Just a male's opinion on "Motherhood"

I am a huge, huge Netflixer. That's right, I've turned it into a verb. I love movies. I love most all movies. I love the power behind the medium, how a film is able to transcend all cultural boundaries, how it's able to be a singular, shared experienced by all those sitting in a crowded theater, no matter where they come from or what their income bracket may be or whether they're red or blue. It's an amazing feat that films accomplish.

Having said this, I will Netflix almost anything that draws my interest, whether it's an original story line or a film I've read quite a bit on, or if it should star an actor that I respect and have enjoyed in the past. So if I come across a "chick flick" or "chicklit" or whatever label you want to throw on it, I really don't think twice about renting it if it looks promising, or if it stars great actors.

I am a pretty big Uma Thurman fan. I've liked many of her performances, even if they were contained within the walls of a sub-par film. I thought she was great in JENNIFER 8, which was one of her earlier works and of course in PULP FICTION, for which I still think she was robbed of the Oscar. She's great in light hearted comedy like THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS AND DOGS and in deeper, thought provoking sci-fi like GATTACA. Her crowning achievement, naturally, is the KILL BILL series. She was flawless and amazing. I'm also a fan of Minnie Driver (underused, underrated) and Anthony Edwards.

So, when I was browsing the new releases and saw a title that read MOTHERHOOD, and which starred the 3 actors I named above, I hit "add" without hesitation. I had read some fairly bad press a few months earlier, but I also knew that the studio had financial woes and like when Yari Film Group folded, sending a handful of their theatrical releases straight to DVD, I figured I would give it the benefit of the doubt.

I am sorry to say that I, the one who nearly likes everything he sees, despised this movie. What were they thinking? It is so sloppy in every sense of the word. It looks as if it were filmed on a Flip Cam, and the editing is so choppy that you don't even figure out when once scene is taking place before another one starts. The script is lazy and the direction is non-existent. There is definitely a great story in there somewhere. We follow allong one harried mother during her adventurous day of running errands and prepping for her child's 6th birthday and trying to re-discover the writer that rests within her tired frame, but in the end, it's an exhausting experience, for all the wrong reasons.

The filmmakers do their best (and with much success) to make the luminous Uma Thurman look like she just rolled out of bed after a 3 night bender. She is completely wasted in this piece, BUT, she must take some of the blame as well. Her performance is pieced together and instead of making us feel sympathy for this unappreciated woman, she just makes the audience feel uncomfortable. There was such an air of uneasiness while watching the film that I almost felt creeped out when it ended.

It is a shame, because there was much talented that was wasted here. Thankfully for Uma Thurman and Minnie Driver, they appear to have much more prestigious work coming to a theater near you.

Uma will star opposite Christina Ricci and Robert Pattinson in BEL AMI and has KILL BILL vol 3 on the horizon for 2014. Minnie will be seen in this fall's Oscar bait-y CONVICTION opposite Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Melissa Leo and Juliette Lewis.

We can't win everytime, so all is forgiven...but I will have to say that MOTHERHOOD, in the case of this film, needs to be brushed aside.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon and Why I Love HBO

So most of you love HBO because of great programming like TRUE BLOOD and ENTOURAGE and BIG LOVE and those are all valid and amazing reasons to love HBO. Mine is all of that plus a little something extra. I think HBO is obsessed with the 90's and I'm digging that about them. This was the decade of my youth/adolescence. I don't think it gets much better than the 90's (the clothes got better, I'll give you that much.)

In the span of a week or two, HBO was on a 90's love fest, broadcasting the likes of CLUELESS, REALITY BITES, JURASSIC PARK, HOME ALONE, SHOWGIRLS, you name it. All of these (yes, even SHOWGIRLS) are highly entertaining (and recommended) in my book, but they also reminded me of a much simpler time, when things were what they were. It was a time of face value. It was a time when the simplistic left an impression. Whether it was the melancholy sounds of Bush's "Alien" on the radio, or back to the beginning for "The Real World," or the fact that it was a more peaceful time in the world, they were truly the years of my life. The time when I grew into who I am today. The person I sometimes miss. Even the sun felt different in that time. It was softer, warm but not overbearing, and it cast this incredible glow on everything it touched. The crisp fall air of an October morning was indescribable and the 30 minutes I got to sit with my friends at the lunch table, priceless.

But before any of us knew it, we were all grown up and those times were long gone. Would I go back if I could? I'm not sure. But I do like going back to the memory. I do like the fact that when this life, this grown up life, starts to cave in, that I have a place of safety I can revisit, just by closing my eyes with "Sixteen Stone" playing in the background. I do miss those days, and those days I will re-visit here, time and time again...

1st blog

This will be an incredibly easy post...

...a simple "Hi."

See you soon.