Worst. Double. Feature. Ever.

Due to a scheduling mix-up, B and I ended up with tickets to "The Dark Knight" and "Mamma Mia!" on the same night, one right after the other. It was quite disconcerting.
"The Dark Knight" was incredible and lived up to all its hype. Yes, Heath Ledger is disturbing and amazing and mesmerizing, but so are all the other actors involved. Christian Bale is the best Batman ever--so conflicted as he falls deeper into his double life of vigilante justice. Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman are just as fun to watch. And then there's the actual movie. It is the least enclosed of any comic book movie I've seen. While a lot of films based on comic books have a feeling like they're removed from reality, "The Dark Knight" lives and breathes in the real world with towering skyscrapers and dark skies above. The movie deals with good and evil and the line between them and psychology and human nature and terrorism and is so elaborate and ponderous, in the best way possible. It's nice to see a movie with tons of outlandish violence that isn't afraid to show the price of that violence, and how everyone, good and bad, can be at fault. It shows that sometimes we have to make hard choices for the right reasons, including doing wrong to do right.
Needless to say, "The Dark Knight" put me in a dark place. A kind of haze settled around my brain and I meandered to another screen where the previews for "Mamma Mia!" had started. Once the movie started, my haze was immediately confronted with a washed-out, cotton candy acid trip. The bright colors! The amazingly catchy music! The actors hamming it up! As shocking as "The Dark Knight" was for its deep, dark psychology, "Mamma Mia" was just as shocking for its unrelenting, self-acknowledged cheesiness. It wasn't anywhere near subtle and most of its part felt like they were shouting at you, begging for attention. But it was what it was and fascinating in carnival side-show kind of way. I'm all for actors singing their own songs, but some of the cast made me realize why people do get dubbed.
The combined force of these too very differing visions left me somewhat punch-drunk for a while afterwards. But I'm glad I went to both. In this day and age, it's always a pleasure to see movies that tries to steer away from being generic and actually have a point-of-view.

"I like to sing 'Blue Velvet'"

I know the exact moment I became picky about movies. I had set the VCR to tape something off of HBO late at night. I can't even remember what it was, but when I taped, I used to set the tape to stop way after the movie ended just to make sure I got everything. Well, the tape recorded and I watched whatever movie it was and then started to watch what was after it, "Blue Velvet." I had never seen anything like it. Unfortunately, as the movie moved towards its climax, the tape cut off!
Before "Blue Velvet" I remember liking almost every single movie I saw, no matter what it was, no matter how stupid or bad. I enjoyed pretty much everything. I would go to the video store and rent movies or watch them on cable and enjoy them all.
Well, I went crazy needing to see the end of "Blue Velvet." I begged my mom to take me to the video store. Blockbuster had the movie and I rented it and watched it and was changed. I was amazed by what I saw, so moody, so different, so atmospheric. I really feel at that moment, I started to look at movies more critically. I wanted something more from the movies I saw. I wanted them to take me somewhere, I wanted them to make me feel and if they didn't, I didn't enjoy them. I become more interested in atmospheric failures than successful movies that didn't do much for me. I became dismissive of what seemed like formula, popcorn movies.
Lately, though, I reminded of how I used to like everything I saw. I've been watching HBO. A lot of it. I've recently watched movies like "The Lake House" and "Georgia Rule" and "Sister Mary Explains it All" and "Mannequin," and I've enjoyed them. I'm aware of how these movies have been received and wondering what has changed. I think the me of the last couple years wouldn't have given these movies a first chance, but in the state I'm in now, I'm enjoying them.
Am I softening up? Am I getting old? Have I lost my critical attitude?
I would always tease my parents when they told me they watched something like "Wild Hogs" and enjoyed it. I would think, why aren't they using their movie watching time to watch something a little more... substantial.
I don't know. Maybe I'm just a little emotional and responding to everything I see and hear. Maybe my mind is breaking down. All I know is that "She-Devil" is saved on my DVR.

Reality Really Does Bite

Oh my goodness, I just randomly flipped to a channel and "Reality Bites" is playing. I remember I was in high school when it came out and didn't really get what the big deal was, although I did appreciate the shout out to "Melrose Place." All these years later and I'm watching it and realizing that it does make some interesting points. Maybe it's just today or this week or something, but seeing Winona Ryder just sit on the couch and watch endless hours of tv and moan about her life makes me cringe. I'm cringing because it's annoying and I'm cringing because I see a little bit too much of myself in the character. And her character is a lot younger than I am!
At least we both have our Ethan Hawke's. Although mine's A LOT better than hers.