the joy of being a captive audience

its been 2 weeks since i watched a movie. i slept on the plane ride over to the UK and whilst in the UK, i only watched season 2 of burn notice so i spent OVER two weeks not watching any movies. this is some sort of personal starvation record of film. though now that im home and facing a full DVR, i whet my appetite with a couple movies on the way back.

people watch movies on planes that they would NEVER watch in a theater or even DVR but with 7 hours and no charged laptop battery, watching YEAR ONE with jack black and michael cera seemed like a great idea. i had some vague interest in seeing this in theaters but the extraordinarily bad reviews swayed me and my $12 but at 30,000 ft, i was pretty excited to see it. there were other options but im not sure you can call terminator: salvation an option.

while i didnt love the film, i laughed consistently throughout the picture. it was actually not a bad watch and had some genuinely funny moments. when it was finished, i was happy. i had actually benefited from being a totally captive audience. to even more of a suprise, i started watching the latest woody allen movie whatever works and didnt enjoy it as much as i thought i did. however, i only watched half of it as i fell deathly ill 45 minutes in and collasped after a horriffic trip to the lavatory but that is TMI.

but back to year one.

how often has that happened to people? they get on a plane, watch a movie they would never see in theatres and end up enjoying it. quite often. i also watched marley and me.

well, i sort of watched marley and me. i didnt actually listen to the soundtrack but i caught myself looking up every now and again at it. i didnt want to watch this for many reasons, namely: 1. its a family film, 2. jennifer aniston, 3. owen wilson, 4 (and most important): i know that the freakin dog dies and when did i look up? WHEN THE DOG WAS AT THE FUCKING VET AND BEING PUT TO SLEEP!!!!!!!! and yes, i got teary. from a movie i wasnt watching without a soundtrack.

i changed my mind. being a captive audience sucks.

did i also mention i watched the last 30 minutes of transformers 2 on the plane as well and considered attempting to crash the plane to avoid anyone else having to watch it when it looped again.

great, now im on a no fly list for that statement. dear, government, i didnt actually mean that last statement. it was meant in jest because transformers is evil. please remove my name from no fly lists as it was a joke. sincerely, mpathy h

can nick and nora's infinite playlist be officially declared THE hipster film of the 00's?

as an unapologetically indie hipster originally from NYC, it is no shock that i love NICK AND NORA'S INFINIET PLAYLIST. after watching it a second time, i only have more appreciation for this wonderful little gem of a film. perhaps its the NYC oriented soundtrack of vampire weekend, the national, bishop allen (granted, they took their name from a street in central square in cambridge, mass), and we are scientists, whose song afterhours so well permeates the feel of the film. perhaps its a great, subtle (of course) but also sometimes heartfelt and dramatic performance from michael cera and a suprisingly heartfeltkat dennings! OR its the supporting cast and numerous cameos from andy samberg, john cho, and seth myers. yes. its all of these things and of course, the seemingly endless number of new york indie landmarks. this is the new york city of my youth with the bowery, mcarren park pool, crash mansion, and a quick shot of katz's for those who enjoy the jew food (me...even though there are way better delis and katz is definetely now more touristy than anything else).

this film will always be intrinsically linked to the time and era. after all, michael cera, skinny jeans, and hoodies are pretty much standard issue indie fashion now. its for all these reasons, this film should be considered the benchmark for late 00's. much like how john hughes films captured the essence of loner/geek culture of the 80s, nick and nora does so for the geeks now.

im really suprised that this film hasnt really found much of an audience yet because it really is such a sweet fim. i think in due time nick and nora will develop a legacy. people need some time to latch on to the essence. stylistically, the film is shot a little darkly and in soft colors which is not unaccessible. the camerawork is almost a bit cameron crowe-like and even maintains the naviety and the innocence of his films. given that crowe's films take a while to find their niche, it follows that nick and nora need a couple years to win over more fans.

until then, ill enjoy the tweedom of it and kat dennings little erratic head bobbing when michael cera asks if its her dad's studio...

btw, where's fluffy isnt a real band. so all you stupid faux indie jerkfaces claiming that you love them...i know its a lie.