forgetting sarah marshall = amazingly hilarious
May 11, 2008
i wasn’t impressed with superbad. i seem to be in a minority here, but it was about 40 minutes too long.
but i definitely appreciate that kind of topical humor (mostly) since it makes me feel immature and silly, which is great. and forgetting sarah marshall was chock full of subtle (and not so subtle) humor thanks to the likes of writer and star jason segel to the incomparable paul rudd to the fiery mila kunis. The plot essentially follows a heart-broken dude’s “escape” to hawaii, where he’ll be able to heal from a terrible breakup. but life always throws curveballs, of course. so throw in bill hader (snl), jack mcbrayer (30rock), and jonah hill (superbad), plus kristen bell as the love her/hate her character sarah marshall, and now we’ve got a thoroughly impressive formula that easily justifies the eight-dollar-ticket investment.
yes, forgetting sarah marshall is, as hoped, brainless entertainment at its best. but i can’t help but think that this flick must have been the most fun feature to make behind the scenes, too. i can’t wait for the extra features and deleted scenes to be made available.
but i’m not sure i’ll be able to look at marshall on monday night’s “how i met your mother” without thinking about how i’ve now seen him naked several times.
thanks george lucas, for letting me nap on easter
March 24, 2008
for the first time in many years, i made the trek back to ohio from dc for easter. so far, it’s proved to be among the best decisions i’ve made as of late. partly this is because i swung through akron last night to catch the band “gallery” at musica on market street, and it blew my mind, and i love having my mind blown. (more on gallery and the stupendous brendan buffet later).
it’s been such a brilliant day overall. to be back in a place where the air is clean and fresh, even with snow melting on the ground around me, is nourishment for my soul. assuming i have a soul.
anyway, i walked into a warm home to find my dad in the basement feverishly writing an email to all of us kids and friends — an email that took him 20 minutes thanks to his using a single-digit typing methodology — on why prescription drugs are expensive (he says it’s the pharmacies, NOT the pharmaceutical companies). he hugs me long and hard. it’s tight. he’s still so strong. i instantly feel total contentment.
mom just realized i got home. i come up, talk, forage for food stuffs, find plenty, talk, fill myself, enjoy coffee, talk, and we head upstairs to lay around on my bed and talk more. company is coming soon. she’s back downstairs in the kitchen, i’m in a long hot shower. it’s amazing. i need a nap. (i didn’t get to sleep last night until 5 a.m. but it was worth it.)
no time for a nap. my nephew arrives. i’m his jungle gym. he’s almost seven. he’s 65 pounds. he’s strong, and he pushes me around. he’s already red faced and clammy 15 minutes into his arrival. it’s the first of several hours of a similar pattern — play til it gets out of hand, get reprimanded by his mom long enough for me to have at least one adult conversation with other guests, then go back to playing. then we eat. it’s good. it’s always so good. then, it’s back to playing until night falls and the last cup of coffee is enjoyed.
if it wasn’t for the boob tube — today, it was empire strikes back — i think entertaining kids would be the most draining activity on the face of the earth. fun, yes. tiring, omg the ultimate.
thank you, george lucas, for making a movie that afforded me a couple sweet hours of a nap today on the couch — even if my nephew was sitting on my back, shifting his bony butt and digging his heels in occasionally during the dramatic moments.
now, mom is changing into her pjs. dad is stretched out on the couch. i’m warm and sleepy and full and happy.
return of the jedi is up next. i want an ewok.
i don’t know. i don’t know.
February 21, 2008
so being that i’m not obsessed with jim sturgess (yes! that’s jimsturgess.org! i call president of his fan club!), and that i downloaded the across the universe soundtrack this afternoon, i decided to listen to what i thought was among the top two most memorable songs from the movie. something, by the beatles of course. yes, something. (the other song was hey jude, but mr. sturgess didn’t sing it. boo.)
i hadn’t ever really listened to the lyrics before. i think that goes for most of the beatles’ tunes. i liked sgt. pepper’s lonely hearts club band and knew those words. but who didn’t? i mean, for the most part, the beatles’ just joined the doors, bob dylan, and, later, gordon lightfoot as “music that my parents listen to.”
anyway, something is a saucy tune. it’s so writhe with young love and confidence and carefree-ness that i never realized before. now, i want it to be my anthem. at least for tonight, while i’m still being melodramatic about it.
imagine. i wonder what it was like being at least one of the women who inspired such lyrics, knowing your crazy popular singer boyfriend who was part of a practically global revolution thanks to his inspirational music (and who had absolutely no problem scoring with others) at some point thought, “dude, i’m a beatle, and i pretty much don’t need anything, but somehow this chick knows i need her.”
that’s serious feminism. and that’s so hot.
but, at the same time, he reveals that she’s totally vulnerable. that she wants to throw herself ass over head into his love, but needs reassuring at the same time … asking him, “will your love grow?” to which he responds, of course, “i don’t know. if you stick around, it may show … i don’t know.”
that’s so wrenching.
a dude on the jazz channel the other day said that falling in love is easy; life is hard. and the lyrics of this song basically take that saying, give it to paul mccartney, then deliver it in a way that all who hear pull on the emotion like a blanket in bed. because even when life and love seem at odds, he keeps coming back for more. the way she moves, how she knows him — he can’t explain it, but whenever he thinks of her, there’s just something about her.
that’s so romantic.
why ‘across the universe’ is ultra amazingly radass
February 19, 2008
because i just finished watching this movie and think it’s stupendous, i’m admittedly somewhat melodramatic about my top reasons for across the universe is so amazingly badass:
+ first of all, josh is in it. he’s the tall dude in the plaid shirt walking in the background during the bowling sequence. he goes and talks to some guy behind the counter. he doesn’t get his name in the credits, but it’s definitely him. walking away from the camera for about four seconds. i remember when he went to film that four seconds. it took him all day — more than a day, actually — after being early to set, straight off the bus from dc to nyc. he wouldn’t get back to dc until the wee hours of the next day. 4:30 a.m. i think.
+ beatles songs as the soundtrack, except sung in 2007 version. no song offends the original. they’re all so brilliant. i sometimes forget how imaginative and intensely creative those guys were — and so brilliant that total strangers everywhere during war and turmoil could find solace in their music.
+ jim carson — my voice coach in manhattan — was the vocal instructor. what’s also remarkable is that one of his students, dana fuchs, was in the film. (i bet if i didn’t cut my hair for the next five years, mine would look like hers, and this would make me happy.) oh, and she’s tremendously talented and has a set of lips that puts angelina jolie to shame. ps i did jim’s web site. it was my first web site ever, based on an old template of will’s. no judging. jim carson is one of the greatest humans alive. you should take at least one lesson from him before you die.
+ theatrics. ok, it’s musical theatre brought to the big screen with a mind-blowingly artistic, intelligent technique. i wasn’t even alive during vietnam and the accompanying civil unrest, and director julie taymor (and her characters) had me crying throughout. and laughing. and, a couple times, wishing i was on acid.
+ jim sturgess. sweet mother of holy toledo this guy (a) can sing (b) is from england has a hot accent (c) does not have a unibrow (4) can sing and (iv) appears to be a passionate kisser, even in the underwater scene. waiter? check please. (oy, he’s still behind johnny depp at #1, but definitely in the top five).
+ bono. yes, the same bono as bono from u2. he not only was in it, but he was hilarious. in a subtle, impressive way. i honestly like u2 better now.
+ strawberries. i love strawberries. i would eat them everyday. maybe i will. but strawberries will look different to me from now on. at least until i forget about this movie.
obviously i totally dug this movie. but there were a few things that i could have lived without:
- evan rachel wood. she just whined the whole movie. bad things happen to her. but i’m not sure why jude falls in love with her. it must be her blonde hair. because she’s kind of lame otherwise. except for when they’re on acid and laying in a field or when she’s underwater with him. then she’s ok by me.
- the psychadelic scenes. yes, this has some hippie stuff in it. they were distracting, like something a high schooler does when he first toys with photo editing software variations.
- the storyline toward the end. it starts feeling fragmented, like they were trying to cut it short (it’s three hours) but couldn’t find where, so they just kept eating little chunks of the main course and spreading around the extra pieces until their plate looked like it had less stuff on it. i mean, so jude gets sent home. then he’s home all depressed. then he just comes back? why didn’t he just get off the boat in liverpool, grab his shoite, and get back on the boat? i wish it would have just ended with him being sent home. but instead it’s hollywood. but i guess it’d be too harsh otherwise.
if you don’t appreciate musicals, don’t try this one. but if you appreciate artistry, give it a go.
