Devouring Films: Movie Mini-Reviews

In lieu of reading, and because I suspect I'm not going to have much time to watch ANYTHING EVER over the next year*, I've been watching quite a few films of late. These are the ones that were both 1) new to me, and 2) I didn't fall asleep watching (a rare feat, these days). Why the mini-reviews? You know, lazy...

Don Jon

Ok, first of all I lied, because I actually did fall asleep watching Don Jon and had to watch the end half the morning after. This is neither here nor there, but that's what happened. SO. I've wanted to see this pretty much since I first heard about it, because there can't be a film written and directed by JGL that I haven't seen. That just isn't a thing that can happen. FORTUNATELY for us all, this turned out to be amazing, and I shall try to describe why.

So, Jon is kind of a dick. All he has in his life is the gym, and work, and church, and having sex with a beautiful woman night after night after... Ok, I know that doesn't sound so bad. Jon is ALSO addicted to porn, to the extent that he enjoys it more than sex with actual women, and this is really just a symbol for the emptiness of his life and his SOUL. He meets and 'falls in love' (spoiler: it's not really love) with Scarlett Johansson, which starts to make him a better man, but there's still something missing, and we're always aware of that as the audience in a way that Jon isn't.

Basically. I love how porn addiction is treated as a symptom of a wider issue of caring about how things look rather than how they feel, I love how this film could have been so gross in the wrong hands but is actually done SO well and sensitively and everything else, and I love the part that Julianne Moore has to play that I will tell you literally no more about because I didn't even know she was in the film but I'm so glad she was. Basically, as I write this, I watched this film a week ago, and I already want to watch it again. Ringing endorsement? Ringing endorsement.

Dead Poets Society

Almost as soon as Robin Williams died, people started talking about Dead Poets Society and how excellent it is, and people I know were really surprised that I hadn't seen it already. I know what they mean now- everything about it is something I enjoy in a film (except that there are bagpipes in the beginning. I HATE BAGPIPES) but I have a legitimate reason for not having seen it until now. SO you know how there's that episode of Friends where that woman steals Monica's credit card, and Monica's all like 'why do you live like this?' and the woman says 'Did you ever see Dead Poets Society? I came out of that movie and thought "well, that's 2 hours of my life I'll never get back." And that thought scared me.' THAT one thing made me think that DPS was going to be really boring. Because I'm a stupid person. Look, I didn't say it was a GOOD reason...

Anyway! I finally did watch it- I had to wait ages for the DVD because it's apparently unavailable to watch online ANYWHERE and the DVD is like golddust, but I have now seen it, and oh how I wept! I just... There are so many things I loved about it that I don't even know where to start, but maybe I should start by saying that I actually don't think it's a perfect film, and there are weird pacing issues and sometimes they don't seem to know which characters to focus on the most BUT BUT BUT there are moments that I think ARE completely perfect and it kind of cancels out any other inconsistencies there might be in the film.

REALLY I just want to talk about the end of this movie (not the standing on desks. Which is AMAZING. But before that) because I have total feelings about everyone involved in that, but I can't because you might not have seen it and I don't want to take that away from you. So instead, here's what I'll say- I love how disobedience at this school is going into the woods and reading poetry, I love how even the baddest of the boys really aren't that bad, I love how it reminded me that poetry isn't so bad**, and I love how Robin Williams lights up every scene he's in, and shakes up the lives of boys that have always just done what they're told and haven't ever been taught to love things that aren't money or success.

Also, this: "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for." Just, yes. Please.

This probably should have been a full review rather than a mini one, because I still have so much more to say. But watch it, watch it, watch it, and we'll talk further in the comments.

Beginners

I only vaguely knew of Beginners because Christopher Plummer won an Oscar for it, so when it was on TV (a LONG time ago, now) I figured it was worth recording. This film kind of blew me away- I don't know if it's because I had somehow gotten the wrong idea about it (I thought it was going to be more comedic than it actually was) or because it's genuinely as excellent as I think it is, but either way I was so incredibly impressed, and yes, I'll say it, moved by this film.

Let's see if I can describe it in a way that makes it sound at all appealing... So Ewan McGregor plays this guy whose father has just died, but before he did, he came out as gay and lived voraciously until he died. This is making this all sound a lot more linear than it actually is, because really the film cuts between Ewan McGregor in the present trying to cope with grief along with being more open to other people because of it. This style is something which works really well, in that these flashbacks cut in when McGregor is trying to do other things, which is absolutely how grief works, but it's not just the style. Everything about this film is sort of beautiful, and perfect, and so so sad, so of course- of COURSE I loved it.

I don't think I've done a very good job of summing it up at all, and I feel like that might be because it's not a film that can be summed up very well, or maybe I'm writing this too soon after I've seen it so it's all still too fresh. Wikipedia tells me it's based on the writer/director's actual experience of his father coming out at 75, which explains why it feels so honest and true, and it's a shame that, in a film that does such a good job of describing entire character traits in such a few lines, I can't do it the same justice in this tiny review. Consider this, when Christopher Plummer explains to Ewan McGregor why he's with the man he's with:

"Well, let's say that since you were little, you always dreamed of getting a lion. And you wait, and you wait, and you wait, and you wait, but the lion doesn't come. And along comes a giraffe. You can be alone, or you can be with the giraffe."

"I'd wait for the lion."

"That's why I worry about you."

I mean, right? RIGHT?! So revelatory about Ewan McGregor's character, in so few words. Basically, you have to watch this because I'm doing a terrible job of describing it, but just don't let the fact that I've apparently forgotten the names of all the characters put you off because that's not important, right? Of course not.


*Dramatic? Perhaps. But would you have me any other way?
**I kind of hate poetry, I think really only because it reminds me that I don't really have a beautiful soul because I don't really get it. Like, hardly ever. But this film made me feel like I could, maybe.

Devouring Films: What Maisie Knew

Oh hey guys, remember when I read What Maisie Knew this summer because I was like 'there's a film! Skarsgard is in it!' and then I didn't see the film because it wasn't released anywhere and now it's December?

Well, that happened, but it's all ok because (US) Netflix came through for me like it so often does, and has it on there now (i.e. you can watch it toooo! If, you know, I can convince you to do so) so I watched it one quiet Sunday evening when I probably should have been sleeping. But, whatever, sleep can wait.

So, if you're an avid reader of this here blog (I know you ALL are, so well done for having fabulous taste) you'll remember that, after reading What Maisie Knew, I decided it would work really really well updated to modern times, and guess what? I was right! Shocking, I know. So, moved from 19th Century London to 21st Century New York, stripped of all that unnecessary language James uses, and involving certain Swedish Gods, What Maisie Knew really comes into its own.

But don't get me wrong- What Maisie Knew is still all about what Maisie knows. Onata Aprile who plays Maisie is in every single scene of the movie, and if she doesn't see it, then we don't see it either. As in the book, this can sometimes be frustrating because WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED BETWEEN MAISIE'S TERRIBLE MOTHER AND LINCOLN?! but that's kind of the point of the story- when you're a child, things that adults do are confusing, and sometimes a mystery, and you don't always get the full story of what went on because no one ever thinks to explain it to you.

DAMN, it's hard being a kid.

Anyway. So Onata Aprile is amaaaaazing. I was pretty sure she was going to be, because everything I've read about the film has said 'Onata Aprile is amazing', and that many people can't be wrong (usually). But really- I don't know if she even knew what she was doing, or if she's just blessed with an incredibly expressive face, but damn that kid can emote. She makes it so easy to feel for her because every single thing she's feeling is written all over her face, and it's pretty wonderful to watch.

AND (I thought I was done with the kid, but apparently not) she's never annoying in the way that some children are kind of annoying. She's never too whiny, or wimpy, or tantrumy, or anything like that, but instead she just tries to deal with all the new and different things that are thrown at her as a result of her parents' divorce in the calmest and almost dignified way possible. It feels weird to call a six year old dignified, but that's kind of how she is- she's a child who's used to being alone, waiting for her parents' attention rather than demanding it, and that in itself is kind of heartbreaking to watch.

Let's see, there were other people in the film, I guess... Well, Julianne Moore was awesome because she's Julianne Moore, and she made me dislike her character the perfect amount, so that I could still feel sorry for her when she wanted Maisie's attention, even though that wasn't really something she deserved. Steve Coogan annoys me in general, but he wasn't in the film that much and definitely wasn't supposed to be likable, so that's fine. Joanna Vanderham was also really likeable as Maisie's nanny-turned-stepmother, and it was difficult not to feel for her as the woman duped into marrying this guy who isn't nearly good enough for her, so, I don't know, he didn't have to pay her to look after his child?

I feel like I'm missing someone out, who can that be?

Oh, Skarsgard. I don't think I've seen him in anything before where he's being all adorable and responsible and child rearing, and I have to say, I LIKE it. I would say that it made my ovaries ache but that expression is BULLSHIT and eurgh.  But, let's just say I would totally have his babies (obviously...) but now I can totally imagine that we raise them together and it's beautiful. AHEM. So basically, he's really sweet and lovely, his onscreen (and, actually, offscreen) chemistry with Onata is so lovely to watch, and the uniform he wears to be a bartender is so incredibly hot that I can barely look at him while that's happening. Ahem.

The point! You should probably watch this. If nothing else, it's beautiful to look at, but also? Everything else. All of the other parts. They're good. It stays close enough to James's novel that you can't accuse it of taking liberties, but goes far enough away from it to stand on its own and, actually, be better than the book (in my extremely unbiased opinion). As always, what Maisie knows isn't enough to stop her from getting hurt, but what I know is that this film is pretty great and I know I'll be watching it again.

Devouring Films: Lars and the Real Girl

Lars and the Real Girl is the perfect example of a film I'm so glad I watched alone than with other people. With others, I think it could have been the kind of thing where I could have either been swept along into thinking that it was ridiculous without really considering what the movie was trying to say, OR I would have been the only person in the room crying at it. Either way wouldn't have been my perfect way to watch a movie, so I'm lucky I watched it all alone in my bed late one night.

Now let me tell you the plot of Lars and the Real Girl and you'll understand why I fear (yet also, you know, get) people would laugh at it. Lars (Ryan Gosling) is a socially awkward guy who lives in his brother and sister-in-law's garage. One day, a package arrives for Lars, and inside is his new girlfriend, an anatomically correct sex doll who Lars acts like is a real person. For the whole movie. That's it, that's the film. And I know, it sounds bonkers, and yes, I definitely used that word in a text to Frances when I was watching it.

But. Even though the premise is bonkers, and even though when you're watching Ryan Gosling (beautiful, beautiful Gosling) act as though a rubber doll is a real person it's difficult to take seriously, somehow this film managed to be both heartwarming AND thought provoking. Can you believe it was both of those overused words at once? Because it was! But seriously- whilst it's so tempting for you as the viewer to make fun of Lars initially, when you see how the people in his small town react towards him and his 'girlfriend', Bianca, it's almost impossible to view him and his situation with anything other than the highest compassion.

Because the townspeople? They're pretty great. Instead of trying to tell him that his girlfriend isn't real, or laughing at him to his face, or being outright terrible to him, as you might expect, you know, actual people to be, they're actually completely decent, embracing 'Bianca' as Lars's real girlfriend and including her in basically all of the town's events. It actually gets so that you almost (almost) forget that, oh yeah, she is a sex doll, because she's such a focal point of the movie, and the way Lars acts towards her is so genuine that she almost becomes like a real character. It's the strangest thing.

A lot of this movie rests on Ryan Gosling, and, as ever, he's kind of fantastic. The main reason you don't want to laugh at Lars is because of the way he plays him, as someone who goes out of his way not to interact with people, but who needs someone so much that he invents a person to be his everything. It's so tragic because, when you watch him interact with Bianca, you can see just how much he has to offer a real person, but he doesn't know how to be with someone real. It's interesting that, even though this film could be problematic in a kind of 'he doesn't know how to handle a real woman so he gets one who can't ever defy him' way, that's absolutely not the way things are set up in this movie, and the issue isn't that Lars wants a woman he can control, it's that he literally has no idea how to be with a real person.

I don't know how accurate this film is to the experience of people who have delusions, but I found it fascinating from a psychological perspective. The idea is that Lars created Bianca (as a real person, he didn't, like, build her) because he needed her for some reason, which, I think, essentially spawns from the fact that his mother died giving birth to him (there's more basis to it than this, but this is the root of his issues). I am actually really interested in what it must be like to be the child whose mother died in childbirth- to know that, you were something she wanted so much, and yet you also played a part in her death. There's absolutely no way you can blame the baby for this, but how much blame must those children take on themselves, and how does that affect them through their lives?

Like I said, fascinating.

I'm going to stop rambling on about this now before I give away, you know, the entire film, but please- don't let the fact that this movie involves a sex doll and Ryan Gosling put you off, because rather than that being as gross as it sounds, it's such a sweet story about a man trying to work his way through his issues without even realising that's what he's doing, and it's so sweet that he doesn't even use the doll in the way it's intended because, and I quote, 'she wants to wait until we're married.' It's interesting, it's definitely different, and it's worth an hour and three quarters of your time.

Devouring Films: Miss Representation

Miss Representation is a documentary that's been on my radar for the longest time- I actually get email updates from the organisation that either came from or made the film (I'm a little sketchy on the details, and I also don't even remember signing up for them, but there you go) that are essentially 'this terrible thing happened for women' or 'look at this awesome thing that happened for women'.

Needless to say, I get a lot of emails like this.

Anyway. So I'd never actually seen the documentary because I don't think it's out on DVD and it's been difficult to find online until, lo and behold, it appeared on Netflix one day! A few million episodes of Parks and Recreation and Extreme Couponing later, I finally watched it and I. Got. So. Angry.

At just, everything. At how, if you're a woman, you're only allowed to be on TV if you're really thin and really beautiful. At how, if you're a woman and you want to be a politician, instead of getting to share your ideas on how the world should be, you're really just opening yourself up to a discussion about your looks, style, and personality. At how, even though this documentary got so many powerful and successful women (Condeleezza Rice, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Nancy Pelosi, Gloria Steinem) to talk about their experiences (not one of which was without sexism), you'd be hard pressed to think of many more women in the media who would even be qualified to talk about things like this because women are not valued in the media. At least not as creators of news, but definitely as objects of it.

So yeah, Miss Representation is about how women are represented (MISrepresented) in the media, and just how fucked up everything in the world is ever. The way I see it, it's like the women's movement happened, things got better for women legally and kind of socially and The-Men-Who-Run-Everything went 'shit! We can't let this happen!' and did everything they could to make women insecure, self-hating, body image OBSESSED and just generally made to feel as though they're not good enough for anything. This takes a few different forms, from airbrushing in every photo you see in a magazine so that some impossible standards of beauty are created, to abusing female politicians, mostly about the way they look, but also about the audacity of their decision to, you know, leave the kitchen, when obviously nobody wants to hear what they have to say. Because of their vaginas.

What it comes down to is this: The media has created an impossible, impossible situation for women where you have to be THE most beautiful creature in the whole world or nobody will like you, but at the same time, even when you are this most beautiful creature, you're not allowed to do anything because you're just a woman, and don't be silly, women don't have ideas or anything! It's not even just that though- it seems that, if women try to be or do anything that they're not expected to do, there's always some negative spin to be put on it- for example, I present you with this article about the fact that 3/5 of young doctors are female (How cool is that?!) and why that's a problem because you know the wimmins are just going to ruin everything with their lady bits and baby having.

AND it's not just that. Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere, women are UNDER represented on TV. There are so few TV shows that star women, and even less that are considered 'important' viewing, for the pure reason that TV shows and films starring men are supposed to appeal to both genders, whereas those starring women are only supposed to appeal to women. That is complete BULLSHIT, of course, and THEN so many movies that star women are really about men because, let's face it, all women really want to do is get married and have babies and that's IT. And it's the 'that's IT' bit that's really the problem because, you know, I think that is something that many many women do want, but what about everything else we want? Why is that never talked about and explored, and why doesn't anyone make movies about it, and why why why are we left with such shallow and flat and non-exploratory definitions of what women want and what motivates them and what else there is to life apart from men and babies?

I realise I kind of haven't talked about the documentary that much, but really the questions it raises from the evidence it gives are more important than the film itself. It's a good film- well made, well thought out arguments- it does almost completely focus on the US, but the US is fucked up enough to provide evidence for a whole documentary, and from that you can really apply it to other places (as I did to the UK, obviously) easily. It's going to make you really fucking angry, and you know what? You should be angry. You should stay angry. The way women are treated by the media isn't fair, it isn't right, and being angry about it, and voting with your remote control and NOT just letting it fade into the background of your thoughts is the only way to combat it.

This documentary has reminded me why I get so angry when people say that feminism isn't necessary anymore, and why I'll remain angry until I see as many women as men on my TV, in my government, in businesses, making movies and writing TV shows, and until those women are allowed to look exactly the way they want to look, not the way it works for the media to have them look to conform to some bullshit standards of beauty. Until, in other words, women get the same treatment as men by the media. I mean, come on. It's only fair, right?

I think I sort of love Brit Marling...

Lovefilm is a tempestuous beast, and has been refusing to read my mind and send me the things I want of late. In a stunning twist of annoyingness, this month I had three films on high priority, and the one I really wanted to see was Smashed (it involves Aaron Paul and I needed a little Breaking Bad pick me up which I so don't need anymore because BREAKING BAD) so of course Lovefilm sent me the other two. Why these things can't just know exactly what I want at all times is just beyond me. Damn technology.

Fortunately, the other two movies I had on high priority were co-written by Brit Marling and also starred her awesome self. Remember when I went to see The East and could actually coherently talk about things other than Skarsnudity? It turns out that it wasn't just a fluke that a film co-written by and starring Brit Marling is really good, because these other two films (Sound of my Voice and Another Earth)? SO. GOOD. It's important to tell you that, after a close watching of all three of these films, I've determined that Brit likes to wear hoodies a fair bit, and also that (wait for it) she's awesome.

I'm doing two reviews in one here only because I have about a million book reviews to write (must stop reading...) and not because there isn't enough to discuss in each of them because OH MY GOD I could talk about Another Earth, especially, for DAYS. But then things get spoilery and people get sad and that's not cool, so instead I'll give you a little taster of each and make you REALLY want to see them, then we can discuss them in emails and whatnot. I know it sounds awesome.

Sound of my Voice

In the grand history of Brit Marling films, I feel like this one will be known as 'the other cult one'. Having only seen The East before I watched this, I was surprised at the unreal element to this (The East is very much grounded in reality), in that Marling plays a woman, Maggie, who claims to be from the future, and by surprised, I obviously mean delighted. The big draw of the story, then, is whether or not Maggie is who she says she is, and there is evidence presented both for and against the truth in what she tells us, although in the end it's up to the viewer what they believe.

And, you know what, it's gripping! It's kind of told through the eyes of Peter, who, with his girlfriend Lorna, has infiltrated this cult in order to expose it, only through doing so he gets sucked in more and more, as Lorna pulls away to the same degree. Watching their changing relationship would be interesting enough, but it's only one event in a big tableau of events in this film, and turns out not to be the most interesting. That, obviously, belongs to Maggie, and to the amazing (seriously) performance of Brit Marling who seamlessly can go from serene to furious in about 0.6 seconds. I can't even with this girl.

It also gets bonus points for involving a secret handshake that I desperately want to make everyone learn so we can do it whenever we meet:

Another Earth

I liked Another Earth so much that I went straight to IMDb after I'd watched it to get more information about it because I couldn't bear that it was over. There wasn't much, but I went to the reviews and they were almost exactly as I would have predicted them to be- half of them called it a masterpiece of gloriousness, and so beautiful (it really is) and dramatic and sort of perfect. The other half more or less went 'sci-fi?! There weren't no lasers or aliens or nothing! They didn't even GO to Earth 2!'

And I see their point, BUT I am much more of a 'it's a masterpiece person' because you know what? I thought this might be a bit too sci-fi for me, but the sci-fi in this is actually used to move the plot along (well, and create the plot in the first place) rather than it being all there is to the film, and that apparently happens to be the perfect amount of sci-fi for me. This plot: Another planet is spotted in the solar system that appears to be an exact copy of Earth (hence, Earth 2) on the same night that Rhoda (Marling) finds out she got into MIT AND makes the moronic decision to drive home drunk. As a result of this, combined with looking up at Earth 2 (because, WOAH) she crashes into another car, killing a pregnant woman and her child, and leaving the dad in a coma. Four years later, she leaves prison, a different person and wanting to make amends to the dude who survived her actions and things develop from there.

It's just so amazing and clever and the deal with Earth 2 was EXACTLY the deal that I wanted it to be (I'm not saying more than that because I was both shocked and delighted when the thing happened) and THE END is so awesome I could have screamed but I didn't because everyone was sleeping. There were a lot of things I liked direction-wise- Rhoda wears her hood up and doesn't wash her hair and wears terrible clothes while she's still feeling guilty, but as she helps the man whose life she ruined more and more, she starts to wash her hair and generally take better care of herself because, I don't know, she feels like she deserves it more? It's all very subtle but gorgeous and I love it.

I also love the fact that Rhoda is SUCH a fully formed character, and also that she gives a shit about science, something which I can barely remember of any girl in any film, ever. After prison, Rhoda returns to her childhood bedroom and it's filled with science textbooks and models of the solar system and it's almost a shock to see a woman portrayed onscreen who is obsessed with a certain thing, even though, um, THAT IS SO A THING WE DO. Brit Marling has said that she started writing movies because she kept being offered terrible boring roles, and she really does so well at creating female characters (well, all her characters are good, really) who feel incredibly real.

So there. Brit Marling is awesome and makes bloody good films. I think it's also worth noting that both of these films are basically 90 minutes long, and they did more things to me than most directors manage in more than 2 hours. Things don't have to be long to be good (see also: Alice's thoughts on Love Story) although I would happily have watched another 10 hours of Another Earth. And I could STILL talk about it for days.

Devouring Films: Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane is one of those films that everyone knows about but no one has really seen. I was no different- but then, as Lovefilm has a knack of doing, they sent me the film on my list that I had the least real desire to watch. I mean, when are you ever going to be in the mood for Citizen Kane? You add it to your list because you feel like you should watch it, but that doesn't mean that you ever actually want to. Plus, you have to set aside like a week for that shit, am I right?

I was not right. I was very very wrong. Firstly you don't need a whole week to watch it (obviously...) you just need a tiny bit under two hours and a functioning brain. I think it also helps to wipe all preconceptions (which, it has to be said, I basically got from The Simpsons and Friends) about it from your brain and just watch it as if, I don't know, it's 1941 and it's just come out and you've never seen anything like it before.

Because wow, Citizen Kane must have been so revolutionary in 1941. It starts SO weirdly (actually, it starts weirdly even by today's standards, to be fair) with a newsreel presented without explanation, announcing the death of Charles Foster Kane, and goes on for at least 10 minutes. I'm not going to lie, I did start thinking 'is the WHOLE film like this..?' and I was ready to give up BUT THEN everything got excellent, the newsreel was deemed 'not personal enough' and some dude was sent out to get the true story of Kane's life, based on his last word:

Now. I know what Rosebud is, you probably know what Rosebud is, and if there's one famous thing from Citizen Kane, it's Rosebud. It's probably a good thing, then, that the search for Rosebud isn't really what Citizen Kane is about at all- in fact, it's really just the premise for telling Kane's story through a wide range of viewpoints and always always in retrospect. I don't know enough about film history to say this, but the acclaim Citizen Kane always gets seems to suggest that this whole telling of a story from different viewpoints, with each picking up where the other left off (ish...) was not really anything that had ever been done before.*

And you know what? It's SO well done that it's strange to think that it was the first time such things were done**or maybe I'm really just responding to how modern it really felt- I honestly feel like it could be made today, and there's nothing anyone could do to really improve on it. I sort of loved it- the trawling back through the years and acquaintances to try and get the real story about one man's life, but never really getting there because the one person who really knows it all isn't around to ask, and who's to say he wouldn't put HIS own spin on it too? It's all just very very human.

And also, I mean, THIS:

"If you could have found out what Rosebud meant, I bet that would have explained everything."

"No, I don't think so; no. Mr. Kane was a man who got everything he wanted and then lost it. Maybe Rosebud was something he couldn't get, or something he lost. Anyway, it wouldn't have explained anything... I don't think any word can explain a man's life. No, I guess Rosebud is just a... a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. A missing piece."

It's just so right on, and true, and I feel like people can get hung up on last words and turning points and trying to analyse life, when the truth is, life isn't like that. Sometimes you can look back and see turning points, but hardly ever, and I doubt that anyone knows the one thing that's the key to the puzzle of their entire lives, or even if such a thing exists, ever. But then again, maybe people can and I'm too young to know about it, but really I think it's only something that we tell ourselves.

SPEAKING OF MY YOUTH: Did you know that "Orson Welles was just 25 when he directed, co-wrote, starred in, and produced this, his very first feature film"? I mean, isn't that just sickening? It's like the opposite of my love for Julia Child and her late start in life, but also, where do you go after making what's commonly regarded at the best film ever at 25? Complete madness.

Here's the bottom line about Citizen Kane- it's a film I was expecting to admire and appreciate, which I did, but, unexpectedly, I also enjoyed it. I just straight up enjoyed the viewing experience. I mean, who wouldn't want to watch a film about a the life and exploits of a media mogul who was also once just a little boy with a normal life who loved his mummy? NO ONE, that's who. In case you couldn't tell, I kind of recommend this film, and I especially recommend not only appreciating but actually enjoying it, too. It's the best way.

Seriously, it's really fun!

*OR it's all famous and acclaimed for other reasons. How should I know?
**Whatever those things may be. I don't know, stop asking me.

Devouring Films: The East

Before I talk about The East, it's pretty important that I talk about Brit Marling's hoodie in The East:

I LOVE IT and it is now my mission in life to get an inexpensive black hoodie, sew some lace onto it and wear it with the hood up all winter. Hey, we've all got to have dreams. And it'll look FAB with my other mission to join an eco-terrorist group and stick it to the corporations and stuff.* YEAH!

Now. The real deal about The East. OBVIOUSLY I really only wanted to see it because Alexander Skarsgard is in it (I know, I know, YAWN) but but but (and this is important) I wouldn't just like it for that reason. Like, I might watch it more than once for that reason because, you know, YUM, but in the end, I'm not going to say I like a film if I don't, no matter who's in it. It's because of this I could be SO scathing about The Astronaut's Wife (and I am crazy about Johnny Depp) and part of the reason I didn't even bother writing a review for the Straw Dogs remake that Skarsgard was also in (the other reason is laziness. But I really didn't like it.)

And you know what? I liked The East. I really did. It was one of those times where, leaving the cinema on a Skarsgard high, I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about the movie aside from that part where Skarsgard was in the bath and... Other parts, but a few days later when I found myself thinking about some of the issues actually explored in the film, it suddenly clicked and Ah! I did like the film for its storyline and things aside from stellar casting decisions! Which is honestly a relief to know.

So, the story. The East starts and ends with Brit Marling's character, Sarah, and it's really all about her journey- an ex-CIA (FBI? I forget) operative, now working for an actual private company as an undercover agent whose job is to infiltrate The East- a left wing group that targets evil corporations to try and repay them with some measure of the things they've done to others. Even though Sarah completely disagrees with some of their methods, she comes to sympathise with their aims and to question everything she once thought was true about the world and about her life.

And that's just the core of the film, and surrounding that is The East itself. Kiiiind of led by the charismatic (read: beautiful) Benji (Skarsgard) and all gathered around the same goals and a commitment to a certain (read: communal, hippy-esque) way of life, they're kind of a beautiful group. There are people of almost every ostracised group in society represented, and as you learn more about certain characters, their motives for wanting to be a part of such a group become increasingly clear- and sometimes in heartbreaking ways.

For what it's worth, I kind of loved them all- even though I definitely have some issues with their methods, I have incredible empathy and love for basically all of them, and you know what, let's just say it, I totally get where they're coming from. The people behind corporations are almost NEVER held responsible for their actions, purely because they have 'The Corporation' to hide behind, and it's kind of disturbing to realise the things they can get away with. (I don't know how much, or if any of the stories told in The East are true, but I know enough about such things to know that they very easily could be). The East are really just trying to balance the scales here, and can I blame them for it? Not really.

Slight feminist moment- This film didn't even need to try to pass The Bechdel Test because there were plenty of women in the group, the lead character is a woman and, imagine this, she's a woman who has more on her mind than finding a man to marry her! GASP! (Whether or not this is because she's already engaged is neither here nor there). It's actually refreshing to realise you've just watched a film where, for example, Sarah and Izzy (Ellen Page) haven't had a conversation about who likes Benji more, and where as a group they talk about things that actually matter as opposed to who's sleeping with who (my own thoughts: everyone is either sleeping with, or want to sleep with, Benji. But I would say that). I attribute most of this to Brit Marling being one of the writers, and I love her for it and now I kind of want to watch everything she's done? Yeah, that.

On reflection, then, I liked The East for more things than Skarsgardian abs, and that's about the highest praise I can give a movie. It's the first movie for a long time I can remember even thinking about for longer than about 5 minutes, and it's way smarter than it needs to be, but not so smart that it becomes inaccessible. And if you don't like gender equality in your cults then I don't know what to do with you.

*Shit, people like monitor the internet, right? I'm totally kidding, scary Government types! I'd never break laws and stuff! Unless someone really pissed me off, that is...

Devouring Books: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

"Nothing can be sadder or more profound than to see a thousand things for the first and last time. To journey is to be born and die each minute."

You might have noticed if you've spent any time around my blog for, oh, all of this year, that I've become sort of... Ok, yeah, obsessed with Les Miserables. What started with the movie (I saw it TWICE at the cinema, which I basically never do with films anymore because dude, the cinema is expensive) culminated (NOT ended) a couple of weeks ago in seeing the musical in London, and in between the two was an epic, four month long battle with the book.

That's right, I said battle. This is not an easy book to read both in terms of there just being SO much in it that's good that you kind of don't want to miss anything, but then also there being so much in it that's irrelevant to the main story that I might have spent a lot of time reading at it SCREAMING at Hugo in my brain to just GET BACK TO THE STORY DAMMIT. I feel like this might be a hazard of having watched the film first, in that I cared so much about the characters that I wanted the whole book to just be about them (which, to be fair, isn't an unreasonable ask!) but then the flipside of that is, if I hadn't seen the film first, I'm not sure if I would even have finished the book. It's a harsh but true reality that, every time I picked the book back up after weeks away from it, it was with the knowledge that the movie wasn't out on DVD yet, and I was too poor to see the show.

Now. This doesn't mean that the movie/musical is the only good form of Les Miserables, and so you should just skip the book. No, on the whole I'm going to have to say that the rewards of Les Miserables are infinitely greater than having to skim read a MILLION pages about the Battle of Waterloo, or the Parisian sewer system (!). Although the book would be far far better if Hugo had allowed it to be edited properly (I think then, I could have called it one of my favourite books), the things it has added to my overall idea-in-my-brain of Les Miserables I wouldn't be without. But I give you permission to skip anything you think is irrelevant, because *whispers* it probably is.

See, see how long this is getting already? I don't even know where to go from here, because this book is EPIC, you guys, not just in, you know, length, but also in the number of Things it covers. Just off the top of my head, I'm thinking history, politics, religion, social issues, love, hate, justice (or the lack thereof), youth, morality- almost everything you can think of is right there in it, and that's just for starters, because what it also has are characters that are so complex that I'm still trying to figure them out now, and stuff that happens that is engaging and exciting and that I have Feelings about. So let me just... I'm going to say some things and they'll hopefully make sense and if not then I still need to say them, apparently. So yeah.

Firstly- Even though the massive rambling story deviations were pretty awful, there were extra things about the book that I did love, which were, basically, anything that was directly to do with the actual story. Reading the book means that you find out more about the kindly Priest (he's really awesome, by the way), little Gavroche! (ditto) and, possibly the thing I was most interested in reading about, how Fantine got into her, y'know, situation. Also, there were things that happened that the musical just really doesn't have time for, and they're still exciting- for example, at one point Jean Valjean is almost buried alive and my heart was in my throat the whole time. If I'm honest, I really just used the book to enhance the musical and the way I think about the characters in it, and... It really lived up to that task.

Nextly- I know I've mentioned already that I'm still trying to figure out the characters, but the book makes me feel like I'm nearly there. I got so much more from it than the musical shows, character-wise (as is natural) and I feel like I'm that much closer to understanding Javert and his INSANE conformity to The Law and to just how well that contrasts with Jean Valjean and his sense of justice having to fit appropriately to the situation, otherwise it really isn't justice at all. These two men, in fact, are probably the two most interesting characters to me, possibly because they contrast so well with each other.

Also notable- I feel like it's really natural to find Marius and Cosette kind of annoying because they're the only characters who kind of get everything they ever wanted (each other) and, in fact, the whole of Part Three ('Marius') feels kind of like a deviation from the story because it moves things on about one song's worth. But the thing about the two of them is that if they weren't in the story then it would pretty much make you want to kill yourself, and without them and their love, Hugo wouldn't be able to say things like this:

"There is no joy outside the ecstasy of love. The rest is tears. To love or have loved is all-sufficing. We must not ask for more."

 And- In spite of my frequent frustration towards Hugo, I feel like I also kind of love him? From a view of religion that isn't overly strict and is more based on kindness, and not even that, just the situation instead of some pre-ordained rules, than any religion that actually exists, to lamenting the fate of women who are forced into prostitution (FANTINE! Dear God, Fantine) and so so so many more progressive social views that make me want to give him a hug. If I'm allowed to see all the goodness that exists in Jean Valjean's actions as telling me something about Hugo, then I'm pretty much going to say

LET ME EDIT YOUR BOOK.

Slight backtracking- I know that I've said that the deviations are what stop this book from going from a good book to a GREAT one, but there are some exceptions to this. There were parts in the deviations that made me sit up and feel all shocked, and also made me feel vaguely sorry for not reading all of them properly, because what if the really really good bits were tucked up inside of them? Like this stunning piece of optimism:

"Our nineteenth century is great, but the twentieth century will be happy. Nothing in it will resemble ancient history. Today's fears will all have been abolished- war and conquest, the clash of armed nations... the birth of hereditary tyrannies, nations partitioned by a congress or the collapse of a dynasty, religions beating their heads together like rams in the wilderness of the infinite...One might almost say, indeed, that there will be no more events. Men will be happy."

I like to picture Hugo writing this and truly believing it, and it makes me kind of glad that he never lived in the twentieth century. No more wars? No religious conflict? Happiness?! He couldn't have been more wrong about the twentieth century, but it's nice to know that there existed in him, as I think exists in all of us, the belief that things can be better in the future- otherwise, I guess, what's the point in living at all?

My love- is reserved for Enjolras specifically, and the revolutionaries in general. Had I been a male in Paris at the time of the June Revolution, I'd like to think I'd have been one of them, and if I'd been a woman I'm sure I'd have been hopelessly in love with a revolutionary. The musical makes it clear that Enjolras is not interested in love at all, but the book cements that with the information that he only bestows two kisses in his life, both on the body of a fallen comrade. Hot.

And finally- in my extensive research for this extensive post, I found out that, re: the musical, "Literary scholars condemned the project for converting classic literature into a musical." And I'm just... I mean, I'm assuming that's before they saw the musical, because I can't even stand the thought that anyone who's read Les Miserables could watch that and go 'yeah, but they missed out the SEWER EXPLANATION.' But even so, that still doesn't give any credit to the incredible emotional power that music has, and how well it can be used especially in this book, to pick out its tragedies and triumphs and really make you feel things about stuff. Because that's entirely what the musical does and it's fucking magical and literary scholars can just shut up if they think that it doesn't.

I realise that this post is a hot mess, and makes absolutely no sense if you're not at all familiar with Les Miserables, but this was really the only way I could write it- I don't know how to talk about things I love so much in any kind of sane way, so this is all I have (well, not all, but I don't like to GO ON, or anything). And I wish I was sorry, but I'm kind of not because this was the thing I wanted to write about it, and now I have and that's good enough for me! And I included gifs to try and keep you entertained, so pretend that worked, ok?! And go and experience Les Mis in some way, yes? It's kind of my favourite thing.

Devouring TV: The United States of Television- America in Primetime

I definitely don't write about it enough here, but the amount that I love TV is ridiculous. I love really bad TV, but if you can believe it, even more than that, I love really really good TV. And, apparently now, I like really good TV shows about really good TV, and this is getting really meta and I'm getting confused about my own sentences.

Let me start again. British friends! On iPlayer right now, there are 4 1-hour documentaries about American TV from the fifties to now, and they are SPECTACULAR (American friends, you already got these in 2011. But if I'm really convincing about how good they are, you can buy them on DVD.) More or less my entire purpose for writing this post is to MAKE YOU WATCH THEM, because the whole series is on the internet until the 18th May (that's Saturday, guys) and it's kind of the best thing I've ever seen, or at least the best thing about American TV that I've seen.

The documentaries break American TV down into 4 separate themes, or sets of characters- The Man of the House, The Misfits, The Independent Woman and The Crusaders, and then explores how each of these things have developed from the beginning of TV right up to the present (ish- it was originally broadcast in 2011...) day, and the answer in basically all cases is that They Have Changed A Lot and That Is A Very Good Thing. I feel like it's a fairly established viewpoint now that we're living in 'a golden age of television' and for me, Breaking Bad ALONE confirms that. But these documentaries don't take the view that all old TV was terrible and everything new is wonderful, more that previous programmes were groundbreaking at the time, and because of that they've influenced new and wonderful things (like Breaking Bad. How many times can I bring it up? You don't even KNOW.)

 So. I don't really know how to talk about the series, so... I'm just going to talk about each episode and talk about things I liked about them and stuff? Yes. That.

The Man of the House: This episode basically talked about the shifting role of the father in American TV, and how it's evolved from him being this fairly perfect, idealised man who came home at seven on the dot every night to his loving family or wife, to becoming much more complex (this is a common theme...). Possibly the most interesting of the shows featured in this part was Mad Men, in that it's set in the same time as a lot of these idealised sitcoms, but the father figure (i.e. Don Draper) is a highly conflicted figure who seems to be living the American Dream, but is actually always looking for a way out of the family life that he's supposed to want.
Since this episode also featured The Sopranos (ostensibly a family driven show, in both senses of the word) and Breaking Bad, I was obviously hooked RIGHT in. And then, we had

The Misfits: Going from The Addams Family in... whenever that was on, through Twin Peaks and right up to 30 Rock and Glee, this episode looked at the outsider in American TV, and how the role of the outsider has evolved and changed, and that things have shifted so much that now everyone is almost an outsider, which of course means that no one is. I think this was the episode that had the most TV shows I coveted (Taxi, Six Feet Under, Seinfeld, Freaks and Geeks- and now I even want to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm) maybe because it also featured so many TV shows I like- True Blood, Arrested Development (!!), United States of Tara, and MY GOD, Twin Peaks...
I doubt it will come as a shock to anyone at all that I'm a fan of the outsider, but as a character thing, it's really come a long way (baby). But just... Yeah, it was so good. SO. GOOD.

The Independent Woman: There wasn't even a chance I wasn't going to like this episode, but it did make me want to watch a lot more of the older shows featured than any of the others, basically because... The Woman's Movement, man. That was awesome. So basically I now need to watch all of I Love Lucy and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but I was also SO interested by the route women have taken through the TV world- from perfect wives and mothers, to women who are still probably wives and mothers, but who have a lot more going on with them too, and even if those things turn out to be self-destructive then, well, why aren't women allowed to do those things, too? (I'm pretty much thinking of Nurse Jackie and Weeds here, just so you know.)

The Crusader: I was actually a little bit disappointed by this one, and I'm not sure if it's because I've seen hardly any of the shows featured (just The Wire and M*A*S*H) or because it genuinely wasn't as good as the others. My main problem with it was that, whilst there was a tiny section about women crusaders, involving Diablo Cody (who I ADORE, by the way) saying 'I guess there aren't as many female crusaders because people assume that these are characters that only men are interested in' in a clearly sceptical-of-this-view way, and then for their female crusader to focus on, they picked Scully from X-Files. Which, don't get me wrong, I'm sure she's an excellent crusader to look at in all her own ways, BUT she does work alongside a man so... You couldn't have looked at Buffy The Vampire Slayer? REALLY? (Basically this is all I'm bitter about. But it just seems like SUCH an important show to miss out!)
Anyway- Bitterness aside, I really did enjoy the The Wire segment of the show, because it gave a really compelling argument as to why I love Omar SO much. I think I understand it better now. I will bring this up again when I finally write about The Wire...

So. Clearly this is the best thing that's been on TV for AGES, and the shows it talks about are basically the best things that have been on TV EVER. It has its limits- each programme was only talked about in one of the documentaries, so things like the female characters in Mad Men weren't discussed in the Independent Women one, and I feel like Breaking Bad could easily have been talked about in ALL the shows, AND I felt like there were a few notable omissions, like Buffy, and also The West Wing, which really didn't fit into any of the themes but WAS kind of an important programme (or maybe that was just for me.) I also wouldn't have minded a 5th programme where people talked about cartoons.

BUT. They were still awesome, especially for someone who watches as much TV as me. Having watched the last one and not totally loved it, I'm not sure how interesting people who haven't seen a LOT of the programmes would find them, but I feel like, if you've seen at least some of the shows, you're going to enjoy it when they talk about those, and you're going to add most of the rest to your 'MUST. WATCH.' list (because I know we all have those. Or is that just me, AGAIN?) So basically you have to watch this, so you can watch everything else, and then we can talk about TV together forevermore.

Devouring Films: Midnight Cowboy

For some reason, I wasn't expecting Midnight Cowboy to be very good. I honestly don't know where I got that idea from, but it's one that stuck, and eventually I think I mainly just watched it for Dustin Hoffman, my way of thinking being, if it involves Dustin Hoffman, it's literally impossible for it to be bad. That turned out to be true, but not just because of Hoffman, but just for the entire film really- there was so much that I liked about it that it would almost be easier to just shove a copy of it in your hands and go 'just watch it, because I liked ALL THE PARTS'. But I'll try and review it because it's what I do!

So Midnight Cowboy follows Joe Buck (Jon Voight), a naive cowboy (but not an actual cowboy) from Texas who wants to move to New York City because he hears that the rich ladies will pay a LOT to be... seen to by a nice young cowboy such as himself. At this point I was like 'so this is going to be a... SEX movie?' and was slightly apprehensive, but things don't turn out how either I, or Joe, expects them to. After failing a few times to get paid for sex, he runs into Ratso Rizzo (Hoffman), a conman who at first cons, but then befriends him, and gets him into living quarters that are fairly dismal, but better than the streets. From that time on, they're a couple of inseparable broke dudes, and that's basically what the film's about. NOT the gigolo thing, so much.

So I love the unlikely friendship thing, and I LOVE Dustin Hoffman (always), I didn't think I liked Jon Voight, but actually he was pretty cute, and Joe is such an adorable (albeit flawed) character that it's difficult not to like him. The most important thing about this movie though, I think, is the part it has to play in the cultural cultureness of the WORLD. That made a lot of sense, huh? What I mean is, you know when you watch a cartoon or a TV programme, and you know they're referencing something but you don't know what? And then you watch it again say a year later when you've seen other things, and suddenly a whole new world is opened up to you? Midnight Cowboy is totally one of those things that people reference, A LOT.

For example: You know that episode of Futurama where Zapp Brannigan gets fired (Zapp Brannigan is my FAVOURITE character in anything, in a total love-to-hate-him kind of way. He annoys me SO much, in a way that I think is just BRILLIANT. Just so you know) and eventually he and Kif get hired by Planet Express, but FIRST he dresses up like a cowboy and (sort of accidentally) pimps out Kif?

Totally a Midnight Cowboy reference (well, not even reference, really, just out and out parody) and now the world seems a tiny bit clearer to me! And if you've never seen Futurama (SHAME on you!) then that's ok because you know when people in things nearly get run over and go 'I'm WALKIN' here!'? That's from Midnight Cowboy too.

The other thing about Midnight Cowboy is that, even though I was watching it for the first time, I felt like I'd seen it all before. Part of which is that it's a big part of the whole cultural thing (I know there's a word for this and YET I absolutely can't think of it) but it makes Midnight Cowboy sometimes feel like it's sort of cliched, but actually, you have to remember that it came before that stuff was cliche. It is the originator of the cliches, if you will. (I probably wouldn't have recognised this as a feeling I had if it hadn't been for Alley's post about this in The Maltese Falcon. Have to be honest here.)

For example (again), it feels like the 'coming to New York and being broke as hell' storyline has been done, but this has to have been one of the first; and there is a scene in Midnight Cowboy of a totally weird and LSD inspired party that I swear is almost identical to a scene of a weird party that Peggy goes to in Mad Men, so much so that I actually thought 'Hey! They stole this!' but nope- Midnight Cowboy was the original, and actually when they made this, these kinds of parties were still happening, and that feels like a really exciting prospect, kind of documenting the times rather than looking back on them kind of critically.

Side note: Shame on you, Mad Men, for stealing a scene right out of Midnight Cowboy! Tsk.

But apart from being a big part of culture, Midnight Cowboy is genuinely a good film in it's own right. Obviously it's impossible for me to watch it as the people who saw it in the sixties did, but that's ok- the way it's become a part of other things only made me like it more, not less, and then on top of that, it turned out to be gritty and interesting and, eventually, really moving too. Obviously you need to see it, to make certain other things make sense, but I think you should want to see it to. Because it's really kind of great.

Devouring Films: Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids wins the award of the film I have watched most whilst blogging and yet have never actually talked about it here. I realise that's a really long name for an award, and yet it is the truth. The thing is, I LOVE Bridesmaids so much, and also it makes me kind of sad (I kind of AM Annie in a lot of ways, only I never had the success to begin with) and ALSO I find much of it hilarious, but it's almost like... I didn't really have an angle to write about it from, and frankly I'm a little bit tired of just going 'OMG this is so amazing I love it!' about things I love, because, even though it's true, it's also kind of boring. Like, really boring.

But. Now I finally have an angle! I was watching it last week, thoroughly enjoying myself/feeling a little uneasy as always with it, when I realised exactly what I wanted to talk about in it. And that's about girls, and friends, and the ways that girls are friends with each other. The thing is this. Annie and Lilian have been best friends forever, and Lilian announces that she's getting married and wants Annie to be her chief bridesmaid- so far, so good. At the same time, Annie's life is imploding, and has been for a while, but still she's determined to be a good bridesmaid for Lilian and make things really nice for her because she's a good friend. At Lilian's engagement party, Annie discovers that Lilian has a new friend,  Helen, and that she's rich and poised and a lot of other things that Annie isn't. Mayhem ensues.

So my thing is this. I'm kind of wondering who the worse friend is, Annie or Lilian? There are two really really good cases for each of them, to be fair. It seems like the film wants to set Annie up as the bad friend- she gives the whole wedding party food poisoning, gets them kicked off a plane so they never make it to Vegas, and has a complete freak out at the wedding shower thing, all of which are really very funny incidents and necessary to make the film what it is. So Annie accidentally, and then on purpose, ruins a few things about Lilian's wedding, and that is not very good friend behaviour.

But the things that Lilian does, or rather doesn't do? I mean, she's getting married and everything so obviously she has a lot on her plate, and I don't expect her to like babysit Annie through every disheartening experience she's having, but the thing is? Annie's life is pretty rough, and Lilian's too busy hanging out with her new friend who can afford to do a lot more fun things with her, and it does very much seem like she kind of forgets Annie in the shuffle, and it feels kind of unforgivable. The thing is, hilarious as they are, the things that Annie does to ruin things are basically entirely accidental (she didn't cook the food that poisoned them, and it was freaking Helen who like drugged her on the plane!) whereas Lilian's neglect feels a lot more purposeful and vindictive. Annie really needs her, and all she can do is complain that her wedding things aren't going perfectly. Which just really sucks.

I don't know, maybe I just sympathise with Annie more because I am her (minus the sex with Jon Hamm which, frankly, would make me feel better, I think) but it really does seem to me that Lilian is guilty of real friend neglect, whilst Annie is just guilty of... choosing bad restaurants and listening to Helen that one time on the plane. But how about YOU? Have you seen Bridesmaids? (of course you have). Do you have feelings about who is the worse friend? I really really want to hear them!

Nora, I Love You

I only properly discovered Nora Ephron last year (before which I'd only seen When Harry Met Sally, which, by the way, I loved) and within about 4 months, I'd read 3 of her books (see here, here and here) seen the underwhelming movie adaptation of Heartburn (I STILL don't understand what happened there!) and even bought a magazine because she'd written a 2 page article in it (Vanity Fair. It was totally worth it.) I was besotted.

So obviously when she died in June I was devastated. What a loss to the WORLD- someone so funny, so charming, and such a good writer that she could make a 22 year old girl want to be best friends with her 70-something year old self. She was amazing. Fortunately for me, I'd never seen You've Got Mail or Sleepless in Seattle (probably her two best known films after When Harry Met Sally) so I still had some 'new' Nora to get me through my mourning period. It helped.

The thing is, because I love Nora's films so much, reviewing each of the ones I've seen separately is just going to turn into four love-rambles- which admittedly would be fun to write, but maybe less fun to read, and besides, I find it really difficult to talk coherently about things I really love (you may have noticed this about me...) But anyway, I'm going to write some mini-reviews at the end, but first allow me, in a completely general way, to tell you what I love about her movies:

• They all pass the Bechdel Test: I'm pretty sure they all do, because, even though they're romantic comedies (PRIME for feminisity failure), Nora's heroines have interests and jobs and lives that go beyond men, and sometimes the 'love' bit is more of a secondary storyline than anything. Which is so wonderful and refreshing, I can't even tell you!
• Awesome old lady characters: I'm thinking specifically of the lady who works in Meg Ryan's shop in You've Got Mail, but there's also the 'I'll have what she's having' woman from When Harry Met Sally (I realise she isn't fully a character, but she is awesome), and Julia Child isn't all that young in Julie and Julia, either. Basically, Nora gives older women a voice in her movies, and often the funniest lines, and best stories. Which is wonderful.
• The dialogue: Honestly, Nora writes some of the best dialogue in any movies ever. It's just so... real and hilarious, only more so- like listening to the smartest and funniest people you know really kill it at conversation. I could really just listen to it all day.
• She's made me love romcoms: aka the impossible feat! Having said that, I still can't really watch any romcom starring Jennifer Aniston, so it's possible that what she's actually done is given me really high expectations for how awesome romcoms should be. But whatever, I just love her movies!

And now for the mini-reviews.

When Harry Met Sally

This was my introduction to Nora, to Meg Ryan, to everything that's good about romcoms. I was thoroughly charmed by it, as well as surprised at how much Sex and the City stole from it (and, predictably, I can think of no examples of this right now. But I know there are some.) And, it's barely aged at all in 23 years? Just perfect.

Sleepless in Seattle

I watched this when I 1) was very sleepy, and 2) had watched You've Got Mail the night before, so I can't give the best review of it cause it's very hazy in my mind (clearly I need to watch it again!) But- I got a general 'liking it' impression from it, and the whole An Affair to Remember thing ("You don't want to be in love, you want to be in love in a movie.") made me watch that film which was EXCELLENT. (Added to the list: Nora has excellent taste in movies. See also: Casablanca in When Harry Met Sally, The Godfather in You've Got Mail).

You've Got Mail

I love this movie. I know it has issues with orders of events (well, I think so) and because of that maybe can't be seen as perfect, but to me it kind of it! I mean, books, email, Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, New York City... How could there be anything wrong with this movie?! (Note: I totally said this about Heartburn. But in this case, it's true!) Bonus points for this: "So much of what I see reminds me of something I've read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way round?" It's like you're looking into my SOUL, Nora!

Julie and Julia

I loved this movie, and when I first saw it I didn't realise it was written by Nora, and I was kind of like 'why is this so much better than other movies..?' And then when I finally got the Nora thing, I was like 'ohhh, that's why!' I think it's great anyway- Amy Adams in Meg Ryan's role, and MERYL being amazing as always. Plus, FOOD PORN and angry french ladies. I just love it.

So tell me, TELL ME everyone that you love Nora too! And then we'll have a sleepover and watch all these films and then also FOOD PORN. Yes?

Devouring Films: Tiny Furniture

I have a long, long history with Tiny Furniture, in that, I think I read about it in this New Yorker profile of Lena Dunham, basically went 'you have NO idea how much I need to watch this film' and then proceeded to not see it for about two years. It was seriously getting so tragic that, on my little list of little goals for this year of life, I included 'watch Tiny Furniture, one way or another'. Fortunately for me, it was released on DVD not so long after that, and LO my life was complete.

Or was it..? Tiny Furniture was definitely not what I was expecting, but I don't mean that in a bad way at all. Here's the deal. Basically everything I read about Tiny Furniture was like 'it's a film about a young woman who's struggling to find her way after graduating from college and just doesn't really know what to do with herself', and so I went OMG it's my life! I mean, admittedly she gets to go and live in New York City after graduation in her mother's gorgeous loft (Her actual mother's actual loft) and she's got a lot of financial support and stuff, but other than that I was sure, positive that this film would be like validation, or at least comfort, for being in my twenties and not having a clue what the fuck I'm doing.

And, admittedly, there is an element of that. Aura (Dunham) is a very very lost soul, and really doesn't know what she's doing- her friend Charlotte (Jemima Kirke, equally lost but in a different way) sets her up with a job that she's completely overqualified for, but she literally has no idea what else she should be doing, so she's content just to float along and grab onto whatever comes along. Which is true, not only of this terrible job, but of the men she encounters- she basically meets 2 different guys, and decides to take whatever she can from either of them. There's no thinking about what she wants from a relationship, or anything like that, it's just about clinging onto one or the other of them, at various times, and just seeing what happens. This is a girl without any kind of plan.

And, actually, now that I'm thinking about it like this, it feels like I can relate more to Aura: I've been thinking about Tiny Furniture more in terms of 'well, she got a job straight away, and she lives in NYC, and look at those boys she interacts with!' but really... she lives with her mum, and doesn't have a proper source of income, and, well, now that I think about it, I can relate to that. A lot. One of my favourite things about Tiny Furniture, actually, is the relationship between Aura and her mother (played by Laurie Simmons, Dunham's actual mother- I'm thinking she couldn't afford actual actors...) because, well, it feels really genuine (probably because it is) and you get the feeling that what Aura really wants is a kind of regression, where her mum tells her what she should be doing, and then she can just go and and do it already! Or is that just me...

There are just so so many things I haven't mentioned about this film yet (overachieving sister, left-behind college friends, her mother's own related experience of being in her 20s and not knowing what she's doing) but, you know, maybe I'll let you discover them for yourselves, since you're obviously going to watch it now that I've told you I love it! If you've seen Girls (and if you haven't, come on people! It's like the show of the year, seriously!) then I would say Tiny Furniture is not quite as good as that, but then they are quite different (although they do deal with some of the same themes, i.e. what the fuck do you do in your twenties?) so it's not really fair to compare. Even though I just did. Hm.

And, one final piece of advice to you- watch the short films on the DVD! Seriously- the first time I watched it I started watching them and then got distracted, but they're really really funny, and watching them shows quite a good progression from them to Tiny Furniture- in some ways, you're like 'wow, her filmmaking has progressed so much!' and in others you're just like, well, there was clearly something there from the very start! Basically, I love Lena and I want to marry her. That's a normal dream to have, right?

Devouring Films: Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation is one of those films that I'd always intended to watch, yet never quite got round to it for no good reason. Like, I felt like I should watch it, and hey, I love Scarlett Johansson, but I was still fairly meh about making an effort to actually watch it. And then, two things happened- it was one of the only films that I really really wanted to watch on Netflix (a lot of the films on there look like they suck, big time. I can't even tell you how many Stephen King films there are, so that should tell you a lot!) and there was a double bank holiday for the Jubilee and there was nothing to watch on the TV. It was time for Lost in Translation.

And WHAT a treat it was! Seriously- I was fully prepared for it to be kind of pretentious because, I'm sorry Oscar nominated films, but you usually are; but actually it was anything but. It was funny and warm and about so many different things, but at no point did it seem like it was a film that thought it was better than it was, because, well, it would be difficult to think of something that is better than Lost in Translation. There are a few films, I suppose, and there are definitely films that I like better, but not really that many. It's pretty special.

So you know about Lost in Translation, right? I'm pretty sure everyone's seen it except me by now, since I've been meaning to watch it for about 9 years, but just in case, it goes like this. Bill Murray is an actor (Bob) who goes to Tokyo to be paid a lot of money for making some Japanese whiskey adverts instead of doing a play or something at home, which would please him creatively, and you feel, please his wife emotionally. Scarlett Johansson is a recent college graduate who's in Tokyo with her husband, a famous photographer who has a lot of work to do which means leaving Johansson (Charlotte) alone in their hotel room a lot. Both Charlotte and Bob are feeling lost and displaced, and so when they find each other, it seems like something magical is bound to happen.

And what does happen is a solid friendship between the unlikely couple, conversations that they can't have with their significant others, and something that's so subtle that you could almost blink and miss it until it all comes to a head (you'll know what I'm talking about if you've seen it, I hope. And if not, then watch it!) and you're left going 'oh WOW. I really didn't see that coming.' And I didn't, and yet it still makes the most sense in the world, and I approve of it utterly, even if I don't necessarily think it's something that they would sustain in the real world. Have I just given things away? I hope not...

I think I was basically predisposed to like this film, and I was especially predisposed to like it because of my whole Murakami! Japan! thing that I've got going on right now. But as well as that, the concept of people being lost, not just in a strange country but in their own lives is something that I totally get right now, and it's tempting to believe that being lost, in Japan, would be better than being lost here; but it's probably about the same. So, even if subsequent viewings of this film make it feel like it's not as good as it was this time, I'll know that, at the point at which I watched it, it was perfect. Maybe I shouldn't ever watch it again so it remains like that! ("let's never come here again, because it would never be as much fun.")

And, oh look what I've forgotten to mention- it's actually really funny too! It's not always funny, but it's funny enough to watch with someone who doesn't necessarily like these sorts of films (good ones, that is) and for them to still be entertained, whilst you're going 'this is so amazing...' And that's probably how it avoids being pretentious, and just how it manages to be so awesome. I don't know how I always manage to forget the humour in films like this: it's probably something to do with going 'well, the mise en place was spectacular' (AS level Media Studies, baby!) but I always like the humour just as much as the beauty and poignancy. It's just... not as pretentious to talk about, I guess!

To sum up: Lost in Translation. It's beautiful, it's poignant, it's funny, it's anything and everything you want it to be. It will probably make you want to go to Japan, only with someone you really love so that, even if you're lost, you're lost together. Basically, you want to watch this film. You just might not know it yet. You're so lucky that I'm here to guide you.

Devouring TV: Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad isn't the first TV programme I've been addicted to (before it, there's been Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The West Wing, True Blood... basically any tv series where I can devour the box sets quickly and efficiently) but it is the most recent and feels the most consuming right now. Hence, this post. And you know what? I didn't really think I was going to like it, just based on the few synopses I'd read (drugs? Eurgh! was more or less my reaction) but then at the end of last year I read Stephen King's top twenty things of 2011.

Oh yeah. All of this was Stephen King's fault, OBVIOUSLY, because all good things emanate from Stephen King (that's an actual FACT, just so you know). So yeah, he said that Breaking Bad was even better than The Sopranos (I am a person who, while I liked The Sopranos, is able to believe that there are better things than it out there) and I was like, hmm. Stephen King, I shall believe you! And off I went on an internet video finding mission (if you're in the UK, the first two seasons are on Netflix, and honestly, it's worth signing up to it just for them- and, in fact, the third season is now on there, which would have been good to know before I went trawling for episodes. *grumble*) and I fell into a Breaking Bad hole. In fact, I fell into two- I watched everything up to around the middle of season 3 in one big gulp, then couldn't find the next episode anywhere, got pissed off and stopped watching any more internet tv apart from Netflix (where I had the great fortune of watching Twin Peaks) and then these past few weeks, I found it again and watched the rest in a giant gulp of awesome.

But why? Why do I love it so? It's difficult to say, because there are a lot of things in it that normally, I just wouldn't be down with. I mean, there are basically two female characters, only one of them a main one really, and she's mainly just the main main character's (Walt's) wife. She genuinely doesn't really get to do anything interesting, and I kind of don't even like her, and normally, I wouldn't be down with that. And also? I don't even like Walt. I hate Hank. Marie is so annoying and Skylar (Walt's wife) is a total hypocrite. But also? I love them all as much as I hate them, which I really think is the mark of really great characters- you have all these conflicting emotions about them, but in the end you just kind of love them all because they're like family (all the characters I've mentioned so far actually are family in the show, which helps, of course).

And then there's Jesse. And sometimes I hate Jesse too, but mostly I love him. And there's really no reason to- he's a junkie, he's a drug dealer, he sometimes has absolutely no morals (he tries to sell drugs to people at NA meetings, which is fairly low) but the dude has so many layers. Like, all he wants is approval from Walt or basically any adult, whilst also wanting to escape from all authority figures; and it always surprises me how much he really really loves kids- it's a fairly standard thing in the series that, just when you think Jesse is a complete dick, he'll go and be really sweet to a kid, and just like that you're kind of in love with him all over again. It also doesn't hurt that he's kind of short and skinny and just looks like the kind of person that you want to protect. That is, when he's not smoking meth or brandishing a gun. Obviously.

Adorbs.

So Breaking Bad is all about the decisions of Walter White, a high-school chemistry teacher (but mildly secret chemistry GENIUS) who discovers he has terminal lung cancer and decides to cook meth in order to leave behind lots and lots of money to make up for all the cash he won't be earning when he's all dead and stuff. So, a large part of Breaking Bad is about his family, and hiding the things he's doing from them and how they all interact with each other. And that's all fine, and I like it enough and all, but the show really comes alive for me when Jesse and Walter are together. They are so unalike that the absolute only way they'd hang out is to cook meth together, and because of that their exchanges are brilliant, and hilarious, and absolutely the best thing about Breaking Bad. My favourite episodes are always the ones where it's basically just the two of them in one location for the whole 45 minutes, and whenever they're not speaking or working together (which happens at the start of season 3, and quite a lot in season 4) it makes me really sad. For Breaking Bad to work, they need to be together, even though their disputes are often as entertaining as their tentative friendship. It never fails to amuse me that, after everything they've been through together, Jesse still calls Walter 'Mr White', and Walter usually calls him 'Pinkman'. And they've never had a real hug. *SOB*

Obviously a lot of Breaking Bad (although maybe not as much as you'd think) is about drugs because, you know, they cook the meth and all. But I find the most interesting thing with the drugs is, again, the way that Jesse interacts with them. And by interacts, I obviously mean takes them, and by takes them, I mean that he's a drug addict. But he's a very high functioning drug addict. Like, he can have an all night and day meth party, and still turn up to work (where he does, of course, cook meth). And it's interesting because it always seems like he's in control of his drug use, until he's not, when it becomes clear that he's able to be swayed into full blown addiction (because of a hot girl) and that he shelters in drugs when things are going badly, i.e. he is an addict. I really don't know very much about addiction, but it seems to me that this is a realistic thing- that Jesse can stay away from the drugs, but that when things get rough, they're always what he turns to, as an emotional crutch.

I think Breaking Bad has a bit of a rep for being overly violent, and about drugs and drug use, and also it bothers me that no one has ever said 'yeah, you're just manufacturing meth, but think about the lives you're destroying- that makes you way worse than the people who use' but that kind of moralising doesn't really come into it. But the thing is, whenever I think about Breaking Bad, I hardly ever think about the drugs, and I basically never think about the violence- I just think about the relationships and the intricate lies and whether or not Jesse's going to be ok; and this could just be me ignoring what's there, but I think it's more that... Man, I really love the characters. Like, even when Jesse and Walt do murders (and they do do a few self-preservation murders, I have to warn you) it's like... they're really not very good at them, and you feel a lot more worried about them getting caught than you do about the murderee, which actually, now that I think about it, is pretty messed up. But the point is that you really don't think about the violence, but you more just worry about the potential consequences for the characters that you/I love.

So, to sum up: I love/hate Walt, Skylar, Marie and Hank, I LOVE Jesse, even when he's bad, and Breaking Bad is the greatest thing in the world. It's maybe not my favourite TV programme EVER, but it's definitely my favourite right now, and hey, it's also maybe my favourite ever. If you haven't seen it yet, I advise it maybe more strongly than I've ever advised anything in my life, and just, you know, enjoy the crap out of it. I know that I have, and I can't WAIT for July 15th (or I guess the 16th, for me) when the new (and last! *SOB*) season begins.