While I usually go out to the theater on Friday night, last night I decided to stay in. No offense to the fine films that are playing at the theater currently, but I am just not interested in seeing any of them. The ones that I wanted to see, I’ve seen. So I watched How Do You Know instead. This comedy from last year surprised me by how grown-up it was. I was expecting a silly movie about a love triangle, but in fact, How Do You Know was much more than that.
Reese Witherspoon plays Lisa, a star softball player who gets cut from the USA softball team. Reese has the uncanny ability to simultaneously pull off adorable and gorgeous. After she is cut she is left wondering what to do with her life. She is dating Matty (Wilson) who is a star pitcher for the Washington Nationals and notorious playboy who is half-heartedly looking for the one. Unbeknownst to Lisa, a friend has passed along her number to George (Rudd). George is a business man working for his father’s company until he receives a bit of bad news: he is being indicted. The pieces start to fall into place. George is the obvious commitment man, Matty is the carefree player, and Reese is the confused and vulnerable damsel in distress. Read More »
Water for Elephants is The Notebook goes to the circus. It is visually stunning and well acted. The cast is full of actors who I love. So what was off about it? I’m afraid I’m taking a bit of an ambivalent approach to how I feel about this one. The story is a good one, and the elements of the film worked well together, but there was just something that I can’t put my finger on keeping me from saying that I loved it.
In the spirit of supporting women in the film industry I went to see Win Win. This film was produced by seven people. Five of those people were women. Co-producer Jacqueline Brogan, executive producer Lori Keith Douglas, producer Lisa Maria Falcone, producer Mary Jane Skalski, and associate producer Erica Tuchman. The film definitely has a woman’s touch. The story follows a lawyer named Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti). Typically, men are put into power positions in films. Policemen, fire fighters, politicians, lawyers, etc…
I feel like I went into Never Let Me Go in a good place. I knew nothing of the film other than that it had Keira Knightly, Carey Mulligan, and a new favorite of mine, Andrew Garfield. I went off of the knowledge that I already have about movies and what their titles generally insinuate. I used common sense theories and had it in my head that this movie was going to be a delightful romp that followed the stories of three young people who just wanted to have fun and get into mischief with a little romance thrown in here and there. I have never been more mistaken in all of my life. Unless you count the time that I went to see Transformers 2 and thought it was going to be good.
The aptly named film An Education was not at all what I expected it to be. It exceeded my expectations by far and even surprised me. A coming-of-age tale of a 16-year-old girl in London. Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is doing well in school and on track to attend Oxford after high school. She is bright with a sharp wit and knows what she wants. Dad Jack (Alfred Molina) keeps on her to make sure that she is behaving and doing just exactly what she is supposed to be doing: spending every moment of her life buried in her books.
If I weren’t the open-minded, light-hearted individual that I am, Your Highness would have left me offended, unamused, and bored. Thankfully, I find vulgarity hilarious. This movie was jam-packed with it, too. Foul language, blood and guts, and naked women. Lots of them. If this doesn’t sound like your idea of a good time then you should probably stop reading here because it is only going to get worse.