My Pop Culture Wishes For 2012

Well my little Popettes, we made it.  It's a whole new year!  I don't know about you, but I wasn't a big fan of 2011.  After a bunch of resolutions and some high hopes for change, I feel almost certain that 2012 has to be a better year.  And I'm hoping its a much better year in Pop Culture-land too.  Here is what I'm crossing my fingers to see in entertainment in the next twelve months:

Movies:

• Great films that are actually great films.  When the world raved about Like Crazy or The Descendants this year, I was hoping they would actually be good.  But I pretty much learned that the world had just been drinking the Kool Aid.  I hated almost every film that I was supposed to love, which left me with very little fulfillment at the cinema this past year.  I'm hoping that when the next little Sundance darling or Oscar film comes out, there is legitimate quality in every sense of the word and that I walk out of the theater with a little faith left in the people who make movies.
• Good sequels.  A lot of lighter fare from years past are bringing our favorite characters back this year for another go at the big screen.  I'm hoping that American Reunion is actually funny and doesn't just make us all feel old.  And after not being a fan of the second film, I have my fingers crossed that Men in Black III can restore the franchise to its former glory.
• James Cameron proves that a post 3D conversion can be done.  I mean, I was a twelve year old girl when Titanic came out, so there is no way that I'm not going to see the 3D version this year.  But I'm hoping Cameron actually makes it worth my while in a new and exciting way.
• Big blockbusters are also good films.  I really do have my doubts about The Hunger Games based on everything I have seen so far (most people I know do not share my concern) but I REALLY want it to be just as good as the source material.  Similarly The Amazing Spider-Man will do well at the box office, but due to my undying love of Andrew Garfield and general fondness for the rest of the cast I'd like it to be a critical success as well.  Can we get some quality moneymakers please?
• I'd like Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter to do well enough, but can it please not make Benjamin Walker a star?  Broadway would like him back please.
• Please don't ruin The Lorax.  This was always my favorite Suess book, probably because it is dreary and dark and a big warning about taking your natural resources for granted.  The film?  Looks peppy and colorful, adventurous and bright.  I hate it.  I'm hoping this is only really the first act of the film and that it in some way stays faithful to the soul of what The Lorax is about.
• Let there be too many choices for Christmas films this year.  After the slim pickings in 2011, I'd like a plethora of quality to choose from this year.  As long as Les Miserables or The Great Gatsby don't get postponed or panned, I have a feeling that this is the wish most likely to come true.

Music:

• We get some quality "best new artist" contenders who weren't manufactured by a record label.  It seems as though the one fun indie band seems to take the prize come awards season, so wouldn't it be great if we had several authentic and quality acts to choose from?
• Chris Brown's new album, Fortune is a disaster and he goes away forever, like he should have done ages ago.
• Justin Bieber proves that he has legitimate staying power by coming out with a song that the over 30 (or hell, even 20) set really likes.  This does not include doing Beatles covers with Stevie Wonder, Beibs.
• The late 90s/Early2000s has a comeback.  With the likes of Eve 6, Alanis Morissette, Third Eye Blind and The Cranberries all dropping albums this year we could have a fun little retro year that brings me back to Junior High.
• Green Day's new album is awesome.  I suspect this won't be hard.
• Actual new music tops the charts way more often than Glee covers do.

Theater:

• It becomes cool to be a theater geek.  I've been wishing for this every year since I was little, but with Glee and Book of Mormon and now the potential that Smash brings, 2012 is the year it can happen.
• Newsies gets better.  I saw the regional production of this show at The Papermill Playhouse and was a little disappointed.  Sure the concept is ripe for the stage but it needed a bigger ensemble and a little more showing coupled with a little less telling.  I'd like to see it made a little more polished before hitting Broadway this year.  Also, now that he's available, they should do this thing with Jeremy Jordan as Jack Kelly one again.  Just announce it already.
• Yank finally happens.  This show had so much buzz Off-Broadway but has yet to make the previously announced transition to the big stage.  Fingers crossed that this is the year as I have been dying to see this show.
• Death of A Salesman is actually good.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Linda Emond and Andrew Garfield in this classic Arthur Miller play directed by Mike Nichols.  There is no reason this should be anything short of brilliant.  So I really hope it is.
• Porgy And Bess proves Sondheim wrong.
• We get the next Rent/Spring Awakening/Next To Normal, a little rock musical that ends up being kind of epic and changes the way we think about theater.

Television:

• There is finally a network show that is both high in quality and gets decent ratings.  This is crazy, but I dare to dream.
• Smash is as good as everyone says it is.  Also, it stays true to producing a quality television show and doesn't get Glee-itis
• Mid season shows like Awake, G.C.B. and Don't Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23 leave the 2011-12 season with more hits than misses
• AMC goes back to making more shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad and less like The Killing and The Walking Dead
• Season two of American Horror Story somehow proves all of us naysayers wrong
• Dan and Blair get together on Gossip Girl.  Plllleeeeeaaaasssseeeeeee.
• The powers that be gets over reality television and we are left with a lone few high quality competition shows and far less "let's follow rich people" shows.  In a related wish, The Kardashians go away for good.
• General Hospital does not get cancelled.  Instead, it reinvents itself and the daytime drama is saved.
• Parks and Recreation gets a lot of Emmy love.
• The Newsroom proves that you don't need a lot of money and crazy production value to be a hit show on HBO.  You just need Aaron Sorkin.  Also, the world does not fall too much in love with John Gallagher Jr. and steal him from the theater community.
• We get some new cute actors to love and adore.  Quality is great, but pretty is damn important too.

That's all folks!  What do you want to happen in the world of Film/Music/Theater/TV this year?

The Best Movie Of The Year?

For the rest of this week, I'm going to overload you with with TV top ten lists.  Although the year may not have started out that way, it kind of ended up being a great year for television.  For the rest of pop culture?  Yeah, not so much.  Sure theater had Book Of Mormon and music had some nice indie bands break through, but compared to the wealth of goodies on TV it just doesn't measure up.  And don't even get me started on film.

I hated almost everything I saw in the theaters this year.  The few films I didn't hate (Hanna, Hugo, maybe even X Men) ranged on the spectrum of "like", not even falling close to the "love" category.  There was only one film that had me feeling truly good about it when I walked out of the theater and I'm semi-ashamed to even bring it up out of fear that my film school friends would disown me.  But here it goes.  The best film of the year very well may be Crazy, Stupid Love.

Let's get the obvious out of the way for a minute.  Yes, it is a horrible title.  It says nothing about the movie and it doesn't mean anything.  Yes, the film is also a little oddly structured and perhaps a bit too long.  But I don't care.  Compared to the shit that has come out this year, it might as well be Citizen Kane.  It has great actors in somewhat complicated roles, it can be crazy funny and has provided the most effective twist in any medium this year.  Due to illness and a general lack of quality at the movies this year, my family stayed in for Christmas and watched this.  It was my third viewing.  I still laughed, still got embarrassed and worried for the characters, still rooted for everyone to make it right in the end.  If you ignore the now out of date jokes (one on Steve Jobs, the other on Ashton and Demi) it manages to hold up remarkably well.  It may be light and sweet, but it's a good little film.

The Jewish Christmas Dilemma

It isn't easy being a Jew on Christmas.  I mean, it's actually probably more easy than it is to have to stay up until four in the morning putting together toys and eating cookies (actually, that part sounds awesome) but there is a whole other set of problems to contend with.  Where do you eat your Chinese food, for instance?  Do you go out or order in?  And then there's the big question, the one that every Jew spends the pre-holiday season worrying about...What movie do you see?

In the past, the choice was usually clear.  We either went to see movies about families (It's Complicated, The Family Stone), magic (Michael, The Family Man) or a dark yet attention grabbing musical (Dreamgirls, Sweeny Todd).  Last year was a bit of a struggle, and we finally settled on Tangled, which may have been a tad young for a family with adult children, but we all loved it (the 3D aspect helped) none the less.  There has always seemed to be one choice that was the most obvious.  This year?  I have no flipping clue.

The one "family-esque" film that is out, Hugo, just so happens to be one of the two films that I have seen recently.  The other is The Descendants which would have also fallen under the film about families category, but I'm happy to spare my own brood that cinematic disappointment.  The flicks that I'm most looking forward to...Young Adult, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Artist, don't exactly appeal to the rest of my family.  I have no desire to see We Bought A Zoo, my mother thinks Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is too 911 for such a joyous occasion and War Horse, which could be perfect, is playing nowhere near us.  This leaves New Year's Eve, which you know sucks without having to watch it or Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol, which I normally would have never seen but is starting to look like the best option.  Why no one decided to put out a film this year about a zany family who undergoes some kind of magic spell and can't stop singing, I'll never know.

So I'm taking votes.  If you were (or are) a lonely Jew on Christmas, what would you go see?  Or would you screw the whole thing all together for some netflix-ed fare.  Because I think that's where we are headed people.  Thanks Hollywood, for ruining my Christmas tradition.  You have failed me.

Great Scene: Love Actually

It's almost Christmas, and for so many popettes this means settling down with a cup of cocoa/cider/nog and watching a holiday classic.  But most of the people that I know don't pop in Miracle on 34th Street or It's A Wonderful Life or even A Christmas Story.  No, the holiday film that every seems to own is Love Actually.  Is this really a Christmas film?  I mean, there is a lot of the holiday in it.  And yet, one could argue that it's far more a film about love.  It isn't called Christmas, Actually is it?  Well to those people, I say "Bah Humbug".  Of course it's a Christmas film.  And it's BECAUSE it's about love.  The holidays are truly that one time of year where people choose to express what others mean to them.  Screw that commercial Valentines day...this is the holiday where love actually does exist.

The film is filled with great scenes, but perhaps the most famous (and deservedly so) is where newlywed Juliet opens the door to Mark, her husband's best friend.  She has just discovered that the wedding video he took was all of her and after years of thinking that he hated her, she realizes that it is very much the opposite.  The scene is very sweet and quite beautiful, all brought about by the actor's reactions.  I love that we know that these two will never be together and yet it is a brilliant moment of connection that we are thrilled to be a part of.

Great.  Scene.

My Seasonal Wishlist

Ah, my favorite season is upon us.  No, not the one where you deck the halls with boughs of holly.  Although I suppose that one is fine too.  I'm talking about awards season which, if you live in Los Angeles, is kind of a big deal.  My friends and I can get very festive with our award shows, involving ballot competitions and nominee themed food.  We're just cool like that.  And with the list of SAG nominees coming out this morning, along with the Golden Globes announcement tomorrow, it would seem that these few months of fun are ready to roll.

Unfortunately, this season may not be full of too much joy if the other awards follow the SAG's lead.  I'm a more than a little bit disappointed in the nominations.  I figured that The Descendants would get some questionable love but I was not ready for people to still be all over Moneyball.  I guess Brad Pitt chewed that tobacco really well?  And is this nothing but a posthumous nomination for Fat Jonah Hill?  Frankly, I don't get it.  I didn't get the love for the film and I don't get the love for the actors.  I'm also a little shocked by the Bridesmaids love but at least it is a slightly fun surprise and it will be kind of cool to see all those funny ladies rocking the red carpet.  I've yet to see Midnight In Paris, The Artist, The Help or J. Edgar so I'm just going to pretend that all of those awards are well deserved.  It makes it easier to sleep at night.

On the TV side I'm happy to see Kyle Chandler and Jessica Lange but otherwise am left a bit confused.  Why does everyone love Jon Cryer so much?  This won't change the fact that Duckie didn't get the girl, people!  I also don't know who Patrick J. Adams is, and while I'm sure he's worthy I can't help but think of the hundreds of other males on TV who could have had his spot.  Like, every other actor on Breaking Bad who isn't Bryan Cranston (but yay for his obvious nom)?  Or the other cast members in Boardwalk Empire of Game of Thrones?  And while I have yet to watch Homeland, I hear that's a real sub too.

The good news is, we have the Globes to try to right some of these wrongs.  Now don't get me wrong.  This can be a crazy awards show and the HFPA play strange favorites but in this case I'm actually excited for what that might mean.  Here is some of the crazy things I would love to see happen when the nominations come out:

No Moneyball
I touched on this already, but please make this film go away.  It is trying to ruin my normally steadfast faith in Aaron Sorkin and I am sick of people trying to tell me it was good when it wasn't.

Recognize That Other Movies Besides Bridesmaids Were Funny
It is both kind of horrible and twistedly wonderful that the Globes have a Best Comedy/Musical category.  On one hand, it lets films like The Tourist get a shit ton of wackadoo nominations that even the actors make fun of.  On the other hand, it lets the likes of Adam Sandler,  Emma Stone and 500 Days of Summer have some awards show fun. I'd love to see Crazy Stupid Love break into this category this year as I found it to be the most enjoyable film of 2011 by far. 

Nominate Ryan Gosling For God's Sake!
I mean, REALLY?  First he gets snubbed out of being People's Sexiest Man Alive and now no SAG nominations?  Not for Crazy Stupid Love, not for The Ides of March and not even for Drive?!  I kind of fear that Gosling keeps getting overlooked (as he seriously did by the Oscars last year for Blue Valentine) because people feel like he will win tons of awards throughout his career, so why give them to him now.  To be blunt, this kind of thinking sucks.  Give the boy a nom and recognize how great he is!  Please?!

American Horror Story
Jessica Lange will continue to be nominated and may even have a good shot at winning a ton of awards for playing the tragically self involved Constance Langdon.  But I adore this show and I'd like to see it nominated.  The HFPA has a bit of a Ryan Murphy crush, so it really could happen here.  What probably won't happen is my crazy fantasy that Evan Peters will be recognized for the amazing work that he is doing.  The Globes has a very tiny all inclusive supporting actor category and I worry about Aaron Paul getting in, let alone the young and unknown Peters.  But I think he has been a revelation and would be a crazy name that I'd be thrilled to see.

Connie Britton and Friday Night Lights
Connie Britton is just dandy on American Horror Story but she was nothing short of a revelation on Friday Night Lights.  The Globes are the last awards show that FNL will be eligible for and I would love to see it get just a tiny bit more due.  They should follow the SAG's suit and nominate Chandler but I would love to see Britton and the show snag a nom as well.  'Cause, you know:  Clear eyes, Full hearts, CAN'T LOSE!

Parks And Recreation for...Everything
This to me was the biggest snub of the SAGs.  Please right this wrong Globes.  Parks need to be nominated (and win) Best Comedy.  Amy Poehler needs to be nominated (and win) Best Actress in a Comedy.  Nick Offerman should have already have been nominated and won several awards, so please fix this now.  While your at it, I wouldn't be mad if you threw some love at Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott or Aziz Ansari either.  Stop ignoring this show.  It's as wrong as Chris' rule to not let Ben and Leslie date.

Throw Something At Community
I watched my first episode of Community last week, after Twitter told me to.  They made fun of Glee.  They made an obscure Invasion of the Body Snatchers reference.  I was in.  I fear for its cancellation and a little awards show love, of any kind, would help.

I want a lot more for my awards show season, but I'm trying not to be too greedy.  If Santa...I mean the HFPA could just bring me these tiny things I'd be super duper grateful.  Because tis the season.  And I'm psyched.

Why Oh Why Does Everyone Love The Decendants?

Every critic on the planet seems to love The Descendants.  The LA Film Critics Association named it the best film of the year. Roger Ebert and Rolling Stone Magazine both gave it the unbeatable four stars.  It is on everyone's short list for a best picture nom, if not win.  Yes, every critic loves The Descendants.  And I?  I think every critic is wrong.  Yup.  Every single one.

Peter Travers said in his review "if there's something fundamentally wrong with The Descendants, I can't find it".  Well, Mr. Travers, allow me to help you.  My biggest issue with the film is the screenplay.  The number one rule of screenwriting is "show, don't tell".  I can think of successful films that have messed with structure, had completely unlikable characters, hell even ones with minimal plot.  And yet I can't think of one that worked where the audience was told everything that happened that works.  And the first forty minutes of this film are no exception to the rule.  Here we learn, through a very heavy handed Clooney voice over, that our protagonist Matt's wife was in a boating accident which has now landed her in a coma.  He's also in charge of some important old Hawaiian land that was passed down to him from his descendants (see what they did there?) and is in the final stages of negotiations with his family to decide what to do with it.  I could have learned all of this in two scenes.  The first, by actually seeing his wife's boating accident and the second by seeing a meeting of the family where they spoke rather than be silenced by the all knowing voice over.  Instead we see Matt wander from scene to scene, not really talking to people even when he is.  Perhaps isolation of his character is part of the point, but I never truly find him less isolated (no arc!) so I'm not sure if that was a brilliant direction to go in.  It seems like Alexander Payne worried that the audience would be confused as to the world of the story so he felt it necessary to beat them over the head with it.  Yeah, we got it.  Can we move on?

The film finally gets a semblance of purpose when Matt learns that his wife had been cheating on him and sets out to find Brian Speer, the other man.  This could have been interesting.  Instead, Matt half lucks into finding Brian and the actual confrontation is so lackluster and so devoid of any kind of resolution or even meaning that I find myself wondering why they even bothered.  Then there is the land.  What Matt will do with it is so glaringly obvious that its a total snooze to watch him come to the decision we all know he will.  It's an interesting concept, to be sure, but short of one visit to the land itself (one of the film's better scenes) it is this strange itch you can't scratch out of the movie.  It's connected to every storyline but without a real sense of purpose.  The fact that it has to play in to the cheating storyline is a little too kismet and just feels like another reason to steer Matt into his final decision.  And the lack of really getting to know the relatives who were tearing him in different directions takes us completely out of being able to understand his plight.

If the screenplay wasn't problematic enough, I find the casting of this film to be pretty awful.  A friend of mine remarked that Geroge Clooney, when not playing a sexy womanizer much like George Clooney himself, is a man's actor.  I don't disagree with this.  I didn't love Clooney in this film.  While I thought he had two fine scenes (I'd show his goodbye to his wife as a clip at the Oscars, if I were them), his stoicism makes it difficult to believe he is feeling anything.  This makes him hard to believe.  Perhaps male critics identify with this lack of emoting, but I find it almost impossible to connect with.  Now, normally I love me some Clooney.  But he never became Matt.  He was just him in a Hawiian shirt.

Of the other major roles, Amara Miller didn't do what any other child actor her age would.  Nick Krause was annoying as Sid (with the possible exception of the one scene where he told Matt about his mom) and I never understood why he was around and why no one told him to shut up.  I actually thought Shailene Woodley was decent as the eldest daughter, but she couldn't make up for the rest of the casting mistakes.  In much smaller roles, comic actors Judy Greer and Matthew Lilard seemed miscast as the Speers and their limited screen time seemed a waste.   I think if you added up all the times someone said "Brain Speer" in this film, it would equal more time than Lilard was shown.  Finally, all the local small parts couldn't act their way out of a paper bag which really takes you out of the (limited) world of the story.

A lot of critics have latched on to many of these smaller characters and written about them as though they were much more important than they are.  I think a lot of people are viewing this film as an Away We Gosort of film, where out characters meet different people who affect them along the way.  This IS NOT one of those films.  Matt's in laws?  Should be vital to the story.  But they aren't.  You may find them to be interesting, critics, but it doesn't change the fact that we saw them in two brief scenes.  The "cousins" should be the biggest source of conflict in the film but we don't really know any of them.  Same of the Speers.  They don't affect Matt, he doesn't affect them and the audience is left wondering why they even bothered.

I get why critics want to like this film.  The general concept does sound appealing if you like small quiet interpersonal films (as I do).  Hawaii is a really fun location.  And Clooney is playing a dad, which is different for him.  But I'm pretty certain they were pumping something serious through the vents at all of the critics' screenings, because I do not get it.  The follow through, in every way, was awful.  With Payne's last critical darling Sideways I gave it the benefit of the doubt that I may come to like it better as I age, as I did The Graduate.  This will not be the case for The Descendants.  It's not about identifying with the character.  It's about it being a clunky awkward film.  A clunky aw awkward film that will win a ton of awards.  Yeah.  I give up.

Why I Won't Be Seeing The Muppet Movie

My lovely pal Nancy wrote a lovely review of the new Muppet movie today.  She liked it.  She really liked it.  Now normally, I would listen to Nancy.  My recently discovered love of Parks and Recreation made me realize that she knows a thing or two about good comedy.  But there is no way in hell I will be seeing The Muppets.

I think a large part of it is the nostalgia thing.  I was not raised on the Muppets.  Occasionally Kermit popped up on Sesame Street and there was a brief stint of watching Muppet Babies but otherwise nada.  And I think that is a big draw for people.  If there was a Doug or Rugrats or even David The Gnome (yes, really) film, I'd be there in a heartbeat.  Because those shows bring me back to a time and place of innocence and happiness as I'm suspecting the Muppets do for some people.  But not for me.  For me, they are a little creepy.

I'm the most put off with them being a draw for adults.  I don't feel like anyone refers to them as children's play things.  We are supposed to love them as we turn into gray hairs as unconditionally as we did when we were in diapers.   I've seen them on adult shows like SNL and Top Chef.  And everyone pretends that they are real beings and not genitalia-less pieces of cloth.  Jason Segel on Live with Kelly talked about traveling around with Kermit as though he's Paul Rudd.  And I find that pretty darn strange.  It would be like me telling a bunch of friends at a dinner party about how Santa hit on me at a bar.  Except there, people would think I was fucking nuts.  But with the Muppets, everyone continues to buy into the ruse, even when there are no children around.  Hey Top Chef...I know Kermit didn't taste your ceviche.  The jig is up.

Another sticking point for me is that, on a character level, I don't fine the Muppets all that likeable.  Kermit is a fine every-frog, but the others? Miss Piggy is a bitch!  What does Kermit see in her?  Are we supposed to like them together?  Are we supposed to like her?  WTF?  Gonzo and Fonzie are pretty darn immature which is problematic when it comes to things like character arcs.  If they can't grow, why watch?  And what on earth is up with Animal?  Furthermore, what is Animal (other than, you know, an animal)?  I want to see what everyone else sees in these furry fellows but I just don't.  They seem like a pretty bratty group to me.

My final issue with the Muppets is that I know some awfully strange people who are into them.  Like, potential serial killer strange.  Perhaps it is wrong to make such a correlation, but I can't help it.  I see those strange little puppets and I instantly think of the kinds of the kinds of people who want to own replicas and play with them. As adults.  It's colored my view of Kermit and Co.  And it is just another reason that I can not, will not see The Muppet Movie.

Great Scene: It's a Wonderful Life

Woa.  I think I have finally semi awoken from my food and booze coma! (Seriously.  I fell asleep at the happiest place on earth)  The best thing about Thanksgiving being behind us, besides having a whole year to feel this gross again, is that it marks the start of the Christmas season.  Like any good New York born Jew, I love Christmastime.  I listen to the holiday radio station, get pumped for very special TV episodes and most importantly, watch Christmas movies galore.  If you know me, you know that one of my favorite films of all time is It's A Wonderful Life, and although the following moment isn't Christmas-y it is still a great scene.  In fact, I would argue that it is one of the greatest scenes in film, and certainly the most chemistry filled.

The quick set up:  George Bailey (young George, who has yet to decide that he wishes that he had never been born) is totally crushing on Mary, who has loved him her whole life.  This is a bit of a problem for George, who has wanted nothing more than to escape his home town of Bedford Falls and hates the idea that anything (or anyone) would hold him back.  But years of flirty lust can't be ignored, and it all comes to a head in this scene. I mean, come on.  It makes the telephone sexy.  That takes some serious skill.

Great(est?).  Scene.

Countdown to Tofurkey Day: Movies

Thanksgiving is this week!  Hooorrraaayyyyy!  As an adult, I'm mostly excited that this means a five day weekend, but its also typically a magical time for family (or in my case, faux family) bonding and good food.  So that's fun.

One of the radio stations that I listen to does a guess the celebrity segment in the morning, where they play an audio clip and callers have to say who it is.  This week's theme is, naturally, Thanksgiving films. But once I heard it I was all confuzzled.  I only know one film, Pieces of April, that fits this category.  Even after they played the clip, I racked my brain trying to figure out where this audio bit came from.  What other Thanksgiving films are there?  Hey, guess what.  It was Katie Holmes.  And the film was Pieces of April.  It really must be only Thanksgiving movie.

Turns out I'm wrong.  A little wrong, at least.  A quick google search points to Hanna And Her Sisters, Home For The Holidays and even Planes Trains and Automobiles as films with Thanksgiving at least peripherally in sight.  But with the abundance of Christmas films, not to mention films names after Valentines Day, New Years Eve and even Groundhog Day, its a little surprising that a far more central holiday doesn't get all that much love from Hollywood.  So I'm vowing here and now that if someone makes a Thanksgiving film, hell-even a Black Friday film, I'll be one butt in a seat.  It's time for a little more holiday cheer in the cinema.  And it would be nice to have more films to blog about too.

Dear Hunger Games: Please Don't Suck

The official trailer for The Hunger Games was released today and while it had a lot of the Internet buzzing with excitement, I was not  impressed.  The costumes and sets seemed less than the epic images conjured up in the book, the tone was not nearly dark enough and the casting choices still seem totally bizarre (with the odd exception of Lenny Kravitz, who for some strange reason might just work).  I'm concerned that the greatness of the film will simply be the greatness of the story, and in that case, why not just tell people to read the freakin' book?  I'm all for the cinematic interpretations of great literature, but I always hope for them to be great films as well.  Hunger Games is incredibly visual and there is a lot that can be, should be, on the screen.  I'm just not so sure that it is.

The actual cut of the trailer didn't help matters much either.  They seemed to worry about spoiling anything, stopping short of the games actually beginning...and yet I could not help but feel that the trailer was only for those of us who has in fact read the book already.  I have always been fascinated by the distopian world of this story and here it is merely glossed over. I wonder if a casual viewer who saw this trailer in the theaters would ever truly understand what the games are.  So if it isn't for the non Hunger Games reader but it also isn't exclusively for fans of the book, then, well, I'm at a loss.  I hope this intended audience issue is just a trailer thing, and that the film itself knows exactly what it is.

Despite all of these things, I'm holding out hope for the film because, let's face it...I'm going to see it anyway.  Maybe Jennifer Lawrence will be so good at being a different kind of Katniss that I will except that she isn't the "right" kind, and maybe the games themselves will be so stunning, gruesome and emotional that I'll totally be entranced.  Maybe they just got all the crappy stuff out of the way.  That's what I'm going with.  Because I would really like it not to suck.

Check out the trailer here:

Scary Scenes

Oh Halloween.  You used to be my favorite holiday.  Every year my friends and I would have shindigs (we were to anti-establishment to call them parties.  Or too uncool) to commemorate your awesomeness.  There were costumes (I've been a strawberry, I've been the night sky.  Kids, I've done it all).  There was candy.  There were movie marathons.  It was the best day of the year.  Bar none.

But this year, to be honest, I haven't been in the holiday spirit.  It could be the lack of children in my life, or the absence of a kick ass party to go to, or the fact that veganism and dieting don't bode well for my candy love.  But I haven't even been able to get into it pop culturally.  Because the sad fact is, I'm having a bit of trouble getting scared.

I'm not sure if it's that all horror films are just repeating themselves or the fact that I'm too aware of the fact that it's all Hollywood smoke and mirrors.  Perhaps it's just that my real life fears are so paralyzing I find it hard to get psyched up over a good slasher film.  Seriously...I won't bat an eye watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre but stick me in a Ferris wheel and I'll start shaking. 

Luckily, there is one specific movie clip that scares the living daylights out of me.  It isn't from a horror film and you will probably think I'm nuts for suggesting it.  But go ahead.  Watch it.  Try not to have nightmares.  This shit is disturbing.

Happy Halloween!!!