94 and 95 ("Bachelorette" and "Hunger")
"Bachelorette"
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, and Adam Scott
Wedding films seem done to death (or until death do us part). Most recent ones seem to focus on a certain humorous scenario related to entire spectacle of a wedding. I don't want to come off as a chauvinist, but I also believe that the majority of the films are romantic comedies geared more towards a female audience, until recently when the male demographic got in on the gags (with "Wedding Crashers" and "The Hangover"). A lot of these wedding films fall short of being decent, perhaps because they are very formulaic and there is usually something at stake that ends up getting resolved in the third act. In the past couple of years we've had some good, female-driven rauchy comedies to answer for, at least, "The Hangover" and those answers have been "Bridesmaids" and this film "Bachelorette" with the former being a better answer (thanks to a stellar performance by Kristen Wiig).
In "Bachelorette" the title character, Becky, is played by Rebel Wilson. She is the over-weight/large best friend of Regan (played by Kirsten Dunst) and in the opening scene we learn that Becky is getting married, which doesn't sit well with Regan, but it does set up the entire movie and it also sets in motion the reunion of the B-Faces (BFFs). Regan calls Gena and Katy (played by Lizzy Caplan and Isla Fisher). This trio truly live up to the term "bitches" when they get together and there is no stopping the bachelorette party from getting out of control when you put these three girls together. Gena and Katy show up and immediately want to do coke to start off the party. Isla Fisher plays the real ditzy girl and unfortunately she's been here before (re: "Wedding Crashers").
Gena and Katy are in charge of keeping the wedding dress safe. So, you know that's going to be the thing that goes wrong and drives the rest of the film, because after all, if there's no wedding dress, there's no wedding. The dress gets ruined in a coked-up bachelorette after-party with the trio of girls, of which Regan is the ring leader (but still seems to have a heart). Much like its male predecessors, this film focuses on the need for gluttony (or excess), be it weed, coke, alcohol, and/or sex. The girls have a lot of it. Gena is dreading seeing her ex-boyfriend (played by Adam Scott) at the wedding, but ultimately you see that her tough skin is facade for being hurt and let down by him years ago. When she reaches out to him for help (with the ruined wedding dress), she ends up breaking her own wall down to him. Katy, meanwhile, is the party-girl stuck at a dead-end in her life, which she seems to have accepted, but still finds it necessary to put up a facade.
Regan, as a character, embodies her bitchiness as the event planner of the wedding. Her tough-as-nails persona is clearly a mask for something else (perhaps an insecurity) that the director never really gets at because the film remains a bit shallow throughout, so the characters have to follow suit. In fact, the epiphany each of the three girls seem to have is an acknowledgment of the emptiness in their lives. And you'll feel rather empty after watching this film, even though it is just shy of 90 minutes, it gets the point across.
My Top Wedding Films include the follow (in no particular order):
1. Four Weddings and a Funeral
2. Mamma Mia!
3. Bridesmaids
4. My Best Friend's Wedding
5. The Wedding Crashers
6. Rachel Getting Married
7. The Wedding Singer
8. The Hangover
9. Father of the Bride
10. The Princess Bride
..........................................................................................
"Hunger"
Starring: Michael Fassbender
This is probably one of the most intense films I've watched in a long time. It focuses on the battle between the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and the British state in 1981, which led to a hunger strike seemingly led by prisoner Bobby Sands, whose demise from the strike seems inevitable once he sets his mind to it. There doesn't seem to be a hidden agenda by director Steve McQueen (who won a few awards for this, his first film).
It is more about the inhumane prison conditions these IRA members endured at the hands of the British. As you witness what these men went through, you begin to form your own opinion. The non-compliant prisoners are left naked (unless they are with visitors). They are severely beaten; their hair and beards are cut with bloodied and rusted scissors; they are forcefully scrubbed and showered by the guards; and just utterly dehumanized. They retaliate by smearing their feces on the four walls of their cells, but then they seem to be forced to power-wash it themselves (I couldn't really tell because of the hazard suit worn during the scene).
It is also about the unbreakable, steel-like determination of these IRA members (so much so that they induce a hunger strike). There are two great scenes in which this determination is really showcased (and focused mainly on Bobby Sands (played brilliantly by Michael Fassbender, after being absent from almost the entire first act, as the director instead chooses to use that time wisely to focus on the harsh conditions these prisoners undertook, which really makes a hunger strike seem viable and actually the lesser of two evils).
During the film there is a scene in which Bobby Sands and his priest are having a conversation for 20+ minutes (17 of which are a single-shot camera angle which makes you really focus on the conversation they are having and its meaning). It focuses on the point of the hunger strike and the moral implications as well as the political impact he is hoping to make, which begs the question of how much does a single person matter in the grand scheme of things, at least politically (even though 9 other prisoners died for the cause as well).
I had my own conversation with a friend immediately after viewing the film and we discussed it. He asked me about what my impression or takeaway was from the film and its point. What point is the film trying to make? I ended up going in a completely different direction than I think he expected because although the film has obvious political points and undertones, I couldn't help but think of the self-deprivation I am known to put myself through over the years, and just the fact that this was a film about a "hunger strike" kind of hit home for me on a different sort of level. Sometime I've struggled with for years (well, since my parents were separated/divorced, I know it seems cliche to talk about it) has been my own personal demon of a self-inflicted eating disorder, rather rare in guys, I know, but I cannot deny that it's there and has been for a very long time. Every time I look at myself in a mirror, I don't see with "regular" glasses. I believe it's called body dysmorphic disorder. I've always been concerned with my body image; I tend to focus solely on my torso (stomach), and who doesn't really? But I tend to become overly/excessively concerned with how it looks, wanting it to look a certain way, some might say "perfect" and I get anxiety over how I look and how I want to look. And it never really matters what people tell me, I can't ignore how I see myself, even though I try (maybe not too hard).
I can remember it started mostly to prove that I didn't need others to take care of me, that I could take care of myself, even though that's a giant cry for help (which I recognize). But, in high school, I would purposely not bring food for lunch and I would just go around, from table to table, and ask if people had anything extra they wanted to give me. It was a bit of a survival technique, since my dad wasn't really around very much and I was left to fend for myself (for the most part), not that he was neglectful, he just had obligations and he was seeing a woman and spending a lot of time with her. I was a senior in high school and left to my own devices. So, I decided to become somewhat of a downtrodden beggar, of sorts. Like I've said before, I've always been likable, so getting things was never much of a problem (maybe people have felt bad for me, what a kid who has to fend for himself, a kid whose mother left her family and moved to North Carolina, a kid with potential who never saw it in himself). Like I said one day at school a couple of months ago: "I've survived on my charm for quite awhile."
Then, when I graduated from high school, while I was living in my uncle's basement for free, I pretty much survived on peanut butter and crackers (Saltines) for an entire year, with occasion "good" meals, but I don't think I really ever bought a full amount of groceries. Ever. I had just enough to stock a mini-size fridge (you know, the ones that you bring with you to college, in fact, I think it was my sister's old college fridge). It actually got so bad, when I had my own studio apartment that my father even confronted me about it all, but I denied it and shut down the conversation pretty quickly. Then, he in turn started offering to take me grocery shopping with him whenever he was in town, probably about once a month, and I would try to live off that food for the month. I know what you're thinking, why couldn't or didn't I just spend my money on groceries? I just willingly accepted handouts from my father. What a spoiled brat. But for years I never saw the point of spending money on things that would literally become waste. Yes, a part of me was being selfish, spending money on wants and not needs, but I didn't look at it that way. I didn't view food as a necessity. Weird? Probably. And I wanted so badly to remain the "ideal" me that I envisioned for myself. (It never really helped that I looked at celebrities like Brad Pitt as the ideal man. I mean, I can remember seeing the film "Troy" and thinking that's what I wanted to look like.) The "skinny" glasses that I wore were a bit frightening at times. I remember going to the hospital for something related to not eating. I've also always been an non-eater when I am stressed (kind of the opposite of other people). I've been down to about 110 pounds twice in my adult life, around the time I was 21 years old and again last year when I was in a bad relationship and stressed constantly. I seem to punish myself not for enjoyment, but I guess to feel something, or to prove a point, to who, I don't know, because as I discussed this with my friend the another night he mentioned how he remembered me having issues with food. Another conversation with a different friend, that we seemed to have over and over throughout our friendship, like a broken record, was brought to mind as well. For the longest period of my life I was also "straight edge" with a main focus on not drinking alcohol. My friend, Vanessa, would always ask me what the point was, why I chose to not do certain things, why I would almost deprive myself of enjoying the little things in life, I guess, I'm still not quite sure. I would always answer back with "to prove that I don't need that stuff" or "to make me feel superior to everyone else who does drink." And she would reply, "People don't care. People don't know or care that you're proving something to them, they are wrapped up in their own shit. No one is judging you, only you are." Every time we had that conversation, it always stuck with me, but never enough for me to change things about myself, until my 30th birthday, when I finally broke my "Edge" and had a beer at dinner with my friends. I felt free. Free from myself. Free of the self-deprivation I'd created, as a punishment, as a sense of control. I was proving a point, much like Bobby Sands, except I had my epiphany thanks to friends and myself, but the eating disorder has never left and it came back to me a couple of days ago, actually, because I was looking for some new clothes and I had to realize that I've gone up a couple of sizes in pants (from a 30 to a 32, which seems really significant to me, since I'd been wearing size 30 pants since probably high school). My weight has also gone up this year as well, which is probably a good thing, because just about a year ago, I was about 115 pounds thanks to a terrible relationship, so I guess it's a good thing that I've put weight back on. For years I've been "struggling" with weighing no more than 130-135 pounds. When I hit 140 pounds, it was a bit of a milestone for me, and not necessarily one that I appreciated. I've always wanted to be bigger, with muscles and a toned body, but seeing 140 on a scale kind of freaked me out.
I don't know what's going to happen from here, in terms of my body image and the eating disorder (which, by the way, is self-diagnosed), but that's where the conversation led to with my best friend the other night. It left me feeling like I could be open with myself. I seem to be at an age now where things change and I need to start taking care of myself better than I ever did throughout my entire 20s.
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, and Adam Scott
Wedding films seem done to death (or until death do us part). Most recent ones seem to focus on a certain humorous scenario related to entire spectacle of a wedding. I don't want to come off as a chauvinist, but I also believe that the majority of the films are romantic comedies geared more towards a female audience, until recently when the male demographic got in on the gags (with "Wedding Crashers" and "The Hangover"). A lot of these wedding films fall short of being decent, perhaps because they are very formulaic and there is usually something at stake that ends up getting resolved in the third act. In the past couple of years we've had some good, female-driven rauchy comedies to answer for, at least, "The Hangover" and those answers have been "Bridesmaids" and this film "Bachelorette" with the former being a better answer (thanks to a stellar performance by Kristen Wiig).
In "Bachelorette" the title character, Becky, is played by Rebel Wilson. She is the over-weight/large best friend of Regan (played by Kirsten Dunst) and in the opening scene we learn that Becky is getting married, which doesn't sit well with Regan, but it does set up the entire movie and it also sets in motion the reunion of the B-Faces (BFFs). Regan calls Gena and Katy (played by Lizzy Caplan and Isla Fisher). This trio truly live up to the term "bitches" when they get together and there is no stopping the bachelorette party from getting out of control when you put these three girls together. Gena and Katy show up and immediately want to do coke to start off the party. Isla Fisher plays the real ditzy girl and unfortunately she's been here before (re: "Wedding Crashers").
Gena and Katy are in charge of keeping the wedding dress safe. So, you know that's going to be the thing that goes wrong and drives the rest of the film, because after all, if there's no wedding dress, there's no wedding. The dress gets ruined in a coked-up bachelorette after-party with the trio of girls, of which Regan is the ring leader (but still seems to have a heart). Much like its male predecessors, this film focuses on the need for gluttony (or excess), be it weed, coke, alcohol, and/or sex. The girls have a lot of it. Gena is dreading seeing her ex-boyfriend (played by Adam Scott) at the wedding, but ultimately you see that her tough skin is facade for being hurt and let down by him years ago. When she reaches out to him for help (with the ruined wedding dress), she ends up breaking her own wall down to him. Katy, meanwhile, is the party-girl stuck at a dead-end in her life, which she seems to have accepted, but still finds it necessary to put up a facade.
Regan, as a character, embodies her bitchiness as the event planner of the wedding. Her tough-as-nails persona is clearly a mask for something else (perhaps an insecurity) that the director never really gets at because the film remains a bit shallow throughout, so the characters have to follow suit. In fact, the epiphany each of the three girls seem to have is an acknowledgment of the emptiness in their lives. And you'll feel rather empty after watching this film, even though it is just shy of 90 minutes, it gets the point across.
My Top Wedding Films include the follow (in no particular order):
1. Four Weddings and a Funeral
2. Mamma Mia!
3. Bridesmaids
4. My Best Friend's Wedding
5. The Wedding Crashers
6. Rachel Getting Married
7. The Wedding Singer
8. The Hangover
9. Father of the Bride
10. The Princess Bride
..........................................................................................
"Hunger"
Starring: Michael Fassbender
This is probably one of the most intense films I've watched in a long time. It focuses on the battle between the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and the British state in 1981, which led to a hunger strike seemingly led by prisoner Bobby Sands, whose demise from the strike seems inevitable once he sets his mind to it. There doesn't seem to be a hidden agenda by director Steve McQueen (who won a few awards for this, his first film).
It is more about the inhumane prison conditions these IRA members endured at the hands of the British. As you witness what these men went through, you begin to form your own opinion. The non-compliant prisoners are left naked (unless they are with visitors). They are severely beaten; their hair and beards are cut with bloodied and rusted scissors; they are forcefully scrubbed and showered by the guards; and just utterly dehumanized. They retaliate by smearing their feces on the four walls of their cells, but then they seem to be forced to power-wash it themselves (I couldn't really tell because of the hazard suit worn during the scene).
It is also about the unbreakable, steel-like determination of these IRA members (so much so that they induce a hunger strike). There are two great scenes in which this determination is really showcased (and focused mainly on Bobby Sands (played brilliantly by Michael Fassbender, after being absent from almost the entire first act, as the director instead chooses to use that time wisely to focus on the harsh conditions these prisoners undertook, which really makes a hunger strike seem viable and actually the lesser of two evils).
During the film there is a scene in which Bobby Sands and his priest are having a conversation for 20+ minutes (17 of which are a single-shot camera angle which makes you really focus on the conversation they are having and its meaning). It focuses on the point of the hunger strike and the moral implications as well as the political impact he is hoping to make, which begs the question of how much does a single person matter in the grand scheme of things, at least politically (even though 9 other prisoners died for the cause as well).
I had my own conversation with a friend immediately after viewing the film and we discussed it. He asked me about what my impression or takeaway was from the film and its point. What point is the film trying to make? I ended up going in a completely different direction than I think he expected because although the film has obvious political points and undertones, I couldn't help but think of the self-deprivation I am known to put myself through over the years, and just the fact that this was a film about a "hunger strike" kind of hit home for me on a different sort of level. Sometime I've struggled with for years (well, since my parents were separated/divorced, I know it seems cliche to talk about it) has been my own personal demon of a self-inflicted eating disorder, rather rare in guys, I know, but I cannot deny that it's there and has been for a very long time. Every time I look at myself in a mirror, I don't see with "regular" glasses. I believe it's called body dysmorphic disorder. I've always been concerned with my body image; I tend to focus solely on my torso (stomach), and who doesn't really? But I tend to become overly/excessively concerned with how it looks, wanting it to look a certain way, some might say "perfect" and I get anxiety over how I look and how I want to look. And it never really matters what people tell me, I can't ignore how I see myself, even though I try (maybe not too hard).
I can remember it started mostly to prove that I didn't need others to take care of me, that I could take care of myself, even though that's a giant cry for help (which I recognize). But, in high school, I would purposely not bring food for lunch and I would just go around, from table to table, and ask if people had anything extra they wanted to give me. It was a bit of a survival technique, since my dad wasn't really around very much and I was left to fend for myself (for the most part), not that he was neglectful, he just had obligations and he was seeing a woman and spending a lot of time with her. I was a senior in high school and left to my own devices. So, I decided to become somewhat of a downtrodden beggar, of sorts. Like I've said before, I've always been likable, so getting things was never much of a problem (maybe people have felt bad for me, what a kid who has to fend for himself, a kid whose mother left her family and moved to North Carolina, a kid with potential who never saw it in himself). Like I said one day at school a couple of months ago: "I've survived on my charm for quite awhile."
Then, when I graduated from high school, while I was living in my uncle's basement for free, I pretty much survived on peanut butter and crackers (Saltines) for an entire year, with occasion "good" meals, but I don't think I really ever bought a full amount of groceries. Ever. I had just enough to stock a mini-size fridge (you know, the ones that you bring with you to college, in fact, I think it was my sister's old college fridge). It actually got so bad, when I had my own studio apartment that my father even confronted me about it all, but I denied it and shut down the conversation pretty quickly. Then, he in turn started offering to take me grocery shopping with him whenever he was in town, probably about once a month, and I would try to live off that food for the month. I know what you're thinking, why couldn't or didn't I just spend my money on groceries? I just willingly accepted handouts from my father. What a spoiled brat. But for years I never saw the point of spending money on things that would literally become waste. Yes, a part of me was being selfish, spending money on wants and not needs, but I didn't look at it that way. I didn't view food as a necessity. Weird? Probably. And I wanted so badly to remain the "ideal" me that I envisioned for myself. (It never really helped that I looked at celebrities like Brad Pitt as the ideal man. I mean, I can remember seeing the film "Troy" and thinking that's what I wanted to look like.) The "skinny" glasses that I wore were a bit frightening at times. I remember going to the hospital for something related to not eating. I've also always been an non-eater when I am stressed (kind of the opposite of other people). I've been down to about 110 pounds twice in my adult life, around the time I was 21 years old and again last year when I was in a bad relationship and stressed constantly. I seem to punish myself not for enjoyment, but I guess to feel something, or to prove a point, to who, I don't know, because as I discussed this with my friend the another night he mentioned how he remembered me having issues with food. Another conversation with a different friend, that we seemed to have over and over throughout our friendship, like a broken record, was brought to mind as well. For the longest period of my life I was also "straight edge" with a main focus on not drinking alcohol. My friend, Vanessa, would always ask me what the point was, why I chose to not do certain things, why I would almost deprive myself of enjoying the little things in life, I guess, I'm still not quite sure. I would always answer back with "to prove that I don't need that stuff" or "to make me feel superior to everyone else who does drink." And she would reply, "People don't care. People don't know or care that you're proving something to them, they are wrapped up in their own shit. No one is judging you, only you are." Every time we had that conversation, it always stuck with me, but never enough for me to change things about myself, until my 30th birthday, when I finally broke my "Edge" and had a beer at dinner with my friends. I felt free. Free from myself. Free of the self-deprivation I'd created, as a punishment, as a sense of control. I was proving a point, much like Bobby Sands, except I had my epiphany thanks to friends and myself, but the eating disorder has never left and it came back to me a couple of days ago, actually, because I was looking for some new clothes and I had to realize that I've gone up a couple of sizes in pants (from a 30 to a 32, which seems really significant to me, since I'd been wearing size 30 pants since probably high school). My weight has also gone up this year as well, which is probably a good thing, because just about a year ago, I was about 115 pounds thanks to a terrible relationship, so I guess it's a good thing that I've put weight back on. For years I've been "struggling" with weighing no more than 130-135 pounds. When I hit 140 pounds, it was a bit of a milestone for me, and not necessarily one that I appreciated. I've always wanted to be bigger, with muscles and a toned body, but seeing 140 on a scale kind of freaked me out.
I don't know what's going to happen from here, in terms of my body image and the eating disorder (which, by the way, is self-diagnosed), but that's where the conversation led to with my best friend the other night. It left me feeling like I could be open with myself. I seem to be at an age now where things change and I need to start taking care of myself better than I ever did throughout my entire 20s.
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