My Goal, My Rating System, and Romantic Comedies!

Goal:
I'll start this with a bit of backstory, since that is how I do most things. During Christmas of 2008, my Uncle told me I should keep a movie log, due to the fact that I watch an outrageous amount of films. He told me that he does and has been doing so for quite some time. Since January of 2009, I have been keeping a log of all of the films I see with a little rating out of 5. My rating system follows the Netflix rating system:
★ - Hated it.
★★ - Didn't like it.
★★★ - Good.
★★★★ - Really liked it.
★★★★★ - Loved it.
Anything with ½ falls in between categories.

So, now that that has been said, I'll get to my goal for this year. In 2009, I watched 200 films. I felt that was sub par. So I set the bar higher: This year, my goal is 300 films. Early summer was a bit slow for me, but, as of August, if I can watch 2 films a day for the rest of the year, I will break my goal by ~30. So, let the games begin!

Today, I felt like watching some Romantic Comedies. I figured I would watch one that was short and mindless, one that looked a little more serious, and an indie comedy. These are what I watched:
The Proposal (Anne Fletcher, 2009)

As I previously mentioned, I felt like watching something mindless. I don't really mind watching Ryan Reynolds (Waiting..., Adventureland, Definitely, Maybe) and I certainly don't mind Sandra Bullock (Speed, The Net, Miss Congeniality) so it's not like this movie was absolutely intolerable. I would definitely venture to say that this was a chick flick. It wasn't "Friday Night Flick" on Lifetime material, but it's not something I would go boasting to my friends about. Yet, I'm posting it on here... Whatever.

The story behind this movie is Sandra Bullock is the head hancho editor of this company and Ryan Reynolds is her assistant. She is from Canada and her Visa expires so she makes up a lie that she is engaged to Reynolds to save her job. As cliché as that sounds, I don't watch high budget romantic comedies for the storyline. I expect pretty much the same film over and over and over and over and over and over and over for the rest of time. This movie is definitely as predictable as it is cliché, but I'm blaming that on the statement said in the previous sentence. If it makes money, whatever.

I really don't have that much to say about this. I mean, the film, overall, is innocent enough. It has it's quirks and it certainly didn't feel like an eternity while watching it. A good friend of mine, and a fellow co-worker from my Blockbuster days, once told me that he can find something redeeming about almost any film and I try to do the same now.

★★★ - Not the best chick flick I have ever seen, not the worst. If you can watch it for free and you have 90 minutes to kill, sure, why not?


Second film of today:
The Answer Man (John Hindman, 2009)

If you are anything like me, you looked at the cover of this and said, "Woah! That kind of looks like Rachael Ray!" I definitely did and immediately added it to my queue on Netflix. Then, I realized it was Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls, Evan Almighty, Bad Santa) and got a little sad (for those of you who don't know, I adore Rachael Ray, despite the fact that she has the voice of a 9 year old Tom Waits). After thinking about it though, I don't think Rachael Ray would be that good at actually acting... I mean, on 30 Minute Meals she is adorable but, on her talk show, she has this weird "I'm absolutely crazy and if we were together you would probably wake up next to me just staring at you and once I realized you were somewhat awake, I would ask you, 'what are you thinking about?', incredibly expectant that you would give me some deeply philosophical answer, despite the fact that you have been awake for maybe 2 seconds." I feel like those are her only personalities... I digress.

I figured I would watch this because of Jeff Daniels (The Squid and the Whale, Dumb and Dumber, The Purple Rose of Cairo). In the film, he plays a writer who, at one point in time, wrote a best selling self help book and then hid from the spotlight for 20 years.

This was a nice little indie gem. The film's cheery and light-hearted candy shell definitely has a more sobering chocolate center. Lou Taylor Pucci (Carriers, The Chumbscrubber, Thumbsucker) plays a recovering alcoholic bookstore owner on the verge of losing his store. Overall, the character interactions seem to be really awkward and tense but not in a bad-acting sort of way. It was just that new interaction awkward realism. Sort of like that sentence; it has that 3 am "my brain is fried so I can't really make coherent statements" realism to it.

★★★★ - This film is definitely worth seeing. The acting is well done, the film flows really well, and it is just overall a good watch.



Happy Accidents (Brad Anderson, 2000)

There are a lot of things in film that force me to want to see it:
1. Claims of controversy or traumatizing tendencies.
2. Golden Retrievers (I don't care what you say, Air Bud and Homeward Bound are the best things to ever happen to cinema).
3. Time Travel.

This film isn't controversial and it doesn't have a Golden Retriever, but it DOES talk about time travel and how it could be possible. This was one of those films where I looked through Netflix's options for streaming movies and saw Marisa Tomei (Cyrus, The Wrestler, In The Bedroom) and was absolutely sold. 110 Minutes of eye candy is good enough for me. I later came to realize that the man whose name I can never pronounce, Vincent D'Onofrio (Law and Order: CI, The Cell, Thumbsucker) was in it. So, I instantly became happier about my decision.

I'm feeling really lazy about typing the synopsis for this, so this is what Netflix has to say: Ruby Weaver (Marisa Tomei) is tired of being the "enabler" in relationships and has decided to give up the role of doormat. She's also on the verge of giving up on love when she meets a sweet, small-town guy, Sam Deed (Vincent D'Onofrio), who changes her mind. It seems Ruby's finally found a sane boyfriend -- until Sam divulges that he's a time traveler from the year 2470. Now it's up to Ruby to decide whether love can conquer all. Sounds cool, right?

It was pretty cool! :D The whole film, I was incredibly intrigued by D'Onofrio's ability to play this incredibly happy and almost naïve man. There were some parts, such as the first scene with the two of them, where I wasn't entirely convinced by Tomei's performance, but D'Onofrio does a nice job, and that was really my only negative comment about Tomei.

★★★★ - I probably wouldn't watch this again, but I felt it was good enough to merit that extra star. It feels a bit longer than it is but I thought the story was so unique and I kept going back and forth thinking to myself, "Is he lying? Is he crazy? Is he legit?" that I feel it deserves that fourth star. Definitely, definitely, definitely a great film and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a film with a good story.


There is one more movie that I watched last night, but wasn't going to include in this, that I feel now I should talk about:
Lonesome Jim (Steve Buscemi, 2005)

I really couldn't tell you why I wasn't going to talk about this film. I was really blown away by it. Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone, The Assassination of Jesse James, Gerry) plays this really depressed writer who moves back in with his parents and his brother, and meets this girl at a bar, played by Liv Tyler (The Incredible Hulk, The Strangers, Jersey Girl). I felt that I could really relate to Aflleck's character in this. We both write (although, who doesn't?), we both admire dead, depressed artists, and we both think Liv Tyler is attractive.

If the fact that Casey Affleck is starring in an indie drama/comedy with Liv Tyler isn't enough for you, how about the fact that it is directed by Steve Buscemi (Interview, Fargo, The Big Lebowski)? I am rarely let down by anything that man touches. Fargo is up there in my favorite films of all time and this one has his personality stamped all over it. It's quirky with a hint of underlying darkness, which is how I think of him in Fargo.

I think my only quarrel with Lonesome Jim is that, to my knowledge, Buscemi doesn't have a cameo. I would have loved to have seen that unique, bug eyed face of his. Oh well.

★★★★ - I would definitely suggest this for anyone who likes Steve Buscemi, be it as an actor or as a director. I will warn you though, this film has a lot of moments I deem "cringeworthy." I use that term to describe any scene in which you just cringe in embarrassment for the character. There are quite a few of those in this one.




I SHOULD NOTE: I promise you, I don't give most films I watch 4 stars, although it may seem that way. I have just seen a lot of good movies recently. I gave The Wolfman ½ (total) only because it had Benicio del Toro. It was the only movie I have seen in theaters that I have ever walked out on. Luckily I only paid $5 to see it, but I still wanted my money back. And I feel like they should have given me some free Sour Patch Kids for not warning me that it was THAT bad in the first place.



I think that is all the updates I have thus far. I have created a list of future topics that I want to make, so I should have a lot of new posts soon.

Roll credits.