Thanking You For Smoking

I also re-watched Thank You For Smoking this weekend today because it is one of my favorite movies. This movie is based on a novel of the same name and stars Aaron Eckhart as the lead with a cast of many interesting characters. The humor would appeal to those who really like satire and this movie isn't afraid to be offensive. Eckhart plays Nick Naylor, the chief spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies whose purpose is to find a link between smoking and cancer. Given that they are funded by tobacco companies, they can not find any conclusive evidence. His days range from appearing on television shows and defending tobacco companies and smokers, to fighting the senate bill to add a skull and crossbones to cigarette packages, to meeting with Hollywood produces and pitching the idea of having stars smoke again in movies. Every week he meets with his two best friends for lunch, the lobbyists for the alcohol and firearms industries. The three nickname themselves the "merchants of death." Ironically the Eckhart character is the hero of the story and the character we root for, while the villain is a senator who wants to keep people from smoking. As you watch, you realize that the movie really ends up being about choice and people having the right to decide for themselves to smoke. It is also really funny as you watch the scenes and the lines throughout about the cigarette industry and what he does for a living. My favorite line from the movie is when the boss is yelling at his staff and says "We sell cigarettes, not tic-tacs! They're cool, available, and ADDICTIVE! The job is almost done for us." I think this line captures the spirit of the movie and I laugh every time sit down and watch it.

Roman Holiday

While I have been blogging about movies that are new or that I finally got around to seeing, this week I have decided to re-watch and blog about some of my favorites. My favorite movie is Roman Holiday, a 1953 romantic comedy starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. I saw it for the first time years ago with mom and fell in love. Hepburn plays a rebellious princess on a diplomatic tour of the European capitals. During her stay in Rome, she is fed up with her predictable life and decides to break free and explore the city. In doing so she meets Joe Bradley, an American reporter who sees it as an opportunity to spend the day with her and write an exclusive article about her with pictures. She of course is unaware that he recognizes her. I think the word that describes this movie best is charming. It is a beautiful picture of the past and a glimpse into life in the 1950s. It is a really amusing old fashioned romance and you can't help but fall in love with the two leads. The ending of the movie is also surprising and perfect. This movie was actually Audrey Hepburn's first major starring role and she won an academy award. Interestingly Cary Grant was chosen to play the love interest, not Gregory Peck. Although I am glad he turned it down because now I can't imagine the movie without Peck. Another interesting fact about the movie involves the scene where the pair visit the "mouth of truth," a marble face that is rumored to bite the hands off of liars. In the scene, Peck's character scares Ann by pretending that his hand gets cut off. This is actually a joke played by Gregory Peck on Audrey Hepburn and her screams are real.

Valentine's Day

So tonight I finally went and saw Valentine's day with my sister. I had heard pretty bad things about this movie from critics who claimed that it was awful and unfunny. I actually really liked the movie. It follows many different love stories and couples living in L.A on their different Valentine's Day. It was similar to Love Actually in that it told the story of different people's lives, flashing back and forth between the different stories. Unlike Love Actually, this movie had a much lighter tone and the characters and stories were really all connected to one another. As we watch the movie, we see how each of the stories and characters relate to one another. I guess I liked the concept of that because it makes you think about how we are all connected to each other and how small the world is. I also liked that it shows many stories and there really isn't a main character. I thought it was better than say When In Rome, which just follows one hopeless romantic girl in her quest for love. We all have our own lives with our own stories going on and our paths simply cross each other in various ways. I also liked that it showed stories of young love such as a kid in elementary school, high school couples, young adults, as well as grandparents. I'll admit that it is still corny and predictable as I could easily call all of the future couples, but it was still enjoyable to watch. It certainly not a deep and brilliant movie, but simply a feel good movie that made me laugh. I should also note that my favorite characters were Jessica Biel's and Taylor Swift's. Biel did a really good job of playing a neurotic lonely woman on Valentine's Day and Swift was a ditzy teenager in love. Most of the time when I laughed it was at their characters. In conclusion, I would recommend Valentine's Day, that is unless you hate cute romantic comedies. If you love them like me this is perfect.

500 Days of Summer

So I finally got around to watching the hit romantic comedy 500 Days of Summer with Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. While this is definitely not a traditional romantic comedy, I really did enjoy watching it. At the very beginning of the film we are told that this is not a love story, but just a story of boy meets girl. Throughout the whole movie, we know what happens to the relationship between the two leads, but we get to watch to find out exactly what led to their break up. It is an interesting story telling technique used in that we know what the conclusion is, but as the audience we get to watch how the relationship ended up that way. You would think that this would make it difficult to enjoy the story and watching these two characters meet and interact as their love grows, but I still found myself interested in their story and rooting for this couple, despite the known ending. The movie had many clever and funny scenes throughout, yet still contained a dark tone by knowing about the end of the relationship and switching from the lighter and happier times to the eventual ending result of our devastated male lead.

I really liked the idea of this story because it was so different from every other chick flick that is normally seen. Instead of showing us a typical boy meets girl, faces an obstacle together, and then fall in love and live happily every after scenario, this movie simply shows us a relationship beginning as well as end. Most of our lives are not about a final conclusion and relationships end all of the time. I liked this movie because it gives us a glimpse in the life of the main character. Just because this relationship ended does not mean it is a story that is not worth telling. Not all stories have happy endings or profound meanings on our lives. This movie simply shows us a period in the life of a person and the girl he dated for 500 days. Their love was real, but it just ran its course and the characters move on.

The story kind of reminded me of our moment of being essays that we wrote a couple of weeks ago. It simply shows us a series of moments in a man's life where he fell in love. Even though their love ended and they went their own ways, their brief love story is worth watching because it is an aspect of their lives. Using this approach, 500 Days of Summer had a very real emotion as it simply captured a brief time in life. Most things in our lives eventually end, but that doesn't mean that we can't enjoy them while we can.

Pineapple Express

So after watching scary movies this week, I decided to view a comedy. I heard good things about Pineapple Express from critics as well as people I knew who had seen it. I guess I should have considered who recommended the movie to me when deciding to rent it because I could not wait for it to end. I am not a big fan of Seth Rogen and I like him even less now. Like most girls, I like James Franco, but he didn't look like the James Franco I know and love in this movie. I guess seeing him as a loser, idiot, stoner, drug dealer wasn't much fun to watch. I watched it with my roommate and like me she didn't really get it either. I know it would be a lot funnier if you watch it stoned. Otherwise it was like hanging out with a bunch of your stoned friends when you are completely sober and they just continue to laugh uncontrollably. To me, it was completely frustrating to watch. I mean they are being hunted down by these bad guys who want to kill them and their solution is to smoke weed every couple of hours. Every time they pulled over to smoke I wanted to yell at them. Definitely frustrating to watch for two hours. I heard from other people who enjoyed it that they thought the ending scene was completely hilarious. That scene where they are all stoned out of their mind talking and laughing pretty much captures the theme of the movie- pretty much just listening to and watching a bunch of stoners talk. The only way that the movie would be funny would be to watch it stoned otherwise its just boring.

The Silence of the Lambs/The Haunting in Connecticut

I recently decided to throw in some award winning movies, mainly because my viewing selection is often limited. Even though I hate scary or gory movies, I decided to watch The Silence of the Lambs mainly because it is one of those classic movies that many people I know have already seen. Earlier that day, I also watched The Haunting in Connecticut as I have been trying to expand my viewing genres. This way I basically just had a scary movie day. First I have to say that The Haunting really wasn't very good or scary. I'll admit that the kid in the story was creepy, but that is just because he is a weird looking guy. I don't even watch scary movies often, but it seemed to follow similar thriller patterns and you can tell exactly when the ghosts are going to appear. This movie doesn't make a lot of sense mostly in that when these crazy things start happening in the house and everyone finally knows it is haunted, it doesn't make sense that they would continue to live there. Lessoned learned if dead bodies begin to appear in bedroom, you should probably move- or at least not play hide and go seek constantly in the creepy old house. Silence of the Lambs, on the other hand was a really good and entertaining movie. Instead of trying to be super gory or scary, it left me with that eerie feeling when reflecting on the story. The characters are really interesting and the acting is amazing by both Hopkins and Foster. After finally watching the film, I understand why its an award winning classic.