Three more movie reviews

[green_queen]

Knocked Up

I enjoyed this a lot more than Superbad. It was cute and funny without being constantly stupid, which was good. I felt like it was fairly sexist, though - the women are all neurotic, overbearing and shrieky, and Katherine Heigl's character was just not as interesting or endearing as Seth Rogen's. Also, why didn't she get an abortion? They never discuss that. Everybody's like 'Abortion!' and she never gives a reason for not getting one, which makes me feel like the writers were saying that shouldn't be an option - whether or not that's the case.

It had a lot of moments where it was really, really funny, though, so points for that. The pregnant sex was hilarious. I loved Paul Rudd in it too.

7 out of 10

Männer wie wir (Balls)

It's the gay German 'Mighty Ducks!' Okay, no, but it's an absolutely stereotypical sports movie with absolutely stereotypical gay men, and it's absolutely stereotypically...charming and adorable. Yeah, I know I'm biased, but it was damn cute, and the adversity was, for once, real and not imagined. Our hero, Ecki, is facing real judgment from everyone he cares about, especially his asshole father, and proving himself through sport becomes about more than just beating the baddies, it's about proving himself as a man. Most of the characters are one-dimensional, although there's a leather daddy threesome that is the cutest threesome I've ever seen on screen with a nice subplot, and Ecki's love interest is gorgeous. It's well-done, if not overly original, and you'll probably be cheering at the end like we were. Sentimental suckers, the lot of us.

6 out of 10

Ocean's Thirteen

It was better than Twelve, but I still don't feel like everyone was as at the top of the game as they were for Eleven. There were some great moments (Danny and Rusty bonding over Oprah is killer, Eddie Izzard makes a fun appearance, and the subplot with the Mexican factory worker revolution is adorable and had me cracking up) that made the movie well worth watching, and there's a great retro mood and colour palette to the whole thing. However, I couldn't help feeling like they got into the job way too soon without enough setup, which made some parts drag for me. Al Pacino just oozes menace as the villain of this piece, and everybody actually gets given something to do, which is nice to see.

6 out of 10

ETA: New Lost promo!

Green Queen

Comments

[swear-jar.livejournal.com]

I so agree with you about O13. O12 was a heck of a lot worse (I don't even remember half of what happened in it, though I do remember being vaguely confused), but O13 didn't quite get past being "fun".

[grrliz.livejournal.com]

Also, why didn't she get an abortion? They never discuss that. Everybody's like 'Abortion!' and she never gives a reason for not getting one, which makes me feel like the writers were saying that shouldn't be an option

It's not really necessary to the narrative to have a reason why she doesn't have an abortion since we know based on the title alone that she's going to have the baby. I'm trying to remember how they dealt with the abortion issue in Juno, but I forget.

[ex-salwood.livejournal.com]

Did I just glimpse Dom in the Lost Promos? *blinks*

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

It doesn't matter whether it's necessary to the narrative, though. They have other characters discuss it, some with her, and then she never gives a reason not to consider their idea. If they're going to bring it up at all, she should at least say something like 'I don't feel comfortable getting an abortion' or something to say that an abortion's not right for her, but that doesn't mean it's not right for everybody. I found it kind of insidious the way it was talked about.

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

YES OMG right at 0:24 :D

[hobbitofkobol.livejournal.com]

omg almost subliminal Dom!!!

[grrliz.livejournal.com]

I don't know, I figure that most of the abortion talk fleshes out their characters better (Jonah is completely crass and thus refers to it as a smuhsmortion, whereas Jay is a lot more sensitive and down to earth and so he takes a more humanistic approach) instead of existing to provide any sort of moral reasoning. The conflict within and between the characters doesn't hinge on the "should she or shouldn't she have an abortion" issue because Alison's character development in that regard is already implicit in the very nature of the film; she doesn't need to give a reason because we already know that it's obviously not the right choice from her from the basic fact that she's going through with it.

[I can't remember, does Alison actually talk about it with anyone or does she just call Ben and say "I'm having the baby"?]

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

Her mother talks to her about it, and Alison says nothing in response and then calls Ben and says she's keeping the baby.

[ack-attack.livejournal.com]

Paul Rudd + Love of My Life Seth Rogen = Fun Times.

And I think the thing about the abortion was just that she didn't want to have one. Not much explanation needed, I think. She just wouldn't.

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

My friend just pointed out to me that they never actually say the word 'abortion' in the movie; her mother refers to it as 'having it taken care of' while the other guys says 'shmushmortion.' That tells me more than just Alison's reaction does...

[grrliz.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's totally weird! I think Jonah also says that Ben should "take care of it"... hmm.

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

The more I've discussed it, the more issues I'm seeing with the whole thing. They didn't use the word 'abortion' at all.

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

If it's actually the case, that makes the argument that they're basically discounting abortion as a viable and acceptable option a little stronger. I don't think it's just a problem with this film, but it's definitely in there.

[grrliz.livejournal.com]

My problem with the "they're brushing aside abortion and thus not accepting it as an option in this situation" argument is that it assumes there is a great deal of moralizing going on in the film, as if this is a strongly pro-life movie that features a world where abortion is never an option and my problem with that is that's not what the movie is about. The choice, the moral quandry, is not all that relevant to the film because, like I mentioned before, the entire premise of the movie is "Knocked Up". We know the outcome of her dilemma before we even start watching it; the process of arriving at that conclusion isn't all that important to the film, I don't think, because it's not a morality tale centered around the abortion issue.