Two movies that sucked much less than I thought they would

I realize this post begs the question – why are you watching movies you think are going to suck?

To quote Lorelai Gilmore, I like movies “good, bad, and indifferent.” As long as it’s not too serious, long, scary, or bloody I am up for watching it.

And I had two pleasant surprises lately, which just goes to show…something. That low standards can sometimes pay off, perhaps.

First was My Life in Ruins.

This has the woman from My Big Fat Greek Wedding as an American working as a tour guide in Greece. She’s unhappy, she doesn’t like her job, etc. We watch one tour and she finds the meaning of life…falls in love…etc.

I think I remember reading that this was cheesy, which it totally is, but it has some funny parts and nice scenery.

Last night I watched I Love You, Beth Cooper which I think was supposed to be horrible.

I actually thought it was pretty funny and entertaining.

Typical coming of age movie with craziness and teenage hormones, which I always enjoy.

So…don’t judge a book by it’s cover or a movie by its reviews. That’s today’s moral.

A Christmas movie I hadn’t seen? Shocking.

But true – the other night I watched Holiday Affair with Janet Leigh and Robert Mitchum.

I love 40’s movies pretty much across the board. They’re so fun and cozy I just want to crawl into my TV and live there. Plus I love the clothes. And this one was no exception.

Not overly Christmas-y, except that it takes place during the holidays, but a cute little love story.

So go and watch it. They’re playing it on TCM so check your Tivo.

'Tis the Season (sort of)

It’s officially the Christmas season (although my decorations have been up for a couple of weeks now – don’t judge me!)


So in that vein, I present:

Leisure Girl’s 5 Favorite Christmas Movies of All Time (and I watch them all)

1. White Christmas

My number one classic. I watch this one every year, along with Holiday Inn, which is remarkably similar. I love it, except for some of the extended dance numbers that I fast forward through. But the songs! “Snow” and “White Christmas”! And Bing! It’s a winner

2. Elf

I think this is the very best newer holiday movie. Just odd enough to be fun. My husband and I spend an oddly large amount of time repeating “Santa! I know him!” to each other.

3. Christmas in Connecticut

Another classic, although not nearly well known enough. Star crossed lovers, secrets, possible kidnappings, a cow, this movie has it all.

4. Charlie Brown Christmas

I have blogged before on the oddness of the Charlie Brown universe, and this one is no exception. But I love it when they all dance, and the magical tiny Christmas tree. And Linus, of course.

5. The Santa Clause

The top four are the ones I love, and I waffled over the fifth. It could also have been Miracle on 34th Street or Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation. But The Santa Clause is a fun concept and I love watching him turn into Santa for some reason.

So there they are - I can't wait to go another round with them before the holiday!

Dipping my toe into romantic comedies

Leisure Girl almost always enjoys a romantic comedy, and The Proposal was certainly a good time. Cute cast - Sandra Bullock is always fun and I love me some Ryan Reynolds (cause he's tall, and funny, although I worry about the fact that he's married to Scarlett Johanson, who I hate...it makes me think he and I wouldn't really get along...then I try to relax and just enjoy the movie...)

Plus it had Betty White! And Alaska! And Canadian humor! It was fun.

Less fun? Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

I thought I was going to LOVE this one. I am a huge Jennifer Garner fan and who doesn't love Matthew McConaughey?

Me, apparently.

I know he always plays the cool playboy with the heart of gold, but I kinds think I'm over it. Mainly he seems sleazy. And a little greasy. And not so cute. I ended up feeling like she could do better.

Perhaps it's over for me and Matthew? Only time will tell.

New Moon makes me want to be 15 again

And I am back. Yes, for reals, people. This is me re-committing to this blog. Also me emerging from a baby soaked haze. But he’s old enough that he can enjoy a little leisure of his own (don’t judge me…it’s only the occasional Baby Einstein) which allows me to be able to actually sit and blog.

And what better movie to start with than New Moon.

I was a little too excited to see this. It felt a tad unseemly. But they sucked me in with their hype and endless ads and cute cute boys.

And we all know that I love her books. And anything geared towards teenage girls.

Anyway, I took my over excitement and a purse stuffed with candy to the movie yesterday and it totally lived up to my expectations. I know it’s getting bad reviews, but I am not entirely sure why. It’s true to the book and fun viewing.

It is a little slow? Yes, but so was the book. Is it a little cheesy? Seriously, people, what were you expecting?

All in all, I say it was delightful. And despite that fact that the actor who played him is just baby faced enough to make me feel a little dirty, I love me some Jacob. Not for me the pale and tortured Edward, I say bring on the hot built werewolf.

Is it me or are the Charlie Brown specials oddly trippy?

As an early present to myself, I bought the Peanuts Holiday Collection, which has the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Charlie Brown movies.

These are some of my favorites, and definitely a tradition, but I do find the Thanksgiving one, which I watched last night, to be excessively weird.

First of all, where are these kid's parents? How are they free to wander around alone on Thanksgiving? And, okay, the best meal Charlie Brown can come up with is popcorn, toast, jelly bean and sundaes, but most of that was cooked by a dog, which I find pretty damn impressive. I have two dogs and they would have been absolutely no help, whereas Snoopy not only cooked but also set the table and folded the napkins into little shapes. He's really the unsung hero of this piece.

Every year I watch and every year there are more unanswered questions. It's a holiday mystery.

Twilight is here!

Yesterday I went and saw "Twilight." I couldn't wait and had to go on opening day.

As I have blogged about before, I really enjoyed the books and the movie did not disappoint.

I thought it stayed very true to the books and was similar to how I pictured things in my head.

The actors and actresses were all pretty and fun to watch, especially Edward, who only makes me wish I was still 13 so I could better justify having a crush on him.

Go and see it, you won't be disappointed.

Fun for boys of all ages

I feel a strong need to support Brandon Fraiser movies, because he's such a cutie. Unfortunately, many of them are very, very bad.

Journey to the Center of the Earth was not one of those, however. It was a little cheesy (another Fraiser hallmark) but enjoyable enough.

There is apparently a 3-D version available, and I think that one would have been a lot more fun.

Still, even in 2-D it's a good way to spend a couple of hours.

I would like to be Anne Hathaway

Although without the vaguely European, con man boyfriend, obviously.

I just love her and think she's so classy and cute. So I was predisposed to like Get Smart, and it didn't disappoint.

It's not the highest brow humor, but I still enjoyed it and laughed out loud quite a bit.

My only complaint? She and Steve Carell make a totally skeevy couple.

Stupid movies? Often just that.

.

Sometimes I like stupid boy humor movies. Those ones that look so groaningly bad can often be very funny, if a bit of a guilty pleasure (never the ones you want to tell people you spent the weekend watching).

The thing is, these movies are hit or miss. And I have been very much missing lately.

I have watched both The Love Guru with Mike Myers as well as You Don't Mess with the Zohan with Adam Sandler. They were both really not good. Just kind of wincingly not funny.

I know, I have only myself to blame.

George Clooney is always a good thing

This weekend I rented Leatherheads . A cute funny movie.

Really, I would pretty happily watch George Clooney read the paper for an hour and a half, but this was signifigantly more entertaining than that.

It was fun and full of good 40s banter, which is always a plus.

Definitely recommended as a way to while away a couple of hours.

I don't like Kung Fu

Knowing this, I probably shouldn't have rented the movie The Forbidden Kingdom.

I blame my husband, or at least the fact that it seems only fair that he occasionally gets to watch movies he likes.

I am not much of an action movie girl, and martial arts movies especially leave me cold. This one definitely did, and even lacked cute boy eye candy to distract me. And, in the end, even my husband didn't like it that much.

In the mood for an odd movie?

Wristcutters: A Love Story, is a very odd movie, but one I enjoyed quite a bit.

It's the story of a man who kills himself and then goes to an afterlife completely inhabited by other suicide victims.

The plot sounds not at all good, I know, but it was different and off and kind of fun.

A good try when you're in the mood for something a little strange.

I made my badly acted teen filled bed, now I must lie in it

The universe can only say I told you so when I rent the movie Prom Night and find it less than good.

I am not a huge horror movie buff, but I do enjoy some of the teen slasher flicks so popular in the 80s and 90s.

I really haven't enjoyed the more recent ones, though.

The acting is awful, which is to be expected, but they're also oddly boring.

Huge chunks of this movie were taken up with poorly scripted conversations about who would win prom queen. Where's the tension? Where's the suspense?

Perhaps located in a better movie.

An actual good movie

After my recent flops, I was very pleased to rent a movie I actually really liked. What a novelty!

Last night I watched Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Visually, a lot of fun, as movies set in that era are wont to be. Great cast - especially the adorable Lee Pace from "Pushing Daisies." The movie had a fun plot and moved along nicely, although the end was a little slapped together.

Still, totally recommended and such a vast, vast improvement over what I have been watching. I can only hope my streak continues.

I make bad movie choices

I have had no luck with my weekend movie picks lately.

I wanted to blame Netflix for their going-through-a-dry-spell choices, but I think the blame has to be mine.

In trying to chose movies that both my husband and I will enjoy, I seem to be ending up with ones no one likes.

This weeks less than stellar picks?

Borat. I didn't really think I would like it (it looked WAY too cringe-y), but I felt like everyone else in the world had already seen it and we should too. The result? So awkward and really not all that funny.

Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns. I like Tyler Perry's movies because they are filled with such pretty people. This one was no exception. But it was lacking in suspense. Would the hard-working, but struggling single mom end up with the completely perfect man who was in love with her from the second he met her? Would she? Would she? Well...yes, obviously.

Perhaps next weekend I will do better.

Curl up with Audrey

Enjoying Audrey Hepburn is a cliche, I know.

I don't even know that I am so enamoured with her, since I often find her characters a little mannered and irritating (Holly Golightly). But I do love her movies. She's so lovely, and they are always fun to watch.

I recently enjoyed three back to back when I got the Audrey Hepburn Collection (from the library, even).

This included Breakfast at Tiffany's, Roman Holiday, and Sabrina. This was actually my first watching of Sabrina, which is, I realize, shocking. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although Humphrey Bogart is a less than ideal leading man for her.

All wonderful and filled with good clothes.

Weekend movie recap

Another Monday, another weekend spent watching questionable movies.

First up was 10,000 BC. I felt like I had heard people say this movie was good, but it's possible, in retrospect, that I was hallucinating. It may be my own fault. I'm not really a fan of the tracking people down for the final big battle movies and this was definitely one of them. Plus the people were hard to tell apart with everyone sporting BC dreads. Not my cup of tea.


Then I watched Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (I know, I had such high standards this weekend). It was pretty much exactly what you would expect. It had the wonder that is Neal Patrick Harris, but other than that was pretty much drug and bathroom jokes.

School loans are a pain - take up counting cards

I was vaguely excited to watch 21. Why? I don't know, good cast, Jim Sturgess is cute, and it seemed like a relatively interesting plot.

And, yet....

Both Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth were exceptionally uncute. Plus I found the characters annoying (just get a loan to go to medical school like the rest of us...you don't have to count cards in Vegas!) and what happened to Kevin Spacey? Wasn't he once delightful and not all icky?

In the end, you sort of just wanted things to end badly for them and it was hard to feel too bad when it did (oh no! your ill-gotten money that you stuffed in your roof got stolen? how tragic!).

I guess I just like more heroes.

When teen movies go bad

I think we can all agree that it's not really reasonable to rent the movie Step Up 2: The Streets and then be surprised when it's not very good. Especially since I had already seen the first movie, which was also not much of a winner, and the likelihood that this one would be better, or even as good, was pretty slim.

But teen movies have an oddly catnip like quality for me, so watch it I did.

And, it didn't disappoint, as long as your expectations were very, very, very low.

On the plus side, the dancing was very cool, and that was a good 60% of the movie.

The characters were poorly written and badly acted and neither charismatic or interesting. The plot, such as it was, was dull and predictable.

I will admit, however, that I ended up fast forwarding quite a bit as the film wore on, so it's possible that I missed several bon mots and plot twists. I doubt it, though.

Still, if you want to see lots of people spin around on their heads, look no further.