Springfield at Universal Studios

by Liz Heather in ,


I feel like I should write this post in 36 point font or something. I won't, but please know that I'm fighting the urge. 

Now, where the hell should I start?

As you may recall, I've been wanting to visit here for awhile now. That dream finally came true this past week and I just wanted to share a few reasons why you may want to go as well. Notice how I'm assuming we're all Simpsons fans here? My stream of logic is that if you're here reading this blog, then you somewhat like my opinions ie. you like me. And if you like me, I probably like you. And if I like you, there's an understanding between us that The Simpsons have forever changed us all (at least slightly) for the better since they first aired. Yes? Yes.

Why didn't I pass out from excitement standing at this sign? Lord only knows. Only Tianna will ever truly know how happy this place made me. 

While there were a lot of options for food, we finally decided on Krusty Burger.

When you're ordering your food (we split the Krusty Burger as well as The Ribwich), the individual ingredients for the burger are all visible (similar to Subway) and the beef patties look absolutely disgusting. I don't know if that was intentional or not, but I'm gonna go with yes it was intentional. And that kind of detail? Amazing. I was extremely nervous about eating something that looked SO bad (Tianna felt the same), but we did - and it was an amazing burger. I could've had another one. The Ribwich on the other hand? Yikes. That one was rough, man. 

Eating the Krusty Burger

Eating The Ribwich

There's an attachment to Moe's Tavern from Krusty Burger so we got a booth at Moe's. I really just sat there in awe of how incredible they made Moe's look.

After we finished eating, I got a Duff and then sat at the bar for a bit. Tianna got a Buzz Cola and it was eons better than any Coke or Pepsi I've ever had. Just saying.

They had a working Love Tester machine in the corner, so obviously Tianna and I had a go at it.

Across from Moe's is the Duff Brewery. If you look closely, you may see some of my captured excitement between Edgy and Tipsy (if you don't know the names of The Seven Duffs - Edgy, Remorseful, Dizzy, Tipsy, Surly, Queasy and Sleazy - then I guess you have a life).

The fact that they had life sized monuments like these made my heart explode with joy.

In the Kwik-E-Mart, they were selling things like Yao Ming and Tom Hanks Simpsonized action figures. Why? Because heaven exists. The store employees even said, "Thank you, come again!" in a non-racist voice! 

I'm thankful that a walking, talking Milhouse in costume wasn't around because even this moment made me feel a little weird... down there.

The Simpsons Ride was great, it reminded me of the old Back To The Future ride, which I always enjoyed. There's a new ride for kids called Kang & Kodos’ Twirl ‘n’ Hurl, which was as fun as a carnival ride should be. When the ride was half over, we finally realized that you can control your own car to rise and fall with a lever that's infront of you. To be fair, we were both in a general state of numbness from the overload of emotions going on within our very souls, so it makes sense that we didn't notice a small button.

Kang & Kodos’ Twirl ‘n’ Hurl

Krustyland

We didn't play any games in Krustyland mostly because we had too much else to see, but the game operators seemed to know tons of Simpsons trivia and references and were shouting it out constantly, which I obviously loved.

And this donut? Not only was it the best tasting donut of my life, but also the prettiest. Please don't eat it all yourself. I cut it up into cake slices and ate it at home with my family as it is ginormous. 

Yes, that donut is as large as an eight year old's head

I don't really know where to go from here, to be honest. Marriage? Kids? Those things equally blow when compared with this wondrous land. My two regrets?

  1. Not having a Flaming Moe.
  2. Leaving.

The Wolf of Wall Street - A Review

by Liz Heather in ,


Why did I hate The Wolf of Wall Street? 

I didn't! I know, it's weird 'cause I thought I would hate it based on what I'd heard about it. But before you lose your mind, I wouldn't say I loved it or even liked it either. I just feel sort of weird about it. And here's why.

First of all, anyone who thinks it's awful because of its treatment of women, well, you're allowed to feel however you want, but that was the last thing that concerned me here when there are such larger fish to fry (more on this below). This movie is based on this dude's story, so if that's how women were treated in his story, then cool - that fact has nothing to do with any of my real problems here. The best way that I've heard it expressed was that women in this movie are used as props, which is completely accurate, but I think that's something I can't hate on 'cause, well, that's just the nature of the "story", which of course makes me feel uncomfortable at times but that's beside the point. The misogyny is so out of control that it's past the point of commenting on essentially.

What made me feel weird about it then? 

Honestly, it really just makes me sad to think about middle and low class Americans paying and sitting through this movie - and then loving it. THAT concerns me. THAT makes me feel fucking depressed and angry. After everything that's gone on in the States over the last decade and how so many people have been screwed for life by the likes of people like this man - that's what makes me feel uneasy.

Are we supposed to love this movie 'cause this guy didn't start out as a rich asshole? Are we supposed to be into it because he came from nothing and made himself into a rich asshole? I don't GET IT. People keep telling me how this movie is just "a good time", but I'm sorry that I can't see that. Others have said to me that "only men will like this movie" which enrages me for all kinds of reasons, obviously, but mostly because my major fucking issues with the movie aren't the scenes where he punches a woman or fucks everything with tits. My major issues are, crazily enough, way worse than that, in my opinion.

I definitely agree with some who say that the whole movie trivialized the seriousness of these kinds of crimes just in terms of not really ever fully explaining what was happening, and just sort of glazing over the general idea of him doing bad/illegal things. Obviously, it's a better story if those exact explanations of what happened are kept silent and glazed over because I would imagine hearing the details of exactly HOW he fucked people over financially would be kind of a downer to read about in a best seller - that makes sense. It's way more workable and profitable with only the women, drugs and NO MESSAGE WHATSOEVER because people will eat that shit up. And is there anything wrong with a debaucherous movie with no value at all? Course not. I fucking loved Meatballs. But in this case? Yeah. I can't. It hits too close to home with what's gone on in the past few years and what some Americans specifically have to financially deal with every day. Listen, I get what it's trying to be, I think. He was a good salesman, made a ton of money, fucked a lot of sex workers, had severe drug problems, and all of these things lead to the whole "antihero" mantra that comes across. I get it. 

I also think it's kind of interesting that if this man's life were the subject of a documentary, I feel like people would feel completely different about it and not so eager to declare this the best movie of the year or something. If the seriousness of these financial crimes were the focus of this story at all, I think it would hit people in such a stronger, more real way. Especially considering how many Americans have been financially fucked over by people like this BARELY FIVE YEARS AGO. It seems completely crazy to picture someone (who was financially affected by all that) going to see this movie because it's supposed to be "a fucking entertaining Scorsese movie" and coming out and having enjoyed it! And doesn't see a problem with that! THAT'S what's fucked to me. What if George Clooney were to play one of those Enron guys in an upcoming film - would we all fucking jack each other off in exhilaration of how crazy and exciting that story would be? C'mon, man.

No one seems to understand why some people should be really pissed about this movie. If I were to venture into a somewhat-crazy-conspiracy-theory level on you, I would say that the writers, producers and production company specifically went overboard on all the over-the-top machismo stuff in this movie on purpose since that's an obvious and clearly distinct distraction to negatively focus on (and exactly what the media has focused on in every negative review so far) while the actual wool that's being pulled over all our eyes is this atrocious public acceptance (and celebration) of these sincere economical crimes that have affected millions of people.

And if you're thinking, "Whoa. Calm down, Liz. It's just a movie." That's probably the worst thing you could say to me. It isn't just a movie. This is a real man's life and we all know that fact. Every fucking person who has seen this movie makes SURE to tell me "You know, THIS REALLY HAPPENED" usually with a big fucking smile on their face. Why are we not more angry that it's completely a true story? I don't know. I'm not mad about what happened in the movie. It's a crazy story that happened and should be told. I happen to think it's crazier that we are celebrating a man's life that embodies a great deal of the problems of American life. I don't think anyone can say what's art and what isn't because everything is. Calling this art doesn't bother me. Making me PAY for this movie angers me. Just made me feel like a chump, that's all. 

(Ugh, and as a sidenote: whenever someone tells me an actor is especially "good" in something, I silently groan to myself because I'm sorry, but acting isn't hard. It blows my mind that there are televised awards for actors and we all are supposed to give such heartfelt fucks to see who's gonna take home that award! Go fuck yourself. There's a real post about award shows coming up.)

It really sounds like I hated this movie, but I didn't. I think it's crazy fascinating that so many people love it as much as they do.

(P.S. Thank you to Marla for her recent use of the words 'antihero' and 'machismo' in an email rant about this movie (such perfect usage of those words) and also some thoughts of hers that I completely agree with and had to corroborate. I love you for all of your hateful/smart musings, even the ones that I didn't feel as strongly about as you. You're the best.)


The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - A Review

by Liz Heather in ,


You should probably go see this. If we have similar taste in movies at all (and if you aren't sure if we do infact share similar tastes, then please familiarize yourself with these past reviews), then you'll most likely enjoy this movie.

Basic Thoughts

  • The first half hour? Wasn't really into it. There were a lot of imagined sequences during the beginning, which I expected, but I didn't love them. Up until the Benjamin Button one, which was great and got me to loosen up a bit, which made the rest of the movie much more fun to watch..
  • Obviously, Parks and Recreation (and Party Down) are both amazing amazing shows - but casting Adam Scott as the new boss? Hated him. And not the character, I get that he's supposed to be unlikable. But he did such a weirdly bad job of playing him. It distracted me with how poor a choice that was. Only thing I'm gonna complain about.
  • You know how I (and others) complain so much about how long movies are? I wanted this one to be longer. I think that's just based on how much I liked the story, but I really wish it had kept going or had included some scenes that probably got cut.
  • Personally, I love it when the trailer song is actually used in a scene in the movie. I can't stand it when trailer song choices are just an afterthought that have nothing to do with the story.
  • Sean Penn, you're great. Everything needs more Sean Penn. It was such a tiny role and I love that it was his.
  • Kristen Wiig, even when you're not funny, you're a delight. Keep that up.
  • If you're an average, middle-aged, not UN-attractive man who's looking to separate himself from the crowd, you know what you should do? Get a bit of a tan. It always tricks me into thinking you're better looking than you are. Honestly. Ben Stiller tricked me into thinking that with this movie. I found myself inwardly asking, "Wait... is he a raging babe right now? Uh oh, he IS." I also found myself asking those same questions with Steve Carell in The Way Way Back. And the only real similarity was their calming tan skin. Just a thought.
  • I just re-read these points and I realize I haven't told you really why I thought it was so good. I think it's harder to express that when something is sort of well done and you just want to leave it at that and not over-think it. I really enjoyed it, though.

And if you're thinking that I would've loved this no matter what because of Kristen Wiig, you're wrong. (I don't know what the hell to think of The Spoils of Babylon - I just... I don't think I get it? Anyway, that's another topic.)

Mitty! Go see it!