heche gives to this powerful moment is amazing.
One line she says in the movie sticks to me, she describes her hitting rock bottom as "gradually, then suddenly" and then at the end claims her recovery was also "gradually, then suddenly". For someone who has been there, to that dark place you always find yourself, this hit the nail on the head. I didn't just all of a sudden "get" BPD. It came on gradually, then suddenly when the last block got pulled out from under me. My recovery will also need to be gradually, then suddenly.
One might almost conclude that Elizabeth Wurtzel may have also been borderline - she fits at least 5 of the diagnostic criteria. Borderline Personality disorder and severe clinical depression are often seen together, as is BPD and other mental illness. As a BP dating a non-BP, I have a difficult time conveying to my boyfriend what it's like to be like this. I normally turn to the movie Girl, Interrupted as the main character (Susanna Kaysen - played by Winona Ryder) is formally diagnosed with BPD, but I almost feel this movie portrays the extreme low points we hit and Girl, Interrupted gives the more understand/comprehend side.
Had I not already sent it back, this would be the one I would chose for me and Jon to watch tonight.
And, good luck finding the song that they play on the end credits ANYWHERE. It is called "You Can Take What's Left of Me" by Nathan Larson. I had to buy the CD FilmMusik to get it.
Overall, if you or someone you love is depressed or has a mental illness - this is a must-see. For all others, the acting and the music is enthralling enough that I'd say you should still see it.
Big names in this movie include : Christina Ricci, Jason Biggs, Anne Heche, Michelle Williams, Jonathan Ryhs Meyers and Jessica Lange.
Of note, Christina Ricci was a co-producer of the film.
Another thing I like to blog about is movies. I have Netflix, and enjoy chosing the more obscure movies rather than the big titles my sister often chooses.
I recently Netflixed the movie Prozac Nation. As someone suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar disorder, this movie was pretty high on my to-rent list. It is based on the biographical book by the same name, authored by Elizabeth Wurtzel. The main character Lizzie (played fantastically by Christina Ricci) comes from a broken home. She does not have a realationship with her father other than resentment, and her relationship with her mother could be described as, well, insane. She goes to college at Harvard, thinking things will be different but she quickly falls back into an atypical depression. She begins to do drugs (coke, e, pot), sleep with multiple partners, and very quickly becomes "the Harvard bag-lady". Her relationships quickly unravel at the seams and she struggles to get back to being normal. At one point her psychiatrist prescribes her prozac. Anne Heche plays a fairly convincing shrink here. The tear-jerker moment for me was a scene where Lizzie is at the home of Dr. Sterling and decides to go upstairs and slit her wrists. Dr. Sterling comes upstairs and looks very disappointed, then her child comes to see what all the commontion is about. The look Anne Heche gives to this powerful moment is amazing.
One line she says in the movie sticks to me, she describes her hitting rock bottom as "gradually, then suddenly" and then at the end claims her recovery was also "gradually, then suddenly". For someone who has been there, to that dark place you always find yourself, this hit the nail on the head. I didn't just all of a sudden "get" BPD. It came on gradually, then suddenly when the last block got pulled out from under me. My recovery will also need to be gradually, then suddenly.
One might almost conclude that Elizabeth Wurtzel may have also been borderline - she fits at least 5 of the diagnostic criteria. Borderline Personality disorder and severe clinical depression are often seen together, as is BPD and other mental illness. As a BP dating a non-BP, I have a difficult time conveying to my boyfriend what it's like to be like this. I normally turn to the movie Girl, Interrupted as the main character (Susanna Kaysen - played by Winona Ryder) is formally diagnosed with BPD, but I almost feel this movie portrays the extreme low points we hit and Girl, Interrupted gives the more understand/comprehend side.
Had I not already sent it back, this would be the one I would chose for me and Jon to watch tonight.
And, good luck finding the song that they play on the end credits ANYWHERE. It is called "You Can Take What's Left of Me" by Nathan Larson. I had to buy the CD FilmMusik to get it.
Overall, if you or someone you love is depressed or has a mental illness - this is a must-see. For all others, the acting and the music is enthralling enough that I'd say you should still see it.
Big names in this movie include : Christina Ricci, Jason Biggs, Anne Heche, Michelle Williams, Jonathan Ryhs Meyers and Jessica Lange.
Of note, Christina Ricci was a co-producer of the film.
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