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Author: Jenn, Category: Play
The title of this post may have been the first time I’ve typed “September” yet this month, and damn did that feel good! And it’s a quarter over to boot.
Anyway, down to business - I haven’t had the time to watch too many movies recently, but here are a few I’ve watched that didn’t completely rot.
The Jane Austen Book Club
- I’d wanted to see this one for a few weeks. I love Jane Austen (note to self: must re-read all - yeah yeah, I occasionally have a stereotypical female urge to do such things). That of course made me curious about the movie. At the same time, every time I picked it up debating whether or not to rent it, I just wasn’t “feeling it.” Finally I broke down (read: there was nothing better to rent, and I was in a hurry). I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t overly sappy bullshit. I was happy with most of the ending (all but one story line). There was a certain amount of truth in there - any movie that makes me reflect on my own life in even a small way gets my vote. Not amazing, but one of the “smarter” chick flicks I’ve seen lately (although as the movie tries to show - Austen ain’t just a chick thing). - 3.5 stars
Halloween 4 - The Return of Michael Myers
- If you’ve seen my past “movies that don’t suck” posts, you may have noticed that I’m finally working my way through the Halloween series (sans 3 for the time being). I was very pleasantly surprised by the first. In true sequel fashion, 2 wasn’t quite as good (but I still enjoyed it). I was worried about 3. I actually rented it three times I think before I finally sat down and watched the thing. I was concerned that by the third, we’d be getting to the point where they’d dive more into the gore and other shit for the sake of competition (and for the record, I have no problem with violence, sex, gore, etc. in movies as long as it furthers the plot and isn’t gratuitously thrown in there for the sake of appealing to a young male audience too dense to see beyond it). In that sense, it was better than I expected (although, and I’ll admit I was kind of distracted by something else while watching it, did it seem like there was an odd amount of ripping holes into people - was it maybe just me?). The storyline itself was annoyingly predictable for the most part (life’s too short to watch shit when you know what’s going to happen), and the whole Dr. Loomis thing was too much. It’s one thing for the villan to be some supernatural-esque death-defying stud. It’s something else entirely for Donald Pleasance to mysteriously survive all kinds of crap. Anyway, the kid was cute and not bad, and she might be the only reason this one barely squeaked by with a high enough rating to make the list. I’m not thinking I’m going to enjoy 5 - seems to be quite the downward slope from one to the next. In 4’s defense, it did give me nightmares (well one) - waking up was kind of funny, because I couldn’t believe I’d dreamt about some murderous movie-based foe. Cool. - 3 stars
Near Dark
- This one I watched on a recommendation after mentioning that I tend to like a good vampire story. It wasn’t bad. Nothing amazing, but overall the characters were pretty strong. As it often is in horror movies, the youngen was one of the better actors on board. There did seem to be one really odd discrepency in the dialogue that was driving me nuts, but it’s possible I misheard something, so won’t judge on that until I eventually watch it again (if I watch it again). The ending kind of ruined it a bit for me - pissed me off actually. (Spoiler: The whole “cure vampirism with a blood transfusion” thing was just a cheap-ass way out, and frankly, I wanted him to let the bitch fry - after all, she was the one who caused all of his problems, put his family at risk, etc. because she decided to turn him rather than kill him.) - 3.5 stars
Author: Jenn, Category: Play
It’s time for another set of films that passed the “Jenn test.” Some may be new. Some may be quite old, but ones I’ve either recently seen for the first time or have seen again after a long time away from them. They may not be the best movies out there, but you could certainly find worse ways to waste a few hours of your life:
Russian Dolls
- This is a sequel to L’Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment). I’d say close to half of it is in French and close to half in English. There’s also some Russian thrown in there. I won’t get into all of the story line - watch the first one before this to be introduced to some of the main characters. I can’t stand the “hero” of the story - stereotypical male pig. I didn’t like the British chick in the first one, but her character really grew on me. The British guy was the funniest (again), and the actress playing the lesbian chick is quite good as well. What I love about both of these movies is that they do an amazing job of interweaving so many storylines and characters from different countries who all speak different languages. There’s a kind of gritty attempt at “realism” (overdone for the sake of drama), but in this one it’s balanced out by the almost sickeningly sweet, too-cute-for-words, romance between the British guy and a Russian ballerina he’s marrying, which brings the old crew from the first film back together. Not sure if that’s making sense. Just watch them. - 4.5 stars
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
- I’d been waiting a while to see this one. I don’t care for Amy Adams, but the story looked cute, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ll admit, she didn’t suck. She was actually a very good fit for this particular role. Overall, it was a nice little story - a bit on the fluffy side, but I really enjoyed it. - - 3.5 stars
The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me but Your Teeth Are in My Neck
- I watched this on the recommendation of someone whose film suggestions are above question in my opinion. So far they’ve never steered me wrong. This one’s as stupid as it sounds. I don’t like a lot of “stupid” comedies, but this one I really do. It probably helped that I’ve always had a soft spot for vampire stories. There was just enough drama worked in to keep the story moving along nicely. Probably not something I’d rush to watch again (not many movies are), but one that was fun and certainly worth seeing if you just need some serious brain candy.
Halloween
- Yes, I only just saw it for the first time. Another one I watched after being told how good it is by the aforementioned individual. Why hadn’t I seen this before? 1. Not a big Jamie Lee Curtis fan. 2. I haven’t been a horror movie fan for many years. 3. When I do watch a horror film, anything along the lines of a teen slasher flick would be bottom on my list. And 4. When I do watch a horror film these days, I really don’t like watching them alone, and frankly there’s no one left around here who would willingly sit through one with me. So I’m surprised I even saw it. I did prep myself. I read an essay about it in the Horror101 book I’d bought a while back first, and watched the little “making of” feature bit on the DVD (I have a better chance of being able to sit through a horror movie if I watch the back-end stuff first - it puts it in perspective and allows me to think of it more as a work of art than just a scary story or lame excuse for showcasing a few sets of tits for the perv male population when I’m watching it). Anyway, I was really surprised that I liked this at all, but I did. And knowing a bit about the history behind the movie actually made me appreciate it even more. - 4.5 stars
Roman Holiday
- Another older one I hadn’t seen until very recently. I took a break from catching up on the old Fred & Ginger films to work this one in a few nights back. Very cute, and had some pretty amusing elements. Obviously the gist of the story’s been redone a lot by now, so it was relatively predictable, but it’s always nice to see earlier versions of things you’re familiar with. What I loved most about it is the fact that it didn’t have the storybook, happily-ever-after, kind of ending that becomes nauseating after a while. - 4 stars
All rather good “movies that don’t suck” this go-around, but if you must see a new one you haven’t seen yet, Russian Dolls is my top recommendation.
Author: Jenn, Category: Play
I was just working on an e-book I’m trying to finish up this week, and I suddenly found myself thinking “God, I’d love to watch some Scooby Doo right now.” Yes, Scooby Doo. I’ve been an addict since I was a child. It’s one of my guilty pleasures - those things I’m normally too embarrassed to admit that I love.
Do you have anything like that? Something that makes you giddy even in the midst of feeling stressed and over-worked? I’ll share my top three with you just for fun (of the innocent variety at least). 
- Scooby Doo - As much as I love the old cartoon, I actually love the newer movies (starting with Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, which came out when I was a freshman in college) more.
- Army of Darkness - This is one of the stupidest movies ever made, but I can’t get enough of it. I find it absolutely hysterical (and I don’t usually enjoy “stupid” slapstick-style comedy). Nobody hams it up like Bruce Campbell - seriously.
- Haunted Hayrides - I love Halloween. I spend all year waiting for fall to come. There’s just something in the air that automatically cheers me up - the gray skies, the cool air, the blustery wind, the leaves blowing - nothing beats it. But with as much as I love the fall, it’s going on a haunted hayride around Halloween that gets me glowing. The scarier the better - I love being scared (odd coming from someone who doesn’t read or watch much horror anymore because they’re too “afraid to do it alone”). It’s just that tiny bit of an adrenaline rush I guess. I’d love to find a really scary one (or haunted house kind of deal instead of a hayride), but I doubt I will this year. I’ve heard the haunted prison bit near Philly’s pretty good.
So what are your guilty pleasures?
Author: Jenn, Category: Life, Play
I haven’t really talked much about my workouts here. I’ve been a big fan of walking and hiking for years. In the spring and fall when it’s cool, I’m often doing 4 - 8 miles a day at least 5 days per week (although you probably wouldn’t guess it to look at me). It becomes an addiction, and I end up doing it more for my peace of mind than much else.
In the summer though, when it gets rather hot and humid where I live, I can barely stand to be outside just to walk to the car. I hate hot weather. I have got absolutely no tolerance for it. Needless to say, my outdoor workouts tend to slack off completely, and I cross my fingers hoping I’ll get back into it when it cools down.
Well all this summer I’ve been trying different workouts indoors to see if I could find something I enjoy. I like tae bo, but not enough to do it all the time. I hate step aerobics, but I know it’s good for me. I love a few dance-oriented workouts too, but doing the same repetitive motions to the same videos with the same voices “coaching” me along just gets annoying. And I’ve really liked some of the indoor walking routines I’ve played with (again, I can’t stand listening to the trainers on the videos). I even have the Yourself Fitness! software which is fun to play with, but even that uses pretty limited moves sometimes (although it’s nice, because it will incorporate my step, hand weights, or stability ball if I tell it to).
So I took things into my own hands and decided it was time to create my own custom workout “routine.” I’ve tried a few in the past two weeks, and today I think I finally found my winner!
I don’t force myself to do certain moves at certain times. Instead what I did is keep a list of my favorite moves (tae bo, dance, indoor walking) in front of me, and pulled out whatever worked best for the songs that came on.
The real difference seemed to be my new playlist today. It was great - 48 minutes of great indie tunes (and a few non-indie tunes that happened to have a great beat for it). I wasn’t dreading any of it for pretty much the first time ever (and most of the workout videos I do are 30 minutes or so even with warmups and cool down, so this was a nice hour-long workout total with those things worked in). I wasn’t wondering when it was going to stop. I was wondering what song was next. I was sweating up a storm even more than I do with my typical tae bo workouts (which I’d say are the most intense ones I used to do). Frankly, I feel awesome.
So I decided to share my “perfect little playlist” for anyone else who might want to check out some of the lesser-known artists. Here you go:
I figure tomorrow I’ll change up the order and get to it again, and we’ll see if it has the same effect. Good music always rocks.
Author: Jenn, Category: Play
Given that I don’t often have a lot of free time, and when I do it tends to be in relatively short bursts, I spend much of it watching movies these days. (When I have random free time, it’s just easy to pop in a DVD or something.) So I decided to add a “regular” feature here detailing movies I’ve seen in the somewhat recent past that didn’t completely suck. Here’s the first edition of movies that Jenn says don’t suck ass:
My House in Umbria
- I’m a big Maggie Smith fan, which is why I decided to watch this. I wasn’t really in the mood for a drama at the time, but it was surprisingly light-hearted given the subject matter (four passengers in a train car survive a bombing, she’s one of them, and she invites them to stay at her house in Umbria as they’re still recovering and not able to leave the area during the bomb investigation). - 4 stars
Keeping Mum
- This is another Maggie Smith movie (deal with it). It’s also now one of my favorites. An adorably dark comedy about a sweet little old lady who has her own way of eliminating problems. The cast overall was rather good, and there are some story points that made it slightly less predictable than you’d think - OK, still kind of predictable. Love it anyway. - 4.5 stars
In Bruges
- This one came as a recommendation. It kind of crosses genres. When I heard “dark comedy” (and I love dark comedies) I expected something a bit different, but it was an excellent film. Long story short, two hit men are sent to Bruges, Belgium to “cool off” after a hit. Being that I’m not a Colin Farrell fan, I really didn’t expect much at all, but even he was pretty darn good in it. The ending was kind of drawn out, but a nice dramatic side of the story. - 4.5 stars
Love and Other Disasters
- I picked this one up because I was in desperate need of a chick flick. I figured “Brittney Murphy equals corny, somewhat stupid, romantic comedy,” and to a degree that’s exactly what this was. But… I thought it was well-written compared to a lot of garbage chick flicks, rather funny at times, and being a writer I really enjoyed the screenplay angle (watch it to understand it). - 3.5 stars
Since this is the first of these kinds of posts, I’ll list several other decent movies I’ve seen over the past couple of weeks / months, but without going into detail:
- Night Watch
(finally got around to this one - I’ve been wanting to see it since I found out from one of the bands on the soundtrack that the US distribution was settled - quite a while back) - 4 stars
- Dawn of the Dead
(yeah, I know - I’m probably one of the last people to see it) - 4.5 stars
- Ladies in Lavender
(a bit slower than I would have liked, and I didn’t feel like the ending really summed too much up, but you can’t go wrong with Maggie Smith and Judi Dench) - 3 stars
- The House of Yes
(a deliciously fucked up film) - 4 stars
- Love Actually
(not as great as the hype led me to believe, but it didn’t suck) - 3 stars
- Top Hat
(Given my love of older musicals and Fred Astaire in particular, I surprisingly haven’t seen all of the Fred and Ginger films - Loved this one - wasn’t it great when actors actually had to have some talent other than “looking pretty?”) - 4 stars