Me = movie geek

I just spent 30 dollars which I probably won't get anything for in return. And I'm happy I did.

Let me explain. You probably all know I'm a movie geek. Big time. And what you might now is that every day I go to several movie websites to read up on news, analyses, and mostly reviews. Well, one of my favorite sites is the one on which MaryAnn Johansen writes her reviews, www.flickfilosopher.com.

Some exerpts to show you what I mean. From her most recent review:

Hostage [...] is like a petulant teenager who wants to be seen as all grownup and mature and demands to be treated as such but then goes and gets roaring drunk on cheap beer, vomits all over the yard, and crashes Dad's car into a lamppost in the high school parking lot.

On the Spongebob Squarepants movie: I've heard tell that there are some grownups who don't get why other grownups might want to watch a cartoon. I guess those grownups have forgotten how good it feels when you're braying like a hyena for 90 minutes straight. Maybe if we told them, I dunno, that nonstop laughter is good for the abs or something, they might see the value in it.

And I have to make the following quote, on The Wedding Date, as long as it is, because I just can't even decide what's the funniest part, and in fact I recommend reading the entire review if you feel like laughing:

Hooray! Now all those women who had their sense of sexuality perverted by the "fairy tale" of Pretty Woman have the perfect twisted fantasy movie cure for their messed-up love lives: Don't wait anymore for a man to come along and purchase you -- buy him instead!

Six thousand bucks for a weekend, sex not included.

It's "romantic," see? It's "charming" and "funny" and "sweet," too, get it? Oh, and it's "warm" and "sentimental," because, c'mon, what modern gal hasn't hired a whore to accompany her to a family function? Hilarious! Delightful! The feel-good date movie of the year!

*thump* *thump* *thump*

I'm just banging my head against the wall for a while, because it's less painful than contemplating the image of 21st-century womanhood depicted in this agonizing movie.

*thump* *thump* *thump*

Can I ask: Who the hell let Debra Messing (Along Came Polly, Hollywood Ending) loose, and can we consider that a capital offense? Her character here is barely distinguishable from the one she plays in the awful gayface sitcom in which she stars. Her Kat Ellis is a nightmarish golem-creature constructed, Frankenstein-monster style, from the worst stereotypes of modern femininity: she's insecure, indecisive, spineless, unbelievably uptight (I'm guessing from her reaction to the male anatomy that she has never seen a penis before), and refuses to take responsibility for her own behavior. Idn't that just iwcky-poo adorwable?

By now I'm sure you either understand why I absolutely love this reviewer. Or maybe you don't know me, but those two seem to be the only options. Anyhow, she's just started an initiative to try and make a living out of writing reviews, with the added bonus that she'd be updating every day of the week. The goal is to get 1000 people to donate 30 dollars to make this possible, and I've decided to be one of the first ones.

I mean, there's no denying that 30 bucks is still quite a bit of money for me. But I figured, I did spend the same amount on Amazon earlier for 3 books, and I've only finished one of them until now. If I'm willing to spend it on books, why not on another form of entertainment? Granted, it's entertainment I might as well get for free, but then I would also just download every movie I wanted to see without ever buying a DVD...And not spend a ridiculous amount on money on them as I do (this stay in the US is good for me...I can drool over the cheap DVD's they have here, but because of the regional code thing I can manage to not give in and buy them).

There is another reason, and I'm not talking about having my name in the hall of fame. I very much like the idea of being able to make a living by running a website. Jeph from Questionable Content does it by selling T-shirts, but this looks like a good way too. If it's starts becoming common, website makers will probably become a lot more invested in the quality of their writing and the regularity of their updates. And who knows, maybe some day I'll be able to make a living by keeping up a website -yes, I know, "keep dreaming"...I intend to!

In conclusion...There are few things I dislike more than someone who tries to convince others to their cause (if you're dutch, you can read my comment on Sylvia's latest blog entry for more details), so don't worry, I'm not suggesting you do the same thing as I did. But if you're ever bored, I recommend checking out her website.

On a sidenote, Gilmore Girls really rules. It's on right now, and any show that mentions making love to a cup of coffee is worth watching by my rules. Plus, tonight's episode has a Tarantino party, including a nod to Travolta's dance with Uma.

One last thing about movies (I promise! for today, of course). Closer is the two dollar movie this week, and I went to see it yesterday. Boy, how depressing can a movie be? I can't even point out exactly what was so depressing about it. After all, one of the two relationships (or one of the four, depending how you count) works out in the end, right? But these people are just so ugly. I mean internally, of course, because the actors playing them are georgous, all four of them, incredibly beautiful and what's coming out of their mouthes is so in contrast with that...Oh, I'm not talking about the sexual part of what they said, I can handle my share of crudeness, but the hateful things they threw at each other were exhausting after a while.

Ok, finally, I'll release you from the movie talk! Do I have anything else to say...Well, oh, but no, documentaries are movies too...Well then, what have I done this week? Not much really, seeing how it's finals week and all that. I had sushi for the first time, two light allergic reactions (not to the sushi...to diddy reese cookies, unfortunately), and saw a really good Queen cover band, with a singer that had the Freddy Mercury look, including wifebeater, sunglasses and mustache, down. Didn't sing too bad either.

Ooh, and, of course, I made brownies, because tomorrow...It's road trip time! We're going to Palm Springs, 7 or 8 of us, I'm not quite sure, and I think it'll be great. And exactly how great, well, you'll get to know about that in the next post!

Hedwig