Doubly Curious

Two curiosities with regard to the 2011 hit movie "The Help". 

1. First is a library mystery: I'm a librarian and we have DVDs at the library. I put myself on hold for the DVD of "The Help" about two months ago (it's been extremely popular) and I was about 8th in line. Last week, I checked the queue. I was 11th in line. Wha??? I think there's been a hiccup in our system, and not wanting to cheat, I've decided to remove myself from the waiting list and rent it at the Redbox. By the time I get the library copy it will probably be scuffed and scratchy to the point of rendering it impossible to enjoy, anyway. SO we rented it at the Redbox this weekend and watched it, which brings me to curiosity #2:
2. Oddly, I think I enjoyed the movie version of "The Help" better than I did the book! This is nearly unprecedented. Generally, I enjoy the book versions better. Probably better than 90% of the time. Harry Potter? Books. Lord of the Rings? Books. Twilight? Seriously, don't get me started on the poor casting, acting, direction... ugh... let's just leave it at: books.

But "The Help" surprised me. I read the book a while ago, and though I liked it, the "terrible awful" that Minnie does to Hilly was just the one thing I couldn't get over. Maybe I'm a snob, maybe I'm a prude, maybe I'm just disgusted by poo being used in ANY way in a story, but I was unable to move past that. Here's my review on Goodreads if you want to know what I thought of the book.

I think the reason I'm leaning toward the movie being superior is just that it was a great example of when "less is more". The order of a few plot elements were rearranged, and I would have enjoyed more stories by the "help" ladies, and less story about the getting of the stories, but the script was tight, the acting superb, and the performances of the leading women were authentic and genuine. I especially loved these two: 

I wholeheartedly agree with the Academy Award nominations for both Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis. (Octavia won, Viola did not.) I don't know if I agree with the Best Picture nod, but that could be because I didn't see all the films nominated and I don't really trust old Oscar...

Look What I Found Today

I was adding some photos to my entry about the 2012 Oscars, when I came across this photo of Angelina Jolie in various dresses at various events. Notice what's similar? "One of these things is just like the others... which one is it, can you tell?"

Just in case she wants to fire her stylist for the backlash from her Oscars dress, before she does, she might want to refresh her memory and remember that she just really, really likes to show off her legs. Stylists aside, doesn't one of Hollywood's most powerful women have a say in what she wears and how she wears it? Just sayin'... And really it was the hoe-down pose that was the problem this year. Her hip must have been sore from being held at that angle all night. Sexy? Nah... just weird.

Playing Movie-Catch-Up

Last night we finally got around to watching "Moneyball". Brad Pitt's incredibly attractive aging notwithstanding, this is a very good movie. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it was generally well reviewed, and, of course, it was nominated for 6 Academy Awards. That doesn't always equal movies I like, but in this case, I thought it was worth a look. Pitt's performance is solid-- charming, witty, passionate, and authentic. And, yes, still hunky at 48 years old. He reminds me a lot of Robert Redford, and I really think he has matured as an actor and is easily one of the better actors working in movies today.

Jonah Hill was perfectly cast, as well. I haven't watched him in anything, so I didn't have any expectations or preconceptions, and I really enjoyed him. The rest of the cast was great, the directing was tight and the story enjoyable even for a non-baseball fanatic like myself. It's definitely worth your time.

Tonight we had a double feature, catching up on movies we missed last year that are now out on Blu-Ray. First up was "Tower Heist" featuring Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick and others. I wanted to like this movie-- who doesn't enjoy a fun caper movie where the little guy gets the evil, rich jerk? And I keep wanting so badly to see a film with Stiller that has something new, something different from what we've seen, or if he can only do the one schtick, at least a fresh face on the schtick. Not so much here. In this film, he seems to be basically channeling his museum security guard character from "Night at the Museum"-- it wasn't unpleasant, but felt like I'd seen it all before.

Murphy seemed to be trying to return to his "Beverly Hills Cop" persona, but the angry-black-man bit just isn't funny. The sexual humor wasn't funny, the yelling and cussing was overplayed and obnoxious, and he just wasn't funny. I wanted SO much more from him, especially.

And then there was Broderick. Matthew Broderick has been trying for a while now to reignite his film career, and while I sympathize (I thought Ferris Bueller was adorable!!), he seems to be just missing the mark. His performance in "Heist" wasn't bad, it was just a bit bland. And who the heck did his makeup??!! Terrible! Just awful. I realize movie stars feel like the rest of us about aging, only moreso, but I don't think a bad makeup job is going to help.

This movie was a dud, not worth the money they spent making it, for sure... and not a family movie...

The second movie tonight was "The Big Year" starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson. This was pretty good, but my husband thinks that was mostly because we watched it so soon after "Tower Heist", but I thought it was pleasant and entertaining. And mercifully clean, except for a few cusses. The story was about the three of them trying to accomplish a birding record for spotting the most birds in one year and the way their obsessive hobbies affect the other aspects of their lives. It was a light, gentle movie, with sweet, genuine characters and believable sub-stories. I enjoyed it a lot and would recommend it. It's a refreshing change from the usual shoot-em-up movies we watch around here.

Oscar Compulsions and the sad decline of Billy Crystal's career

Every year I know I'll be bored, annoyed, confused and irritated. Yet, every year I compulsively watch the Academy Awards.

I was bored, as was most of the celebrity audience, judging by their painted-on, tolerant half-smiles at the antics of the sadly over-used Billy Crystal. He was terrible. Way back on "Soap", he was quite talented, and brought many amusing comical roles to life over the years. And I understand he was the favorite host for a long time, but he is WAY past his prime and seemed to be recycling all the bits that worked 10+ years ago, and they just didn't work. It was sad, his face looked odd, extremely made-up, and he just sort of embarrassed himself. Or should have...

I was annoyed by the opening montage featuring Crystal superimposed into scenes from some of 2011's big films. It wasn't nearly as good as it ought to have been.

I was confused by a few of Crystal's "jokes" and even moreso by Angelina Jolie's awkward, forced, thigh-baring pose, both onstage and (as I found in a photo online) on the red carpet. Weird. I guess it's gone all viral and her leg keeps showing up in all kinds of places now. What a strange world we live in.

And I was irritated by Crystal's phoned-in, obnoxious and unfunny performance.

But, as I've done nearly every year since I was a girl, I watched the whole thing... As my husband said, "that's three hours I'll never get back".

It wasn't all bad. I laughed at Will Farrell and Chris Rock, and I found Robert Downey, Jr.'s antics amusing. The acceptance speeches were mercifully short and non-political. Oh, and Tom Cruise? Looking good! He hasn't looked that good in years-- I almost thought I was back in Jr. High... well, not really, but he did look great. What else was positive... Oh! Meryl Streep! She was classy, poised, witty, and lovely. I was glad she won. I was equally glad that Glen Close didn't win... because I hate her. But I was looking for positive, wasn't I? Okay, let's see... the only presenter in a painfully horrible dress was Jennifer Lopez... most of them were actually rather lovely this year. Lopez was by far the worst dressed. Need I say more? Hideous. And it made her look 40 pounds heavier than she probably is. Ugh.

I have to say, the women's movement took a rather large side-step into the gutter last night. Really, we don't have to have women prove on international TV that we can be just as dirty, nasty, trashy and disgusting as men, do we?? The bits with Melissa McCarthy from "Bridesmaids" were tacky and unfunny. And I loved her on "Gilmore Girls". Bah. The six women from that movie presenting was fine, except that they became idiot caricatures discussing male genitalia, playing a drinking game (a gag that fell flat on its moronic face) and basically just acting like college-age men!

Wrapping up, there were ups, like (most of) the gang from "A Mighty Wind" and other films doing a focus group sketch of old timey folks watching "The Wizard of Oz". It was amusing.

And Christian Bale ignoring Crystal's tacky jab at his f-bomb-laden-rant a while back was nice. He looked good, he just did his presenting job and walked away, no reaction whatsoever. I would have wanted to roll my eyes and say "get over it", but I'm glad he didn't. As terrible as his behavior on that audio recording was, (remember, he screamed and cussed at a crew member for walking into a scene and ruining it? Yeah, that was major bad form, but it was also 3 years ago and everyone has off days, even the famous...) I hate it when one mistake forever labels or pigeon-holes a person, whether in Hollywood or real life. Zingers are zingers, but Crystal wasn't even funny, so his jabs (not just at Bale, there were others) were poorly-timed attempts at humiliating his peers rather than friendly all-in-good-fun jabs. Anyway, Bale looked good and sounded good and I wished he had had more to do on Oscar night and that Crystal had had less. Lots less.

Another great moment was when Christopher Plummer won. He said (to the statue), "You're only two years older than me. Where've you been all my life?" And that he would share it with Ewan McGregor "If I had any decency, but I don't". He was witty and I was glad he won.

And there were many, many downs. I'm not sure where Cirque du Soliel falls. Some of their performance was amazing, but it didn't really belong, and I missed having the nominated songs played, even though I often don't care for them...

And here we are again, the Oscars are over, I have a short list of movies to watch and another list to avoid...