Say Something Funny...B*tch

Okay, so in my last article I discussed “Bridesmaids,” (Yay!), “The Hangover: Part II” (Nay) and “Super 8” (Yay Yay!) 

Well, this weekend, XBF and I had our own movie marathon.  Friday night, after making some dinner (mustard, garlic and soy sauce marinated salmon and green beans topped with a low-cal cheese sauce that I made up… let me know if you want the recipe… it came out pretty tasty) and we headed to the Arclight in Sherman Oaks to see “Beginners.”   

Now, I hate when people give a movie review and end up ruining the movie… so, all I want to say is…  I loved it.  Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer gave outstanding performances and while I didn’t cry too much during the movie… once the credits rolled, I was bawling.  Now, you may be wondering… Was there anything emotional about said credits?  Was someone killing babies?  Or killing animals?  Or killing baby animals?  No, they were just regular credits, but the emotion that swelled within me throughout the movie, came out in a blotchy, red-faced stream of emotion.  I was not a pretty sight. 

Needing to decompress, XBF and I tried to sneak into “Kung Fu Panda 2.”  Hmm, that’s not exactly true.  I tried to sneak into “Kung Fu Panda 2,” and XBF, at a loss for where to go, followed me in, looking as conspicuous as ever.  The previews were just starting and as we looked at the chairs in the theater we noticed they were all empty.  Knowing we were at the Arclight, a theater where you pre-select your seats, we quickly realized that should we sit in a theater where no seats were purchased, we would surely be discovered and we therefore quickly left the theater. 

I walked towards the validation machine… mostly in the hopes that a voice within the contraption would actually tell me I’m wonderful, I don’t look like a monster when I cry and that I’m a pretty good writer and not to give up on my dreams just yet.  Acknowledging that the validation machine only distributed parking verification stamps and not words of encouragement, I continued walking towards theater 4 where “Midnight in Paris” was playing AT MIDNIGHT!  How perfect? 

It took XBF a few moments, a few awkward glances around and some fidgeting to finally be on board with the plan to make this a double feature evening.   

Again, not wanting to spoil anything about the movie… I really liked it.  Not being a huge Owen Wilson lover… he did a great job stepping into Woody Allen’s now-too-old-to-play-the-young-love-interest place in the film.  And as Adrien Brody said in the movie, “I see a… rhinoceros.”  If you haven’t seen the movie, fear not, I gave nothing away, and you are probably just feeling a little confused.  However, if you’ve seen the movie, this should have made you laugh. You’re welcome.   

Saturday night, we tried for a just a single feature, we didn’t want to get too greedy.  We went out with friends to see, “X-Men First Class.”  I fear it might have been built up too much for me.  Every person I talked to who had seen it, threw around words like, “loved” and “amazing,” so my expectations were that I too would love it and find it amazing.   

Instead, I liked it and found it enjoyable.  It was a great origins story.  However, some of the dialogue made me want to laugh when it was not appropriate to do so.  Sure, Kevin Bacon was a great (as XBF described him) charming villain.  James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender were fantastic.  However, Jennifer Lawrence and January Jones were nothing special.  Yes, January Jones is fun to look at… in human and diamond form, however the ladies were just “off.”  Maybe Jennifer was constricted physically with her Mystique make-up on and it manifested itself emotionally.  And maybe Ashton Kutcher was onto something back in 2000 telling his then girlfriend, Ms. Jones, to give up acting. 

I would definitely recommend all of these movies… I’d probably give “Beginners” an A “Midnight in Paris” I’d give an A- and “X-Men First Class” I’d give a B+.  But if you’re looking for a feel-good movie… I guess I’d say, “Midnight in Paris.”  It was an inspiring movie about what inspires us.  Basically, I hope this blog inspires you to watch the movie, which will in turn inspire you to be inspired.  How’s that for inspiration? 
 
 
 
 You can see the real -life JESSICA GLASSBERG at ‘The C Word Show’ at the Comedy Store in the Belly Room TONIGHT at 8pm.  Go.  She is hilarious.  Period.