October 2017 Reading/Watching/Listening

READING

My Mother Was Nuts by Penny Marshall - This has been on my list for a long time. It was so good. Seriously, five out of five stars. Her life was fascinating and I loved how she handled everything. I just want to be a cross between Penny Marshall and Dolly Parton. I didn't realize she had directed so many movies I love. I have seen and re-watched all of them except for one. However, there was a section of this book that gave me that yucky feeling in my stomach. I don't expect funny people to have funny life stories - quite the opposite - and her story isn't really sad, but there was something about it. First, her child was sort of taken from her and sort of abandoned by her when she was only a few years old. As a mom of a toddler, that was horrifying. I don't judge her.

September Watching/Reading/Listening

Watching:

Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin (HBO PPV): It's now on HBO Go, but I watched it live and it gave me life. So good. There was great action between two well-matched fighters who have good technique and hit hard. It was a thing of beauty. I didn't agree with the result, though.

One Mississippi Season 2 (Amazon Prime): Just as good as the previous season. Calm, sweet, dark, funny. The seasons are way too short! If you like Master of None, there's a good chance you'll like this one.

Transparent Season 4 (Amazon Prime): Still good. I hated Ali in the previous seasons, but that character is so great in this season. I feel you, girl!

Fuller House Season 3 (Netflix): It's still good. It just feels like there are too many characters and storylines. Was it like this when I was young, but I didn't care? Maybe I should watch old episodes, but I remember the show dealing with some real stuff every once in a while. Candace Cameron Bure is gorgeous. I just like staring her. I get mad when they light her poorly. I know it's an actress' job to stay in shape and look good and they have trainers and chefs and meal delivery services, etc., but still.

Louie Seasons 4 and 5 (Netflix): I don't know why I resisted this show. I saw half an episode a while ago with Parker Posey (I love her. She's so dark and funny), liked it, but didn't continue watching. It's low key insane. Super low key, but also super insane.

July/August Watching/Reading/Listening

WATCHING-

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2 seasons on Netflix): Severely emotionally damaged woman moves across the country to try to get back together with her summer camp boyfriend. LOVE this show so much that I was sad for a couple of days when I finished. I hate musicals. I thought it might be a good show to have on in the background when cleaning, but it's super addicting. (I do sometimes skip over the musical numbers.) It's crazy and stupid and so funny. I do regularly sing some of the songs I like (West Covina, Period Sex, Love Kernels, Rush to Be a Bride). Don't YouTube Rush to Be a Bride. You have to see it in the show. The transition is part of how amazing it is. THIS IS NOT A SHOW TO WATCH WITH KIDS OR YOUR PARENTS. NSFAnything really. New season on the CW starts October 13!

Friends from College (1 season Netflix show): People who would normally be okay turn into severely emotionally damaged people when they are around their college friends. And they can't stop being around each other. None of the characters are likable, but, again, I LOVE this show. It's dark, but funny. If you were super into the Wonder Years, Fred Savage in this show will make you so happy.

Life in Pieces (CBS show watched on Netflix): It's about siblings and their families. It's really funny sometimes, but sometimes it's offensive. Also, fairly unlikable and damaged characters. (Hmmmmm . . . I'm sensing a theme.)

March 2017 Reading/Watching

March was absolutely pathetic reading-wise. It's even sadder, because it was my birthday month and reading is my favorite thing. Probably explains my janky-ass mood lately.

Books I finished:

-Difficult Women by Roxane Gay (Love her writing. Love her Twitter. Lover her. She is my Beyonce.)

-Lumberjanes: Beware the Kitten Holy (This is a graphic novel, but it counts, okay?! I put it on my Amazon wish list to remember to get it for my daughter when she's older. Husband purchased a couple of volumes for me for my birthday and I'm glad he did, because it was pretty good. I've started the second volume.)

-I re-read my favorite poem more than usual. (To You by Walt Whitman: http://www.bartleby.com/142/175.html - Get you some!)

Books I started, but didn't finish:

-Queen Sugar: A Novel by Natalie Baszile (Seemed promising, but it fizzled out. I think it's a TV show now, but I don't have cable, so . . .)

-A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf (Look, I really tried. There were some good morsels in there, but wrap it up, sister.)

-The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert (Um, I checked it out from the library. This was supposed to be my non-fiction for the month.)

-The Wangs vs The World by Jade Chang (Too much set up. Maybe the whole book was set up? Made it about a quarter of the way through.)

-I Almost Forgot About You by Terry McMillan (I made it a third of the way through. It didn't grab me.)

-Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild (I read the first page of the preface and it's too soon and I'm still too pissed off and I don't see a lot of the right trying to understand us, so eat me.)

-I've started re-reading the Godfather. Still great.

Watched/Watching:

-Schitt's Creek (So good, just for Catherine O'Hara's accent alone.)

-One Mississippi (Dark and light and wonderful.)

-Transparent (Bummed I'm so late to this, but glad, because I was able to binge.)

-The Kettering Incident (Couldn't get into it. Kind of a cross between Top of the Lake, which I loved, and The OA, which was decent.)

-Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Finished the second season.)

-Moonlight (I already posted about this. I still think about this movie on the regular.)

-Logan (Brutal. Dark. Gory. And I cried harder than I've cried at the movies in a long time. I watched the X-Men cartoons as an older kid when I thought I was done with cartoons. I've loved all of the movies, except X-Men: Apocalypse. I'm going to cry just thinking about it.)

-Lost Girl (Just started and it's surprisingly good if you choose to ignore the production value and some plot holes.)

-Rewatching Buffy (I start about halfway through season 3, skip the latter half of season 5, then finish it up. My gajillionth rewatch?)

Looking forward to:

-Getting my reading mojo back. (Pray for me, y'all. Also, any fiction recommendations? Ease me in with some detective novels or beach reads.)

-More Lumberjanes!

-The second season of Chewing Gum.

-Trying to get back into boxing. My multiple Kovalev sightings MUST BE a sign to get back into it.

Mad Max: Sad Furiosa

I saw Mad Max: Fury Road in the theaters and thought it was just okay. Maybe because it was hyped up so much, my expectations were high. It was supposed to be this brilliant feminist manifesto and George Miller demanded x, y, and that the bunjee guitar guys guitar work for real so it's super duper amazing!

Ex Machina Review *SPOILERS*

Man-god creates "women" in his preferred image - mute, sexual, tall, brown, white - object variety pack. Knight in soft cotton t-shirt shows up to save one. Yes, the women save themselves and the men do get screwed, but the women still had to be manipulative and conniving and use their sexuality (which was programmed into them by a man) to get what they want from the men who GAVE THEM LIFE AND WERE JUST TRYING TO BE NICE TO THEM. Ungrateful, bitches. Amiright? Still a really good story. Plus brilliant acting, beautiful visuals, and a dance scene that will make you ask yourself, "Am I on drugs?" I recommend seeing it. Timely and original.

Battleship

I'm not sure what it is. I'm not hungover. I'm not depressed. I'm not mentally compromised in any way that I can tell, so I'm not sure what to make of me thinking Battleship is a great movie. Not Godfather great, but really entertaining. It's pretty. It's funny. It's exciting. It's a little heartwarming, too. I'm surprised by all of the bad reviews it received when it came out. The trailers for it didn't do it any justice, either.

Taylor Kitsch: HOT. Alexander Skarsgaard: HOT. Liam Neeson: HOT. Rihanna: HOT. Brooklyn Decker: HOT. Tabanobu Asano: HOT. And Jesse Plemons in a movie with Kitsch warms my Friday Night Lights loving heart.

The relationship between the brothers Kitsch and Skarsgaard is a caricature of the Type A older sibling/slacker younger sibling, but it still has a ring of truth to it. I really liked the two-minute courtship in the love story subplot. I'm sure there are a lot of guys that would take more punishment to get Brooklyn Decker anything she wanted.

It's a simple story. Aliens invade Earth and badass American motherfuckers fight back. That's pretty much it, but the relationships are well developed for a movie of this type. The action is well done. Not as cheesy as I thought it would be. It was less eye rolling than the action sequences I've seen in The Lone Ranger and Transformers trailers. The supporting cast (including Hamish Linklater and Peter MacNicol) is excellent as well. If you're a crier like me, you're going to tear up a couple of times.

This movie gave me a major American boner. It might be required 4th of July weekend viewing every year.

The Watch

The best part of The Watch was that I didn't pay $14 to see it. The second best part was Billy Crudup as the creepy neighbor. The third best part was Richard Ayoade. He had the best part. I can't wait to see him in more films.

Lonely, uptight Evan lives in a small town and tries to fill his days by being the stepford resident in charge. When someone he knows gets murdered, he starts another club - The Neighborhood Watch. The local fringe residents and local party boy join him in his endeavor. They have run-ins with the incompetent, power-tripping cops, cliche ornery resident, and aliens who are planning an invasion.

It's spastic and full of that frantic, nonsense comedy that's popular these days. It's reached a ridiculous point that's no longer entertaining. The movie does manage to find it's heart about three-quarters of the way through the movie. There are some fleeting poignant moments, but it's not a movie you sit and watch. It's something you have on in the background while you iron.

But seriously, Billy Crudup should always play creepy dudes. I've thought that since Inventing the Abbots.

Repulsive Mention:

The part where an adult member of the neighborhood watch was objectifying girls at a high school party and then hitting on high school girls. Not okay.

Larry Crowne (2011)

I would start with a description of the story, but there is no story. The characters are one dimensional. I chuckled twice. Maybe. And the fact that it was because of Wilmer Valderrama’s character negates any good will following those chuckles. I thought I would enjoy a drunk, bitchy Julia Roberts, but it wasn’t fun. I’ve heard her be snide and condescending in interviews and that’s fun, but she’s so much smarter in her interviews. This is a movie written by Tom Hanks and Nia Vardalos, starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, directed by Tom Hanks and the best part of the movie was Wilmer Valderrama’s character. Actually, the best part of the movie was my mom’s imitation of Julia Roberts’ laugh. Pretty spot on. Please don’t waste your time on this movie. 

Cabin in the Woods (2012)

I haven’t seen a horror movie in a theater since The Ring (2003). I love horror movies, but I almost never watch them.  The main reason I haven’t seen a horror movie in the theater is because I prefer to watch them with a cute guy and bury my face in his chest when I get scared. Taking my romantic history into consideration, I figured I’m just going to have to get over it or never see a horror movie in a theater ever again.  After seeing Cabin in the Woods, I can say with confidence that I still haven’t seen a horror movie on the big screen since The Ring.

I guess it could be a horror movie even though it’s not scary at all. It’s like a psychological experiment with twist. You have a glimpse of the twist right when the movie starts, then it goes into the usual horror movie plot (cabin in the woods-discovery of something they should’ve left alone-sex-killing off of characters one by one) with the usual characters (sexual blonde-alpha male jock-the good guy-the fool-the non-sexual girl). There’s a good bit of comedy having to do with the twist. I did chuckle a few times. I think the problem was that I was expecting more horror-wise and twist-wise. Not to say I don’t recommend the movie. Definitely hangover theater (movies you watch on a Sunday when recovering from a hangover) theater.   

The Station Agent (2003)

There isn’t anything about this movie that I didn’t like. The barren situation that slowly blossoms into something substantial. Peter Dinklage is wonderful as Fin.  You know what he’s thinking and feeling, at least you think you do, but you still want to know more. There’s the pushy supporting character, Joe (Bobby Cannavale). I’m not really a fan of his, but he’s so fun in this role. He’s just perfect. There’s the intense, but vulnerable Olivia (Patricia Clarkson), who’s in so much turmoil, her pain was unbearable to me. I try to think of a role of hers that I haven’t liked, but I can’t. Cleo (Raven Goodwin), who would’ve been one of my friends if we had been in elementary school together and who I would probably try to befriend now. Michelle Williams and John Slattery also show up to this awesome party.

This is the story of a man, Fin, who loses his best and only friend and starts a new, even more, isolated life away from his teeny, tiny comfort zone. He comes into contact with Joe, a food truck attendant, who forces a friendship on the new guy. Joe is filled with such exuberance that Fin eventually has to give in. There’s Olivia, who is hiding out and has also isolated herself for various and valid reasons. They form this strange and sweet triumvirate. It’s not even that no one else will have them. They just fit and it’s glorious. It made my small heart grow three sizes.

The characters are solid. And I don’t mean that in a 70s kind of way. They all have presence and this sweet, endearing aggressiveness. The story is engaging. I didn’t want the movie to end. I could’ve watched those characters’ lives unfold over the course of several hours.

This whole movie was like watching the end of winter turn into spring and then a beautiful summer sunrise at the end. See this. Now.

Never Let Me Go

This is a story based on Kazuo Ishiguro's novel of the same name. He is also the author of The Remains of the Day, a story which I love in both book and movie form. I love slowly paced movies with little dialogue (see Spider with Ralph Fiennes) and I'm in a somber mood and have enjoyed dark stories as of late, so the stars were aligned for me to love this story.

Too bad I hated it.

It's set in an alternate past in England where people are bred to be organ donors to the point of donating until they die. The main characters are Kathy H. (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield), and Ruth (Keira Knightly). They all attended the same boarding school for donors and the audience is supposed to believe they're friends/become friends. I suppose one could call their relationships with one another friendships, but yikes. Kathy is a sweet and sensitive girl who befriends raging Tommy. Kathy likes Tommy, but Ruth, her best friend, makes him her boyfriend and Tommy just goes along with it for SEVERAL YEARS.

They have to leave the boarding house when they're 18 and wait for their turn to start donating. (Kill me. Writing about this is just as boring as watching it.) They move into a house with other graduates and hang out. And are all weird and intense sometimes and go on walks and Ruth and Tommy have sex and Kathy keeps to herself and lets Ruth be a bitch to her until Kathy decides to apply as caretaker (don't ask) right around the time Ruth and Tommy break up.

They separate for about 10 years and Kathy comes across Ruth who's on her deathbed and who apologizes. They go find Tommy and Ruth dies during her second donation. Kathy and Tommy have a go at it for a short time since he's already donated twice and will probably die with the third. He does. Then Kathy gets notice that she's going to have to start donating soon.

This whole, boring movie is a set up to get to a point that Kathy makes at the very end: Nobody figures it out (life) and fucks up a lot trying to do so and not do so and it doesn't matter if you're a sheltered donor who is killed in your twenties or you live until your nineties.

It's a comforting message, but I didn't need over an hour and a half of not much to get to it.

This story needed either more back story about the situation or more interactions between the characters. I just had a hard time accepting the complacency of the donors. They wear electronic monitoring bracelets, but damn, make a run for it. Even if it was impossible to get away, I would have a good time until my donation notice and then figure out a way to kill myself that wouldn't allow for my parts to be harvested. A big ole "fuck all y'all" to the powers that be.

It didn't help that I kept thinking about Minority Report and kept saying, out loud, "That's the new Spiderman? Really?"

I don't recommend this movie, but I still highly recommend The Remains of the Day, in both mediums. I probably should've read the book first. Live and learn.

Blue Valentine - Porno for Hipsters

It was intense, just as advertised, so I'll give it that. Definitely not a movie I could watch again.

Ryan Gosling . . . good grief! When he tilts his head to the side and grins, WOW. I don't even understand what's happening to me. Michelle Williams' character is so soft and adrift, with these brittle flashes of strength. I want to hug her.

My only problem is that the flashbacks showing how they came together didn't make me want to root for them. Them getting together was really the sad part for me and not them falling apart.

The movie is a downer, so if you're in a happy place, I don't recommend it. However, if you're in a dead-inside place, I highly recommend it. It'll make you feel something.