IN A WORLD...(Where Lake Bell Creates Movies)

Running behind a little this week, guys. But last week I had the privelege of getting a sneak peek of Lake Bell's new movie, In a World..., which she wrote, directed, and starred in herself. Also (if my Twitter strategy is working) y'all should know that she also made a personal appearance with a Q & A after the film as well.

This is how she got to the theater...it's not a shot from the movie..probably...

So the plot of the movie surrounds Carol, a voice coach with a less-than-impressive resume and the daughter of the go-to guy in movie trailer voiceovers. After she gets kicked out of her father's house, she gets the opportunity to promote her own voiceover work and takes off--totally unexpectedly. When the opportunity comes up to voice over the high-profile trilogy of a popular book series (much like The Hunger Games), both Carol and her father chomp at the bit to prove to themselves (and each other) that they are relevant to the extremely competitive industry. Running along side this main plot line are three love stories: Carol's sister hits a snag in her marriage; the ethics of her father dating a woman her own age; and her escapades with two men in the industry.

Wait a second...everyone's mismatched...

So the cool thing about this movie is its subject matter. It doesn't get much more obscure than the land of voiceover. It's only briefly touched on in The Holiday and I really can't think of any other movie where I've even heard it mentioned. When I asked Lake Bell during the Q & A after the movie as to why she picked this as the main subject matter, she basically said that it was just that that has inspired her. Being someone who had briefly tried her hand at the voiceover gig, she knew how competitive the industry was. Not only that but she was inspired because she had never heard a voiceover done by a woman. With the neo-feminism that's taking the nation by storm right now (more into seizing femininity than burning bras), I thought that it was a really cool idea. They even tie in a feminist message at the end, telling girls to take themselves seriously and not to neglect something as impressionable as their voices. In a world (see what I did there?) where girls talk like Kim Kardashian (Omg, kill me. She reminds me of a drunk squirrel), she puts a spotlight on the importance of intelligent speech. A big fat THANK YOU, LAKE BELL from all of my fellow grammar nazis out there.

Omg this picture.

The only things I wasn't crazy about in this movie were the sort of understated humor. While it's subtle and cute and funny, it becomes borderline unexciting. There are chuckles, sure, and plenty of awkward moments with Carol. But it got me wondering at a few points whether this movie was going to take a turn for the worse. Maybe that was its intention? Additionally, the side stories are a little distracting. When Carol's sister's marriage takes a dramatic turn, they create a huge problem and then fix it. Same with the marriage between her father and his thirty-year-old girlfriend. She has a really sweet scene at the end and yet it goes unacknowledged by the two sisters.

I noticed it, girl. I noticed.

It was not bad, it was a pleasure speaking with Lake Bell herself, and I'm anxious to see what other kinds of things she comes up with. However, I would probably put this movie on while doing something else. Like playing Candy Crush. It has a lot of "OOOHHH!!" moments, but in the way that a gossipy magazine does.

6 and a half outa 10. Not bad for your first movie, Ms. Bell!

NOW ON TWITTER (haaayyyy)

Hello, dear readers. This is just a quick note to inform you that I am now also on Twitter. You can tweet or RT me at @LPNB_reviews. Thanks!

Austenland: A Bad Movie Hiding Behind Regency Sets.

Jane Austen has become somewhat of a hot commodity in recent culture. We've got movies and books based on, adapted and spun off of the authoress's numerous love stories coming out our ears. Pride and Prejudice With Zombies, Becoming Jane, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, Clueless (true story; adapted from Emma), and who hasn't seen the BBC Pride and Prejudice? (Rhetorical question; obviously you all have. And if you haven't please find yourself a library immediately) Being an avid Jane Austen fan myself, I was so excited when I got the opportunity last night to see upcoming film Austenland starring Keri Russell, Bret McKenzie, and JJ Feild.

*Let it be noted that I was ten minutes late to the movie because my mom and I couldn't find a parking spot. Damn Narberth parking!

The movie is centered around Jane (Russell), a woman who has been "unlucky in love." Her obsession with Jane Austen bars her from being able to participate in her own life as she is so fixed on finding a man that fits her "fantasy."  When she finds Austenland, a real manor house set up to mimic the English Regency Era with everything from clothes to food to decoration, she feels she's finally found somewhere where she can fit in. Almost immediately she meets the acquaintance of both a servant named Martin and the lady of the manor's nephew, Mr. Henry Nobley. The rest of the film shows her inexplicably flitting back and forth between the two like a pinball and picking one of them at the end.

Hi guys, just FYI: I love both of you. Does that work for you? Ok, cool.

I was really disappointed by this movie. You can't appeal to Austen fans and then take away their glory by making your main character a muddle. Here's my problem: Jane is supposed to be a crazy-ass Austen fan, but she doesn't play along with the Austenland game for more than ONE DAY. Um. WHAT?? Anyone who has read an Austen book more than once and seen the movies based off of them should know that taking off with servant would be a CLASS 4 NO-NO. And yet Jane does it without a care in the world. Not to mention the fact that she latches onto this guy after, like a day. Stage 5 clinger. Even in modern times.

Also, for my fellow avid movie-goers, you may be halfway through the movie thinking "Wait. Something is not right." Both men both seem to adore Jane equally and she seems to like them both equally as well. For those of us well-versed in romcom lore, we know that this is simply weird. No conflict = no story. So where's the damn conflict? It doesn't come into play until the third part of the movie, which takes too long, and feels like you're spending the majority of the movie holding your breath. And then by the end you're like "Wait a second, how can you really be in love with this guy when you were acting in love with the other---wait, what?"

Unlucky in love, my ass.

I really hate to see a good plot go to waste. They could've done so much more with this. In my world, Jane would go to Austenland intent on enjoying every freaking moment, playing along with all of the rules and concepts, become disillusioned with the facade, and then fall in love with the servant. Done. That's all you need. Shazam. Not all this confusion about oh, The Regency Era was really full of honest, simple, good people and modern people suck. Um, no. Obviously you've never heard of a Mr. Wickham, a guy so nasty he almost ruined the marriage of Elizabeth Bennett to Mr. Darcy. Or perhaps a Mr. Elton, who is grossed out by the thought of marrying someone of an inferior social class. Or maybe even John Willoughby, who ends up marrying an ice queen instead of the woman he loves because she's got more money. Please read an Austen book before you write a film based on a fan of hers. P.S. There have always been nasty people in the world; the message of your film is bewildering.

Miss Austen is displeased.

The thing that kept this movie entertaining was its clever use of side characters. Miss Charming (played by the hilarious Jennifer Coolidge) is grossly out of her element in Austenland but gobbles it all up anyway, blunder after hilarious blunder. Also notable are Miss Amelia Cartwright (Georgia King), Colonel Andrews (James Callis), and Captain George East (Ricky Whittle).

In summary, I'm becoming more and more annoyed about this movie. If you want to make a film about an extreme fan, next time pick a Twihard for your protagonist.

4 out of 10 stars. Lackluster, but got saved by the chuckles from the minor characters and their (purposefully) awful British Regency accents.

The Conjuring: If You Think Witches Are Obsolete, You Are Wrong.

As a teenager I was pretty religious. Not in a weird person way (at least I don't think so), but let it be known that I regularly went to church and still have the books of the Old Testament memorized thanks to a song I learned when I was nine.

See? No hoodless sweatshirt with bright white tennis shoes.

(Does anyone else picture religious fanatics this way? Just me?

On a separate note, remember when digital cameras were still a new thing?)

But my background has made me a little...sensitive to movies about demons.

Enter: The Conjuring.

Plot: A husband, wife, and their five daughters move into a house that they've recently bought from a bank auction. The house is very old and needs some work, but they seem cheerful enough to move in.

But then (of course) weird things start to happen. During a game, the mother confuses the claps of her child with those of a resident child ghost. Pictures fall off the walls. All of the clocks stop at 3:07 a.m. Children's feet are grabbed while they're sleeping in the night. One of the daughters begins sleep-walking. One sees someone in her room and smells rotting meat. And during one terrifying night, the mother is dragged down to the basement and tormented by a demon, while her two daughters are locked in their room and attacked by the ghost of a witch. People are hurled across the room and the family is reduced to all sleeping in the living room.

See? Dragged to the basement.

While this plot line is moving along, we are also introduced to Ed and Lorraine Warren, experts in the paranormal field. Not frauds, these two are dedicated to helping people debunk their "ghost stories" and help solve any that happen to be real. When approached by the mother of five, they decide to help her. Lorraine, a psychic, sees the demon latched onto them all as soon as she enters the house (giving a reason, in this instance, why they can't all just "RUN!!"). She also gives insight as to why there are so many ghosts in the house: a child and his mother from the turn of the century, a maid, another woman, and the demonic presence of a witch that had been hanged on the property during the 19th century.

After the Warrens come to help, things gets cray. That's all I'm going to say. Prepare to be scared.

Yes. That is a woman wrapped in a sheet, sitting in a chair.

Upside down on the ceiling.

I would say that The Conjuring did give me some trouble sleeping. If it hadn't added the quotation before the credits from the real Warrens on the reality of God and the devil I probably could've put it out of my mind a little bit more easily. Seeing the picture of the real family during the end credits didn't help much either. If you'd like to learn more about the real story behind The Conjuring (which, let's be honest, could be a load of crap), check out www.chasingthefrog.com, a site which examines the verity of various Hollywood films "based on a true story."

The only thing that bugged me about this movie (which, in hindsight, I should probably be grateful for), is that they didn't make the witch look all that scary. After looking at IMDB, the witch's role is apparently played by a man (not unlike the role of Zelda in Pet Sematary). However, it's clear that there's something a bit...off. She looks a little too weird to be true, and it diminishes the thing that makes the movie so scary: its basis on fact.

With the exception of this scene. During which I nearly peed my pants.

So, in conclusion, The Conjuring I found to be pretty frightening. Like so many other modern demon movies, the fact that there is a malevolent spirit latching onto people rather than their properties is terrifying. We're not dealing with a poltergeist. We're dealing with evil. And that makes the movie especially scary.

8 out of 10. If you're looking for a scare, you won't be disappointed.

Despicable Me 2: Kristen Wiig is Taking Over the World...And That's Okay.

Felt like I was in high school again this past Friday when I went out to see Despicable Me 2 with my boyfriend and his little brother (just to clarify, his "little" brother is a 6'2 sophomore in high school, and yes, we are all nerds).

If the one in the middle was a girl...then this would look like us...

Plot: Gru, now a single dad, spends his days looking after his little ones and (unsuccessfully) trying recipes for various jams and jellies that he hopes to sell.  When he is suddenly kidnapped by a woman who ends up working for the Anti-Villain Agency (or something), he is then recruited to reach back into his darker days and try to help them find a villain that has been tampering with a top-secret serum that turns cute things into monsters. Bonding with the woman, named Lucy (Wiig), he finds that maybe his feelings for her are a little more than professional. And of course, bringing up the rear are hilarious characters such as El Macho (who was rumored to be the most manly man in the world, dying as a result of being tied to a shark strapped with bombs that landed in an erupting volcano, hahaha), Dr. Nefario, and the three little girls (with a special emphasis on Agnes; omg so cute).

Could he finally have met his match?

Hmm, what to say. Did I like the movie? Yes. Was it funny? Yes. Was it hilarious even? Yes. But was it as memorable as the first one? Impossible.

Unfortunately for kids' movies, I think that sequels' screenplays and plots tend to revolve around events and not necessarily character development. What makes the original Despicable Me so hilarious is the fact that Gru is so grumpy and hateful in the first half and then finds his mushy side when he decides to adopt the three girls. This is missing in the newest edition. Gru, instead of being his regular hateful self like in the last one, is made to find compromise between being a grump and the kind-hearted man that he discovers within himself in the first film. Therefore there isn't much to expand upon character-wise besides highlighting his romantic side (which has always been decidedly awkward). Who better to match his awkward turtley-ness than the Queen of Awkward, Her Majesty, Kristen Wiig.

This girl.

Wiig definitely brings the humor in her first heavy role in a kid's movie. However, her flighty/spazzy sort of humor doesn't really add much depth to her character either and we're sort of left with a cartoon romance. Which, I guess isn't a big deal since it's a kid movie and all, but it doesn't make the film particularly memorable. I would've liked to see them stir up some conflict with Gru going back to his evil ways or something a little more interesting.

Would've liked to see a little more of Evil Gru though...

However, the minions (as always) really beefed up the chuckles and I was laughing the whole time regardless.

Not bad, Dreamworks. Solid 7 outa 10.

Blackfish: Sea World Humane Policy Vs. The Killer Whale

What is it about documentaries? Why are they always so good? I got invited to a free screening of this documentary today and since some plans I had were cancelled I ended up using this to fill up my evening.

Big ole shout-out to my fave society for the hook-up.

The movie is about Orca whales, but this is no National Geographic wildlife study, or version of Oceans with a Morgan Freeman voiceover. It's a study on aggressive behavior in Orca whales due to years in captivity, largely focusing on Sea World and their malpractices.

Wow, I actually don't think I've ever done a documentary review before...a little unsure as to how to proceed here without my "plot" section...hmm...Well, let me just tell you a little about the subjects that they hit on during this film.

It begins talking about a period of time forty years ago when people started capturing random baby Orcas around Washington. The guy talking about it likened it to kidnapping a child from its parents. Apparently, Orca whales' brains are said to have enormous similarities to human brains, including an extremely emotional part to them that makes them form strong relationships. Orca whales actually are so tight-knit to their own families in the wild, that children hang out with their moms for their entire lives. They never separate. So taking these babies away from their parents is devastating to both the mother and the parent. And it's a practice that Sea World continues today, permanently ripping children from their mothers for exhibition all over the different resorts in the country.

It's okay though, guys, these Orcas are wild and happy and free!

(Also I don't believe they allow capture of them anymore)

After capture, the whales were then taught obedience and tricks during the day, and shut up into smaller areas at night. Again, since Orcas are so tight knit in their own families, this group of different Orcas being thrown together at random is at first very dangerous for whoever the new guy is. The whales fight for dominance and, since they are limited to fighting in a very small pool with no easy way out, many harm and sometimes even kill one another.

Also the floppy dorsal fin is a byproduct of being kept in captivity

The movie also examines the very real danger that the Sea World trainers are in while dealing with these animals. While in the wild there has never been a reported case of an Orca attacking a human, there have been over 70 attacks in Sea World's history and a few fatalities as well, most notably being Dawn Brancheau in 2010 at Sea World in Florida.

The psychoses that these animals develop as a result of being kept captive in unnatural conditions, the movie theorizes, therefore breed resultant conflicts between trainer and animal. The effects of stress make the animal frustrated and it can randomly act out, with sometimes fatal consequences.

A very sad, but very informative film. Interesting.

For anyone interested in learning more about these kinds of inhumane practices against sea mammals, check out www.emptythetanksworldwide.com. Additionally, there is going to be a protest (I learned during the Q&A) on July 27th throughout the US in front of assorted aquariums and Sea World sites.

9 out of 10 stars

Frances Ha(ha)

Just got out of the theater less than an hour ago so I feel like I should write down what I thought of this one while it's still fresh in my mind. I had heard about Frances Ha on NPR a few months ago, actually. They had the director on the radio show talking about it, as it was his latest film, and I watched the trailer as soon as I was out of my car. Having seen Greta Gerwig in Zoe Versus I was interested to see what this movie would be like.

This is Frances (ha..)

The plot follows firstly Frances and her roommate Sophie. Accompanied by jubilant, whimsical, and almost childish music, we get the idea straight off the bat that they are the best of friends. This is only even more exacerbated when we see Frances, in the next scene, break up with her boyfriend after he asks if she would like to move in with him and she replies that Sophie is depending on her to renew their lease for the next year.  In what ends up being an unexpected turn of events, we see Frances's security from her relationship with Sophie ripped away from her as Sophie elects to move in with her boyfriend and pursue her own life goals. What follows throughout the rest of the film is Frances trying to find her feet without the stability of her best friend, Sophie, as her rock.

How to Survive Your 20s Without Your BFF: 101

This movie, being one of those almost hard to watch awkward-funny movies like Tiny Furniture or Dan in Real Life, manages to squeeze out quite a few "oh no" chuckles. Frances, after losing Sophie, then rooms with two men who deem her "undateable,"loses her job as an apprentice dancer, becomes an overaged RA at her old college, and hits rock bottom as a "pourer" at a classy town restaurant. The situational comedy is so tangible as awkward moment after awkward moment is met with her trying to laugh herself off. Despite wanting to just cover my eyes during one extremely uncomfortable dinner scene, the whole movie you just end up sympathizing with her more than anything. Who hasn't  said an inappropriate comment that has just fallen completely flat at one time or another?

"Oh my god, why did I just say that?? Now everyone thinks I'm
a total IDIOT...SHIT..."

What I really like about Frances in this movie, as well as Gerwig in general, is that despite her total lost-ness, she tries to remain upbeat and no one is ever asking her "What's wrong?" or "How are you?" (even though at times, you wish they did!). Even though she seems to make a mess of herself (galavanting off to Paris at one point, on a whim), there is never a scene that is over-acted. In fact, the under-acting in this is what makes it seem so personal. One scene that almost breaks your heart is when she goes home for Christmas and there is about a seven minute run of clips of her smiling and laughing and enjoying the company of her family, and then taking down decorations and going shopping with her mother and running errands with her dad, and then saying goodbye to them at the airport. While there's nothing dramatic about the shot, the look on her face says it all, as her smile fades and she remains facing backward on the escalator, realizing that she's going to have to go back to NYC. It was like watching a five-year-old get on the school bus for the first time.

Another cool thing about this film is the interesting camera work and soundtrack. The soundtrack very much reflects Frances's state of being, with fun music while she and Sophie are hanging out together, and then absent when she is speaking with her soon-to-be ex boyfriend. The camera, too, keep with Frances's state of being with its fun approach to focus, sometimes putting her in spotlight focus and then other times keeping everyone on the same level. It's also in black in white, and set in New York City, so it felt very Woody Allen-y.

And so now of course I want to move to NYC and be whimsical

and dance on the sidewalk like this chick.

All in all, this movie is really thought provoking, especially pertaining to the commentary that it makes about women's friendships, how difficult it is to be single when your best friend is not, and even more generally how hard it is to grow up. Even though Sophie very clearly loves Frances (as a friend, obvi), her life is pulling her in a different direction, and the struggle that Frances has with being on her own is something that I think is very relatable to anyone who has ever had a best friend, or more specifically to anyone in their twenties (no but seriously).

A happy ending gives you closure on this one, and it was really delightful to watch.

8 outa 10.