Dead Woods

I didn't think I would be able to review an amateur film done by someone I knew.   My assumption was that I would not be able to take it seriously, and I would just have to hurt his feelings.  Turns out I was pleasantly surprised by Thomas Savage's slasher flick.  I love slasher movies, so I knew what I was looking for.

The movie follows the general outline of many slasher movies.  Young adults going to the woods, but something isn't right.   No idea is really new, so if you're going to do it, you should do it right.  Boom.  He did.   The twists are pretty original. I did NOT guess who the killer was, despite my certainty.  Tom decided to make a movie using his friends, and somehow got all of them to actually stick to it and make a feature-length film.  The acting is not horrible.  To an extent, Tom used a lot of the actor's real personalities to create the characters.  He also kept their real first names, which was a really good idea, when you are working with a bunch of people who are doing this for the first time.  He took advantage of this actor's real attributes and worked them into the movie.

I actually paid attention to the entire movie, and not just because I knew the people in it.  After 89 minutes that novelty wore right off.   Tom keeps jokes going throughout the film, which ensures that it will remain entertaining, and not just a bloodbath.  With limited resources,  the special effects were pretty great.   Through the Bloopers, I admired Tom's ability to stay calm as a director in what would seem like really frustrating situations.  He's very mild-mannered and he was working with some funny, but very Type A personalities.   He handles a large cast very well.  It wasn't too challenging to keep track of who the characters were and their relationships to one another.   Tom was able to get original music through the band Hell Rides North.  The lead singer is Ryan Arini, the male lead.



In my opinion, Shawn MacDowell stole the show.  He wasn't the main character.  He His quick-wit may not have been exactly in line with his pothead character.  Also, it may have just been how funny Shawn is in real life, but he is hysterical.  He had me belly laughing in a scene with a cat.   His timing is great, and I think he was the best actor in the movie although he is also credited as film production anarchist.  Shawn was allowed some of the best "fighting back" scenes. I don't know a better way to describe that.  I'm not a professional film critic, you know.

Drawbacks and quirks: There is a scene that isn't supposed to be a rape scene, but looks like it. While watching it, just assume it IS a rape scene, and you'll be fine.   The acting is not perfect, because they are not professional actors.  Because it was clearly filmed over a long period of time the character of Darren's beard changes, disappears and reappears from scene to scene. It's actually not there when he looks in a fridge and then is there when he pulls his head out.  It's actually so obvious that it makes it funny.  Also look for a happy dance from Sara Evans-Dunbar in a quick outside club scene late into the film.  There is cameo by the dashing Vance VanGogh, he's the guy with a beard and a red hoodie in one quick scene in the kitchen. That's the best scene by far.... okay so maybe I'm particularly fond of him.

I can't say I was scared, but I was definitely saying some  "AAAHH"s or "eeewww".  The film takes place primarily in Executive Producer and Actor Jeremy Thiel's home.  I've never been to Jeremy's, but I think I might be a little weirded out to go there now.  There were points in the movie where I thought "you know, Tom has left some things out", but he never once failed me.  Savage used every ounce of his limited resources.   Besides the feature length movie, there are bloopers, director commentary, and separate cast commentary.  I plan to watch it all, so I'm already committing myself to watching this two more times in its entirety.

So in Summary, watch the movie, watch the Bloopers, don't turn the movie off until after the credits. (The last words uttered on the screen are awesome.)  For more information go to    http://www.deadwoodsmovie.com/.  You can purchase the movie on the website for around $11 including shipping.

While you're at it, check out Tom's other talents at http://www.tomsavagestudios.com/.  His illustrations are mind-blowing, and I'm an illustrator so I would know.  I love him, but I will charge you less for any work you want done.  Sorry, Tom!

The Walking Dead

Halloween doesn't seem like the best day to premiere a new series, but this Sunday AMC has knocked another one out of the park with it's new show The Walking Dead.  As my husband pointed out, if you'd said three years ago that AMC had amazing original programing, you'd hear crickets.  However over the last few years, AMC has created both Mad Men and Breaking Bad, two shows which are not to be taken lightly.  

I never planned on blogging about TV shows.  I usually am so indulgent in my television shows that I will watch anything.  If I were to blog about my favorite shows, it would go on forever.  I wanted to write about this show, because it is new and I want to bring attention to it.  I actually haven't written a blog at all in months, but this show inspired me to go back.

Before The Walking Dead, AMC aired Sarah Polly's Dawn of the Dead as a horror marathon.  This could not have worked better.  By playing Dawn of the Dead first, all of the things that are missing in the new genre of zombie movies was not only shown clearly, but also remedied.  In zombie movies, they are usually depressing, but I have always been a little discouraged by the lack of mourning that the characters show for their loved ones. They will cry, but immediately move on, as they go into survival mode.  One member of the living group always hides a bite and turns into a zombie.  I can say that the film I Am Legend is a fairly good exception to the cliches of the genre.  However, it really comes down to the fact that movies do not have time to explore the complexities of an apocalypse.

The Walking Dead is described as a show about a man who wakes up from a coma finding himself in a zombie apocalypse.  This is a great description, because it does not give much away.  Even from the pilot it is clear that the show will have a much more interesting plot than a man wandering around fighting zombies.  I don't want to spoil the plot of the show or the events in the season premiere.  It is simple enough, but it is the style that makes this show noteworthy..  If you really aren't into horror movies, I don't suggest watching the show.  However, I usually am so terrified by zombies that I can't watch a zombie movie without the lights on and a hammer in my hand.  The show is scary.  Some of the makeup is the best that I've seen.  It does not hold back on the gore.  I laughed that they cut  a lot of gory scenes in the movie I had just watched, but saved them for their own program.  

We only meet a few characters in the first episode. I'm assuming that more will be met as the main character travels on his journey.  There are characters, who are alive, but who have emotionally given up.  There is real grieving shown.  There is mercy shown, as the main character says to one of the "walkers" that he is sorry this happened to them.  This zombie apocalypse is treated with care and sensitivity.  It's not the situation, where everyone moves on without questioning what the point of staying alive in this situation is.  I actually found myself crying while watching  the 90 minute pilot.  Do not get me wrong.  The show, which is based on Robert Kirkmans' comic book of the same name , has it's share of violence.  It is scary.  It will not leave the zombie aficionado wanting anything, but to watch the next episode. 

I expect nothing but the best from this show.  AMC has a history of doing things well or not at all. The creators and producers of the show have worked on Dexter, The Shield, The Shawshank Redemption, Aliens, and The Green Mile.  The make-up is incredible, actually being more frightening  that of many zombie movies that I have seen.  The Walking Dead will have your heart wrenching in one moment and hugging your knees in suspense in the next moment.  Do not wait until this comes out on DVD. The pilot episode will replay at 10pm Nov 5th, 2am Nov 6th,  and 2am Nov 7th, before the 2nd episode airs next Sunday at 10pm.  Go set your DVR for series recording right now. While True Blood is between seasons, The Walking Dead will fill that spot in your heart that makes a Sunday night something to look forward to again.

The Invention of Lying

It's been a while since I've reviewed anything. Avatar left me so disgusted, I had honestly lost joy in being cynical. I am completely shocked, myself, that The Invention of Lying was the movie that got me back in the game. Allan said that he could tell by the look on my face 5 minutes in that I was going to review it. Here's why..

I rented this movie, because I've been a follower of Ricky Gervais since his role as David Brent in the original British version of The Office.  I wasn't hoping for much.  The movie wasn't very popular, in fact I only remember seeing the trailer a few times.   I have to review this from my personal perspective, because of who I am. Let me lay down a little back story. I am a terrible liar. I do sometimes. I learned that you have to out of tact and to not just be cruel, but often I don't even lie to make myself look better.

Within the first few minutes of the movie I realized that I am not just a crude person to be crude....I just don't lie.  There are also things that could just be left unsaid, as opposed to lied about.  I just say those too.  This movie begins in a world, with very little background, it's simply a place where no one says things they don't mean.  It is a quite harsh world.  Fiction does not even exist for entertainment. Movies are all just actors reading history from a TelePrompTer.  It  begins with Mark, played by Ricky Gervais, going on a date with Anna (Jennifer Garner). She immediately tells him that she is not attracted to him, but fears being alone so will go anyway. He should not expect any sex or even a kiss later in the night.

The next day Mark is fired from his job, which he is quite aware of, and everyone he works with has frankly warned him of.  After having an increasingly terrible day, something happens within his brain, which allows him to say something that "is not". In this world, words for truth and lies do not even exist.  He then finds that he can use this to get out of things, obtain money... basically what you would expect. What I liked about this that people were so used to the truth that anything he said was taken at face value. He didn't even need to be creative with his lies. People would just automatically accept his words as truth.

I expected this to be a movie, which would wear itself out with it's gimmick half way through, the rest of the movie would be spent chasing the girl who wasn't nice enough for him in the first place. She was just pretty.  It took a drastic turn, when in attempts to make someone feel better, Mark invents a place you go after you die.  He then is followed by the entire world.  He invents religion, because it makes people feel happy.  I think that any religious person would and probably should be offended by this. It implies that religion isn't real; that it wouldn't even exist in a world without lies. For a non-religious person, such as myself, this gives me a slightly better view of religion.  It's just a way for people to feel a little better about what happens, when they die, and gives them a reason to be good now.

The Invention of Lying is very consistently funny.  I was really impressed by that.  There are some great actors and cameos: Tina Fey, Ed Norton, John Hodgeman, Martin Starr, Jeffery Tamboor, and Jason Bateman. This is one of the only movies, in which I wasn't bothered that the nice guy was going after the "pretty" (if you can call Jennifer Garner that. Not my style but I'll move on...) but very rude girl. Because no one lied everyone was rude in one way or another, so why not just pick a girl and try to woo her?

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. Gervais left many cliches out. He didn't drop his British accent, which really would have annoyed me. He is just a funny, fat, snub-nosed man, and I like him. It affirmed my belief that the overly polite are probably not thinking better things about you. They probably just aren't telling you.

ROCKY ROCKY II ROCKY III ROCKY IV ROCKY V

After a great wedding on Friday, my new husband Allan, and I decided to watch a Rocky marathon.  Here are some of the  wedding pics. There are 600 pics to go through. (It's a tough job).  We watched the original 5, skipping Rocky Balboa, pretty much because it wasn't free On Demand.  We met by setting up a date to watch Rocky, so it's a pretty special movie to us.

The first time I watched Rocky, I expected it to be another dumb guy movie. It isn't at all. Rocky is a nice guy, who is overlooked.  Up until the point that his grizzled trainer Mickey tells him the only reason he hasn't trained him, he doesn't get trained. He even loses his locker at the gym, because it's given to someone more important.  Adrian is a really shy, nerdy, if not homely girl, who works at a pet shop, and he falls for her, while he gets food for his turtles.  Somehow he sees potential in this girl.

He's obviously not intelligent.  He realizes this, but seems to have a good sense of humor about it.  When asked where he came up with the name the Italian Stallion, he responds "About 7 years ago, I was eating dinner and I just thought of it"  You can't help but feel sorry for him, as he tries to roll with the punches I no pun intended), as he is consistently told he is dumb and worthless.  He works as a "tough guy" collector for a loan shark, and he isn't even mean enough to break the guy's thumb like he was supposed to.  When Mickey the trainer, finally takes the time to train him properly, he berates him the entire time. The grizzled Mickey is almost never nice to him through the entire fight. One of the famous lines of the movie is "That's what I just said! Ya dumb Dago".

This movie isn't about fighting. It's about heart. Rocky isn't amazing, because he's a wonderful fighter. He's the underdog, and he doesn't even win in his first fight.  His promotional poster is painted incorrectly, and his robe is far too large for him.  He isn't expected to last more than 3 rounds with the famous showboat Apollo Creed, played by Carl Weathers.  He lasts through the 13 rounds, and while he's knocked down he does get up. Apollo only wins based on the judges points. His face is absolutely demolished.  His eye is so swollen they have to cut it open during the match so that he can see.  Yet when the match is over, he doesn't care about his own well-being, he doesn't talk to reporters. This is the moment where he calls for "Adrian!!!

This movie was shot in 28 days on a fairly low budget, and was actually written by Sylvester Stallone (a fact, which I only learned this weekend. This gives me so much more respect for him.  Although tons of men love the Rocky movies, I still feel like it is underrated as an overall great film.

The other movies are never as optimistic.   Rocky II begins with him going to the hospital for his injuries.  Rocky does propose to Adrian at the zoo in front of the tigers, which is obviously symbolic.  He attempts to do commercials to make money.  He is dressed in ridiculous costumes. He has so much trouble reading the lines, they have to stop shooting after four hours. This is when he says the line, "I aint punchy, I just got whatcha call a relaxed brain".  Rocky III is my least favorite movie.  Mickey dies.  He lets Rocky fight his first fight against Clubber Lang (Mr. T), while minimizing his chest pains. After the fight Mickey asks how the fight went, and Rocky lies telling Mickey that he won.  Mickey dies immediately after. (I'm seriously getting emotional typing this. Damn).  I'm not going into that one anymore, because I'm not a fan.  Apollo, his previous opponent, ends up training him and he wins. There.

Rocky IV is a fun film although even with a tragedy beginning, it really can't be taken seriously. Apollo fights the new fighter in town Drago (Dolph Lundgren.  He is a "machine" trained by scientific equipment to test his skills. His manager is played by Brigitte Nielson, and the two look oddly alike.  Apollo was not ready to fight Drago, and he is killed during the fight. While waiting to see the outcome of the fight, Drago responds to his concerns by saying "If he dies, he dies". Although Rocky has "retired", which he does at the end of almost all of his movies, he feels the need to avenge Apollo by fighting Drago.  The entire movie is based on the U.S. vs the Soviet Union to an embarrassing and somewhat offensive extent.  There is literally a song in the movie played while Rocky is training, which says something like "is it man vs. man? is it east vs. west?"  My favorite part of the movie is at the very beginning. It is Pauly's birthday (Adrian's brother who originally helps Rocky in the early movies, but eventually becomes a burden through most of the others'). Crazy 80's synth music plays, and Uncle Pauly's gift is a 5 ft or so Robot, which rolls in saying "happy birthday, Pauly".  It's hilarious.  Later that night, Rocky gives Adrian a gift.  He gives this to her by saying "Open your prize". It's adorable. Rocky beats Drago, yeah yeah yeah.

Rocky V is pretty lame, but I can't get through the beginning. After trying twice, I finally got through it this time. I always cry (and I mean hard) through this flashback scene with Mickey.  Rocky, who at this point has a ton of brain damage, which is acknowledged through out the film.  It shows Mickey being nice to Rocky for one of the very few times. watch the 3 min clip 

Yes I cried again through this part while making this blog entry. Before this scene Rocky has lost all his money, because Pauly signed all his money over to his accountant who fucked him over. He ends up back in his old neighborhood. He takes a young boxer under his wing, named Tommy "the machine" Gunn (no shit. real name Tommy Gunn). Just when he become good, he's taken away by a character based on Don King. The fight scene in the movie ends up in the back of a bar, where Rocky can win against Tommy, but his manager will not benefit from it.

All and all the movies do get cheesier. Rocky Balboa has been described as really depressing. I think this is said, by the people who only remember the scenes where he's running up the stairs of the Philadelphia Art Museum. The picture him in stills with his hands in the air. There is nothing happy about the original Rocky, not in the traditional sense anyway. These movies are about love, tragedy, heart.  If you haven't seen the series, I would suggest watching at least the first one. Many of you have probably seen these already. If so what's your take on the Rocky films?

avatar IN 3D!!!!!! with spoilers.

I did not expect to like Avatar based on previous reviews that I read, but out of pure curiosity I went and saw it anyway. It didn't seem right for me to complain about a movie I had only heard and read about. Most critics who haven't loved it, have complained about the simple plot. It's an obvious rip off of Dances With Wolves, Pocahontas, Fern Gully, etc. There were the obvious allusions to environmentalism and the war in Iraq. The words "terror on terror" and "preemptive strike" were used, and when the Colonel actually said "shock and awe" I hit my head. I expected those, but there was SO MUCH MORE!!! So I'll focus on the things that I noticed outside of what I had already read on Rottentomatoes.com.

Positive things: I thought the colonel fighting in the machine while Neytiri fought controlling an organic animal was fairly interesting. Michelle Rodriguez looked pretty hot flying. I also liked the fact that CCH Pounder was in it. I just like her from The Shield.

First of all, James Cameron really likes himself. He proved this by reusing his own material throughout avatar. It was like his own personal scrapbook of previous movies. He used his robots which humans control, much in the same way that was done in Aliens. The destroying and falling of the giant tree around 1:45 into the movie was much made in the style of Titanic. Jim knows how to make something fall, and he did it again. Sigourney Weaver got recycled. Our main fella Sully was played by Sam Worthington, who you may recognize from the latest James Cameron movie. I was most surprised, when it became night time in Pandora the glowing fauna was completely like the end of The Abyss. Now, I don't mind a recurring theme. I love Wes Anderson films, and he reuses actors like crazy. However, that's a style. Not just a mess. I'm going to need time to cleanse my pallet or I may never be able to enjoy the next Terminator movie.

I went into this movie wondering why people loved this incredibly trite movie. As soon as Sully, played by the mediocre Sam Worthington, got into his avatar I knew. Sully is paralyzed from the waist down. Once inside the avatar, he bypasses all of the scientist's exercises and stands up (completely knowing how to use his body, despite the fact that it's around 10 feet tall and has legs, which he hasn't used in years). He then runs out the door to the outside, where he just takes delight in using his feet. I turned to Allan and said "Oh, I get it! It's a children's movie!!" The other people using avatars have had years of training but he just MAGICALLY knows how to use the avatar immediately.

This movie could have been made better by explaining how the people who used the avatars muscles didn't atrophy to the point that they would not have been walk after months of lying down. It seemed pretty convenient that the day and night cycle on Pandora seemed to be similar to that of Earth. This was never addressed. They must just be running on a 24 hour cycle too. How convenient. The UNOBTAINIUM (no shit. that's the actual name of the material they are looking for) is really expensive, but we don't know why. At some point, late into the movie it is casually mentioned that humans have destroyed their own planet. We don't know what is going on there or how this UNOBTAINIUM would be able to help them, if at all. A little backstory might have helped, instead of the main character starting off by landing on Pandora. I'm glad the visual artists had such a great time recreating the scene from The Lion King, where Simba and Nala fall in love. All that was lacking was Elton John's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?". I saw Giovanni Ribisi, who I LOVE,  play a bad guy for the first time and not effectively.

I also noticed that almost all of the Na'vi were played by African Americans or Native Americans. This was just another example of a movie where the white guy comes in and saves the black people, instead of them helping themselves. I found it offensive. This may not been quite as infuriating, if Cameron wasn't already trying to make an obvious political and social statement with this piece of shit.

The fight scenes were extremely predictable. Blows missed just at the perfect time and hits were always made at the exact moment they were meant to. Sam Worthington continually slipped out of his American accent. At some point Grace, the woman controlling an avatar, is fatally wounded, and the Na'vi ask the earth/god to put her spirit into her avatar permanently to save her. It doesn't. She dies. But this scene allows any asshole can figure out that Sully, who hates his crippled life, can and will end up in his Avatar permanently. The perfect ending. They just happen to have the capabilities to put him into this avatar. At least at the end of Titanic, Rose seeing Jack again could have been just her last thoughts, just something nice to leave us with, or the afterlife - if you really want to push it. Realistically even with all the disbelief in this movie this bothered me the most. Had all the humans left, I think Neytiri would have been left with a scrawny white boy in a chamber playing house in a big blue body. It would work fine unless, they ran out of human food to give him, the oxygen tank broke down, or his body disintegrated from his lack of movement. Is that the worst ending? We may not have forever, but lets take advantage of what we have now.

Talk about the "good" parts all you want, the negative overshadowed them by far, and made it so that these could not be appreciated. The Colonel's scars were perfectly placed, the bloody scenes were never messy, and even the destructive scenes looked carefully configured. As a person with an art background I do appreciate good visuals. Unfortunately a painfully poor and plagiarized story made this pointless. Really, I agree with my friend Brett who says he prefers the visually interesting to the visually stunning. I actually enjoyed looking at Clint Eastwood's expressions in Gran Torino more than any part of this. It was all just a little too perfect. I have heard compliments as to how "every thing was done perfectly down to each single leaf". That's true, but when I watched it I thought, wow all those leaves were made perfectly by someone, and I am watching something that isn't real". Btw, despite my cynicism I really like to get lost in movies, and forget that I'm watching something created.

I spent $9 and the only thing I got from this movie was a pair of 3D glasses. The photo below will now demonstrate both my anger and the one thing I have taken from the movie.

P.S. I don't think that 3D technology is impressive enough to be used in live action movies yet. The foreground, middle ground, and background were painfully visible, actually giving me more of a reminder that I was watching a movie. I could have just gone to a viewing without 3D, so I won't blame that on Avatar.



To wrap it up, if you like watching pretty pictures and don't give a shit about movies, please, go see this.
I just added $18 to the multi billion dollar profits, why don't you too?
Feel free to leave your comments. I love them.

Apparently the Vatican agrees.  "When a county that has a popemobile thinks your visuals are over the top, you probably need to rethink things?" - Brett Jackson.

The Ugly Truth about The Ugly Truth

***spoiled as milk***
Today, while cleaning my house I carried around my laptop and watched the chick flick The Ugly Truth. This movie stars Katherine Heigl as the uptight, frigid Abby who works as a producer for a local TV show. Gerard Butler plays Mike, the offensive, misogynistic, man who has a piece on her show where he describes how women need to be conquered, not completely different than Tom Cruise's role in Magnolia. His role in the movie is to coach Abby through meeting a guy and telling her what men really want and getting her the man of her dreams, Collin. Within 30 seconds, it was easy to guess the ending... she would hate Mike, but eventually they would fall in love, and the original love interest would become less attractive. I was not wrong.

This movie is offensive to men and women alike. It's obviously offensive to women, telling them how they need to become a certain way to please a man. There is no such thing as love only lust. They are only there for sex; no one cares what they have to say. Men, on the other hand, are portrayed as tough, completely sexual beings, who only find love once their tough exterior is broken through. That is our job as women, ladies. We have to find men, regardless of what we like in a man, we need to woo him. The entire first half is about how a woman needs to find out what a man likes, and it is never asked what she would want. Considering Abby is supposed to hate these ideas, you would think she might bring this up, instead of buying into the argument of what men want.

I can appreciate the fact that the Abby realizes she doesn't want her main love interest, Collin, because he only knows the Abby which she has shown him. This girl being a creation of Mike's advice. Mike plays a warped version of some sort of Cyrano De Bergerac, feeding lines to Abby through an earpiece. Mike, in turn, finds out that he loves her as she is. But let's get real... it's complete bullshit that we have to play these mind games to find the one that we want. I don't even understand why women enjoy this stuff. It's not funny, it's not idealistic, nor is it realistic. The "Funniest" scene of the movie occurs when Abby wears vibrating underpants with a remote control given to her by Mike. There is no reason that she would wear these out to a corporate dinner, even if it WAS supposed to be a date originally. It was so contrived, I couldn't stand it.

Shame on Katherine Heigl for making this movie. She has complained about the lack of good writing on Gray's Anatomy, which is completely valid. Although, I am a Judd Apatow fan, I agreed with her complaints of the movie Knocked Up. She said that the movie was sexist. That it “It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as goofy, fun-loving guys.” Women are often portrayed this way, and it's very frustrating. WTF, was she thinking taking THIS role, which showed her as more uptight than ever, it certainly wasn't funny, and it wasn't good writing. She just seems to keep finding herself in these situations she hates. Maybe she just doesn't get offered any good roles, and that's why she has to take them. If she's actually a feminist who believes in good writing, then she's an ignorant hypocrite for accepting a role in this trite bullshit.

**side note*** Allan has informed me that this review is not funny enough. I apologize to you, my audience, it's hard to laugh or smile after watching a "comedy" such as The Ugly Truth. This movie sucked all the humor out of my body, and left it filled with nothing but anger, spite, (and maybe a little gas).

Humpday Review (edited on Jan 6th)

I fell asleep at an odd time of the day, halfway through watching the movie Humpday.  I woke up and finished it today.   It was surprisingly filmed in an indie style with a sophisticated sense of humor.  Seeing that the main character Mark Duplass, the star from the FX TV comedy The League, I thought it would be completely slapstick.  This movie's plot somehow managed to make an average guy feel comfortable watching two straight men talking about how they would have sex together, in what was essentially a game of gay-porn chicken. I will add a disclaimer that this is my version of what an average guy is. Although I am marrying a mechanic, most of my male friends are gay, artists, or both.

The flow of the movie and the way that sex was handled really reminded me of James Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus (2006). The  lazy scenes where the characters open up about art, about sex, and "normal" boundaries of sexuality and touching are crossed were very similar in these films.  Both Humpday and Shortbus have reminded me of my early 20s, while going to art school. I would find myself in strange, surreal situations. Building a fort with two lesbians and a gay man, or finding myself in a four-person spooning train in my dining room. I appreciate the way that sex is explored within these contexts. It's graphic but not obscene; not offensive, but maybe just to me?

There was a specific scene in Humpday which was very familiar.  The couple is having dinner in a somewhat humble kitchen. The female lead comes home and the male lead is has cooked dinner for her, so that he can break some really shocking news to her.  The writing really emphasized talking about the food, drinking wine, and the dialogue is a little awkward, as dialogue is in real life.  This was very similar to a few scenes in The Puffy Chair, which also starred Mark Duplass and Kate Aselton (also from The League).  (The two are actually married).  If you do end up liking our little humping film, I would recommend  The Puffy Chair as well. These movies have a remarkable way of capturing the real life complex dynamics of couples. The over-the-top loving, followed by disappointment, or just outright screaming.  They actually gave me the "oh god I know that feeling", in a way that's more relatable than say a Kate Hudson chick flick.

**spoiler***
The ending scene shows the two friends in the motel room, attempting to make a porn. They first kiss, which turns out to be absolutely terrible. They enforce the Pretty Woman Rule. Then theys trip to their boxers and hug, comparing it to meeting an old friend, while you were at the beach. They decide to redress, and undress. They get in bed and talk about how there is basically no way this is going to happen. Previously, they did not know why they wanted to do it. They realize that they wanted to see if they actually could. Duplass' character realizes it's the thing he wants to do least in the world. His friend, the drifter, played by Joshua Leonard, realizes that he wanted to do it because this would be the first thing he has ever finished.

I found myself laughing out loud alone, while I watched this final scene. It turns out that the two actually made a terrific movie, exploring their intentions and desires. The final scene just shows Leonard's character rewatching the tape on the Sony camera and laughing. It was really the perfect place to stop, and left me very satisfied with the movie.

 I must also tell you that I may have a few days of vacation from this blog. I admit I have been lying about Allan being my husband. He won't be my husband for another three days. Planning a courthouse marriage, sure does take it out of you.... whew. Our weekend honeymoon is a planned Rocky marathon, because we met by planning to watch it together on our first date.  So you can look forward to some good ole Rocky talk later.