Tag: Jennifer Aniston

We’re Watching The Oscars

We saw a lot of movies this year. My most spoken line to Helaine is “Who is that?”

We are watching the Oscars. Yeah, I know.

We saw a lot of movies this year. It makes no difference. My most spoken line to Helaine is “Who is that?”

Hugh Jackman is very likable. Very talented. He disappeared in the second half of the show.

Heath Ledger’s family is walking up to accept his Oscar. “They couldn’t have gotten better seats,” asked Helaine?

Ben Stiller–funny as Joaquin Phoenix. I am surprised that single appearance on Letterman was considered enough of a universal experience to use it.

I miss Billy Crystal.

I miss Jon Stewart.

Sorry Dave.

Jerry Lewis looked frail and in pain.

Whenever anyone says something good about Slumdog Millionaire (a movie we both enjoyed) I am fearful people will go without knowing how violent and depraved some parts are. And, by the way, why is that movie now being heavily promoted with the totally meaningless credit roll dance scene? It isn’t really part of the movie.

Oh Jennifer Aniston. Helaine says Jennifer Aniston has too much personal baggage for me. Not quite an unbiased view, is it?

You don’t want to know how much time you can save by watching the Oscars on a DVR five days after the fact.

Friends With Money

Being off Fridays is going to cost me money in the long run. It just seems wrong to waste a Friday – even more than a Saturday or Sunday.

We headed to Orange to see “Friends With Money.”

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time you know Helaine picks a movie, I pick a movie. She’s usually the one who picks the movies we like. I pick the ones we like less… a lot less… OK, we usually hate the ones I pick.

This was a Helaine day.

At the moment she’s on the couch, next to me. So I can ask, why this movie?

She says she was attracted to the movie by the cast.

She’s right. Joan Cusack, Frances McDormand, Jennifer Aniston and Catherine Keener make an excellent ensemble cast. And their acting in this movie was top notch. The problem is, where’s the story?

This is a movie about the relationship between four women; three married and one single. With money or without money, everyone had a life that was incomplete or unhappy… or both.

If you’re looking for a set-up/payoff, or some sort of satisfying conclusion, it’s just not there. These are little interrelated slices, not a full meal. I kept hoping for more.

Have you seen “Postcards From The Edge?” I’m asking because, for me, this movie suffered the same fate. It made me so uncomfortable, watching angst and personal tumult that were realistically portrayed, I couldn’t get to a point where I enjoyed it.

This is the second time I have seen Jennifer Aniston playing a person I felt sorry for, and uncomfortable with. As with “The Good Girl,” I thought she showed herself as an excellent actress, playing a role where she was ‘de-glamorized.’

2006 seems to be my year for Catherine Keener, who I’ve seen a bunch of times. The more I see her, the more I like her. Same for Frances McDormand and Joan Cusack.

None of these women are here because they’re twenty-something willowy sexpots. They’re here to be flawed and genuine, and they succeed individually even when the movie fails them collectively.

Helaine enjoyed the movie. I left feeling ambivalent.