3 Thoughts on Lady Bird

1. Lady Bird and her mother - I think a lot of women can connect to this story and this character. Greta Gerwig put great detail in the "feeling" of the movie - the music, the tone, and the dialogue was spot-on for a teenager growing up in the early 2000s. I graduated from high school in '99, so I wasn't that far behind. And yet, I don't really connect to Lady Bird at all. In typical Gerwig form, I find her to be incredibly entitled, spoiled, and narcissistic. The part that makes this different than typical Gerwig is that she actually learns this about herself (and possibly works to be a better person? We can only hope). This realization comes in the form of a very tumultuous relationship with her mother. Yes, her mother can be a little frustrating at times, but overall, she's a GREAT mother who is trying her best to take care of her family - AND she has even taken in other children who need help, proving that she is a good person. But, Lady Bird sees her as an embarrassment, her life isn't as good as others and she blames her mother for this. It's difficult to watch, considering my own relationship with my mother. God, I hope I never made her feel worthless, and like I didn't appreciate all of the sacrifices that she made just to make sure that I didn't go hungry. I don't think I was as bratty as Lady Bird, but I know my mom and I didn't exactly get along when I was in my late teens. The mother/daughter relationship is the heart of the movie, and it felt real. I didn't feel a connection, but it made me feel angry, and I think that was part of the intent. Laurie Metcalf is such a great actress who has gone YEARS as underrated, but this year, she will most certainly receive an Oscar nomination, and maybe even the win for her portrayal of Lady Bird's mother. I saw her on Broadway last year in "Misery", and she was excellent. It's exciting to see her finally gain the recognition she has deserved for so many years.

2. Lady Bird and her best friend - This is another big plot point of the movie that really struck me as hard to watch (in a good way). In the same way that Lady Bird treats her mother, she dismisses her best friend the second that someone more popular shows interest in being her friend. I just can't connect to it. It's just another example of her narcissism, and let's be honest, downright bitchiness. It's sad that young women feed into this culture of popularity and snootiness. Lady Bird attends a Catholic School, another plot point that I can't connect with (and also, I always thought Catholic Schools were private and therefore expensive? Poor kids went to public schools and had to walk through the ghetto to get there. This is another example of me thinking Greta Gerwig might not know what "poor" means). While she's there, she discovers a passion by joining the Drama club - and this is absolutely perfect. I was, unfortunately, a Drama major in college - and I did not fit in at all, because by all accounts they act exactly the way the kids in this movie do. Attention-seeking, clicky, and worst of all, they acted superior to people who were more reserved. Lady Bird IS a Drama club kid. It's interesting to watch her reject her own identity in favor of someone more popular, to destroy friendships just to experience what she deems as a better life. It's all done very well, and I appreciate that she learns from this, but I think it would have been a stronger lesson if her best friend moved on and didn't think twice about it.

3.  Lady Bird and Christine - Lady Bird is Christine, in case you haven't seen the film. It's never explained why she insists on everyone calling her "Lady Bird" other than her need to be a pain in the ass. Saoirse Ronan is wonderful. She has been one of my favorite young actresses since Atonement (the first half of that movie is still one of my favorite movies ever). Last year, she stunned with Brooklyn, but I was convinced that she would top that performance. While I don't think Lady Bird is as great as everyone says (it broke records for the best reviewed movie EVER on Rotten Tomatoes. LOLOLOLOL), Saoirse is deserving of all the praise. She struggled for a little bit in her career (The Host is one of the worst movies of all time), she is on a career high now, though, and I'm so excited to see what she does next. While I can hear her Irish accent in everything she does, my movie partner (who doesn't really watch movies very often - can you even imagine???) had no idea she was Irish. She's a co-worker and came running into work the next day exclaiming that she saw "Lady Bird doing an interview and she could barely understand her". Not only did she play a convincing teenager from California, she really gave the character dimension and personality. I don't really sympathize with her, but I do empathize with her.

Thoughts on 5 Films

1. Atomic Blonde - Ugh...I was so excited to see this and it was just so disappointing. It isn't terrible, but it had so much potential to be great and it is mostly boring. James McAvoy is epically hot, though, so that's one big plus. There is also one very well-done fight scene that is pretty intense and raw. Other than that, it felt like a fancy big-budget episode of Alias (which is one of my favorite shows ever, but I would have preferred if this film did something new). The twists at the end felt really forced and most scenes seemed to be trying to hard. I'm a big fan of Charlize Theron, and she is pretty strong, but there is still something off about her performance that I can't put my finger on. I think it's the interrogation scenes that bothered me the most - the dialogue is eye-rolling. Oh, I forgot, another plus is the exceptional 80s soundtrack - it actually elevates the movie. Perhaps, to trick people into thinking they are watching a great movie?

2. The Edge of Seventeen - I've heard tremendous reviews of this movie, but the trailer looked so cliched and I don't think Hailee Steinfeld is a good actress (I know I'm alone on this one). And even after this movie, after another lauded performance, I still would argue that she's not good. She exaggerates too much and it feels very unnatural. However, I'll admit that the movie did suck me in, and I felt all of the emotions during a certain scene involving her brother, who is portrayed by the delightful Blake Jenner (and I just looked up what else he's been on aside from Everybody Wants Some, and surprisingly learned that he was a winner of The Glee Project and was on Glee. Holy shit...how do I not remember him? I did stop watching the show once Cory died (STILL NOT OVER IT), but apparently he was on the show before that). The rest of the movie was....okay. Super cute, but just okay. I don't really connect with spoiled, selfish teenagers. I do connect a little bit to her relationship with her mother - I've literally experienced the same conversation with my mom. When I try to complain about my day or vent about something and she'll just interrupt me with "oh well, you have no idea the kind of day I had" and then continues to talk for an hour about herself, never asking why I'm upset. I've confronted her about it several times, and she's gotten better, but it still drives me crazy. There are parts of this story that I thought were really dumb - one being that the guy that likes her is sooooo much more attractive than the guy she likes. And he's nice. And he's interested in her even though she's a bitch. In all honesty, I kind of wish he would have found someone better than her. The second thing is the dumb scene where the guy she likes is annoyed that she won't have sex with him, and I guess we're supposed to think he's an asshole? She literally texted him that she wanted to have sex with him so it's not really his fault that he assumed that's what they were meeting for. Anyway, I LOVED everything about the relationship between her brother and her best friend, and how it effected their relationship. Again, all of the emotions.

3. Hidden Figures - I really don't understand how this could be nominated for Oscars. It's just so paint-by-numbers. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful story and the acting is top-notch. Janelle Monae is the obvious highlight - that "first" speech is just perfect. Overall, though, this movie is just plain boring. I can't argue that it's a great story - and one that needs to be told, but I feel like it's one of those great stories that would be hard to make a "bad" movie out of. Like, anyone could make this movie. And I just don't feel like movies like that should be winning awards. Anyway, about the story - I appreciate that the real Katherine Johnson clarified that her work was very much a team effort (but it would be very difficult to make a movie about 300 people) and that she was treated with respect by NASA. I think the movie should have highlighted her upbringing a little bit more - like how difficult it is for under-privileged youth to succeed. Just thinking about how many geniuses there are in this world that were/are never given a chance is truly depressing (which is why I think education and healthcare should be free - and I also believe in Capitalism, but it would work so much better if everyone is healthy and educated). I was actually just talking to a co-worker whose mother is a teacher at a STEM school and she said that this year is the first year in her 20 years of teaching that she has more female students than male students (YAY), but they are almost all white (BOO).

4. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets - Visually and thematically wonderful. The world building is stunning - I would love to see more of these aliens, these planets, and an entire movie around Bubble (played to perfection by Rihanna - yes, you read that right. There is no-one else who could have done that character justice). The introduction of Bubble is perhaps my favorite scene of 2017. However, the movie, itself, is completely bonkers. It is a little hard to follow, the dialogue is woeful, but the worst part of the movie is definitely the leads. Perhaps with better leads, the dialogue wouldn't have felt so forced and robotic. They lack chemistry and are just downright boring. I like Dane DeHaan, but I'm not sure he can handle a "leading man" type role (I'm not going to hold this against him, he's done more good than bad in my opinion), but, man, Cara Delevingne is THE WORST. I don't know who decided that she can act, but she just keeps getting roles and it amazes me. If they replaced the leads with two more interesting actors (there is a lot of young talent to choose from right now - Olivia Cooke & Ansel Elgort, perhaps? or Kiersey Clemons and Blake Jenner?) and edited a few scenes to make it more cohesive, it would be the next big thing - a series of blockbuster films. Instead, this wonderful, beautifully fascinating world will never be heard from again on the big screen. How sad.

5. The Big Sick - I appreciated this movie so much more as soon as the credits rolled with pictures of the "real" Emily and Kumail. I knew it was a personal story, obviously, because Kumail uses his own name and plays a comedian. I just didn't know the love story was real (clearly I didn't look at the poster that declares "an awkward true love story"). It's a really cute movie. I'm not sure it's worthy of all the praise and it certainly won't be included anywhere near my top 10 of the year (I don't even think it would make top 20), but I did love a lot of things about it. First, the dialogue is wonderful. It's authentic, funny, sometimes awkward, and feels really fresh. Second, I laughed out loud several times - the white guy saying "it's a struggle to succeed effortlessly" & Kumail screaming out "we hate terrorists!" are two lines that come to mind, but the most ballsy joke is the 9/11 joke. It is downright masterful. So hard to pull off, but it was executed perfectly. Third, Holly Hunter and Ray Romano are the best. The only thing I didn't like was Zoe Kazan. She's not terrible in this, but definitely the worst part of the movie. She just annoys the crap out of me.