Bridesmaids

2011 comedy

Rating: 14/20 (Jen: 16/20)

Plot: Annie's BFF Lillian is getting hitched, and Annie, of course, is asked to be the maid-of-honor. Her life stinks in numerous ways, but she's happy for her friend. A rivalry develops with a new friend of Lillian's who seems to want to take over BFF duties.

My brother recommended this one which surprised me a little bit because he does not like to laugh. Though it's not on the surface much different than the majority of the modern comedies we have dumped on us, especially the ones with the name Apatow attached to them (he produced this), I found this one more consistently funny and easier to like. There are moments when everybody involved seems to be trying a little too hard and the dependence on gross-out gags, something that irritates me if I'm not in the right sort of mood, was there. But the almost-improvisational feel this has gives the characters and their relationships a very natural rhythm. I don't know anything about Kristen Wiig other than she has too man i's in her last name. I don't know her SNL work and don't remember her in the movies I've seen in which she's had smaller parts. Here, I was impressed, and not just because I thought she was kind of cute. She's got this ability to be absolutely adorable and ugly at the same time, and her ability to pull off this character who is likable and unlikable at the same time really makes this movie work. I don't care much for Minnie Ripperton's kid, another former (?) SNL alumnus, though. It's Melissa McCarthy, the Molly in some show I've never seen called Mike and Molly, who really steals the show though. At first, I was thinking, "This character is hilarious, but she's either not going to be in this movie very much or they're going to kill it by having her in way too many scenes." She ended up being in the movie a lot, and "a lot" was the perfect amount of screen time for her. She was physically very funny, and the outrageous and often absurd bits of dialogue make me wonder how the other actresses got through the scenes without laughing at her. I also liked Chris O'Dowd's character, but I'm pretty sure I was supposed to. O'Dowd, by the way, could probably end up in every romantic comedy. In the end, this isn't a terribly deep or even very original movie, but it did succeed in making me a little happier than I was before I started watching it. That's something.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

1958 movie

Rating: 16/20 (Jen: 16/20)

Plot: Big Daddy, a wealthy plantation owner, is the big birthday boy. He returns from a trip to enjoy some time with his two sons--firstborn Gooper and favorite Brick. Unfortunately for Big Daddy, somebody sent him the worst birthday present of all time--cancer. Before Big Daddy's return, Brick decides to try to impress the ghost of his late friend Skipper with whom he enjoyed a long homoerotic relationship, and he drunkenly breaks his leg while jumping over hurdles at a high school track. Everybody argues about various things. Maggie humps Brick's broken leg.

The first third of this movie is dominated by an argument between Brick and Maggie and it's got a lot of things working for it. First, the performers are good looking. People like to see good looking people. Second, the good looking people are Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor, and they're pretty good actors at the top of their game here. Third, the dialogue is crisp and caustic and dynamic and charged. I loved Brick's answer to his niece's question about why he's on the floor. "Cause I tried to kill your aunt Maggie." Finally (the "thing working for it" that I'm probably making up), I really like how the architecture and decor of the room is ingeniously used to visually represent this tension between the two, a tension that, since this all begins in medias res, the audience has no way of comprehending. I really dig how line, color contrasts, lighting, and mirrors are used to show the detachment between the husband and wife. It's great stuff. Overall, there's almost too much going on in this. The conflicts get as cluttered as Big Daddy's basement. Oh, and speaking of Big Daddy, out of all the strong performances in Cat, Burl Ives' performance as the patriarch is my favorite. And the guy just oozes sexuality! I sometimes have difficulty staying focused with play adaptations, but this dialogue-heavy movie is never boring. I don't like the title very much though. I would have called it My Leg Is Broken and My Nephew Has No Neck so Pass Me My Drink, Big Daddy or Gooper, Whoever Is the Closest to Said Drink. Maybe that's why I don't write plays.

Dogtown and Z-Boys

2001 skateboarding documentary

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Details the genesis of extreme skateboarding with California's Zephyr surfing (later skateboarding) team near Venice Beach in a small community called Dogtown. When the waves were quiet, they'd be forced to surf the concrete, eventually, thanks to a terrible drought, finding their way to empty swimming pools. In the mid-70s, they find overnight fame and success and go their separate ways to influence future generations of skate punks.

Great documentary by a couple of the Zephyr gang. There's an astounding amount of video and still photographs, and the participants give comprehensive and, for the most part, humble anecdotes and details to create a complete story. I was surprised with how interested I was in this stuff considering I'm old enough to chase people like this off my lawn. Even more impressive is how director Piralta was able to make clear the impact these kids had on the sport to a guy like me who wouldn't be able to attempt standing on a skateboard without breaking an arm. I was left with very few questions. And I imagine, a skateboarding fan and aficionado would find this just as rewarding. The story's very well-paced although it nearly grinds to a halt at one point when there's a focus on a few of the individual members instead of the collective. That punk Sean Penn narrates. There's also a terrific soundtrack. I'd type more, but I have to go buy a skateboard and empty out somebody's pool. I'm about to get gnarly, bitches.

This was a Kairow recommendation that I finally got around to watching.