I watched my new favorite movie last night: Bridesmaids. I put off watching it because everything I heard about it praised it for being the first movie full of women, written by a woman, also full of raunchy male humor. That to me isn’t a step forward, because any alert person knows the world is full of hilarious women who can make you laugh out loud without just making fart jokes. Women making the equivalent of The Hangover sounded like a step back to me.
But then I watched the movie last night, and I wish all the reviews hadn’t said exactly the same thing because if I had seen it earlier it would have been at the top of my Christmas list. It was hilarious, and while it did have a few off-beat scenes, there weren’t as many as I expected. Or maybe I’m just too desensitized by watching shows on FX. But it wasn’t the girl version of The Hangover or Old School, thankfully. It was just a great movie.
And for some reason, about halfway through, I crossed that point where you realize that it’s just a thin veil between laughing really hard and sobbing. Something about that movie, either the complicated nature of female friendships or that cute policeman, made me start crying. Not tearing up, like in the scene in Ratatouille when Ego flashes back to his childhood, but The Notebook crying. I really tried to hold it in and not freak out Trent, because it was a comedy. But I really loved that movie. It’s made it’s way onto my short list of movies that I’ll watch at any time: About a Boy, Mean Girls, Joe Vs. the Volcano, Newsies, and The Goodbye Girl.
(Please note – Don’t assume I’m secretly pregnant because I cried during Bridesmaids. I’m not a big crier when I’m pregnant. My hormones are too busy making sure I hit at least double the doctor recommended weight gain.)
Bridesmaids was just another recent example of why I’m getting increasingly irritated at movie reviews. With all the critics, why is there always one dominating opinion about a movie? People have different opinions of things, that’s life. Take The Muppets, great reviews across the board, yet in my opinion, and I LOVE the Muppets, TERRIBLE movie. Trent actually fell asleep in the theater. If that movie were loyal to the actual Muppets, it would be impossible for anyone to fall asleep in the theater, including babies.
And what about Cars 2? How dare the Academy snub Cars 2 for an Oscar nomination? The reviews consistently blasted Pixar for actually making a kids movie. But have you seen Cars 2? It’s a James Bond movie, and excellent. I think everyone was just disappointed that they left a Pixar film without crying. In my opinion, it was way better than Toy Story 3, which, let’s all admit it, at it’s emotional core was just another Toy Story 2.
My other recent movie going experience was seeing John Carter last week. Again, it was a good movie with crappy reviews. I never would have seen it had my mom not praised the movie so highly and offered to baby-sit so Trent and I could go see it big screen. She’s a huge fan of the Edward Rice Burroughs books that the movie is based on, so we took her word over the reviews and went. It’s a really enjoyable sci-fi action movie. I’ll be honest: if given the choice today of re-watching one of the new Star Wars movies, Avatar, or John Carter, I’m picking John Carter. But is it bombing in theaters because all it’s reviews gave it only two stars? Yes. I’m glad I ignored those reviews.
I recently read an article about the new Newsies musical that referred to the 1992 movie as –this close to the quote, if not exactly it- a terrible flop with a cult following. I guarantee that the cult following consists entirely of women who were between third and eight grade in 1992. Have you seen Newsies? Young Christian Bale? It could be –and is- one of the greatest movies ever, but there’s not a grown man in the world who would write a good review of Newsies. It’s a musical full of teenage boys.
Not everything has to be a timeless masterpiece that appeals to all ages and all generations. It’s okay that I only read the first Twilight book and then no further, not only because everyone is entitled to make their own opinions about things, but also because I’m not a 15 year-old. I loved the Babysitter’s Club series with a passion when I was in elementary school, but I wouldn’t read one today and that’s okay too. Not everything has to stand the test of time. Have you watched Empire Records since the 90’s? It’s so awkward, I can’t even watch more than a few minutes. But in high school, I loved that movie. The fact that I can’t watch it now doesn’t make it a bad movie. For KHS Class of ‘99, that was a five star film.
Even for highly praised films, people in the same demographic can make their own opinions. Why, when we love so many of the same things, did I enjoy The Social Network but fall asleep during Winter’s Bone, while my friend had the opposite reaction to those movies? We’re different people. While there may be elements that truly make one movie excellent and another horrible, it’s not always the black and white of awards shows and Rotten Tomatoes.
I’m not going to stop reading movie reviews, that’s half the fun of the Thursday paper. And some movies are across the board terrible and get the reviews that they deserve. But, just like reading a book or a magazine, I’m going to read critically.
Or I’m just going to stop reading the paper and spend my time on the couch, alternating between laughing and weeping to Bridesmaids.
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