Gigantic

So what is this one about?
Netflix tells us,

"Unhappy with his life, mattress salesman Brian Weathersby (Paul Dano) pursues his lifelong obsession with adopting an infant from China. But when attractive customer Harriet (Zooey Deschanel) catches his eye, he starts pursuing her instead. Soon, Harriet's overbearing father (John Goodman) and Brian's parents (Ed Asner and Jane Alexander) become involved in their relationship, pushing Brian to take drastic action in this quirky romantic comedy.

And how much did I pay to watch?
Well, I watched it via netflix rental during one of my quick turn over periods--meaning I was watching movies quite quickly (unlike now when I've have the same dvds checked out for maybe over a month...jeeze) so I bet it was a few dollars.

And what did I think?
You know what I hate? I think Zooey is sort of annoying. I believe that I have said this before. (see 500 Days of Summer review, my opinion of her continues to be spot on in relation to this movie...) For one thing, her character's name is Happy. Yep, not a joke. She acts "quirky" and hot and yanks Paul Dano around in this movie. Classic Zooey moments? When she and Paul were waiting in the reception area of a doctors office while her dad (John Goodman) was seeing his chiropractor. She had basically made Paul drive them to the Dr's office. She asks him what he is reading. He tells her. He asks what she is reading, she says "mostly ads" then proceeds to describe one to him. After that she leans into him and asks "do you have any interest in having sex with me?" He replies, "mmmmhmm" and she says, "now?" and he says "mmmmhmmm."

Who does that Zooey think she is? She can just go anywhere and pick up a guy? Guys just fall at her feet? Haarrumph to her. And what is she always so moody about?!? She's gorgeous and guys are always falling in love with her. She needs to just get over it and start to be more cheery!

The movie was pretty quirky. I watched a large portion of it with a look of complete confusion on my face. It was just pretty bizarre. However, it was pretty funny at times. I had a huge lol moment during it, which I will not describe in case you'd like to watch it. And you know what? I love John Goodman. I think he is great. And does Paul Dano always need to look so emo? Get that kid some candy! He looks so depressed all the time!

So what is the rating? (out of 10)
I really liked my review on Netflix--I tend to do my two cents reviews way before I write them down--I wish this weren't the case. I said, "This was the strangest but most earnest film I have seen in a long time. It made me truly, truly smile." This is the type of movie that I would purchase on dvd, so again, if you see it in the $10 section at target, please let me know.

I give this one an 8.5.

(500) Days of Summer

So what is this one about?
Well, I sort of knew what it was about when I watched it because Washington Post Express 1) had reviewed it and it sounded interesting and 2) had it as the cover for like 297423743927 days as an advertisement. So, in case you haven't heard about this one yet, Netflix will tell us...

When his girlfriend, Summer (Zooey Deschanel), unceremoniously dumps him, greeting-card copywriter and hopeless romantic Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) begins sifting through the year-plus worth of days they spent together, looking for clues to what went awry. As he recalls the good and bad times he spent with the commitment-phobic girl, his heart reawakens to what it cherishes most. Marc Webb directs this uncommon love story.

And how much did I pay to watch?
$12.00 CAD. That's Canadian Dollars for all you out there in blog land who don't frequently visit xe.com and know all the currency abbreviations. Seems like a lot for a matinee, doesn't it? Yeah, and the conversion rate doesn't even really help that much. $12 CAD is $11.09 USD (obv US dollars). Oh yeah, because I watched this in the T-dot with Ylber. huzzzzzzzah!

And what did I think?
What did I think? I think that Zooey Deschanel continues to irritate me. She has absolutely no range as an actress as to the types of roles she takes/characters she plays. As a classic example of the type of "quirky/weird/sexy-hot" of girl she keeps playing I will offer something wikipedia tells us. (Keep in mind, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Tom and Zooey Deschanel is Summer)

"While helping Mckenzie to a cab, Mckenzie tells Summer that Tom likes her. Summer asks if it is true and Tom, after some coaxing from Summer, says that he likes her (but adds "as friends"). Summer calls him "very interesting" and leaves Tom standing there on the sidewalk. The next day at work, she kisses him in the copy room. Once Summer's copies are finished, she simply ignores Tom and leaves the copy room."

And if that isn't just the g.d. essence of Zooey, I don't know what is. "Ooooh, look at me! I'm Zooey, I'm quirky, and unique and every man loves me! I can yank them around and they'll still love me because I am so quirky, and sexy, and unique!!" And, I can understand that. She is gorgeous (at least she is in movies, if you look at the photos of her on wikipedia they are unimpressive) and god, that singing voice. She sings in (500) days, and she also has a musical act with M.Ward. The act is called She and Him and I love their cd. Love, love, love it. And the lyrics that she sings are so beautiful (ie. "Cried all night till there was nothing more, what use am I as a heap on the floor?" and "I'm all outta luck, but what else could I be? I know he's yours and he'll never belong to me again, I did him wrong. So don't brag, keep it to yourself, I did him wrong. I was never (no), never (no), never enough, but I should try, I should try, to toughen up. I listened when they told me, if he burns you let him go. Change is hard, I should know" SOOO pretty!! essssspecially with her lovely voice) ANNNNNNNNNYWAY.

So, I thought that Joseph Gordon-Levitts acting was awesome. He is really quite a talented actor.

The writing in the film was also adorable. Tom's realization that he is in love with Summer and then using the same scenes when he realizes that she is a miserable shrew was classic. And, lets face it, it was pretty funny. AND there was a dance sequence!! How does that not have all the makings of a fabulous movie?

I do want to see it again though, to further formulate my ideas about this movie. I think this review is sufficient for now though....

So what is the rating? (out of 10)
I'll give it a 7. I think I can get behind that number.