mov•ie (moo-vee) | safety not guaranteed

There's nothing better than summer movies.  While I do enjoy spending quality outdoor time, one of my favorite things about the summer are all the highly anticipated movies that come out.  Almost every week throughout the summer there's a movie I'm dying to see.  Of course I'm eagerly waiting for the release of The Dark Knight Rises, Ted, Magic Mike and The Bourne Legacy, but even the smaller indie movies tend to be better in the summer.  The way I see, why not take a break from the summer heat in an air conditioned theater?

This past weekend, Matt and I watched Safety Not Guaranteed.  I knew nothing about this movie.  In fact, when Matt was describing it to me I thought it was a documentary, but I was so pleasantly surprised that it was more of hopeful romantic comedy with so many small witty twists.  Made from the same producers of Little Miss Sunshine, this movie ultimately leaves you with great emotion and is an all over feel good movie.

So what's the movie about you ask?  In a nutshell, it's a story about a man who places an ad in the classifieds looking for someone to travel back in time with him.  Three reporters from Seattle Magazine find the ad and figure it could make a good story, so they seek him out to see if this guy was as crazy as his ad.  This story follows the adventure of these three reporters as they find their answers, not only about the man in the ad, but about themselves.

Again, I had no knowledge of this movie and honestly pretty low expectations, so I was pleasantly surprised that it had a great assemble cast with Aubrey Plaza (from Parks & Recreation), Jake M. Johnson (from The New Girl), and even a cameo by Kristen Bell.   With Plaza and Johnson alone, you could expect the unique humor filled with sarcasm that I oh so love and a similar quirkiness within each character that was also portrayed in Little Miss Sunshine.  Each character had their own unique story and reason for wanting to travel back in time, but ultimately the story was focused on Kenneth (played by Mark Duplass) and his desire, nay passion, for wanting to travel back to the year 2001.

Throughout the entire movie, each character developed in their own way and you further embrace their hopefulness for each of them as they grow from this experience.  Without disclosing too much about the storyline, each character gets a something from the overall adventure and leaves with a sense of self-awareness that they were not originally looking for.

It goes without saying that I absolutely LOVED this movie.  In fact, maybe so much to call it one of my favorites this year.  I highly recommend this movie if you love Plaza's Daria-esque humor, men who wear denim jackets, love the idea of time traveling and enjoy a true feel good movie!

mov•ie (moo-vee) | 21 jumpstreet

2011 was the year of all things Ryan Gosling and 2012 is the year of Channing Tatum.  It seems like his movie releases have been back to back and in 2012 alone I've seen 3 movies that he's starred in.  I must say though, kudos to his agent because so far all of those movies haven't disappointed and I hope 21 Jump Street is just the beginning of what's to come for him. 

I fully admit that I was skeptical about seeing this movie.  When trailers and previews started coming out I couldn't help but notice how far off the movie seemed from the original (more serious) show that starred Johnny Depp, Peter DeLuise and Holly Robinson Peete.  Not that I'm fully dedicated to the original show, but I partially grew up in Vancouver BC where the show was shot so my loyalty is based on my roots.  However, I'm glad my husband (who has a great eye for movies) said he wanted to go see it because the more and more commercials I saw - the more interest I had in seeing it.

Aside from Channing Tatum, the movie also stars Jonah Hill, Ice Cube, Rob Riggle, Ellie Kemper and some special guest appearances.  With Jonah Hill in it, I had no doubt in my mind that it would have it's comedic moments because that's his fortay.  Almost every movie he's in, even Cyrus, has laugh out loud times, so I was at least expecting a good chuckle or two.  What I didn't expect though was bursting out laughing in most scenes almost to the point I was crying.  Although Channing Tatum's SNL performance earlier this year was just mediocre, this movie proved that he could carry his own in a comedy.  The two leads complimented each other quite nicely and I loved that it had a ton of unexpected moments that just made every laugh out loud moment better than the last.

If you're on the fence about seeing this movie, I guarantee that you'll be pleasantly surprised.  It hasn't been since Horrible Bosses that I've laughed so much and I loved every minute of this movie.  Trust me, I was totally skeptical and have been converted.

|Did you go see 21 Jump Street  this weekend?  Did you have the same pleasant experience I did?|

mov•ie (moo-vee) | the vow

I'm one of those girls who gets really uncomfortable with the mushy love stuff.  Much like Julia Roberts' character in My Best Friend's Wedding, I am not the girl that is affectionate in public and sometimes the thought of romantic gestures makes me laugh out loud more than it makes me swoon.  I'm not totally heartless though - I do appreciate gestures of love in my own way like the time Matt sent me a Justin Bieber teddy bear for Valentine's Day or the time he sent a singing Austin Powers telegram to my office.  I guess you can say I'm romantic in my own way.  However, I am still female which means that I love romantic chick flicks with un-realistic story lines and over dramatized acting. 

Since I wasn't going to make Matt sit through 90 minutes of me crying through The Vow, my girlfriends and I decided to make a date of it. 

Honestly, I'm not going to share too much about the movie because you can surely predict the plot just by watching the preview, but here are my 5 reasons why you need to watch this movie.  1| It's filmed in Chicago and captures so many great things I love about this city (even though I could tell by some of the street signs that they re-created some parts of Chicago in downtown LA).  2| If you're like me and haven't had a good movie cry since The Notebook, this will help shed some built up tears. 3| It's based on a true events and makes the story that much better. 4| I love Channing Tatum. 5| I love Rachel McAdams...maybe more than Channing Tatum.  Okay, okay maybe an equal amount.  

Needless to say, with this movie you know what you're get into and it delivers everything you want out of it so go see it.

mov•ie (moo-vee) | the muppets movie

Raise your hand if you DIDN'T see The Muppets Movie this weekend.  It seems like many rushed to the theaters to watch the movie and it's no surprise. The Muppets are so iconic that those of us that grew up with these characters really didn't want to miss the chance to re-live the kooky, quirky humor that the original show and movies brought when we were younger...well most of us that is.

Matt and I saw the movie on Thanksgiving Day.  I expressed my excitement leading up to opening day about how much I wanted to see the movie, so like a good husband, he went along with it and agreed to see the movie.  I (and this is my error) assumed that he too grew up loving The Muppets.  I mean c'mon - even Muppet Babies will count, but that's where assuming made a you know what, out of you know who.  In the middle of the movie as Jason Segal and Amy Adams began with their first song and dance, I started grinning ear to ear, but also cringed inside because I saw Matt slumped down in his seat and knew immediate that he did NOT grow up with The Muppets.  I could sense his urgency to leave the theater and wondering when it was going to end every time he checked his watch.  BUT, I didn't let that stop my enjoyment of dancing along because how many times has he made me sit through movies that caused me discomfort (ie: Apocalypto)?

Typically when we exit the theater I ask Matt, "What did you think?"  In this case I knew better, he wasn't un-happy or upset, he knew what he was getting into.  So instead I asked, "You didn't grow up watching The Muppets did you?"  When he responded, "No, not really." It was no surprise, but I appreciate that he sucked it up, sat through it, tolerated my child like giddiness and did it all in the name of love.  After all isn't that what true love is?  When someone sits through a movie they think is miserable, all because it brings pleasure to the person they love.  In a nutshell, if you didn't gather it already, I loved it and Matt didn't.

|Does your significant other sit through movies that you know they won't love just because you want to? Do you do the same for that person?|