SamiAndNemanjaGoToTheMovies

Sami watched Iron Man 3 and had some conflicted feelings

So earlier this week I wandered into town to see Iron Man 3, a movie that could more accurately have been named Pepper Potts is now the Goddess of Everything. Because yeah. That. She was. And it was good.

To be fair, it could also have been renamed Iron Man vs The Terminator T-1000 because it’s pretty close, no lie. And I had a good time. But I have to say, for all that I liked some aspects of this film, I’m not so pleased with others. So I’m going to vacillate back and forth a little, fair warning. This isn’t the most positive review so if that’s gonna offend you, I’d suggest you stop reading now. 

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Sami cringes her way through Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters

In some ways, I only have myself to blame for the terrible, terrible life decisions that I make, one of which was clearly watching this film while completely and utterly sober. But, for better or for worse, I went into this film with the best of intentions. The experience was never supposed to produce a review, nor was it supposed to result in the sheer amount of twitter ranting that it did. In fact, it was meant to be a reasonably long break in which I turned my brain most of the way off so that I could watch two reasonably attractive people run around and blow things up. I wasn’t supposed to have any strong feelings. But man, do I ever have some strong feelings! A warning though: this review is hella meandering and kinda not always related to the movie, so you might want to brace for that.

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A really well-constructed and fascinating take on Bardem’s role in Skyfall.

Sami blathers on a bit about Castle.

In many ways I’m disconcerted by my reaction to Castle. Let’s be honest here: it’s entertaining enough but it’s also not a very good show. I’m not sure whether this is simply because it can’t seem to decide quite what it is, or because I’m annoyed by its three seasons of teasing before it gave up the goat and became the X-Files of comedy-drama. Or whether it’s because it has so much potential to explore issues that it never really takes up (like where Beckett gets the money to buy a new loft/ her time spent homeless - and this really would not be affordable on the salary she earns as just a detective, I wouldn’t think; or any actual development of Beckett’s relationship with her father, who, it’s worth noting, is never mentioned during the entirety of the episodes that dealt with the hitman trying to kill Beckett or the revelation of the reason her mother - his wife - was killed.) Just… very little is done to develop actual problems in the show. It’s really quite superficial in a lot of ways. 

Poor character and plot development aside, I still watch the show every week because I’m fascinated by its attempts to develop of kind of pop culture cachet by exploiting Fillion’s fanbase from his time on Joss Whedon’s cult sci-fi series Firefly, and its movie sequel Serenity. I suppose my question is: what do the show’s writers or producers gain from this, other than inviting in a particular type of pop enthusiast? Why have so many repeated references to a secondary show within a show that has not only developed its own storyline, but also its own intertexts (the Derrick Storm novels and, possibly in the future, its comic series)? And perhaps most importantly, why focus so specifically on Nathan Fillion’s previous career rather than provide cross-references across the board?

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Sami and Nemanja go see Skyfall

It’s odd how Bond movies engender so many crazy feelings in me. So many of my memories of growing up in India are tied to my father’s love of Bond and his crazy antics, the hours we spent watching them over and over again (while my father generously deigned to let me rub his feet, the crafty badger, and ‘try out all my scientific concoctions’, an endless mess of my mother’s lotions and perfumes all smooshed together while I wore her doctor’s coat.) These yearly events were then severely complicated after the first time I found an actual book by Ian Fleming and realised that Bond was so, so much worse than even the movies had made him out to be; and by this time my father and I were already fighting about 007’s narcissism, misogyny and colonial undertones. My father claimed I thought too much, completely disregarding the fact that he was the one responsible for sending me down academia’s way in the first place.

Screaming arguments aside, I miss those long afternoons with my Dad and his fervent belief in Sean Connery as the only Bond that really mattered almost as much as I revel in the fact that I now get to call him long distance and taunt him that I’ve seen the latest Bond movie in the franchise and he has to wait months before the same chance. HAHA! Do I revel in his annoyance? You betcha!

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"PSA: There is no such thing as “overthinking” or “over-analyzing” arts, media, and entertainment. If you don’t want to talk about things like race, gender, sexuality, class, and disability in arts and entertainment, you are free to exercise your right to stay the fuck out of the discussion."

This Public Service Announcement is brought to you by Moff’s Law. (via bfairweather)

(Source: eshusplayground, via purplueprose)

Sami, Leslie and Isabel check out Liberal Arts

Let’s start this review off by noting that Leslie and Isabel weren’t expecting much from the film and seemed to enjoy it well enough for what it was. I, on the other hand, was expecting nothing (considering the fact that I’d taken one look at the trailer and thought that it wouldn’t be a film I’d seek out, putting it out of my mind until the girls suggested it as an option for our movie night out) and went in with my expectations as close to zero as possible. And, well, I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to a rage-induced aneurysm before.  

Wonder why? Oh, I’ll tell you why. I’LL TELL YOU ALL WHY!

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"Being a feminist doesn’t mean suddenly no longer liking problematic things. If you stopped liking everything that was sexist in media and entertainment there would be no media or entertainment left. Being a feminist, to me, is being aware of what it is you’re liking, and of its problematic aspects."

sabrina_il   (via feministsbakecupcakestoo)

(Source: glvalentine.livejournal.com, via purplueprose)

Sami and Nemanja go watch Looper (and Tim interjects)

Sami states: So let me just say: WOW! Holy cow, Looper was pretty much mind-bogglingly good. Gritty, no nonsense, just the right level of cheesy bad-ass, sci-fi time travel flavoured mob movie. Between Joseph Gordon-Levitt looking fine, if a bit strange with the prosthetics, Bruce Willis being just all the shades of cheese and badass, and that kid, Cid, being just the creepiest thing in the whole wide world, I had one of the best movie nights of the year. Nemanja and I didn’t speak after the first 10 minutes in, and that’s seriously rare for us. After the film I had to pretty much dump my uneaten popcorn and flat drink because I’d forgotten to have any of it (and at full concession stand price too! Shocking!) and we walked back home, still stuck on how seriously cool, funny and just plain fast-paced the film had been. Seriously, between JGL’s pretty and that amazing scene where he and Bruce Willis are sniping at each other in the diner, I felt pretty darn post-coital. I wanted cuddles and a milkshake. Just saying. It was good.

So when I walked into Tim’s office and announced that I loved the movie, I was vaguely unprepared for him to look disappointed. It turns out he’d expected me to have the same issues with the movie that he’d had. And while I’d had an issue here and there, I’d not thought of any major points to bring up on this tumblr. (And THIS is exactly why, as far as possible, I tend to wait until I get some critical distance to post on the movies I watch.) But Tim’s points stood and he really wasn’t wrong. Twenty minutes after I walked into his office so pleased with the movie, I walked out troubled at all the subtext I’d missed.

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