Movies

Clementine: This is it, Joel. It's going to be gone soon. Joel: I know. Clementine: What do we do? Joel: Enjoy it.

Saw this movie last night. It was a "Hey, what's playing at the theater right next to where I am going to be tonight?" situation more than a "Hey, I really want to see Happy Endings." situation. In fact I had not even heard of it, conveniently, until yesterday afternoon when I happened across it on some random blog on the "I want to see these movies:" section.

I was in Royal Oak for something else, so I called Dave and we decided to take in a movie. Happy Endings it was. It was either that or The Year of Yao, the decision was an easy one.

Happy Endings was a series of snapshots into lives of 10 different people; lives that intertwine in different ways. I guess industry standard has been to compare movies like this to Go when you are trying to explain the style involving the stories all coming together over time. The movie is full of many mid-level names, though they all come through with great performances. Lisa Kudrow stars with support from Steve Coogan, Jesse Bradford, Bobby Cannavale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Ritter, Laura Dern, David Sutcliffe and Tom Arnold. (Bobby Cannavale was AWESOME in The Station Agent, I was glad to get to see him in something else.)

The movie was directed in a very unique (to me at least) style that at times called for splitting the screen to make room for text narration. Don Roos, who both wrote and directed this film, kept me thoroughly entertained.

As I hinted at above, the acting had me impressed. I am not typically a Lisa Kudrow fan, if you live under a rock and are not familiar, she played Phoebe on Friends, but I did not mind her in Wonderland. She came through in Happy Endings, however. I think Maggie Gyllenhaal turned in the top performance, no offense to Kudrow. The story is not the most family friendly, so don't take the kids, but Roos was able to keep me laughing start to finish.

What I am really trying to get at is that the movie was difficult to describe and you probably wouldn't understand what it was about unless you actually see it for yourself. Lucky for you I thought the movie worthy of recommending to you. Check it out.

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So I Married An Axe Murderer

Comedy sensation Mike Myers stars with Nancy Travis in this hatchet-driven romantic comedy about a wedlock-shy coffee house poet who finally meets the perfect woman. When it comes to love, Charlie Mackenzie (Myers) has had his share of bad luck: Sherri was a klepto--Charlie still can't find his cat. Jill was unemployed--but Charlie knew she really worked for the Mafia. Pam smelled like soup--beef vegetable soup. Good thing for Charlie these shortcomings became apparent, if only to him. Good thing for Charlie he discovered the truth before things went too far--before he stumbled into MARRIAGE! Because to Charlie the "M" word is just one step away from the fate foretold in that chilling phrase "'Til death do us part." When Charlie meets Harriet Michaels (Travis) everything changes. Harriet's not like the others. She's smart, sexy, and crazy about Charlie. This time Charlie is determined to overcome the fears that sabotaged his past relationships. This time, he's ready for some commitment. Sure, Harriet may have her shortcomings--but so what? After all those other women, what's the worst she could be? An axe murderer?

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Guy: Why do you do this to yourself? Don't even get paid, risk getting arrested, for what? Ernie: You don't know? Guy: No. Ernie: The Nod. Guy: The Nod? Ernie: Happens to me at least once every party. Some guy comes up to me and says "Thank you for making this happen... I needed this. This really meant something to me." And they nod... and I nod back. scoffs Ernie: That's it.