Pink Ribbons, Inc. - A Review

My boyfriend is the one who told me that I needed to watch this - and to be honest, I didn’t really get why he was insisting repeatedly. I know that he watches a lot of documentaries, but I thought, “Ugh. That sounds just… boring,” as awful as that statement is to admit. I didn’t feel like sitting through an hour and a half of hearing just how terrible breast cancer really is and listening to stories and specifics on why. I know these things. Not know them like some others do, but I’m as little aware as I thought I needed to be. (Most of this paragraph makes me sound like a monster, and I’m aware of that.)

This is not a movie solely about breast cancer and those affected by it. I initially thought that’s what it was about, and it could not be further from that. 

Here’s the best description of it that I could find (and even this does not quite do it justice):

“Breast cancer has become the poster child of corporate cause-related marketing campaigns. Countless women and men walk, bike, climb and shop for the cure. Each year, millions of dollars are raised in the name of breast cancer, but where does this money go and what does it actually achieve? Pink Ribbons, Inc. is a feature documentary that shows how the devastating reality of breast cancer, which marketing experts have labeled a “dream cause,” becomes obfuscated by a shiny, pink story of success.” Written by The National Film Board of Canada

It took me about fifteen minutes into the film to finally understand what this was going to be about, so I can only suggest you sit through that first part and wait for it to really begin. 

The whole piece is crazy well done, in my opinion, and I’ll probably continue to tell people that fact for maybe about a week or so - or however long the sensation of seeing something really great lasts.

Here’s an excerpt from it that lingered in my mind, for whatever reason:

“I particularly reject the word survivor as a label for myself. Not only because I’m a little superstitious, since who knows - but also because it seems to me to be a put down of those women who don’t survive.”

There were so many things covered that I’ve never been even slightly aware of, so I’m just glad to have seen it. It’s just an extremely eloquent, unbiased (but in the classiest kind of unbiased way) documentary. Definitely see it.

Henry, age 8, watches Forrest Gump. →

kellyoxford:

Henry: Wow, he doesn’t use commas when he talks.
Henry: Is Tom Hanks handicapped in real life?
Henry: Their house is huge.
Henry: I can’t believe Elvis stole his moves, gave him no credit. Not cool.
Henry: Is he going to sit on that bench and tell this story for the whole movie?
Henry: His braces broke off his legs and he’s a normal kid, running? He just left Jenny? Shouldn’t he be tired of running?
Henry: Oh man he joins the ARMY!? WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT!?
Henry: This Bubba guy is awesome, but he’s gonna die. In every army movie the first friend the main character meets, dies. Poor Bubba’s gonna die.
Henry: Oh my god, I love Bubba and this shrimp stuff.
Henry: Jenny is in Playboy? Is this a stripper show? She’s totally a stripper.
Henry: Jenny you can’t outrun a bullet. She told him to run.
Henry: YES. WAR SCENES. FINALLY. Why doesn’t Forrest have the cool gun?
Henry: Man, Vietnam would have been fun… until you had to go out and fight and die.
Henry: His platoon leader is just like my teacher. “Sit down. Shut up.”
Henry: I love Bubba.
Henry: I love how Forrest talks.
Henry: OH NO JENNY IS A HIPPIE.
Henry: Knew it. Is Bubba dead?
Henry: Was Forrest the only one who made it out, standing? Hey, this is what you have to do in Call of Duty. When you’re being carried out, you need to pull out a handgun.
Henry: Oh Bubba isn’t good. Man. I knew it. He died. Everyone’s best friend always gets shot.
Henry: Why would lieutant Dan rather be dead than get prosthetics? That’s dumb.
[Sal walks in]
Sal: Do hippies work? At all?
Henry: Dick Clark was so young then. He’s old now. He’s dead.
Henry: Jenny is so stupid.
Henry: Wait. BUBBA GUMP SHRIMP?!?! IS THIS A TRUE STORY?!
Sal: I like that the Apple symbol used to be rainbow.
Henry: I’d never cut grass for free.
Sal: Jenny is a mess.
Henry: Jenny is a mess.
Henry: He’s going to be really depressed now.
Sal: Jenny is terrible.
Henry: “His daddy’s name is Forrest? Just like me?” He’s an idiot.
Henry: Is it over? I want to know more about his cute little kid.
Sal: SEQUEL. That’s my new favorite movie.

“The awful thing about life is this: Everyone has their reasons.”

— Jean Renoir, writer of 1939 film, The Rules of the Game

“A few times in my life, I’ve had moments of absolute clarity. When for a few brief seconds, the silence drowns out the noise - and I can feel rather than think. And things seem so sharp. And the world seems so fresh. It’s as though it had all just come into existence. I can never make these moments last. I cling to them, but like everything - they fade. I’ve lived my life on these moments. They pull me back to the present. And I realize that everything is exactly as it’s meant to be.”

— Christopher Isherwood, writer of A Single Man

“He also had a condition that was referred to as granulated eyelids and it caused him to blink more than usual. As if he found creation slightly more than he could accept.”

— Ron Hansen, writer of the 1983 novel, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Oz: The Great and Powerful - A Review

I just want to start this off by saying that I thought I would for sure like this movie. I really did. I’m not hating here for the sake of hating. I do want to watch it again in maybe a year or so to see if I feel the same as I do right now.

Thoughts

(Gonna do this in points. Points are punchier.)

• Before going into it, I didn’t know that David Lindsay-Abaire had anything to do with it at all - so to read that he had a hand in writing this?! Well, that’s pretty big. He’s a proper writer. Expectations were definitely set a bit higher. I wish I’d never seen that credit. This shit could have been written by any old loser.
• I feel like anyone who was associated with The Wizard of Oz should be really upset that this movie got made. And I don’t even LOVE The Wizard of Oz or anything. 
• James Franco was terrible and I like James Franco usually. 
• Where the fuck have you been, Zach Braff? Good for you getting a part in a big movie. Just good for you. Scrubs was funny sometimes. Glad you’re doing all right.
• People CLAPPED at the end up it? What the hell? No. I don’t condone that. Not even for good movies. I will maybe allow clapping at the BEGINNING of a movie, since that’s just adorable you’re so excited. But at the end? Ugh, no. Way. Also, as a tiny sidenote: those idiots who clap when a plane lands? Are we kidding here? You’re clapping because something that is SUPPOSED to happen, happens. Okay then. Do people clap for you when you make it to work on time? No. We’re all clapping too much. And I don’t get it. It’s devaluing the act of clapping.
• And you know what? Maybe I didn’t even hate the movie. Maybe I was just too affected by the atmosphere. I was at an 8:30pm showing on a Saturday – so yeah, going at that time is my own damn fault. The woman beside me had some sort of nervous tick in her leg and it wouldn’t stop bouncing the entire time. There were at least three children in that theatre under the age of two. One dude snored through half of it and during the other half – he’d laugh at jokes, not with a laugh, but a gentle and prolonged, “Ahhhhhhhh!” So yeah. The theatre that night wasn’t great. Oh and also, why would it be a good idea to bring back theatre ushers? I’ll tell you why. So that when some moron’s phone starts ringing, an usher can literally usher them the fuck outside. Absurd that that’s not a thing. Movie tickets keep getting more expensive and for what? What better fucking services are they coming up with? HIRE USHERS! The food ain’t getting better. The seats ain’t comfy as hell. There’s shit all OVER those floors. PAY humans to become ushers and to make it a better theatre experience, and then maybe I’ll consider being excited by the idea of a goddam “3D experience”.
• On another topic – 3D? I just… I can’t. I really can’t. If you’re mentally aroused by the idea of putting those fucking glasses on, then you’re part of the problem. I have nothing to say to you. You are as awful as 3D - I hope you’re very happy together.

Django Unchained

Okay, I don’t really know where to start this. It was literally from about the halfway point that I began to loathe the whole movie. I didn’t think the whole thing was terrible, so I feel weird even saying “loathe”. Christoph Waltz was fantastic, he was the absolute best part of the entire thing. I really wish it were just all about him and Django was a smaller, side part or something. Also, Jamie Foxx was good. And Leonardo DiCaprio was whatever, really… just average, but that’s fine ‘cause that wasn’t what bothered me the most. Also, the music was phenomenal. I wanted to look up almost every single song that was played.

I think what irritated me the most was how awful most of the writing was. (Absolutely not the KKK/head cloth scene, that was so great.) As a whole, it just felt like this movie was the first draft of a film school dropout’s attempt at acclaim. Or better yet, a screenplay that was written by a tiny child who goes on and on and on with his never ending, boring-as-hell story – like a story that goes, “And then I went here. And then I did this. And then it was winter. And then this was what we did next. And then I became a bounty hunter.” UGH. So badly told and BORING and I’m sorry, but there was no back story at all to why I would give a shit AT ALL about Django specifically. Okay, yeah. He had a wife. He wanted to get her back. Okay… what the fuck else you got? That’s so fucking DRAB and tired that I lost interest almost immediately.

Also, I’m sorry, but any fucking NOTABLE/GOOD/RESPECTED director does not fucking make a longer-than-a-minute CAMEO in his/her own goddam movie. And I know that’s his thing. That’s what he does. But jesus christ. He’s not an actor. He’s never been one. Get out of the fucking movie. You’re not being “fun”, you’re coming off as an idiot who’s almost saying, “Yeah, this movie is a joke. So I’ll just stroll along here in one scene for fun.” That’s just a personal side note thing of things I hate, but that really pissed me off and always pisses me off in most of his movies. Get off the fucking screen and focus on improving your reprehensible script that you’ve somehow convinced everyone is so good.

I just feel like the whole movie didn’t have enough rewrites. Also, it just felt as if he didn’t care much to edit ANYthing. Obviously it was too long. So many fucking things could and should have been cut. And yeah this is maybe dumb/dense of me, but jesus fuck, I get that it’s supposed to be realistic to that time, but it felt so fucking weird to me to be almost comfortable hearing that n word after the billionth time it was said. At first, of course it’s just, you know, awful to hear, but literally after the fiftieth time, it almost became comfortable to hear because of overuse – and I don’t really care if that was the intent or not, I fucking hated it, the overuse of that, which seemed completely unnecessary to do in excess and a lazy excuse for trying to get an audience passionately against the obvious villains. I get what he was trying to do, but it just fell apart completely in execution. Again, that’s just my opinion. So, so disappointing. Of course there were a tiny, few good parts/things that I laughed at/liked, but as a whole… MAN. I’ll never want to see it again. And this sucks to feel ‘cause I can’t find anyone else who felt this way yet. Spike Lee doesn’t count, ‘cause Spike Lee can eat it since we each hated it for different reasons. 

Numerous people have called me a moron for not liking it, and that’s all well and fine. Even I was confused by my level of disdain at the end of this movie. 

The Dark Knight Rises

The following post will only be enjoyed/hated by people who saw the movie. If you haven’t seen it/don’t care? Oh, go take a look at Like Cool or something - that site’s great. 

Okay, it came out six months ago. I realize that. But this vessel/tumblr hadn’t existed in that time and space, so it’s gotta get said now before my angst dies down over time. (Edit Note: six months passing HAS NOT LESSENED MY RAGE.)

That movie? What a piece of trash. I really, really didn’t like it. And that erroneously sucked ‘cause I was really, really excited as I’m sure most people were. Main reasons?

• I couldn’t understand 75% of what Bane said.
• The fact that Marion Cotillard was that dude’s daughter?! UGH. My boyfriend Nathan said it best when he compared that part to something CUT from SCREAM 4. Just one too many stupid twists. Also, no one cares. 
• WAY too long and didn’t need to be (that storyline of one of the police guys (in the white shirt) who stays at home with his wife instead of going out with the force? And then he ends up dead?! NO POINT TO THIS STORYLINE WHATSOEVER). So much unnecessary stuff could’ve been cut. 
• Catwoman having NO DEPTH AS A CHARACTER AT ALL. Seriously, just ridiculously one-dimensional. And what ticks me off the most about this is the fact that Gloria Steinem had such wonderful things to say (see here to see what) about her character (and maybe she would’ve said anything kind since Christian Bale’s her stepson, not sure) and how she was such a good woman character — SHE WAS NOT! IT ENRAGES ME THAT PEOPLE WILL LISTEN TO HER! But they will, ‘cause she’s Gloria fucking Steinem and every (almost) feminist in the world looks to her for her opinions on this kind of junk. (Sidenote: I don’t even hate her, she’s so smart about some stuff, but GOD. We can’t all be smart about everything).
• I’m sorry, but Bane isn’t a great character. Maybe in the comic book, but not in this movie. Especially when the whole movie is based around him and then suddenly at the end, well that’s over with, and you find out that it really was about fucking MARION COTILLARD! …Okay, maybe it seems like I’m just hating on women. And I am. But not JUST them. 
• The part with the millions of zoom-in shots of that goddam timeclock on the bomb at the end? Are we serious here? This isn’t a joke? It’s almost a funny SIMPSONS joke to have that many pans/shots of a bomb’s clock back and forth constantly since THIS IS 2013 AND MOVIES HAVE BEEN DOING THAT FOR AGES and it’s almost satire at this point. But especially to do that in this movie? This movie is SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD, for christsake. 
• Batman magically gets back to Gotham in time when he leaves that pit? With no money? Or a plane? ALL right then. 
• AND he doesn’t get blown to pieces when he flies that bomb away?! Ohhh ok. Got it.
• BUT WAIT, not only is he alive, but he also ENDS UP ON A FUCKING DATE WITH CATWOMAN IN THE GODDAM FRENCH RIVIERA OR SOME SHIT?! UUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH.
• HE SHOULD’VE DIED! That would’ve at least made an amazing ending for the Nolan trilogy.

So terrible. (As the tiniest sidenote, for sure a few things made me laugh… but that’s so small in comparison to it all.)

Also, Alfred was the best character. And if the fucking BUTLER is the best character in a movie? Go to hell. That’s bullshit. 

There are tons of other things I thought that were bad but a lot of them got blurred after the crazy awfulness of what happened in Aurora. But mostly, I know… everyone was just so pumped ‘cause of the last movie and there was never any way this could compare, I get that. And I get that it’s a goddam superhero movie and maybe I should’ve been able to suspend my belief more? But no, saying that is bullshit. If you’re disagreeing with me right now and going, “But, Liz, it’s a superhero movie. Calm down.” You go to hell, ‘cause that’s ridiculous. At the end of it all, it’s still a Christopher Nolan movie and so, it’s all right to expect it TO BE WATCHABLE/GOOD because that man is fantastic at what he does (typically speaking).