Greenberg

I had high expectations for the movie, but when I left the theatre I felt...nothing, really. I was so ambivalent about this film that I couldn't even muster disappointment. Ben Stiller played the moody, neurotic, narcissistic has-been to such levels of frustration that I had to check out of the story in order to stay present in the theatre. By the end of the film, I didn't feel like he had changed at all, and was upset that his only motivation to do so was the Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl Florence. A few poignant lines captured (what I perceive to be) the essence of the middle-age psyche, but since it was made for an older audience, I didn't feel like I could appreciate it in the same types of ways.

two and half.

Alice in Wonderland

I was excited about this movie, since it taps into (and I think has since created?) a world of weirdness and eccentricity of style. I've never read the books, unfortunately, but I found the movie to be engaging and fast-paced, and I thought the not-so-subtle emphasis on destiny vs choice was intriguing, and just so ambivalently navigated to feel satisfied with the questioning, and free to form independent interpretations.

three

Hot Tub Time Machine

Four men take a trip to the vacation spot of their glory days, and due to a glitch with the wiring of their hot tub, travel back in time to 1986. The film is horrendously flawed in its plotline, but it's obvious as the film progresses that it claims nothing in the way of story structure. Yet through a cleverly written script, the characters manage to employ every expected convention, and then proceed to make fun of it in all kinds of hilarious self-reflexivity. It's lewd, offensive, and surprisingly funny.

three.

Thelma and Louise

I don't know why it took me so long to watch this classic film, because I knew immediately that I was going to love it. Perhaps recent personal issues made the movie even more resonant, but regardless, I enjoyed every funny, awful, heroic moment. Though it's focused on a particular zeitgeist, I think its story transcends and speaks to contemporary women's issues in just as many poignant ways. The film wrestles with heavy gender issues in a way that left me feeling just enough hope in the midst of overwhelming disappointment, because, hey? What else can you do?

five

Stick It

This coming-of-age, underdog, sports flick offered a surprising twist that rendered this ABCfamily television special into a rule-bending, convention tweaking, uplifting film. The film questions institutions and celebrates talent, and while the meant-to-be-emotionally-laden back stories are cliched, the rest of the film isn't. Taking into account the intended distribution venues, I was still able to appreciate its music-video-esque editing techniques and enjoy the character redemptions that inadvertently (though perhaps not so subtly) questioned The Man.

three...and a half.