Don Jon (2013)
A New Jersey guy dedicated to his family, friends, and church, develops
unrealistic expectations from watching porn and works to find happiness
and intimacy with his potential true love.
Director:
Writer:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Stars:Joseph Gordon-Levitt
TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6615kYTpOSU
Watched with S.O. from Netflix on our new Roku!
This movie used repetitive sequences to show the growth and change of the character. There were some scenes that irked me but it was more to do with the characters' outlook and helped to portray the message of the movie; the use of women as sex objects. It really tied in to what Writer/Director/Actor JGL was getting at about our hyper-sexualized view of women and their place in society. The story wasn't your typical rom-com and did a good job about showing imperfections in relationships and interactions. No one came out looking perfect but the growth was rewarding. I enjoyed seeing Tony Danza in a different role, even though his character was skeezy. Julianne Moore did a great job as usual. It was a little surreal to see a Jersey couple wooing each other as it doesn't seem typical Hollywood, but it grew on me. This film had important messages, yet was enjoyable to watch. Way to go, JGL and crew.
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Home (2015)
Oh, an alien on the run from his own people, lands on Earth and makes
friends with the adventurous Tip, who is on a quest of her own.
Director:
Tim Johnson
TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyqZf8LiWvM
Watched for $2 at a small town theater with other movie-goers. Total for ticket, small popcorn, PB M&M's and courtesy water: $5.50.... Gotta love small towns!!!
The best thing about this movie: A black female lead character that was strong, brave, intelligent and to have it said that her dark skin is beautiful. It felt soooooo empowering to me, an almost 30 year old white gal, to see and hear that message that I know so many young girls need to hear!!! (Yet interesting how she is lacking from the poster, eh?) Criticisms: The alien's improper use of English through the entire movie was a bit annoying. I mean, wouldn't he have improved after talking to a native speaker for so long? I had no idea that Steve Martin was the voice of Captain Smek. I thought the fact that Rihanna's character, aka the main character, had a name of "Gratuity" was a bit odd. Yeah, they wanted her to be called Tip and make it cutesy, and maybe that is someone's real name, but it didn't work for me. 'Tip' was fine, but why not have it be short for Tippy or I don't even know what related names there are. Wow, just got sidetracked reading Rihanna's bio on IMDB. Since she was the voice for the character, a lot of Rihanna's music found it's way into the movie, crafted originally. I think J-Lo did some on it too, since she voiced Rihanna's mom. Overall, it wasn't the best that I've seen, but it was colorful and creative and I loved seeing a black female character that was a great role model (despite her funny violent moments). And with music like that, I can see little girls loving the soundtrack too.
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What happens after Tanner is outed by his classmates and becomes the title "gay best friend" for three high school queen bees?
Director:
Writer:
George Northy
Stars:George Northy
TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krEdqwLLASw
Watched sola on Netflix/Roku.
I don't recall exactly where I first watched the trailer, but I was excited to watch Xosha Roquemore play a role because I already enjoy her on Mindy Project. At first, it was a little hard to get into until I figured out what the tone was. Oh, I can't tell you how thrilled I was to see Natasha Lyonne in the film. It was kind of at that point I knew it was okay because she was in the campy cult classic But I'm a Cheerleader (1999) so I knew it was safe territory. The characters were a bit spoofy, but that was kind of the point. The film did a very good job at showing how mainstream culture tries to pigeonhole homosexuality and use it as a status symbol, forgetting the actual person under all the labels. At the same time, it didn't completely demonize those of us who have been less than mindful about how we treat gay people. (Although it showed how 'silly' anti-gay religious types are...) Watching this film helped point out to me some of the instances in which I have fallen victim to the same predispositions that the queen bees did. But the film didn't make us want to hate or condemn them, it just showed how ridiculous it is when it happens as a reminder to watch our behavior and treatment of others. Megan Mullally was another fun cameo/character among others. I would probably watch it again, because I like those films that are slightly dramatic teen comedy flicks. Ooo, it also hinted at other stereotypes that are dumb like the SBF - Sassy Black Friend. Ha. It was a fun movie with a message.
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A crew digs up all of the old Atari 2600 game cartridges of "E.T. the
Extra-Terrestrial" that were tossed into a landfill in the 1980s.
Director:
Zak Penn
TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIaWAyHIqok
Watched on Netflix/Roku with my S.O.
So here's some fun trivia. The Atari games were unearthed on my birthday last year, and it has actually been one year since I started getting into comics, thanks to my S.O. I, for a while, started a blog for comics, but have read so many in the past year there's no way I could keep up! Anyway, it was interesting to learn about the beginnings of the video game world and some of the craziness that went on in development. And it was fun to see how much excitement has been garnered by an urban legend that was actually true. If you are a nerd, I probably don't have to tell you twice to watch this... you may have already watched it twice. :P (And for those of you wondering, my birthday is April 26. Is it any small coincidence the Atari 2600 games were unearthed on April 26? ;)
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Camp Takota (2014)
With her personal and professional life in shambles, Elise ends up
having to take a job as a counselor at her old summer camp. There, she
reunites with two estranged friends who attended ... See full summary »
Stars:
Grace Helbig,
Chester See,
Ellen Karsten |
See full cast and crew »
TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97aoiaWwRVk
Watched sola on Netflix.
As a former camper/camp counselor, I'm always excited to see the camp theme used. Here it was both used and underused at the same time. Basically the summer flew by and nothing really happened at that camp and she kept her hair perfect. Fanny packs are the real deal though. :P The love interest was good looking and actually did a great job at making sparks fly. (He was in Fruitvale Station which is a GREAT film). The majority of it was pretty formulaic. I thought it's a safe film for the younger kids. The little 6 year old Penny was pretty adorable. There weren't any huge surprises in this film. I've seen a lot better uses of the camp theme though... Heavy Weights (1995) and Huge (2010) TV Series come to mind. Through the trivia, I'm coming to find that some of the actresses in this film are actually YouTube personalities. So, whatever. Anyway, it was pretty formulaic, but I wouldn't watch it again and I have a much better script for Camp stuff.....Wouldn't you like to know! ;) And really... why was she squatting in the woods every morning to use the bathroom when it was clear there was a shower in her cabin, so obviously she had running water.... and if she spent all that time at camp, how would she not know about poison ivy? Oh, sorry, did I just ruin a gag for you? Not really. :P
TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97aoiaWwRVk
Watched sola on Netflix.
As a former camper/camp counselor, I'm always excited to see the camp theme used. Here it was both used and underused at the same time. Basically the summer flew by and nothing really happened at that camp and she kept her hair perfect. Fanny packs are the real deal though. :P The love interest was good looking and actually did a great job at making sparks fly. (He was in Fruitvale Station which is a GREAT film). The majority of it was pretty formulaic. I thought it's a safe film for the younger kids. The little 6 year old Penny was pretty adorable. There weren't any huge surprises in this film. I've seen a lot better uses of the camp theme though... Heavy Weights (1995) and Huge (2010) TV Series come to mind. Through the trivia, I'm coming to find that some of the actresses in this film are actually YouTube personalities. So, whatever. Anyway, it was pretty formulaic, but I wouldn't watch it again and I have a much better script for Camp stuff.....Wouldn't you like to know! ;) And really... why was she squatting in the woods every morning to use the bathroom when it was clear there was a shower in her cabin, so obviously she had running water.... and if she spent all that time at camp, how would she not know about poison ivy? Oh, sorry, did I just ruin a gag for you? Not really. :P
