Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Twosome Tuesday: Movie review?

It's a little different slant on the wedding series, so I hope no one minds.                                                                                                                                   
I've been a bit stressed lately...Stressed brides, bickering kids, or hormone therapy not working as well as usual...maybe a combination of everything.   So blog posts just aren't rolling out of my head and through my hands, and if I have an idea, I don't have time to concentrate long enough to type it out.                                                                                                                                               
Yesterday I was printing out the inserts for Prince Steadfast and Princess Sassy's wedding invitations.  They were meant to be used for directions to the site, but we have guests coming from 3 different directions, and there is a distinctly more advantageous route from each.  
Our choices were to write all 3 on the card, print 3 different cards and make sure the right one got in each invitation, or Plan C.  Plan C won.  We instead decided to print a Bible verse they chose to set the tone for the invitation and wedding, and then refer everyone to their wedding website for the driving directions....All carefully set over the top of a softened photo of the happy couple.  A more unique and lovely option, I thought.                                                                                                         
Not that it would've changed anything, but I didn't think about how much longer it takes to print photos than just text.  Since the cards are heavy stock and an odd size, they need to be fed into the printer one at a time.  This meant sitting at the computer, almost-mindlessly feeding stock into the printer for a LONG time.  Thank goodness my computer will play DVDs, so I popped in a favorite flick to entertain myself.                                                                                                                                                               
It's ComplicatedI chose "It's Complicated."  I could watch, and have watched, this movie over and over again.  On the face of it, some may question this choice.  It certainly has elements to it I don't support...Extra-marital sex, pre-marital sex, recreational drug use (pot smoking)...                                                                                                                                         
european and californian style come together in It’s Complicated
shown on Rooms to Rave About
I thought my enjoyment had to do with the elements I can relate to or strive for: Mothering, the most beautiful garden, kitchen living, a cool bakery, a home design project underway to improve her kitchen...  (The old kitchen is functionally ridiculous, but full of character and super-cool features. The story line suited my obsession for a well-working kitchen that she was planning-- something more separated and fully practical, but a great place to be and work.)                                                                                                                        
I realized yesterday that it was more than those things.  At one point Meryl Streep's character tells Alec Baldwin's too-often-in-a-state-of-undress-for-me character to turn around as she's exiting the bed, because 'the last time he saw her stand up she was in her 40s and now things look differently lying down.'  Here we realize that yes, this beautiful woman is into her 50s... And I can identify with her concern for gravity, and her previously shown concern for drooping eyelids (that doesn't override her fear for cosmetic surgery and the probably ensuing 6 month headache!)                                                                                                                                                 
The next time her concern with her age is mentioned, she is on a date with her architect.  Her husband's new wife, the woman he left her for, is now in her 30s, so must've been in her 20s when they started their relationship.  She is concerned that she is too old for the architect to find her attractive, but he says in his wonderful and appreciative way, "Your age is one of the things I like best about you."  He gets what the old husband is learning, and like she decided right away about the plastic surgery...New and pretty isn't always better than the time-worn, patina'd alternative, which offers other beneficial and attractive considerations.                                                                                                                                                              
So I think that's it.  In addition to hitting on almost all of my biggest interests, it wonderfully showcases the vibrant life and ever-growing beauty, and yes, even thriving sexuality left in us women of a certain age.  Besides...It makes me laugh, which is my #1 requirement in a movie, and.... the scummy husband learns his lesson in the end and gets to live his life in regret.  Ha!

Comments (4)

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laxsupermom's avatar

laxsupermom · 720 weeks ago

I love Plan C! Much simpler, and a much more attractive insert than directions.

I've never actually seen It's Complicated. I've seen the kitchen about a million times, but never the movie. I'll need to grab it from Redbox.
I don't know what happened. Ellie of Beauty 4 Ashes left me a message, which I 'approved,' but then it disappeared into thin air, apparently. So I will just cut and paste. Sorry, Ellie, I don't understand this stuff sometimes!

Ellie's message:
"I'm going to have to see that movie! It's good to have a grounded and mature perspective about what's valuable and worthwhile!
My recent post 4 Weeks Old &amp Some Answers"

Thanks so much, Ellie, but if you're going to assume that I'm grounded and mature, I might have to think more carefully about what I say. ;-)
JC whosawitonce's avatar

JC whosawitonce · 720 weeks ago

I think one of the important lessons of living in a pluralistic society is to learn to appreciate others for their human value, even though they may have different politics, religion or life choices. It seems to me that it's no different loving a movie about people of a different lifestyle. Even though the people exhibit behaviors that you can't imagine yourself doing, and morally disapprove of, you can identify with so many of their qualities. I think that's something to celebrate! You shouldn't have to apologize for it.
Ok...No apology for enjoying the movie. ;-) Just have to consider things like that when I have kids around, and I felt more comfortable providing the disclaimer before wholly recommending it to others. I think a good thing about this movie, too, is that most of the things I disapprove of or decisions I question are shown to be poor choices on some level, though not reasons to discount or withdraw from people.

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