"Crazy, Stupid, Love." (2011); "Lymelife" (2008); "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend" (2010); "What About Bob?" (1991); "Breakfast with Scot" (2007); "Bad Teacher" (2011)

Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011) - I like the cast a lot for this movie (although Gosling seems to have a weird look to me; don't know why, sorry dude) so of course I liked the movie. Emma Stone is a doll and I'm pretty sure she's what we all hoped Lindsay Lohan would have been. *zing!* I like it when movies have a bit of interconnectedness to it. That might have just given the movie away. Or maybe not. I'm trying to put voodoo confusion on you right now. You are getting very sleeeeeepy..... as sleepy as I am writing thizzzzzzzz. Okay, I'm back. The movie was fun but like many Hollywood movies, it hijacked an important social event (and several other social situations) so the characters could show the drama of their plight. I understand as a writer that 'they' say to up the ante and raise the stakes but it's a little old and predictable, that trick. I do recommend the movie though as the characters and situations were fun.

Lymelife (2008) - I'll be honest. I thought I was picking out a documentary about Lyme's Disease which someone in my life has. But I still liked the movie and it was fun to see some of the other members of the Culkin family. It was dramatic of course but enjoyable. I don't have tons to say about it except that the tone is a little heavy. If you like the 70's era, this would be one of those. Some notable players: Cynthia Nixon, Alec Baldwin (playing an a-hole), Jill Hennessy and Timothy Hutton as well as the aforementioned Rory Culkin and Kieran Culkin.

My Girlfriend's Boyfriend (2010) - This is one of those Lifetime-esque movies that almost hurts to watch. I watched it on hulu to kill some time but of course had to finish it. Let's just say that the plot was the reason I watched and then it turned on me and insulted my intelligence and my personal belief system. Yeah. I mean the twist was okay but it was the weepy 'poor me' moment that completely ticked me off. That and the ulterior storyline didn't show conflict so how would that have sold within that story. It's kind of a gag-worthy story and the character played by Alyssa Milano is not likeable nor believable. I wasn't able to connect to her enough to care about her. So, yeah, I might tell you to pass up on this one unless you'd like to watch it and bitch about it with me. ;)

What About Bob? (1991) - I'm sure I've mentioned this movie several times because it is one of my all-time favorite movies. I am mentioning it this time however it terms of it's MPAA rating. It's rated PG. If any of you have ever seen it and know it well, you will realize this mainly comes into play for the elaborate string of creative cuss words utilized to demonstrate Tourette's Syndrome. I watched it most recently with my parents and my nephews (ages 12, 9 and 6) who now have a more active vocabulary because of it. This movie is perfectly crafted. It shows the complete turn-around of a psychiatrist into someone who is insane. Brilliant. What I just found from the trivia page probably helped character-wise: "According to Richard Dreyfuss, he and Bill Murray did not get along during filming."  Other tidbit: "Woody Allen was suggested for the role of Leo Marvin." - What a completely different movie THAT would have been! It's worth noting that the 6 year old did not have the attention span necessary for this movie but still found the funny parts funny. The older two really enjoyed it. So, hooray for educating the younger generation, even when it includes putting their precious ears at risk for bad words. I may be hearing from my brother on that one... ;)

Breakfast with Scot (2007) - I'm a fan of movies that focus on non-heteros and I put this one at the top of my movie queue after seeing the trailer on another recently-watched non-het movie (2 points to the reader who can guess which one that was). This movie was less campy than I thought it was going to be and I really appreciated that. I also appreciated that it didn't rely on the upcoming business trip to "up the ante" AND I liked that even the most unlikeable of characters was not made into a demon but actually just another human with a complex system of needs. His girlfriend wasn't even a throw-away character and we were able to respect her because of it. I liked the story and the manly-men gay guys that break the mold of what society expects a gay man to be. The message is pretty clear without being overwhelming or distracting. I thought it was a nice movie and would recommend it for sure!

Bad Teacher (2011) - I've got to say... this teacher is my new hero. I LOVED this movie because it was a great, under-appreciated vehicle to show a "bad girl" in action. It is so uncommon to see roles for women that are nitty-gritty and allow them to be the slacker without having to do a complete 180 to become the proper women that society demands. We need more movies like this. This movie was excellent. It was cleverly funny and so so wrong in all the right places. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the cameos/roles by Phyllis Smith, John Michael Higgins, Molly Shannon and Eric Stonestreet. AWESOME. This movie didn't do too well and I attribute part of it to the aforementioned sexism present in Hollywood and society in which women aren't allowed the 'fun roles'. But I loved it because the film and Diaz's character were unapologetic and got away with murder. The movie was zany and not realistic but I could deal with that because it has character and spice. Totally recommend this movie.

"The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" (2008), "Le Divorce" (2003), "Big" (1988), "Zookeeper" (2011), "I Hate Valentine's Day" (2009), "Munster, Go Home!" (1966), "Tru Loved" (2008)

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008)  At first when I saw the Greek pics I was like 'Oh, no! I already saw this movie and wasted an online rental!' But then I realized that they go to Greece in both movies and that I had only just seen the first movie. I was more or less able to pick up on the storyline, although I hadn't seen the prequel for many years. This movie is standard fluff safe for preteens. As long as your pre-teens know about sex and broken condoms that is. The movie was pretty formulaic and predictable. Supposedly, if you've read the book series, the sequel here is all of the last books lumped together. I don't know because I've not read them myself.

Le Divorce (2003) - How do you say 'disappointment' in French. Bleh. I was hoping for a romantic comedy, but I got a far-fetched dramedy instead. The last bit of the film with the symbolic image floating through Paris... that was ridiculous. I didn't really get what I wanted here. I found it hard to be okay with Kate Hudson's character because I didn't really identify with her. I don't really want to waste more time on this movie because it just wasn't what I wanted. But what do I expect for a close-out price of $5 at Borders? ;)

Big (1988) - This was supposed to be one of those 'in the background movies' while I was working on a script, but I ended up chatting with a friend abroad and paying attention to this movie. I've always looooooved Tom Hanks and this movie. Of course it's awesome to see how the technology has changed in the past 22 years. Wow. That's a while ago. I was 3 when this movie was released. I showed the movie cover to my 20 year-old brother's friend of the same age and he said. "Big isn't that about the guy with the big d***? Oh wait, that's the TV show 'Hung'". Clearly there is a generation gap and some edumacating really needs to go on because if the younger generations aren't exposed to clever movies like this... we truly have a lost world on our hands. But back to the movie. I love it. Have I said that already? I think Tom does a wonderful job portraying what a scared kid would be like in a the body of a grown-up. He just captures the essence of innocence that is lost as we grow older and start to make things complicated. I love the scene where the lady-friend asks where 'we' are going, and he is just confused, like 'what are you talking about?' There is something so fun about this movie and you would be remiss if you never saw it.

Zookeeper (2011) - When searching for this movie on IMDB, one of the same name came up that was made 10 years ago... The summary of that one was: "A disillusioned ex-Communist is left behind to take care of the animals in the capital's zoological gardens until a U.N. rescue force arrives" 
      I'm pretty sure I would have been better off seeing that one. But of course, I'm a sucker for talking animal movies (not really, but I can handle them). But the Kevin James vehicle asked too much as far as 'suspension of disbelief' goes. Especially when it got to the end of the film. Ugh. The things that were happening then were not possible and took me out of the movie, even more. But when you are watching a movie that is supposed to be appropriate for kids, you have to basically give up. I hate to think that, but in this cases it was true. Even sadder is that I didn't watch this movie with kids... I watched it with my parents that are in their late 50's and I think my dad was nodding off, while I was scoffing to my mother about the racially insensitive giraffe. Yeah, this movie is not a winner. Sorry.

I Hate Valentine's Day (2009) - I love Nia Vardalos about as much as I love Tom Hanks, which is great because he produced this movie (and another Nia vehicle as well). I will always support her/them with all my love and admiration, but I have to admit this movie wasn't perfect. At times her character was a little scary because of how bubbly-happy she was but it made sense because she's trying to prevent herself from getting hurt. I can relate to that and I think a lot of people can. The movie had a great cast and the characters were silly-fun (Ooops and Uh Oh!). I know it was supposed to be campy and fun and it mostly got there, but there were times when it didn't quite hit the mark. Regardless, because I really love her, I watched it a second time. Oh, and I do own several of her movies just for the mere fact she was a part of them (besides them being super cute and lots of fun). She has got to be one of my favorite under-utilized actresses and I will watch anything she's done. (Yes, I feel terrible for not being in love with this movie, but if it's any consolation to her, I own and love Connie and Carla (2004) because I'm a sucker for drag queens. Love you, Nia!!)

Munster, Go Home! (1966) - I watched this the day after Yvonne De Carlo's would-be-birthday. In order to watch this film, you have to appreciate good ol' 60's Munster camp. If you aren't really familiar with the TV show, this film may be lost on you. I have it as a multi-feature that I picked up at Target or something. I can't really try to talk anyone into seeing this or not. It's either your thing or it isn't. But don't be too high brow or analytical when you watch it, or you'll regret it.

Tru Loved (2008) - You can tell this film was very low budget. Some of the acting was not the best because the actor's sexual orientation often came through over the character's. And of course, the culmination of events happened during a wedding which is pretty far-fetched and convenient. Oh, did I spoil it for you? You probably weren't going to see it, but I'm sure if you do, that doesn't really affect how you will see the movie. I get what the movie was going for, but it was all just too 'convenient'. It all just 'worked out'. It didn't seem very believable the further along it got. I appreciate the movie and the message and all the work that went into it, but it wasn't top-notch filming. There were audio issues for a set of scenes and I was sad that the DVD I watched had scratches, because I really do like to watch my movies in their entirety. I would tell you to watch this film though if you can appreciate the effort of gay cinema. This was gay cinema geared towards teens so it was much cleaner than a lot of stuff out there, so for that, I say go for it.

Okay, so that's 7 films in 3 weeks. Yikes, not so good. But in my defense... is anyone even reading this?! LOL. No, but really, I've started guitar and ukulele lessons and am writing a short script, so those things are taking up some of my time previously used watching movies. Priorities, friends. I gots them. Anyway, happy viewing!!