hamlet 2

I love Steve Coogan. He is hilarious, and what he does to himself in HAMLET 2 caused me to giggle in awkwardness throughout the whole movie. He plays a failed actor who has become a high school drama teacher to stay connected to the art. All I could think while watching this movie is that it is the dirty, trashy cousin of WAITING FOR GUFFMAN. There are some truly hilarious moments - and although it isn't a perfect film, it is a must see for actors and theatre fans. The theatre program is going to be cut, so Coogan must have the performance of a lifetime to get people interested in keeping the program alive. He ends up deciding to write his own piece and settles on the sequel to HAMLET. Including such characters as Jesus, and incorporating a time machine, the piece is...um....interesting. Much more happens....and the supporting cast is fantastic. Featuring Catherine Keener, Amy Poehler, and two of the original cast members of SPRING AWAKENING, this is a movie to watch to appreciate the ridiculousness of the theatre, and actors in general. By the by, Elizabeth Shue is totally cool.

Final thoughts: Awkwardly funny...has some genuinely great moments, and is a must-see for the Thespians amongst us.

tropic thunder

Horrible and hilarious. Sometimes, a movie is painfully funny, but also painfully inappropriate. Some of the things in this movie are like burn in hell inappropriate....and one can only hope that the Lord will spare those who laughed at the jokes, and only punish those who told them. TROPIC THUNDER is a movie about a movie. A team of actors are working on THE war movie...and it is going badly. In order to get the actors to understand what it was like during the battle, the director, special effects director and author of the book decide to make the movie guerrilla-style and drop the actors out in the woods. So, everything goes wrong, and unbeknownst to the actors, they are fighting drug lords. Robert Downey, Jr. is ha-larious as the Australian method actor who dyes his skin black to play an African-American. Ben Stiller is also great (probably his best role to date) as the action star who is trying to get his career back after playing a special-needs character and destroying his reputation. Jay Baruchel is also a stand-out as the seemingly only sane actor in the bunch, rounded out by Jack Black and Brandon T. Jackson. This movie is offensive, weirdly gory, full of fart jokes, and full of creeps in the movie business....it is also laugh-out-loud funny, and full of lines that you will repeat long after you've left the theatre. A random thought...Matthew McConaughey plays Stiller's agent, and is great in the part. The part was originally meant to be played by Owen Wilson. How different would that part have been?

Final thoughts: A hilarious, but offensive film, not for the faint of heart. Bonus: The trailers (especially the one with Robert Downey, Jr.) are so funny, and kudos to the folks who were willing to mock themselves for this one.

just when i think i'm a grown up.....

I get tonsillitis. Seriously, what adult gets tonsillitis? I was home sick from work today, and seriously struggled to fill the day. I mean, sure, staying home and watching tv all day sounds great in theory, but after about hour six.....all you want to do is interact with a person, and not feel like crap. I did watch a really interesting documentary called LIFE AFTER TOMORROW which is about the original girls involved in the show ANNIE, and their life now. It is both sad and interesting, most of these women's careers peaked when they were 11 when they were in the show. It puts it into perspective that your love of performing really does stay with you all of your life....and for the most part, most of the women are no longer in the business....except for Sarah Jessica Parker (Annie #3 on Broadway). May we all be so lucky to have SJP's career! Anyway, now that I have been on antibiotics for over 24 hours, I am now no longer contagious, and can now go back to work. So, back to the office tomorrow I go.

boos and boo-yahs

Hi folks. Once again, I have let you down, reader. Things have been crazy (as always), and I have been a busy girl. I have been really irritated by some things lately, so I thought I would share some of the things that have been bothering me (the boos), and some stuff that I am totally stoked about (the boo-yahs). Without further ado, the list....

Boos
1. Why must NYC smell like rotting garbage during the summer? It is just plain nasty.
2. The Olympic events I want to watch (gymnastics and swimming) coming on so freaking late.
3. The economy....in general.
4. My $491 plane ticket to fly home at Christmas. Seriously.
5. Subway stations being like four hundred degrees. There are days I get to work ready to serve with a side of mashed potatoes and stuffing.
6. Not making the time to work out.
7. The rain almost every day of my vacation.
8. It is looking unlikely that I will ever get a medal at the Olympics for gymnastics.

Boo-yahs
1. I totally bought my ticket to the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE tour. It is going to be awesome.
2. The Olympic swimmers - so pretty to look at.
3. Having a vacation.
4. I'm going home for Christmas!
5. The movie, MAN ON WIRE. (Review to come.)
6. Facebook - love, love, love it!

Just some thoughts on this summer night. Hope that your life is going well, and movie reviews coming soon!

blogging buddy

I just think my kitty is so cute. Here she is, helping me blog!

space chimps

Sometimes, things are just dorky fun. I have to say that any time a movie gets a "G" rating, I tend to think that maybe it's not for me. However, SPACE CHIMPS far exceeded my expectations, and totally cracked me up. SPACE CHIMPS is a movie about these chimps...that go into space. After an exploratory probe goes into a wormhole and lands on an alien planet, NASA puts together a team of chimps to send after it. So, three chimps are sent into space, and hilarity ensues. The life on the alien planet is bizarre and hilarious. Special kudos to Kilowatt played by Kristin Chenowith, who has some hilarious moments as a little creature that glows when she is nervous. With fantastic music by the Blue Man Group (wink wink), this movie is hilarious and silly fun.

Final thoughts: So much fun...don't have to necessarily see on the big screen, but one to definitely take in.

photo credit: http://www.movieweb.com/