Away We Go

So what is this one about?
The 'flix tells us

Buoyed by the news that they are expecting their first baby, Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) embark on a journey to locate the perfect place on the planet to raise their child. But their quest inevitably yields many unexpected surprises. Sam Mendes directs this quirky comedy while Allison Janney, Catherine O'Hara, Josh Hamilton, Jim Gaffigan, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jeff Daniels co-star.

And how much did I pay to watch?
Honestly, with how few netflix movies I've turned around I wouldn't be surprised if it would have been cheaper to purchase it.

And what did I think?
I guess the thing I cannot comprehend at this point in my life is the idea that being married, or even being with another person, will become your life. Like, waking up with the person, doing whatever during the day, and coming back to that person becomes your life. That having a kid and spending all your time with the other person is your life. That whole two of us against the world thing. I just am not at a point in my life where I comprehend that.

I think about other people I know who have lives with a very significant other and I truly have a hard time understanding it. And I don't know if that says I am destined for a life of loneliness or what, but it is sort of depressing.

BUT, this movie was amazing! God, Jim Krazinski is just so flipping cute. And sweet. And adorable!

What was so amazing about it? Well, for one thing, it was hilarious. Allison Janey was out of control. When they go to Arizona we--I mean Mel and I--almost lost our shit. She is hilarious. Jim Gaffigan was funny too. But not nearly as funny as Allison Janey. Then Maggie Gyllenhall was hilarious too, again, not nearly as funny as Allison Janey, in the really uncomfortable Ricky Gervais way.

It was also poignant and heartfelt. The story in Montreal was so excellent and real and sad. And so necessary in the plot. I think this is probably the doing of Dave Eggers--you know, Mr. Depressing real life author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. He wrote this movie with his wife, apparently.

The only thing I didn't especially care for was the ending. And maybe it was because I didn't really want the movie to end or maybe it was because the final seemed sort of obvious. But, either way as a whole it was very enjoyable.

So what is the rating? (out of 10)
This is definitely one that I will purchase. Keep your eye out at Target... my birthday is in March.

I give it a high 9. Like I said, I didn't care for the ending too much but it was otherwise entirely enjoyable!

Gossip Girl: Season 2

So what is this one about?
The 'flix tells us,

Expect even more shocking secrets revealed in this hit drama's second season, which continues to trail the privileged life of rich young Manhattan teens. The players, seen through the eyes of a blogger known only as "Gossip Girl" (narrated by Kristen Bell), include Serena (Blake Lively), who left Manhattan for boarding school, her friend Blair (Leighton Meester), who took Serena's place as the "popular girl," and Nate (Chace Crawford), Blair's boyfriend.

exxxxxxxxxxxxcellent

And how much did I pay to watch?
Well, I watched this when I went to go visit my bffloml Lori in Georgia (the state, not the country) and she rented it. But I flew to Georgia, so you could say something ridiculous like "I spent $249.31 to watch this" but that would be ridiculous. So I will say I spent nothing because Lori paid for the rental.

And what did I think?
Man, was Nate really still Blair's boyfriend? Boy have times changed as I am currently (well, not currently this moment, but currently as in these past two months) watching Gossip Girl Season 3. Nate is such an under utilized character. He is barely ever in the show. Which Lori doesn't like because he is so pretty. And he is.

I myself am more of a Chuck gal. The Chuck/Blair relationship was the savior of this season. They are 100% the new Jim and Pam. They are the best couple on tv, they are far better than Jim and Pam--they're married and preggers and uncool now.

There were a few things I really hated about this season. One of them was the Blair/Serena "relationship". Watching this season with my real BFF, we totally thought that Blair and Serena are not only not bff but they aren't really friends at all. They are so mean to eachother, that frenemies is a much more apt term. Another thing I hated was how the last few episodes of the season were really unrelated to the plot. As I was just reading the wikipedia entry on this season I may understand why. They say,

The penultimate episode of the season, "Valley Girls", was a backdoor pilot for a Gossip Girl spin-off series also titled Valley Girls. The series was set in 1983 and chronicled the teen years of the Gossip Girl character Lily van der Woodsen.

Oh, that helps to explain it. Does that show even exist? I've never even heard of it! And can I please ask about Dan. When did he become the biggest stud on the show? That guy gets more chicks than anyone else. And that is utterly ridiculous. I absolutely hated the teacher he had an "affair" with. She deserved all the bad shit that happened to her.

So what is the rating? (out of 10)
Anyway, Season 2 was ok. Season 1 and what I have seen of Season 3 are way better. So much so in fact that I will likely buy Season 3 but not season 2. burrrrrrrrn.

The show was still amazing for the Chuck and Blair relationship and the fabulous clothes. And for the quality time I was able to spend with Lori while we watched it on my last trip to GA.

It gets a 7.

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.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

So what is this one about?
I'm gonna tell you the truth. The netflix description of this one is pretty awful. I watched NaNIP and I loved it, but reading the description makes me wish I hadn't. It is just that awful! See,

Norah (Kat Dennings) wants to prove to her friend Tris (Alexis Dziena) that she's capable of having a boyfriend. So at a concert, she grabs the first guy she sees, Nick (Michael Cera), and asks him to pretend they're dating -- but it turns out that Nick is Tris's ex. Despite the fact that they started off as a fauxmance, Nick and Norah's relationship turns real as they traipse through Manhattan, sharing their love of music and all things weird.

vomit! (and, um, "fauxmance"?!?!? yikes!)

And how much did I pay to watch?
Some amount. I've been doing much much better with watching more movies. Actually, upon consulting my rental history I see that I have watched approximately 4 movies in a month. Woah. emmmmmbarassing!

And what did I think?
I think that Michael Cera is the sweetest, most earnest, most adorable guy in Hollywood. Good lord, if I were like maybe 4-8 years younger I would have the sickest crush on him! I mean, at my advanced age I do not have a crush on him, but if he wanted to date me I would have to agree. He is just too. damn. cute!!

I thought this movie was the classic teen girl flick. I mean, what was there not to like? God, does the fact that I liked this so much mean I am more like Norah than Triss?? Does this mean I am the nerdy girl with big boobs (factually inaccurate) who talks about music too much?!! AHHHHH. Nah, I wasn't that girl in high school and I am not that girl now. (I did recognize the voices of a lot of the artists who were on the soundtrack...Band of Horses, whaaaat?!)

I loved that the movie really used New York as another character in the film.(Oh, and did I mention I was on a bus to NYC as I was watching this? That might make my love for it a little unfair) Anyway, it was just like Law and Order or Sex and the City or Flight of the Conchords or any of those New York movies/shows. In fact, wikipedia tells us "this movie was one of the first to be shot in New York City after the State and City of New York enacted a 35 percent tax credit under the "Made in NY" incentive program." See? They wanted NYC to be a main character!

I just thought it was great. I loved that Norah's drunk friend was like a hybrid of Lori and I, and I was genuinely curious to find out what happened as the movie progressed. It had great pacing, and Nick and Norah were SO cute together. Nice, young, honest kids in love (or learning to love).

And lets face it, the fact that Nick drove a Yugo was hilarious, and the cab scene (from the commercials) was hilarious. As were Nick's gay friends.

So what is the rating? (out of 10)
Seriously, what was there not to like?

It was awesome, awesome, awesome. This is a dvd that I will be looking for a cheap Target copy of. If anyone sees that Target is doing a $10 copy, let me know and I will snatch it up!

I think it is probably a 10, but just for saftey's sake and because I've only seen it once I will give it a 9. Just go see Nick and Norah... it is so sweet!!!!!

(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.