Movies of 2009

Well, 2009 was a better year for movies than 2008, that's for sure. Nothing beats 2007, though. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom for the awards!

Movies of 2009

Bride Wars
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Taken
He's Just Not That Into You
Fanboys
Coraline 3D
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Sunshine Cleaning
Duplicity
I Love You, Man
Observe and Report
State of Play
The Soloist
Star Trek
Terminator Salvation
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Land of the Lost
Away We Go
Public Enemies
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
(500) Days of Summer
Funny People
Julie and Julia
The Time Traveler's Wife
Extract
Post Grad
9
The September Issue
The Informant!
Food, Inc.
Zombieland
Whip It
The Invention of Lying
Good Hair
Where the Wild Things Are
Precious
The Men Who Stare at Goats
New Moon
The Blind Side
Everybody's Fine
Avatar in 3D
Up in the Air
Sherlock Holmes
Invictus
It's Complicated

TOTAL: 45 Movies. Not as many as in years past, but Nick and I are more selective of what we see in the "off season". We mainly see films that are out from May to August and October to December. Not much doing in the other months.

Way Exceeded Expectations:
Away We Go (see photo at the top of post) I'm not sure why this movie affected me so much. Maybe it's because when I saw it, I was in full-on baby mode and the thought of being pregnant without my parents there was something too horrifying to imagine. But I loved the dialogue, the music, the characters' chemistry with each other. I loved it all.

Star Trek. Never had an interest in the show, or any of the previous movies, but I really enjoyed it. This movie was everything a summer blockbuster should be.

Food, Inc. I thought it would be self-righteous and pro-organic, but it was actually interesting and provoking. Convinced us to (mostly) give up Wal-Mart and start shopping locally and in season.

Avatar in 3D. Visually stunning, better acting that I expected, and I am developing a major crush on the main guy: Sam Worthington. Mmmm...


Thought It Would Be Good But Sucked It Up Bigtime:
Sunshine Cleaning. Boring. Depressing. Pointless.

The Time Traveler's Wife. Didn't live up to the hype. I should have known better.

Everybody's Fine. Misleading movie trailer and poster. Again: boring, depressing, and pointless.


Guilty Pleasures:
Confessions of a Shopaholic. Hugh Dancy. Shopping montages. I'm sold.
Land of the Lost. No matter how stupid those Will Ferrell movies look, I usually end up seeing them and laughing my ass off.

I'm realizing as I get older that I don't enjoy movies from my favorite books. I usually get a thrill when I hear they're making a favorite book into a movie, but I'm inevitably disappointed. Take Harry Potter for example: I saw the sixth movie with my dad at midnight, like we usually do. And right after it was over, I thought it was so great and made plans to see it again.

But when I had time to think about it, I realized I didn't really like it at all. They are adding whole sections to the movie that aren't even close to the book and I can't understand why. The house-burning scene really set me off. What was the point of that? And the Harry-Ginny love story is forced and awkward. Why didn't they leave well enough alone? I think I love the characters so much, that I'm happy to watch them do anything on screen, but I mourn for the movie that COULD have been.

Does that make me sound like a huge weirdo? Movies are the closest thing we have to watching the characters we love in real life, and it burns when they don't get it right. Same thing with Time Traveler's Wife. I felt such a connection with Claire and Henry in the book, but in the movie, I couldn't care less about them. Now I'm thinking I want to stay away from books turned into movies. Unfortunately, that's EVERY movie these days.

Are there no new ideas left? Maybe just in Pixar movies. By the way, we finally saw UP and I can say that the 5 minute montage of the main character's life is truly a cinematic wonder. The rest of the movie is so-so, but those first few minutes remind you of how powerful movies are. In other words, we were bawling. But what else is new in the Fossey house?

Summer Movie Guide Part 2

Star Trek - done.
Terminator Salvation - done.
Night at the Museum - wasn't planning on it, but done.
Up
Land of the Lost - done.
Away We Go - done. loved it.
The Hangover
Food Inc.
My Sister's Keeper
Public Enemies (side note...did anyone read the Vanity Fair with Johnny Depp on the cover? mmm...)- done.
HARRY POTTER - done and done. and done.
500 Days of Summer
Funny People
Adam
Julie and Julia
Paper Heart
Taking Woodstock
Post Grad
The Boat That Rocked
The Time Traveler's Wife

Harry Potter was very very good. The more I think about it, the less impressed I am with it. But I think I'm mourning the loss of the movies that could have been. I understand the movies can't include every detail, but I still wish they could. I'm also disappointed with the Harry/Ginny story. They have as much chemistry as...two people who don't like each other very much. (it's very late) Harry and Hermione are crackling with sexual tension in this movie and there was nothing doing with her and Ron, I don't care how much they try to manufacture it.

I'm looking forward to the last two movies, but also dreading them, because I know they will have to leave alot of it out, and I don't think I could bear it.

Man, sometimes I surprise myself by how nerdy I have become.

Summer Movie Guide

Here's the ones I'm planning on seeing this summer. Some of them may not come out in OKC, so we'll have to see them in Dallas or by other means...

Star Trek - done.
Terminator Salvation - done.
Night at the Museum - wasn't planning on it, but done.
Up
Land of the Lost - done.
Away We Go
The Hangover
Food Inc.
My Sister's Keeper
Public Enemies (side note...did anyone read the Vanity Fair with Johnny Depp on the cover? mmm...)
HARRY POTTER
500 Days of Summer
Funny People
Adam
Julie and Julia
Paper Heart
Taking Woodstock
Post Grad
The Boat That Rocked
The Time Traveler's Wife

Undecideds:
Transformers 2 - probably not as I hated the first one.
Inglorious Bastards - meh.


What are you planning on seeing this summer?

trailers to watch

Nowadays, it's more common for me to enjoy a movie trailer more than the actual film. Maybe it's because every movie trailer should come with a disclaimer that reads SPOILER ALERT. You can tell everything from a movie trailer. Or, if you are as sharp as me, you can tell when they are trying to trick you in a movie trailer and the actual movie will go an entirely different way. The bastards. Anyway, I obviously spend way too much time on apple.com/trailers as evidenced by this post. Here's the goods.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/weinstein/nine/
A musical with Daniel Day Lewis? He definitely chooses his roles with care so they are bound to be good. Judi Dench? Homegirl wins oscars for doing cameos. And a bunch of other attractive women singing and dancing? works for me.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/whateverworks/

Woody Allen and Larry David?? Oy. How has Larry David not been in all of Woody Allen's movies so far? Oh wait, he has except he was played by Woody Allen. His movies can be deceiving though. Some of them are SO good: Hannah and Her Sisters, Scoop, Annie Hall. And then some of them...eh. I wasn't a fan of Melinda and Melinda, Anything Else, Match Point. I'll say this for him though, the man's got range.

and finally, what we (that is Nick, me, my brother and our friend Ben) have been waiting for since LAST OCTOBER WHEN THE MOVIE WAS SUPPOSED TO FREAKING COME OUT...
http://movies.yahoo.com/premieres/13468916/standardformat/

The ROAD! It looks awesome! I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but it's too late. I loved the book so much! Tyler lent Nick the book on a weekend visit and he read it out loud to me while we were driving back to Oklahoma. We stayed up so late finishing it. It was amazing. Just reading parts of it out loud made us weep! Every father should read it. Every HUMAN should, but for real every father. Don't let the fact that it was an Oprah book club pick deter you. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. (By the way, I am a total hypocrite because of that last sentence, because I have read several of Oprah's book club picks, but A Million Little Pieces burned me too badly. Bitch should have done her homework about that lying asshole!)

Movies of 2008

Can I just say that this was a shitty year for movies? Not many of the movies I saw this year jumped out at me. But since I'm up late watching the Hills, I thought I'd update y'all.

1. Sweeney Todd
2. Untraceable
3. The Savages
4. Cloverfield
5. 27 Dresses
6. Definitely Maybe
7. Be Kind Rewind
8. The Other Boleyn Girl
9. The Bank Job
10. 21
11. Run Fatboy Run
12. Leatherheads
13. Smart People
14. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
15. Baby Mama
16. Iron Man
17. Redbelt
18. Son of Rambow
19. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
20. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
21. Sex and the City (2)
22. The Happening
23. Wall-E
24. Wanted
25. Hancock
26. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
27. The Dark Knight (2)
28. Step Brothers
29. Pineapple Express
30. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2)
31. Bottle Shock
32. Burn After Reading
33. Appaloosa
34. Ghost Town
35. Miracle at St. Anna
36. Eagle Eye
37. Nights in Rodanthe
38. Blindness
39. W.
40. Role Models
41. Twilight
42. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
43. The Wrestler
44. Australia
45. Zach and Miri Make a Porno
46. Towelhead

Sticking with the same categories as last year...

Exceeded Expectations:
1. 27 Dresses - yes, kind of a fluffy movie but surprisingly enjoyable.
2. Son of Rambow - y'all know I love movies with little kids with British accents.
3. The Bank Job - mmm...Jason Statham.
4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - funniest movie of the year.
5. Pineapple Express - second funniest.
6. Ghost Town - third funniest. Ricky Gervais should be hosting the Oscar's. He would be amazing.
7. Australia - apparently, I'm the only one in America who liked this movie. But it was beautifully shot.

Thought It Would Be Good But Sucked It Up Bigtime:
1. Indiana Jones and the Stupid Crystal Skulls. - you should be ashamed of yourself, all who are involved with this movie. The ONLY good thing about it was the age of the leading lady. Thank God they didn't pair him up with a 25 year old this time.
2. Bottle Shock - This movie is a self-important, ridiculously boring movie. See my brother for an amazing impression of a douche bag being "shocked" by a "bottle" of wine.
3. Appaloosa - Booooooring.
4. The Wrestler - Nick will kill me for saying it, but this movie SUCKED. It had no plot; it was a character piece about a shitty character. And as my dad pointed out, "How can you have a 'comeback' in a sport that is all fake? That kid McLovin' could have a wrestling comeback if they wanted him to."

Movies I Knew Would Suck and Did Indeed Suck but Had To See Because It Was Nick's Turn:
1. Actually, none this year. Although he tried to get me to see Transporter 3 which would have definitely made this list.

I'm adding a new category called Guilty Pleasures. We've all got them (I'm looking at you, Simon Birch).
1. Sex and the City - a fun movie for a true fan.
2. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 - I read these books way too often and love the movies as much as the books.
3. The Other Boleyn Girl - another movie based on a book I read several times a year.
4. and of course....Twilight. I have seen this movie more times than I care to mention. Even watching now, my heart beats a little faster when Edward comes on screen. Reminds me of when I saw Titanic when I was a freshman in high school...

What were your favs for 2008? And what do you think will win the Oscar for Best Picture?

reflections of a batman

What I did expect from the midnight release of the Dark Knight:

• Teeny Boppers. I loathe them, I'm pretty sure they loathe me but unfortunately we are forced to coexist at Quail Springs mall. You know, the mall that's located near the 2nd richest high school in America, next to Beverly Hills High School. You can imagine the kind of entitled assholes that showed up last night. We arrived at the theater at 1030 and waited for an hour and a half before they let us in to sit down. Then some Cancun boys (as my brother calls them) saunter up at 11:35 and stand near us. They start dropping F bombs and playing on their iPhones and one them asks me, without looking at me because he's too cool, "Can I see your ticket?" And I just stare at him suspiciously and ask, "Why?" "I just want to make sure I'm in the right line." "Well, this is line for Theater 1 and it ends all the way back there." He scoffed at me and continued to stand too close to me until we get into the theater. Also, during the movie some 14 year old girls got up and down and walked in front of us FIVE times. About the 3rd times I gave the passive aggressive ultra loud sigh and slowly shifted my feet to let her through. I HATE TEENAGERS.

• People in costumes. Confession time: I am the proud maker and owner of a pink shirt that reads, "Mrs. Harry Potter." I wear it to the book releases and to the movie premieres. My little T-shirt got its ass kicked by all the full on costumes we saw last night. A group of miscreants was walking around terrifying small kids (and me to be honest). One of them looked like he escaped from the basement of Saw. He was dressed as the character Bane, who I'd never heard of. He was pretty overweight and sporting a white t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and grey sweatpants. He was also sporting a gas mask. The Scarecrow, the Riddler, the Mad Hatter, the Penguin, Cat Woman, Harley Quinn, and Two Face were all there. And of course several Jokers. A normal looking couple showed up in regular clothes but had lipstick smeared all over their faces, Joker style. There weren't as many Batmans as I thought there would be. I guess he's not as interesting. Plus only one guy in a million can pull off the suit and that man is Christian Bale.
  

• A Harry Potter trailer. NOPE. Nothing. I was nearly ready to leave when the movie started because I was so disappointed. Now they're saying that the trailer will come out before the stupid, nerdy Star Wars Clones movie that I won't see. Hopefully someone will leak it onto the internet, please God!

• An amazing movie. I knew the movie would be good, everyone did. Remember in a previous post where I said (regarding There Will Be Blood) that you know it's a good movie when a character leaves you squirming in your chair because you don't know what he'll do next. I was literally scared whenever the Joker came on screen. In most movies, you're not TOO scared of the bad guy because you know the good guy will prevail. But all bets are off in this one. After his first few appearances, I was uncomfortable during the scenes he WASN'T in because I knew it was coming. I knew he would do something terrible and I dreaded it.
  

What I did NOT expect from the midnight release of Dark Knight:

• To cry. But I did. Twice. And I definitely didn't expect Nick to cry. But he did. And at a different time than me. So there are potentially 3 tear inducing scenes. Be prepared.
  

• To have no idea what was going to happen. For all you comic book connoisseurs (sweet Jesus, that's a hard word to spell), this will probably not be the case. But the plot takes so many turns, it just keeps going and going. With most comic book movies, you can guess the entire storyline from the preview, but not this one. Beacon said that he watched every video clip that emerged about this movie and about 45 minutes into the film, he'd seen every clip he'd already watched. Brilliant.
  

• To agree with the hype that Heath Ledger will probably win an Oscar. He vanishes into the role, Philip Seymour Hoffman style. It's heartbreaking and exhilarating to watch.
  

We're seeing it again on Sunday. Best movie of the summer. Now if only the *$*&#(&$ Harry Potter trailer would come out.

kramer vs. kramer

What a perfect movie to watch on Father's Day! Apart from the really sad parts anyway. I saw the movie years ago and loved it, but watching it this time, I paid more attention to the subtleties of the relationship between Ted and Joanne. It's a perfect movie.

Some of my favorite parts are the interactions between Ted and his single female neighbor, Margaret. They swap stories since they're both abandoned spouses and if it was a modern day movie, they would have fallen in love. Instead they support one another. In the park when she talks about how hard it was to get divorced, he touches her face in a way that's not sexual or romantic, but you can tell it had been awhile since anyone showed her tenderness.

I think it's easy to hate Joanne in this, but I just felt sorry for her. I can understand feeling like you have no identity outside of your family and I can understand feeling that if you weren't totally fulfilled by your child and husband then something must be wrong with you.

What I love about the movie though is even though he is so angry at her for coming back suddenly and interrupting the life he has created with his son, there is still so much between them. So much connectedness. The scene in the courtroom when the mean lawyer yells at her and asks her if she's ruined the most important relationship in her life, the one with her husband, she looks over at Ted and he smiles at her and shakes his head and mouths, "No, you didn't." And she smiles wryly back and answers yes.

And the scenes with Billy and Ted? Forget it. The way Ted is so careful not to vilify her and explains that Billy is going to live with his mom. And Billy starts crying and asks, "If you get lonesome will you call me, Daddy?"

I've seen so many kids for counseling who are a product of divorced parents and it is amazing how protective they are of each parent. So careful not to hurt anyone's feelings or show a preference to either parent. Even if a parent was neglectful or abusive, they are almost afraid to be angry about it. One 7 year old client said in a moment of extraordinary clarity, "I don't have a a good time at my dad's house and it's not fun, but it makes me feel bad that he doesn't get to see us very much, so I still go over there." I spend alot of time convincing kids that's it's normal to be angry at being put in that situation and counseling is a time to get it out. This may not be the life you wanted or deserve, but it can still be a great life.

And alot of time the kids teach me the same thing.

Regular Men

I need to preface this by saying this was originally going to be a rant about my husband, but when I had time to think about it more it turned into a rant about Hollywood. Let me explain...

I just finished watching a lovely movie called P.S. I Love You, starring Hilary Swank and Gerald Butler. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone here, but I'm pretty sure Nick is the only one who reads it after I tell him to. So, Holly (Swank) and Gerry (Butler) are married for nine years when he discovers he has a brain tumor and dies. Holly is obviously wracked with grief and finds it difficult to move on with her life until she starts receiving letters from Gerry, from beyond the grave. In the letters he gives her all kinds of advice and reassurance that he loves her and everything you would expect in a letter from beyond the grave. (It seems more meaningful in italics) He evens plans a trip for her and her two best friends to Ireland, where the friends find letters from Gerry waiting for them as well as Holly. As you might expect, there is one last meaningful letter from Gerry in which he tells her he WANTS her to move on and fall in love again and Holly eventually sleeps with someone else, starts a new business, becomes rich and moves on. Lovely, indeed.

So I finish the movie a little teary-eyed and lovesick and then Nick comes into our bedroom and sits next to me on the bed. I snuggle into his chest, ready for a little sweet talk and this is how the conversation goes:

Me: Babe? Will you promise me something?
Him: Depends on what it is. (already it's not going as planned)
Me: If you have a terminal illness, will you write me letters and arrange them to get to me after you're dead. You know, from beyond the grave?
Him: Are you crazy? You want me to spend my final time on earth writing you letters? I'm gonna be livin'! I won't have time for that! You know I love you, I don't need to put it in a letter.

I punched him in the arm and got into the shower in a huff. While shampooing, I was steaming over what an asshole I'd married. How dare he? If he really loved me, he'd promise to do whatever I asked, especially if he was dying, the selfish bastard. About the time I started with the conditioner, I got a shock to my system and realized this wasn't Nick's fault (there is a first time for everything). It was the movie's fault. They put these ideas into our heads and set us up for disappointment in our marriages! So I started thinking about other movies that I love that set regular men up for failure and I came up with SEVERAL examples which I will now outline for you here

I'm calling this list What Regular Men Won't Do So Don't Get Your Hopes Up And Just Learn To Love Them For Who They Are:

1. Pretty Woman - regular men won't pick you up from Hollywood Boulevard and give you $3,000 to go to work parties with them and then fall in love with you and buy you a lot of clothes. Nor will they spend all day shopping with you. I don't need to tell you what a regular man might do with a prostitute, do I?

2. Return to Me - regular men won't get on a plane and fly to Italy and search the country to find you and tell you it's okay that you in fact are host to their dead's wife's heart and it's okay. You've got an uncomfortable email coming your way instead.

3. Win A Date With Tad Hamilton - regular men who are secretly in love with you won't tell the guy that you are dating that you have six smiles: one when something makes you laugh, one when you're making plans, one when you're laughing out of politeness, one when you are uncomfortable, one when you are making fun of yourself, and one when you are talking about your friends. There is no way Nick could tell you how many smiles I have, but he could tell you how many stages of crazy I have in a heartbeat.

4. Love Actually - regular men won't show up at your door with a set of poster boards with a dozen reasons why he loves you or whatever. They may send a drunken text message, however.

5. Only You - regular men won't fall in love with you after you slam into them looking for another man and then do ANYTHING to get you to fall in love with them, including lying about their identity, planning a huge elaborate hoax to trick you into falling in love with them and then helping you find the supposed man of your dreams.

And here's the ultimate thing regular men won't do...
6. Dirty Dancing - regular men won't come up to you at a social function in front of your parents (especially in front of your dad, who fixed a botched abortion for someone he thinks your man got into "trouble") and dance with you on a stage in front of hundreds of people. They certainly wouldn't tell your dad to keep you out of a corner, if your dad saw fit to put you there in the first place


Because I don't want to leave you women (and men) out there is despair, here are some examples of what regular men WILL DO...(this is based off my own personal experience)
1. They will always pump your gas.
2. They will hug your mother when they see her.
3. They will bring you Diet Coke in bed after a hard night of drinking.
4. They will call you wifey (not in front of other people, mind you.)
5. They will take out the trash.
6. They will rub your feet after a long day (but they won't paint your toenails, that's Hollywood and a Justin Timberlake video)
7. They will absentmindedly stroke your neck while you drive.
8. They will still insist on paying for meals even after the money all comes from the same place.
9. They will send you messages throughout the day when they see something that makes them think of you.
10. They will dance with you in the kitchen (only sometimes, because they don't want you to start expecting it).

I am ever thankful for my regular man. And I should point out that after I told him what a jerk he was for not agreeing to send me letters, he relented and said he would use an email service that lets you post-date emails for several years ahead. That's what we call love in the digital age.

movie reviews

I forgot to mention that Nick and I went to THREE movies this weekend again. We really should seek professional help for our addiction. Here's the goods:

Untraceable: Diane Lane thriller. Actually better than I thought it would be. Interesting, not too gruesome, exciting.

The Savages: Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman. So good. They play a brother and sister who have to start taking care of their aging father. Anything that Philip Seymour does, I am there. He gets lost in every character he plays. I forget I'm really watching him instead of an actual person. I sent Tyler a text during the movie that said, "I'm watching the Savages right now and it's like looking into our future." Except of course we love our Dad and wouldn't stick him in a third rate nursing home. Or would we?!

Sweeney Todd: Nick and Beacon went to see Rambo, but there's no way I could sit through that. I'm still not sure what I think of Sweeney. I guess it's strange seeing a sad musical. Who sings when they are sad? I think I was just too tired for this one Saturday night. I didn't love it.

Also go see There Will Be Blood. So well done. You know it's a good movie when you are literally squirming in your seat because you don't know what the crazy main character will do next.