30 Minutes or Less

We actually went to see this movie last Wednesday, but I have been putting off reviewing it for a week now. I considered going back and seeing it again since my reaction to it was so drastically different from Kevbo's.

Jesse Eisenberg stars as Nick, a pizza delivery boy who lives with his best friend Chet, played by Aziz Ansari. Nick is secretly in love with Chet's twin sister Katie, Greek's Dilshad Vadsaria. Danny McBride is Dwayne, an unemployed man child who still lives at home and dreams of opening his own tanning salon/brothel with his best friend Travis, please go back to stand up Nick Swardson.

The plot revolves around Dwayne planning to have his father murdered so he can inherit what remains of his lottery winnings. He needs $100,000 for the hit and in order to avoid being implicated in his father's murder Dwayne comes up with the plan to strap a bomb to some other loser and force them to come up with the money. That other loser is Nick the pizza delivery boy. Hilarity ensues. Actually, hilarity ensues if you are Kevbo, to me the comedy seemed forced and just plain not funny.  I did not believe Jesse Eisenberg as the down on his luck pizza delivery boy and I was annoyed by Aziz Ansari as the sidekick. Danny McBride and Nick Swardson were equally unfunny.

I really wanted to love this movie, maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for it. I can't recommend that anyone pays money to see this in a theater but, I certainly plan on having a few beers and watching it again at some point in the future. There is nothing wrong with a movie being more watchable while drinking. I just wish more theaters offered alcohol.

Mission Icefly Part 2

If you followed my previous post about Mission Icefly then you will be interested to learn I received another package from the Human Preservation Project today:

I chose the wrong camera app on my phone for these
photos, please forgive the border.

This one included a pack of 5 Gum, Swerve flavor. It's described as "a tangy to sweet tropical" on the package. A tangy to sweet tropical what, I do not know. Also included was a "Test Subject" ID badge, and a slip of paper with the Icefly logo and the message "When the senses are properly aligned, they act as a beacon to new ideas, new discoveries and new experiences. A NEW PATH AWAITS".

The ID badge has a QR code on the back but, it does not appear to be a complete QR code as my QR reader does not recognize it.

I haven't been keeping up with this, so I don't know where things stand at the moment. I am planning on checking out some of the message boards I followed in my previous post to see what the people there have figured out.

So, what do you think? Is this just an incredibly elaborate promotion by Wrigley for a new flavor of 5 gum? Or are they just part of something larger?

Let's Kill Hitler

Do you watch Doctor Who? You should. How many other shows out there have an upcoming episode with a title as awesome as "Let's Kill Hitler"?

A preview for the second half of this year's episodes was released at Comic Con.



Let's. Kill. Hitler. It reminds me of Abyss & Apex's Wikihistory, which is a must read.

So, I am trying to decide if Kevbo and I should dress as Amy Pond and Eleven for Halloween this year. What do you think? Has Doctor Who finally become mainstream enough for people to actually "get" who we are?

Has anyone else started planning their Halloween costumes yet, or is that just me?

The Hunger Games

Have you read The Hunger Games yet?

If the answer is no, please step away from your computer screen immediately and don't return until you have finished the trilogy. I mean it. Suzanne Collins' dystopian trilogy is some of the best Young Adult fiction of recent years. Even if the thought of reading a YA series makes your skin crawl, please just drop any preconceived notions of the genre and read these books. I promise you that this is very different from The Babysitter's Club and other YA novels of yore.

Now, if you have read the series and are eagerly awaiting the movies like me, how awesome is this animated movie poster that was recently released?

Edit: I removed the poster since the auto-play was annoying me and taxing my ancient computer, if you would like to see it, check out the official press release.

Saaaaaaay Whaaaaaaaat? I told you it was awesome!

If you liked that you have got to see this fan created video.


Via The Mary Sue

I hope the official movies live up to this.

Is it March yet?

Really Adam Sandler, Really?

I know I am a little late to the game on this but I really have to go on the record and say that Adam Sandler's new movie Jack & Jill is going to be awful. The trailer is cringe inducing so I can't imagine the movie would be any less so.

This makes me sad. I used to love Adam Sandler, I owned all of his comedy CDs at one point and I can distinctly remember finding him pee my pants funny the first time I was ever allowed to stay up late enough to watch Saturday Night Live.

It's no surprise though, especially after Grown Ups, but at one point his career seemed to be maturing. How great were Click and Reign on Me? Now all he seems to play is the schlumpy but successful husband with 2.5 kids. Awful, Awful, Awful.

Friends With Benefits

Last night we went to a pre screening for Friends With Benefits. I have to say I had very low expectations going in. I, along with plenty of other people, assumed it would be the same movie as the Ashton Kutcher/Natalie Portman romantic comedy No Strings Attached, which was even originally titled Friends With Benefits. But, I love romantic comedies so I was willing to give this one a shot.

Friends With Benefits is the story of Dylan Harper (Justin Timberlake) a hot shot art director for an independent website who travels to NYC where he is being headhunted for the position of Art Director at GQ. Jamie (Mila Kunis) is the headhunter assigned to woo him into accepting the position. Dylan and Jamie have both recently gone through ridiculous break ups, we are treated to cameos by Emma Stone and Andy Samberg as their respective exes, and have each sworn to remain emotionally unattached, ala George Clooney. After becoming good friends the two decide to pursue a physical relationship.

Predictably both characters are damaged; Jamie has daddy issues and Dylan's father (Richard Jenkins) is suffering from Alzheimer's. While Jamie's issues are fairly cliche and not really developed within the story, the inclusion of Dylan's father adds a bittersweet aspect to the film which  helped to ground it in reality just a bit more than your typical romantic comedy. Mr. Harper's condition is not used for comedic relief and the difficulties with a slowly deteriorating memory are showcased in a very relatable manner. Jamie's issues stem from a flighty mom (Patricia Clarkson) who doesn't remember who Jamie's father is. Jamie is your stereotypical quirky emotionally damaged pixie who will break into a building to watch the stars from the rooftop. We've all seen this character before in Garden State and 100 Days of Summer.

This film is very self aware and witty. Much of Jamie and Dylan's interactions involve discussing how life isn't what romantic comedies set you up to think it will be like. There is even a movie within the movie, starring Jason Segel and Rashida Jones, showcasing every rom-com cliche you can imagine. This is one of those movies that assumes the viewer is fairly well versed on current pop culture with constant references to music, movies and art that are very "of the moment". The dialogue felt raw enough to be believable without falling into the raunchy for the sake of being raunchy hole.

If you like watching very attractive people in sex scenes than this is the film for you. Seriously, so many sex scenes between Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. I will not be rewatching this movie with my mom any time soon. I don't recall there being any real nudity, just plenty of implied nudity and with two stars this attractive who minds? Plus, you get to see Justin Timberlake's "O" face, again.

Now, if I had to choose between Friends With Benefits and No Strings Attached I would probably go with Friends With Benefits but that's just because it is more recent in my memory. In reality I don't have to choose, I would recommend both! Friends With Benefits is a solid romantic comedy that is worth the price of a ticket at the theater.

Life Without Cable

Hi, my name is Sara and it has been approximately one month since I have given up cable. I am struggling. Sometimes, I sit and fantasize about what I would be watching if I still had cable. 

Every summer my husband, Kevbo*, and I discuss canceling cable on a trial basis.  Every summer my addiction wins out and we keep it. This summer we actually followed through. Handing over the DVR box was painful, but I'm doing my best to cope with our new cable free reality.

When I say I am addicted to TV, I am not exaggerating. Until Kevbo and I moved in together I fell asleep every night with the TV on. In high school my TV was my alarm clock. I read books with the TV on, even though I obviously have no idea what is playing. I get easily distracted by small noises; the house settling, car doors closing outside or my cat walking up the stairs are all likely to grab my attention. But, when I have the TV playing in the background I am able to ignore all the small noises and I can concentrate on my task. 

When we canceled cable we figured we would be able to subsidize our viewing with Hulu Plus and Netflix streaming. So far we are doing fine with these options during "active" TV viewing time; with the exception of no longer watching The Daily Show before bed we hardly miss cable. Unfortunately, it's the "inactive" cable watching that I am fiending for. For some reason we still get Bravo and the Disney Channel so I have been inactively viewing plenty of Flipping Out, Real Housewives of Wherever, Wizards of Waverly Place and Shake It Up. But, it's just not cutting it. My inactive viewing choices need a certain something that I haven't been able to replicate to my satisfaction without cable.

Seriously, this is what my life has become.

I am going to continue to work on this addiction, but I don't think I will ever be able to actually give cable up permanently. The siren song of the fall season is too strong and I predict that we will be reupping come September.

Am I alone in my constant need for background noise, or are there other addicts like me out there?

In other news we have free passes to see Friends with Benefits tomorrow night, I hope to have a review up by Friday so check back!

*No, his name isn't really Kevbo, that's obviously a nickname.