Movies, Cont.

Knocked Up: 4.5/5

I really love Judd Apatow's stuff, and The 40-Year Old Virgin is probably one of my favorite movies ever. So I was excited for Knocked Up, and it didn't disappoint. It will probably be the best comedy of 2007. Plus, Paul Rudd was in it. And he can do no wrong.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - 4/5

I know it's the popular and cool thing among critics to hate on the Pirates franchise, but I just can't. I think it's perfectly fine to create a big action movie that twists and turns and leaves everyone in suspense. If you can't follow the plot, I really don't know how to help you. Maybe you could try picking up a book that's not by Nicholas Sparks or Dan Brown and try following some good plot development. And get away from the Paul Haggis movies. I don't think Pirates is the greatest movie ever, but I think it makes a great action movie with some comedy and drama thrown in. This one is a bit too long, but it makes up for it in awesomeness.

Strangers With Candy (The Movie) - 2/5

I really loved Strangers With Candy, the TV show on Comedy Central. I mean, Stephen Colbert was in it. Come on. When I heard they were making a movie of it, I was excited, but didn't get to watch it until recently. I was very disappointed. For a movie with Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert, it should have been amazing. I guess that's what happens when you make a movie based off a TV show.

Half Nelson - 5/5

It is such a shame Ryan Gosling didn't get the Oscar for Best Actor for this movie - he really deserved it. It could easily be a very cliched movie that is cloyed and hackneyed... but it isn't. Gosling and Shareeka Epps are brilliant. This movie totally owns me.

This is Spinal Tap - 4/5

I've been meaning to watch this movie for a loong time, and I finally did. It was really funny and such a great concept.

West Side Story - 4/5

Obviously a classic, but I had never seen it before. I usually don't like musicals, but since this one is so... classic... it needs to be seen. Very before it's time, etc. etc. Depressing though.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - 5/5

Another classic, something that needs to be seen. Very funny, sort of... scary?

Gigi - 2/5

I know this movie won Best Picture and everything, and maybe I would have liked it back in 1958, but it totally creeped me out. My feminist side flared up at the end of the movie when Gigi turned from this awesome girl into some creepy, alien woman. Not believable, and it just squicks me out with the whole "Thank Heaven for Little Girls." Ick.

All About Eve - 5/5

What an awesome movie. My new favorite. Bette Davis OWNS me. You have to see it for yourself.

Movies

Before Sunrise - 4.5/5

Absolutely amazing. I loved it. It wasn't too sad or happy or any of those things... just good. There was something about Ethan Hawke and Judy Delpy's chemistry and dialogue that just seemed so real and appealing. Definitely makes my favorites movies list.



Life is Beautiful - 3/5

I know everyone and their grandmother loves this movie but... I don't know. It was alright. Cute... maybe I just wasn't in the mood for a nice Holocaust flick. Also, I have no heart and I'm generally lacking in the emotions department.




Empire of the Sun - 4/5

Great movie. One of Spielberg's least remembered films, but definitely one of his greatest. Christian Bale did a great job in the role of Jim. What a great movie. A little too long, though.




The Virgin Suicides - 3.5/5

I don't care what anyone else says, Sofia Coppola can make a darn good movie. I loved Lost in Translation (haven't seen Marie Antoinette...) and I loved this. I just liked the film a bit more than the actual plotline and script. Which is perfectly acceptable in my book.




Lucas - 3.5/5

What a sweet movie. If I was a teenager in the 80s other than a young child, I would totally have a crush on Corey Haim. He was such a cute little thing! Ahem. The movie was a bit too saccharine for my taste, but it worked. I miss 80s movies.




The Science of Sleep - 3.5/5

I knew this movie was by Michel Gondry, who did Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, so I knew it had to be at least pretty good. I liked it... not as much as Eternal Sunshine (which is one of the most gorgeous, if not the most gorgeous, films I've ever seen) but still a lot.

American Graffiti - 2.5/5

I... was sort of underwhelmed by this. I've been hearing about it for years, and I really didn't get that into it. The best storyline, in my opinion, was the one with Mackenzie Phillips. Funny stuff.

Reviews

In my struggles with finding inspiration to write, I do a lot of reading and even more watching movies. I hate to watch movies a lot of the time - I love film, don't get me wrong, but I always am afraid that my writing and own creative impulses will be shaped by the films I watch. But I am somewhat obsessed with movies. And some TV. And celebrities.

This summer I have a huge list of books and movies I want to watch before I am sucked back into the black hole that is known as college... where the only movies I watch are mindless comedies or romances. Which is fine... but it doesn't do much for my brain. Here is a list of everything I have watched/read so far this summer (complete with pictures!)

BOOKS (my slightly shorter list... alright my very ridiculously short list):

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

I'm pretty sure this book is my worst nightmare. The story that is, not the actual writing. Flaubert's style is gorgeous and it's very compelling and so depressing. In a good way? I guess? I loved it.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

It was good, but sort of predictable. I've heard a lot of hype of Gaiman, and I think I might have to read some of his other work to get a true feel for his abilities.

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

I'm a huge fan of Donnie Darko, and sort of a nerd when it comes to the whole time travel/other dimensions/space-time continuum stuff. Yet I suck at the whole "science" thing. Hawking did a great job changing everything from crazy mumbo-jumbo to easy analogies that even I could understand. It did get a bit tedious at points, but overall I really liked it.

Emma by Jane Austen

It was sort of surprising I hadn't read this book yet, seeing as though I am an English major and typically dork out over Jane Austen, any of the Brontes, etc. type of novels. I really enjoyed Emma. The main character's growth over the novel was captured perfectly in Austen's prose. Good stuff.

Movies will come later!

Confessions of a Bored Intern

I have to confess, I've never really had a "real" blog before. I've had the LJ when I first went of to college and my friends and I decided it would be great to post about our lives... that ended after the first year (thankfully, my relationships with my friends did not.) I also had some weird free trial blog over at Vox.com, which turned into a "post my favorite poems I get in my daily e-mail blog."

Lately, perusing the Internet during my ridiculously boring and entirely not stimulating internship (in a government department!), I have read some great blogs that have become part of my daily intake of "reading" material. As I would like to consider myself a serious (er... becoming serious) writer, I decided to start my own blog, tackling my issues with inspiration on both my writing and my reading. The two come hand in hand with me - I love doing both, but sometimes it is hard for me to get up off the couch and pry the remote control from my hand long enough to do either.

Hopefully this will become a daily thing. And hopefully someone out there notices this blog and helps with my inspiration. Happy reading!