Super Loser Double Feature

Thought I would give you the definition of what I did tonight:

Super Loser Double Feature

Jason defines this as:

Going to see two or more movies in one evening by yourself. Said person is alone by choice, unavailability of real/imaginary friends or hatred of other humans. Kiosks are used to purchase tickets so same ticket counter does not see said person twice. Antisocial behavior may be exhibited if noisy family or seat kickers sit to close. In some situations said person will go to multiple theaters to completely avoid being identified as a double dipper.

Super Loser Double Feature Episode 1 7/1/11

Super Loser Double Feature 7/1/11 Episode 1: Bad Teacher

Prior to seeing this movie I had read some reviews and decided to go anyway. It was all they said and more, in a bad way.

Cameron Diaz barely earned a chuckle. She seemed a little too natural being the bitch and I don't think anyone was rooting for her to turn it around and become a better person, I wanted to see her end up in jail.

It was the supporting cast that kept me from using the top from my soda to gouge out my eyes. Phyllis Smith from the Office was hysterical and underutilized here. Lucy Punch created a character that had some shades of Tracy Fleck from Election all grown up. Kevin Stonestreet and Thomas Lennon easily got laughs, especially during their fight scene.

Justin Timberlake and Jason Segel looked like they had fun making it but these roles were no stretch for either of them. Timberlake channels his characters from SNL in more than one scene.

I also had the feeling that the kids were going to play a larger role in the whole film and that this would be something that 20 years from now, like the Outsiders, where you look back and see how a new crop of stars acted as kids.

I get the feeling that they cut this movie to shreds to try and make Cameron more palatable. It didn't work. The story lines go in many directions and few of them are tied up prior to the thankfully quick end.

Maybe this wouldn't have been so bad if I was as high as Cameron Diaz' character.

What happened to actors?

What happened to ACTORS?

Lately I have begun to notice that casting is being done according to personality, not talent. Many of the movies I have seen appear to showcase people reading lines as themselves.

I have heard complaints that to win an Oscar actors need to change themselves into something radically different. But the simple truth is that those are people who are not being themselves while they read lines off of a cue card. They transform. And by transforming into someone they are not they carry the audience to a place where reality can take a breather.

Has the cult of celebrity gone so far that we don't want to see people not be themselves?

If it has I can only hope that it will change back and actors acting will repopulate the silver screen.

Super Loser Double Feature Episode 2

Super Loser Double Feature 7/1/11 Episode 2: Beginners

After seeing Bad Teacher I couldn't trust myself to go home and not do something stupid so I had to go and see something else. I looked around and found a movie with some people who can act and off I went.

Beginners stars Ewan McGregor as Oliver, Christopher Plummer as Hal and Melanie Laurent as Anna. McGregor and Plummer play a father and son, the father came out as a gay man after his wife dies. The son sees his father living life to it's fullest in the time he has left but Oliver doesn't get to do the same.

This is a movie about relationships and how hard those can be. There are scenes that are difficult to watch as you can imagine the characters having a tragic ending.

I really thought at some point this was going to induce a spate of tears but that moment never came. I felt like they tried and tried but never got me over that hurdle.

The time-line jumps around as you see the story of Hal and Oliver play out contrasted against the story of Anna and Oliver. Some of this is hard to watch. The interactions between Oliver and his mother show a boy growing up in a truly dysfunctional home.

Arthur, Hal's Jack Russell, gives the movie some much needed light moments, but this film is still heavy.

I would recommend this movie, but only if you are okay with thinking about it on the way home. It stuck with me and judging from the silence of the other theater patrons it struck a chord with them as well.