(500) Days of Summer

Now, this movie wasn’t on my list before I picked it up and watched it. Is it something most people have seen? Possibly. Am I going to occasionally watch and reviews movies that aren’t on the list and maybe aren’t so commonly watched? You bet! I know what my main purpose for this blog is, but the way I see it, I might as well review other things I watch even if they don’t strictly fall into the group of movies that elicit “You’ve never seen what?” when I admit I haven’t seen them.

I’ll be honest: I spent most of the movie expecting Summer’s ring to be from Tom. Some time during their last scene, I realized it wasn’t. Should I have realized it earlier? Even as things got rockier, I kept hoping we’d jump to scenes where everything improved and led up to the ring. Was I supposed to be “tricked” and assume as I did and forget about it and realize later? Who knows. But I was disappointed when I realized there was no way that ring could be what I hoped it was. I should have seen it coming that they didn’t end up together. I mean, it was “500 days” of Summer, not “eternal” Summer or “until death do us part” Summer. And we were told that it wasn’t a love story. Yes, I probably should have known it wasn’t going to happen. I’m just secretly a hopeless romantic.

During Tom and Summer’s last scene, I honestly thought I would be disappointed in how the movie would end. After all, I’d been rooting for them the whole time. I thought she ended up with his ring on her finger! And they just seemed to make sense together. Now, it’d be one thing if Summer was having fun with the single life. But our anti-boyfriend gal had turned into a married lady. And remember the time span of this movie is, obviously, only 500 days—and she knew her husband for less than half of that time. What gives, Summer? I don’t know if I buy that it just felt right to her. That’s such a change. So I’m still out on my final verdict on Summer. Of course, maybe I was just having difficulty accepting that a well-dressed, intelligent Joseph Gordon-Levitt character could possibly not end up with the one he thought was his dream girl. But I am happy for Tom. I guess if he’s over Summer and ready to move on, then I’m ready to see him with someone else. (You know, if it makes sense for me to have to approve of fictional characters moving on with their lives.) And naming the new girl (see what I did there? Zooey Deschanel is the new girl in New Girl?) Autumn? Maybe I should have expected it, maybe not. I didn’t, so I thought it was smart. And I like to think it’s going to work out.

Even if I had been more prepared for the ending, I think I still would have enjoyed watching them fall in love. I always enjoy that, when it’s believable and real, which I think this was. Pretending the rooms in IKEA are your home, keeping up a running joke about something inconsequential like Ringo being someone’s favorite Beatle, showing someone your favorite spot… that’s how you fall in love. (Said the young woman who’s pretty sure she’s never done that.) If it’s not, then whatever it was was still a process I enjoyed watching.

I enjoyed that the story was told non-chronologically . I like when I know things that are coming but I don’t know how it gets there. Or I like thinking something is coming and then seeing how it doesn’t. Here’s something interesting (to me, anyway): I only like that when it’s meant to be that way. I would never read the last page of a book first. It’s just not set up to be told that way. There’s a reason it’s the last page. But as an intentional storytelling device, that’s great. (Here’s where I recommend The Time Traveler’s Wife, and I mean the book, as I have not watched the movie, and have heard from one book fan that it was disappointing. But that’s a post for another time, after I’ve watched and formed my own opinion. Back to the movie at hand.)

And I liked that we were told exactly where we were in time. Could I have figured out when events occurred in relation to each other without being told? Most likely. Did I like knowing how many days elapsed between events and where we were out in the grand scheme of 500? Yes. I mean, you wouldn’t put 500 in the title if you weren’t going to make it actually meaningful and relevant, right? Right. I wouldn’t, anyway. Maybe I’m just a creep who likes to keep close tabs on the day by day development of fictional characters’ relationships. Or a nerd. Psh, labels.

As for Rachel, I’d like to know more about her. Why does she confidently spout relationship advice? I’m not convinced that realistic for a girl her age, but maybe I’m not supposed to be. And maybe that was just my experience. Regardless, it’s pretty adorable.

That’s all from me. I’m gonna go check my bathroom to make sure it’s clear of Chinese families.

Juno

So it looks like it's time to watch Juno. I saw part of it a while ago, when we had a substitute teacher in Spanish in high school and someone just happened to have Juno with them. We told the teacher we'd watch it in Spanish and then we conveniently couldn't figure out how to change the langauge. So now it's time to watch all of it. It wasn't on the list, but hey, lots of people have seen it, right? I mean, it's not one of the more "old classic" sort of movies on my list, but it does fit with the "my fellow college students have all seen this" part of my list. So it's something I should take care of. Plus, it was one of the movies available at the front desk of my dorm. Easy access was a factor with this choice.

So the movie's starting, and I'm thinking, "What is up with all this Sunny D?" Clearly, I didn't remember a whole lot from watching it before. I mean, I knew she was pregnant, but I didn't remember/didn't realize, "Oh yes, she's going to need to pee a bunch for that big test."

It became clear pretty quickly that Juno's the kind of person I like. All snarky and witty and wearing what's comfy instead of trendy. That's awesome. Actually, that's just me, or so I like to think. I mean, I know I dress that way, but I like to think I've got snarky and witty covered too. Juno's me but pregnant. Except that I totally eat like a pregnant girl sometimes. A giant cookie and a lamb kabob? Yes, please. Not as simultaneously as Juno would've had them, but still.

Anyway, her snarkiness and wittiness leads me to my next point: this is a pretty funny movie. Yeah, we've got a pregnant sixteen-year-old, and yeah, there are real consequences of that-and that's good-but it's still funny. And I definitely prefer that to something all dramatic and over-the-top. Not that teen pregnancy isn't a huge emotional thing, but I feel like that's done more often in entertainment. I can't be sure though. If I could, I wouldn't have to watch so many things. Either way, this is the right way to mix humor and pregnancy. I'm sure it can be kind of distasteful if done incorrectly. Anyway, it's a good and hilarious movie. Babies in t-shirt guns in China? Yeah.

I really enjoyed Juno’s relationships with people—particularly Bleeker, Mark, and her stepmom. Bleeker’s all awkward and shy (I mean, obviously. It’s Michael Cera.), and Juno’s—I don’t know if I want to say confident?—but definitely more sure of herself, or less concerned with what other people think. And normally, I’d say, “No, you had a kid and now you’re falling in love? This is so backwards. You guys won’t work out.” But I’m pretty sure they will.

Her relationship with Mark is interesting. I mean, is he a cool alternative father figure? Is he something like a romantic interest? He’s not really the right age for either, and then he acts a bit younger… But he’s not creepy. So it more or less works out to a cool friend. I think.

I love Juno’s relationship with her stepmom. Juno can throw up blue slushie in her urn, but she’ll still defend her daughter to the bitch ultrasound technician. It’s great. You can have dysfunctional family relationships where people still come through for each other when it’s necessary. 

I enjoyed the soundtrack. Usually, I’m not really a fan of a bunch of songs with actual words in movies. They’re appropriate a few times in most movies, but mostly unnecessary. I think it worked here though, maybe because it added to the quirkiness. And hey, fun fact: Wikipedia tells me this was 20^th Century Fox’s first number one soundtrack since Titanic, which is cool because that’s what I talked about last.

As a side note, or really an end note, I've been told twice that I look/sound like Ellen Page. I guess I can see that. And hear it. It's a bit weird that I was at work both times I was told that. The second time, this woman was whispering to her friend about "how that cashier looks like the pregnant girl in that one movie..." and I said, "Ellen Page?" because I was proud of myself for knowing  (but that was only because a coworker had made the comparison just a month or two earlier) and because I wanted her to know I could hear her. Anyway. This isn't about me.

I think I'm gonna go buy some orange Tic Tacs now. 

P.S. Does anyone have a clue what Dancing Elk Condors are?

Titanic

Warning: lame puns may appear, like icebergs, without warning.

So, as movies everyone should see go, Titanic is a pretty big one. (See what I did there? It’s funny because… No, I should not start that so soon.) It was only the highest-grossing film ever for a while. It only won eleven Academy Awards. It only turned out to be the most emotion-inducing movie I’ve ever seen. It was only something my friends—especially the ones who saw it in theaters at age 4 or 5—gave me tons of grief for never having seen. As it turns out, all that grief was entirely justified.

Alright, things I knew before watching it (because it’s Titanic—you can’t just miss all knowledge of it): 1)Titanic actually was a ship. I figured that was a historical fact that I ought to know regardless of my movie knowledge, but apparently people exist who thought the movie was totally fictional. 2) It sinks. Again, a historical fact, but I’m pointing it out because even though you know that’s going to happen, it’s not a movie-ruining spoiler. There’s so much more to the movie. It’s about everything that happens before, during, and after that. And I knew before watching it that there had to be a good story around the sinking, because why would you make a movie where that’s the only point if any relatively intelligent audience is going to see it coming? 3) I knew that story involved some kind of romance. 4) There was some debate as to the size of a door, and whether or not a person named Rose could have made room for a person named Jack (and these people probably had the aforementioned romance). Honestly, I don’t remember whether that was enough prior knowledge to tell me who survived and who died. Either way, those details became apparent before the surviving and dying actually occurred.

Things I didn’t know and was surprised by: 1) the events aboard the Titanic are framed by present-day Rose and the exploration of the wreck. I had figured everything took place in 1912. 2) There was Cal, who’s an asshole. Why had I never considered someone to complicate Rose and Jack’s budding (Get it? Budding? Because… Rose?) relationship? Great job, Billy Zane, it’s been a while since I hated a fictional character so much. 3) It’s debatable whether Rose died or was dreaming at the end. What is this, Inception? (I’ve seen that one!) Funny you should ask, because Leonardo DiCaprio died in the ocean in Titanic and woke up on a beach in Inception. But I’m sure you’ve heard that one before.

Anyway, speaking of Leo. I really didn’t get what was so special about him, or see how attractive he was, until I saw Titanic. As far as I can remember, I’d only previously seen him in Inception. (Side note: quite looking forward to him in The Great Gatsby.) And sure, that was great, but it’s one movie. But now I’ve seen a totally different character from him, and I understand the attraction of twenty-two-year-old Leo. Beautiful.

Actually, the whole movie was beautiful. I should tell you that I hardly ever cry while watching movies. Maybe a few tears once or twice, if a movie really gives me a reason to. I legitimately cried—silent, uncontrollable sobbing—five or six times. Because, wow, what a story. This is how I want my love stories. Give me a reason to care. Give it to me with the background of the most impressive ship ever sinking, and guarantee tragedy by making sure not everyone can survive.

And you know, the fact that it’s set on the sinking Titanic really does matter. Any other doomed method of transportation wouldn’t offer the same possibilities. It takes time for a ship that size to sink. You know it’s happening, you have time to contemplate your own death, and you have time to fight for your survival. That’s another thing—you really did have to fight for your survival. If you weren’t a woman or child, if you weren’t first class—tough luck.  And on that note, would the difference between classes have been so obvious on any other method of transportation? And would we care so much about the objects recovered from anything else? Those objects were people’s lives—everything they needed for a voyage across the ocean, everything they needed to start a new life, even. That possibility of new life was magical—and tragic, because we knew not everyone would get it.

Now, combine a great love story with all that. We’ve got upper-class Rose, being forced to marry for money and her family’s name. And we’ve got Jack, an artist content to drift around the world. They shouldn’t have fallen in love. They shouldn’t have even met. But they did, and it was beautiful. So of course, people tried to stop it. Namely, Cal and Rose’s mother. I know, I know, Titanic is not the first of that kind of story. But look at the title: Titanic. That’s what really adds to it. That setting multiplies every normal emotion by a ridiculous amount.

The actual historical elements added emotion, too. The band determined to play on? The captain resigning himself to his fate and locking himself away? The elderly couple dying together in the not quite historically accurate location of their bed? Yeah. Tear jerkers, all of them.

So, I loved it. I want to see it again in the near future. Honestly, I don’t usually watch a movie and then keep thinking about how much I want to watch it again. Not that good movies aren’t worth rewatching, but it’s not usually something I want to do so soon. But Titanic just keeps floating in the back of my mind, nagging me to watch it again. Will I ever get enough of it? It’s too early to say. But I can say that it’s brilliant, and I absolutely loved it.

You've Never Seen What?

I’ve noticed that “You’ve never seen [insert apparently widely watched movie here]?!” is an exclamation directed at me alarmingly often. I simply haven’t seen a bunch of those movies that everyone has seen. I haven’t avoided them, but until now I’ve never made a specific effort to watch them, either. But that’s what I’m doing now. I’m embarking on a mission to fill the gaps in my movie knowledge, and I’m chronicling that journey here.

So I’m making a list—movies I’ve never seen, movies I’ve only seen parts of, movies I may have kind of seen but don’t remember. If they’re important and/or widely watched movies, that is. I don’t need to watch something solely because it exists. So check out the list, send me suggestions, tell me what I’m missing—when in doubt, assume I haven’t seen it. I have a lot of viewing to do.