Bromance- Urban Dictionary defines this as: The complicated love and affection shared by two straight males

Sometimes I totally wish I was a dude. Not just because they don't have to worry about things like makeup, shaving your legs, getting your goddam eyebrows waxed and being told you need botox, how much junk you have in your trunk, what to wear, how to walk in heels and all the other wonderful little things that go with being a lady. I also wish I was a guy because bromances look so great. I really respect and adore guys who are totally comfortable with their sexuality and don't mind being really close and affectionate with their best friends. It's amazing. As a girl, or possibly more accurately: as an open and affectionate girl, I have really wonderful connections with my best friends. But I see that for some guys it's hard to be that expressive or to say things that the 'bro-ey' types of guys would laugh at and say "dude, that's so gay!" It's a tough hand to be dealt. So it's at times like that when I think it's not so bad being a lady.

There are so many films out there about the many different types of relationships. The most common of course being love or the loss of love, there's also the mother-daughter/father-son example, there's the two girls or guy and girl friendship films, there's the step-parent vs the step-children variety and of course the frenemy phenomenon. I tried to think back through all the films I've watched in my life and there is really only one other example I could think of that hones in on the importance of friendship between boys, and that was 'Stand By Me', which I always saw as the dude version of 'Now and Then'. So when I saw the movie 'I Love You, Man' I thought how wonderfully fresh it was to see such a unique and honest portrayal of this new thing the kids are calling a 'bromance'. Sure, it's not one of those films that makes you think or pushes the boundaries or asks the big questions but not every movie needs to be that. It's funny, really funny, and a lot of the characters aren't necessarily realistic at all, they're just hilarious, but the building of the relationship between the two main characters Peter and Sydney (played by Paul Rudd and Jason Segal respectively) seems very honest to me. They instantly click, but there's those awkward moments where they're both trying to work out how far they can go with one another and Peter (Paul Rudd) is so new to having a guy friend that his excitement about it all causes him to do and say some truly embarrassing things. But that's how it is, you know? I sure get that way when making new friends. It feels like a first date, sometimes, because I want to be myself but I don't know how people will take me. So inevitably I start to say something I think will be funny and then stop halfway through, try to change course, and come out sounding a little slow. Maybe that's why I enjoyed this movie so much? It spoke to the awkward geek within me. And she screamed out 'Power to ya pistol pete!' 

The character of Peter's fiancé Zooey (Rashida Jones) is amazing! I love her. She's the woman I want to be in a relationship. She's so down to earth and kind and accepting. She isn't overbearing or jealous or petty, and she wants her man to be happy in his life, but not just because he's with her. Peter is a delightful man, he's so sweet and genuine and has such respect for his friends and family. Polite to a fault, overly friendly, and really cool in an understated way. Sydney is insane. He's so funny, he has a very positive outlook but he's obviously got some relationship issues and doesn't seem enthusiastic about really succeeding in his personal or professional life. What I liked is that it wasn't one of those redemption films where he had to have sorted himself out by the end of it. His issues get brought up, he acknowledges them and we get the sense that being friends with Peter will maybe help him grow up a little, but we don't get that big "WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?????" diatribe that, if not done right, gets so old so quickly, I find. 

Some honourable mentions go out to Jaime Pressly (who I think is highly underated) as Zooey's friend Denise. She's so funny and such a cool lady and her banter with her husband is golden. Also Peter's father (Legend, J. K. Simmons) and his brother (Andy Samberg) are adorable. They have a bromance too but it's so quirky and cool. To be shamefully honest, It stirred up those feelings I have about wishing my own father and I could find some more common ground. But, I doubt we'd ever get to secret handshake status like these two winners. *sigh* a girl can dream. Also Doug (Thomas Lennon) is a revelation playing a potential friend for Peter who it turns out, is into him a little too much. When he goes in for the kiss at the end of the night and Peter, shocked by this unexpected turn of events, freezes and purses his lips together as tightly as possible, Doug is just so not phased and just goes right on kissing him. He even pauses after the kiss, examines Pete's startled face… and then (clearly reading the signals wrong) GOES IN FOR ANOTHER PECK!! Oh I laughed, I laughed so hard. He is great. 

I love light films, especially after a full on day. It's great to be able to just relax and laugh and go to sleep with a smile on your face. When you're as single as me, and having occasional issues falling into slumber, a smile is not a bad thing to end the day with. Thanks Jason Segal and Paul Rudd! You have a chemistry on screen that warms me like sitting by a fireplace sipping baileys over ice. I'm classy, just deal with it. :)

Inception- you either love it or you hate it. Like Larry Emdur, I guess...

I feel the same way about Joseph Gordon-Levitt's choices in films as I do my brother's choices in restaurants…. they both just cannot steer me wrong when it comes to taste and quality. I love that about ol Joseph, he started in 3rd Rock From The Sun and has just chosen amazingly brilliant and affecting movies ever since. 'Brick' is one of my all time favourite films, and 'Mysterious Skin' was excellent… though quite hard to watch. Actually, REALLY hard to watch. I really cried when he got attacked in the bathroom, like REALLY cried. Sobbing. nose not running but pouring. violently shaking. but, it was still a very well made, very horrifically realistic movie. BUT this review is not on either of those movies, no no. it's all about 'Inception' by Christopher Nolan. And it has the gorgeous Ellen Page and the incomparable Leonardo DiCaprio in it. Actually, on the topic of ne'er steer me wrong, Leo DC is also very much like Joseph in his movie selections… these days…

But here's the gist, if you haven't seen the film (which is ridiculous if you haven't, I mean what are you doing with your time? Watching 'Rush Hour 2' and 'Bratz the movie'? for shaaammme!) Leo is Dom Cobb, who is a master at getting into people's heads, messing with their dreams and thoughts and leaving those son-bitches not knowing that it wasn't a dream at all, it was in fact all orchestrated by a team of professionals. Among that team of professionals is his partner Arthur (Joseph, my love), Ariadne (Ellen Page), who is an architect student who joins the crew because Cobb thinks she's a young him, Yusuf- the chemist who makes the sedative to make them all go night night (wouldn't want to accept a drink from him is all I'm saying) and finally Eames, who has the coolest job of all in my opinion; he forges the identities in the dreams. So poor Cobb had his life tragically destroyed and is estranged from his kids, it's especially sad because it's Michael Caine that's guilt tripping him about his lack of presence in his children's lives. I don't know if I could take that kind of emotional beating from someone as dapper and wonderful as Michael Caine… that might just be the end of me. Also, Michael Caine plays Cobbs' father in law. So when this uber powerful guy Saito bribes Cobbs into committing corporate espionage by promising to clear his name and have him return to his children, Cobb willingly accepts. So begins the apparently near impossible task of 'Inception', which is basically where they put a dream within a dream within a dream to hopefully successfully implant this idea into someone else's subconscious. The target here is Robert Michael Fischer (played by Cillian Murphy, possibly the prettiest man in hollywood), the heir to his recently deceased father's business. The deal is they need to make him decide to sell the business so Saito can remain the most powerful man in the universe!! … or something along those lines. It's all planned perfectly and their prep is second to none BUT what they don't realise is that Robert has already been trained to kind of ward off people like Cobb, so his subconscious begins to attack them while they're going about their business. This, they did not plan for. Team that with regular hijinks from Cobb's deceased wife Mal (Marion Cotillard), who is still playing on his mind, and you've got yourself a task bigger than making Lara Bingle interesting in any real way. It's a wild ride, kids. 

A bit of trivia just quickly… Nolan had this concept in the works years before it actually got made. He wrote a horror-type treatment of this idea in 2001 and gave it to Warner Bros. Being the smarty that he is though, he wasn't entirely confident that he could pull it off without a bit more experience in creating big budget motion pictures, so he put it on the back burner for a while so he could build up his skills. I like that about Christopher Nolan, he cares so much about his ideas that he doesn't want to fuck them up by going too hard to early. He's a meticulous sort of gent, and I admire that. I do often wonder if it's that reason that makes him able to work so successfully and on more than one occasion with Christian Bale (who is clearly a bit of a d-bag but insists that it's okay for him to be a jerk because he cares so much about 'his craft'), or maybe Nolan is just so lovely that no one can be aggressive towards him. Who knows. All i know is that if I were there when Christian Bale yelled at two little girls for asking for an autograph and being so incredibly mean that he made them both cry, I would have given that boy the ol what for, if you follow me. Anyway, back to it..

What I loved about this movie is… well, many things, obviously I'm a fan of many of the actors if not all of them, but I also really appreciate that the writing and direction of the film made what I'd consider to be a fairly dense text, accessible and easy to follow. I remember watching 'Momento' a few times before I actually got the whole thing, and so I was worried that my slow-paced ability to grasp complicated concepts would leave me walking out of the theatre going "the HELL just happened, y'all?". But I totally didn't! I was SO proud of myself!! It was better than that time I went to Charlie's with my friend Bec and she would ALWAYS eat twice as much as me and gloat, GLOAT I say! But this one time, I ate the same as her and I didn't even throw up or anything. It was amazing. so yeh, it was like that. Super proud. 

I think if I was going to criticise anything about the movie it'd be that I wanted MORE Joseph Gordon-Levitt. And I didn't appreciate him kissing Ellen Page. Not just because I got jealous, that's certainly a part of it of course, but because they just seem soooo unsuited. I know, it's not even a huge plot point, and it's the most juvenile thing to complain about but that's my opinion. Joseph GL and Ellen P should keep their lips forever separated. Joseph is allowed to kiss any of the following females and I promise to be cool about it-

Meryl Streep

Rosario Dawson

Audrey Tautou

Kate Winslet

Snooki from Jersey Shore (because that would be SO ridiculous. SO ridiculous that I'd just have to shrug and go "well I guess that means the apocalypse is today")

Cillian Murphy

Ani DiFranco

Emma Stone

and I guess a COUPLE more that I've forgotten just at this moment. But how bout this, I'll promise to tell him (and the world) if I'm unhappy in future with any of his onscreen hookups… Deal? Deal!

Well that's it for this instalment. I'm going to see 'Hope Springs' this week so I might get around to writing something about that if I don't go mental and overstress about all the school and social things I've signed myself up to recently. Why do I always go overboard with my activities? It's so all or nothing with me and I think that has to change. A nice healthy balance is the goal. I might buy some Dr. Phil books to get me onto the right path. hahaha! just kidding! that guy's not even a real doctor! I'll pay him NOTHING for his fame and media attention… NOTHING!

Seeya! xoxo

It Happened One Night... although technically it was over several nights but who's counting?

GREETINGS BLOGGERS! Welcome to my world. I am 25 years old (draagg! apparently I have to start being a 'grown up' soon. society expects far too much from me, y'know?!) and I'm a student. Though I'm looking for part time employment, the world has so far rejected my attempts to join that of the working tribe. I'll keep truckin though, I am nothing if not persistent. Just ask my parole officer! juuust kidding. 

Okay so I'm mid twenties and I'm doing media studies. I love love love films. I love their ability to tell a story in such an affecting way. I cry if the book I'm reading is too sad and I get furious and stalk around the house if one of the characters acts like a fuckwit and makes me angry. But there are people who don't feel that same intensity from reading that I do. And I love how universally accessible the film form is. Not to mention the lack of boundaries or limits it enforces on the story teller. You can do more than paint a picture or set the mood, you can completely and totally create a scene that would go so far beyond the viewer's imagination and take them to a place they could only in part dream of. You can reach them and bond with them over shared goals, views and experiences. Because we all respond to the character we can relate to, and we all feel that jolt when we see something horrible or wonderful that we too have been through. If it's done well, if it's done honestly, it's not just film it's art. I don't want to start sounding wanky, I hate those pretentious bastards who wax lyrical about film and only watch the critically acclaimed stuff. That is NOT me. I'm obsessed with Tom Hanks. I have watched 'Forrest Gump' 93 times in my life. I laughed so hard during 'Superbad' and 'Zombieland' that my tummy ached afterwards. I am no scholar when it comes to film. I like crap too. A LOT. But I ultimately it's the art of film that I'm attracted to. And I hope that I don't bore and irritate people here. OH and I hope I don't offend anyone. That happens sometimes. Ask my Screen Matters tutor... *shudder* that was a bad bad day. 

The film for discussion today is 'It Happened One Night' with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, directed by Frank Capra in 1934. I know a little of the historical background because of school but apart from a tiny delicious bit of gossip about ol Gable at the time, I won't regale you with the specifics. Let's get this out of the way first though.. okay so rumour has it Clark Gable was signed to MGM at the time. And you know the deal with the studio system back then, they were contracted to studios and could only do films for them. But ol Clarkey boy was a bit of a firecracker! He got leant to Columbia Pictures because MGM were all mad at him and shit. He'd turned down a movie they wanted him to do and well... he liked the drink. He was somewhat of a 'wino' and the studio was all straight edge about that stuff. Translation: kill joys. Turns out it worked brilliantly for Gable though because It Happened One Night was a huge commercial and critical hit. It won FIVE academy awards that year- Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Writing-Adaptation and Best Film. SUCK IT MGM! YOU FOOLISH FOOLS! 

The film itself is brilliant. It has a way of pushing the boundaries because they had SOOO many rules back then during the 'hays code' era. So they inferred to a lot of things which made it a little more racy but also within the guidelines. What I loved about this film was its ability to mix whimsy with reality. My favourite scene is when they're all singing together on the bus. It's such a fun scene. But they also show the horror of the 1930s when one of the ladies on the bus faints because she hasn't eaten in days. It's a small shout out to the many many movie goers at the time. To the 90 million americans who were frequenting cinemas as a form of escapism, from the cold, the depression, and mostly from the poverty that they surely thought would never end. The basic idea of the film is this... Ellie (Claudette Colbert) a famous and wealthy heiress, has just married this dude called King (I know, it's such a douchey name. but the guy's a douche so it fits) and her father does NOT like this. He's all knowing and stuff (like Mufasa in the Lion King) and tries to tell Ellie that King is a punk ass gold digger who just wants her money. He annuls the marriage which pisses Ellie off hardcore. She escapes him and begins her journey back to the man she loves (too bad he cares more about her cash than her ass). So Ellie boards a train to reunite with her money grabbing hubby. Enter Peter, a just-fired reporter who recognises her and gives her two options... 1. He helps her get where she needs to go and hides her from the leeches in exchange for her exclusive story, 2. he calls her father and tells him where she is and collects the reward. Obviously, Ellie chooses option 1 because mama didn't raise no fool! and so the journey  begins and their love blossoms and the rest I will not reveal. 

Clark Gable plays Peter and he is a very handsome man. He's my type at least, all quirky looking and dark, but then lights up when he smiles. There were times though that I just wanted to slap him. I think it's because it's a different era. The way he talked to Ellie was probably more acceptable in those days. Now though, if he tried that domineering, short-tempered bollucks on me I'd be all "I don't care how sexy you are! talk to me like that again and i'll sew all of your pants together to make a blanket for a hooker!" but then he was adorable at times. When he was trying to teach Ellie to hitchhike.... *swoon* I wanted to hug him for ever and ever. 


Colbert is at times supremely annoying also. She is SO spoiled! She won't eat raw carrots because they're crunchy! And her hairstyle (though I think it would look amazing on say... Audrey Tautou or Natalie Portman) does not suit her features at all. She gets all hysterical at times and you just think 'c'mon lady! Don't be THAT girl!' but again, it's how it was then, you know?! She has moxie though. Again I mention the hitchhiking scene because not only is it brilliant but it's iconic. See 'Sex and the city 2' movie for a reference to this scene. She lets him do his thing but then throws a curve ball by showing her dynamite leg to get a ride. Lady knows how to work it.

Classical Hollywood was defined by this movie. And even though it's now almost 80 years old it is still a relatable tale. there are elements that will remain timeless. A sheltered girl trying to live her own life without being controlled, a father that wants above all else to make sure his little girl is happy and given everything she deserves, an underdog, stallion of a man who is deep down a lovely, giving, moral human being despite his many flaws and finally (the message we all need to learn on our own, even if we do make the mistake many many times) the man to beware of... the man who is stone cold and does what is in his best interest always and with no regard to other people's feelings. I've dated this type of man in three different variations. One of whom took delight in hurting me in every way he could think of, because he still hadn't forgiven his mother for leaving when he was 7. So I was slightly disappointed when this 'King' character didn't get horrifically maimed at the end of the film, but at least Ellie didn't settle for him. 

I'd definitely recommend that everyone watch this film at some point in their life. It's so good. It's like melting a snickers bar and drizzling it over cookie dough ice-cream. Get on it. 

That's all for my first post. Muchos gracias amigos! Thank you for reading and stay tuned for my next instalment, which will most likely be 'Inception' cos that's the next film I have to watch for school.. (yes I've already seen it. It has Joseph Gordon-Levitt in it! How could I NOT see it?!)

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