Pineapple Express + 1
This has probably been one of the most relaxing school vacations in awhile. It helps that the weather has changed and its actually decent now. Looking back, Maine had a very long, depressing, all-I-want-to-do-is-stay-inside-until-the-snow-disappear kind of winters. It was blistering cold. It snowed a significant amount. It was dark more than it was light. It was depressing. Seasonal Affected Disorder, perhaps. I mean, I went out as much as I wanted to, but the cold tended to keep me in. Christmas vacation- nothing much happened, except I got this brilliant idea for my blog and started the project of watching 365 films in one year. February break came next. Again, nothing much. It was still cold and I'm not a skier or a snowboarder. I did play in a pond hockey tournament. That was fun.
But, now we've come to April and it's finally spring in Maine. This week's weather makes braving all those cold days and nights during the winter worth it. I think the winters that we have in Maine help us appreciate the nice weather when it comes. I've really taken to relaxing this vacation, even though I'm graduating from my Master's Degree program in the next couple of weeks and I have some work to complete. I've gotten up each morning, feeling quite refreshed, and gone to the gym for a workout and then taken a relaxing, meditative walk around Portland's 3.5 mile Back Cove. Mornings in Portland are beautiful. I've just put on my headphones and walked. And walked. Then I grab my backpack, filled with a book and a notebook and walked around the city some more, stopping every now and then to discover a new spot or enjoy the scenic views scattered throughout (Eastern Prom is one of my favorites; I could and often times do sit there for hours and just read a book and people-watch).
I've also had a great opportunity during this vacation to see and spend time with friends. I went to my dear friend, Deanna's house on Monday and we spent the entire afternoon/evening just catching up. We went for a quick hike/stroll through the woods behind her house. When we came home, I clicked on Facebook and discovered that there had been a bombing at the Boston Marathon. This was at about 3:30, so it had just happened, and everyone that I knew in the Boston area soon came to mind and everyone seemed to be wondering what the hell had just happened. I know quite a few people in that area and many of them were in that area at the time, watching the Marathon. I became glued to Facebook and the news as things developed throughout the night. I don't think I've fully processed what took place Monday, so I don't want to spend too much time speculating and waxing philosophical here. Let me just say, attacks (terrorism or not) are becoming closer and closer to home, smaller in capacity but perhaps that makes them heavier to handle. This certainly was calculated (by whomever) and maddeningly smart. Bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon? Thousands of participants and perhaps equally as many onlookers. It was a poignant attack.
Tuesday night, with the help of friends, I discovered a great new place to hang out. LFK (bar/restaurant). Great atmosphere. Literally right across the street from my apartment. I'll be going there often, I suspect. The kind of place you can go and grab a beer and read a book and be amongst people. Everyone knows I like to be seen.
Today I went for a hike at Bradbury Mountain State Park in Pownal (a small town and a small mountain, in comparison to other mountain ranges). I did several trails and hiked about 3 miles, on top of my 3.5 mile walk this morning. I'm getting fit, if for no other reason but to feel great. Then, I got back to Portland and walked around a bit before the need/want for food took over. I found this great place called Fit To Eat, which I've known about since I moved back, but I've never gone. I had a delicious Turkey sandwich and caught up on some reading that I needed to do for my final paper.
Tomorrow is Friday. What will tomorrow bring me? I can't wait to find out.
....................................
Film 112
"Pineapple Express"
Starring: Seth Rogen and James Franco
"Pineapple Express" is the ultimate male-buddy film. The major difference between this and other films in the genre is that the two buddies are potheads (well one's a pothead and the other's his drug dealer). I can't say it better, or describe it any better so here's the description of it:
"Pineapple Express" has all the elements you'd expect from the genre: male bonding, immature sexual desires, verbal scatology, formidable drug abuse, fight scenes, gunfire, explosions. Yawn? Not this time. It's a quality movie even if the material is unworthy of the treatment. As a result, yes, it's a druggie comedy that made me laugh.
Seth Rogen plays Dale (a process server). He's dating a high school girl (wow! Amber Heard! wow!) but clearly has no true direction in life. James Franco is Saul, a drug dealer. James Franco is almost too good in this role. He's so believable, it's incredible. He was even up for an Oscar!
Pineapple Express is the name of a very potent marijuana (the best breed of it).
Dale witnesses Ted Jones (Gary Cole, perfectly villainous) and a female cop (Rosie Perez, really, where has she been) murder someone at Ted's house. He drops a joint from his car outside Ted's house, which leaves Ted pissed off and he sets off on a manhunt for both Dale and Saul. The perfect set up for the buddy comedy.
The critic James Berardinelli observes: "A lot of buddy films aren't fundamentally that different from romantic comedies. The relationships are often developed in the same fashion, only with male bonding replacing sexual chemistry." Does that make Dale and Saul gay, even if they're not aware of it? ... Especially in the obligatory happy ending, there's a whole lot of hugging and chanting of "I love you, man!"
I don't want to give too much of the plot away because this is truly one of the funniest movies you will ever see. I guarantee it! It has everything you could imagine and want in a film. Judd Apatow has certainly had a few disappointments in his brief yet growing career (re: Talladega Nights, Knocked Up, Walk Hard, Drillbit Taylor, Step Brothers, Year One, Funny People, Get Him to the Greek, Wanderlust)...But the hits he has had certainly make you forget about those misses, and to think it started with some underrated television shows.
The Ben Stiller Show
Freaks and Geeks
Undeclared
Anchorman, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad (another male-buddy film), Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Pineapple Express, Bridesmaids, Girls (one of the best TV shows now), This is 40, and the upcoming Anchorman sequel (which is guaranteed to be awesome).
..........................................
Film 113
"Uncertainty"
Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt and Lynn Collins
"Uncertainty" is a disappointment of a movie, especially given JGL's recent boom up the leading role ladder. It's an indie film with no heart and conceivably no plot. It begins with his character, Bobby, and his girlfriend, Kate on the Brooklyn Bridge. They are making some kind of decision (which is never told to us) by flipping a coin. Once it's flipped, they run off in different directions. From there, the film breaks conventional structure and splits into two films. The unconventional structure could've worked, but it completely fails here. There are two stories told to define "uncertainty" and we know they are separate because it tells us: Yellow. Green.
And in the Yellow storyline, Bobby is wearing a yellow t-shirt and he finds a cellphone in the taxi he and Kate ride briefly in. The phone apparently holds some important information that some guys want and will apparently kill to get. Bobby and Kate cook up a scheme to get $500,000 from these criminals in order to trade for the phone. This story makes no sense and just doesn't seem plausible.
In the Green storyline, Bobby and Kate are going to Kate's family's cookout for the 4th of July. Kate is pregnant (in both stories, actually) and her family doesn't know about it. This plot focuses more on the relationships between all these people: Kate-mother, Kate-sister, Bobby-Kate's family, and Kate-and her elderly or mentally ill family member who they return to a home at the end. (I was a bit confused about this, but it was still an endearing piece of the story, to see Kate interact and feel for him.) The thing they find in this story is a stray dog, whom they are content keeping but try very hard to find its owner. This story is much more plausible and I think they could've done two separate stories with the cookout as the focus. Relationship dynamics really make for great movies.
I totally understand what the director and writer were trying to convey with this film: the idea of chance and uncertainty of decisions- and I usually buy into these types of films, but the implausibility of the Yellow story just kind of ruined the film for me. I could've watched the Green story and been content. Serendipity is a fun thing to play with, when done right.
But, now we've come to April and it's finally spring in Maine. This week's weather makes braving all those cold days and nights during the winter worth it. I think the winters that we have in Maine help us appreciate the nice weather when it comes. I've really taken to relaxing this vacation, even though I'm graduating from my Master's Degree program in the next couple of weeks and I have some work to complete. I've gotten up each morning, feeling quite refreshed, and gone to the gym for a workout and then taken a relaxing, meditative walk around Portland's 3.5 mile Back Cove. Mornings in Portland are beautiful. I've just put on my headphones and walked. And walked. Then I grab my backpack, filled with a book and a notebook and walked around the city some more, stopping every now and then to discover a new spot or enjoy the scenic views scattered throughout (Eastern Prom is one of my favorites; I could and often times do sit there for hours and just read a book and people-watch).
I've also had a great opportunity during this vacation to see and spend time with friends. I went to my dear friend, Deanna's house on Monday and we spent the entire afternoon/evening just catching up. We went for a quick hike/stroll through the woods behind her house. When we came home, I clicked on Facebook and discovered that there had been a bombing at the Boston Marathon. This was at about 3:30, so it had just happened, and everyone that I knew in the Boston area soon came to mind and everyone seemed to be wondering what the hell had just happened. I know quite a few people in that area and many of them were in that area at the time, watching the Marathon. I became glued to Facebook and the news as things developed throughout the night. I don't think I've fully processed what took place Monday, so I don't want to spend too much time speculating and waxing philosophical here. Let me just say, attacks (terrorism or not) are becoming closer and closer to home, smaller in capacity but perhaps that makes them heavier to handle. This certainly was calculated (by whomever) and maddeningly smart. Bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon? Thousands of participants and perhaps equally as many onlookers. It was a poignant attack.
Tuesday night, with the help of friends, I discovered a great new place to hang out. LFK (bar/restaurant). Great atmosphere. Literally right across the street from my apartment. I'll be going there often, I suspect. The kind of place you can go and grab a beer and read a book and be amongst people. Everyone knows I like to be seen.
Today I went for a hike at Bradbury Mountain State Park in Pownal (a small town and a small mountain, in comparison to other mountain ranges). I did several trails and hiked about 3 miles, on top of my 3.5 mile walk this morning. I'm getting fit, if for no other reason but to feel great. Then, I got back to Portland and walked around a bit before the need/want for food took over. I found this great place called Fit To Eat, which I've known about since I moved back, but I've never gone. I had a delicious Turkey sandwich and caught up on some reading that I needed to do for my final paper.
Tomorrow is Friday. What will tomorrow bring me? I can't wait to find out.
....................................
Film 112
"Pineapple Express"
Starring: Seth Rogen and James Franco
"Pineapple Express" is the ultimate male-buddy film. The major difference between this and other films in the genre is that the two buddies are potheads (well one's a pothead and the other's his drug dealer). I can't say it better, or describe it any better so here's the description of it:
"Pineapple Express" has all the elements you'd expect from the genre: male bonding, immature sexual desires, verbal scatology, formidable drug abuse, fight scenes, gunfire, explosions. Yawn? Not this time. It's a quality movie even if the material is unworthy of the treatment. As a result, yes, it's a druggie comedy that made me laugh.
Seth Rogen plays Dale (a process server). He's dating a high school girl (wow! Amber Heard! wow!) but clearly has no true direction in life. James Franco is Saul, a drug dealer. James Franco is almost too good in this role. He's so believable, it's incredible. He was even up for an Oscar!
Pineapple Express is the name of a very potent marijuana (the best breed of it).
Dale witnesses Ted Jones (Gary Cole, perfectly villainous) and a female cop (Rosie Perez, really, where has she been) murder someone at Ted's house. He drops a joint from his car outside Ted's house, which leaves Ted pissed off and he sets off on a manhunt for both Dale and Saul. The perfect set up for the buddy comedy.
The critic James Berardinelli observes: "A lot of buddy films aren't fundamentally that different from romantic comedies. The relationships are often developed in the same fashion, only with male bonding replacing sexual chemistry." Does that make Dale and Saul gay, even if they're not aware of it? ... Especially in the obligatory happy ending, there's a whole lot of hugging and chanting of "I love you, man!"
I don't want to give too much of the plot away because this is truly one of the funniest movies you will ever see. I guarantee it! It has everything you could imagine and want in a film. Judd Apatow has certainly had a few disappointments in his brief yet growing career (re: Talladega Nights, Knocked Up, Walk Hard, Drillbit Taylor, Step Brothers, Year One, Funny People, Get Him to the Greek, Wanderlust)...But the hits he has had certainly make you forget about those misses, and to think it started with some underrated television shows.
The Ben Stiller Show
Freaks and Geeks
Undeclared
Anchorman, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad (another male-buddy film), Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Pineapple Express, Bridesmaids, Girls (one of the best TV shows now), This is 40, and the upcoming Anchorman sequel (which is guaranteed to be awesome).
..........................................
Film 113
"Uncertainty"
Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt and Lynn Collins
"Uncertainty" is a disappointment of a movie, especially given JGL's recent boom up the leading role ladder. It's an indie film with no heart and conceivably no plot. It begins with his character, Bobby, and his girlfriend, Kate on the Brooklyn Bridge. They are making some kind of decision (which is never told to us) by flipping a coin. Once it's flipped, they run off in different directions. From there, the film breaks conventional structure and splits into two films. The unconventional structure could've worked, but it completely fails here. There are two stories told to define "uncertainty" and we know they are separate because it tells us: Yellow. Green.
And in the Yellow storyline, Bobby is wearing a yellow t-shirt and he finds a cellphone in the taxi he and Kate ride briefly in. The phone apparently holds some important information that some guys want and will apparently kill to get. Bobby and Kate cook up a scheme to get $500,000 from these criminals in order to trade for the phone. This story makes no sense and just doesn't seem plausible.
In the Green storyline, Bobby and Kate are going to Kate's family's cookout for the 4th of July. Kate is pregnant (in both stories, actually) and her family doesn't know about it. This plot focuses more on the relationships between all these people: Kate-mother, Kate-sister, Bobby-Kate's family, and Kate-and her elderly or mentally ill family member who they return to a home at the end. (I was a bit confused about this, but it was still an endearing piece of the story, to see Kate interact and feel for him.) The thing they find in this story is a stray dog, whom they are content keeping but try very hard to find its owner. This story is much more plausible and I think they could've done two separate stories with the cookout as the focus. Relationship dynamics really make for great movies.
I totally understand what the director and writer were trying to convey with this film: the idea of chance and uncertainty of decisions- and I usually buy into these types of films, but the implausibility of the Yellow story just kind of ruined the film for me. I could've watched the Green story and been content. Serendipity is a fun thing to play with, when done right.
"Uncertainty" sounds like the film "Sliding Doors" with Gwyneth Paltrow. Ever see it? Same kind of thing. But I imagine it's better.
ReplyDeleteI have heard of it. I think I saw some of it. Perhaps I'll go back and watch it.
ReplyDelete