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50 Shades of Grey... THE MOVIE
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ropo, I've been making good use of your apple pie cough drops, as I've been sick for the last 5 days or so. -.- I wanted to eat them more like candy, but sadly they're being put to the use for which they were intended. (And I can't even taste them as well. :( )
This is the SECOND TIME in as many months that I've gotten sick. The first time was just a cold, annoying but didn't really drag me down. I was JUST getting over that when this new thing hit. My coworkers think it was the flu or strep throat -- it definitely wasn't just a cold. Usually the way these things progress for me is that the first day, I have a sore throat, which then turns into all the congestion stuff. This last one, I started with a funny-feeling throat, which turned into a super painful throat thing for like 3 days, before now finally devolving into the congestion stuff. Ugh. Seriously, getting sick twice in a row is particularly galling. -.- And definitely not what I needed given everything else going on in my life.
Anyway, I saw 50 Shades of Grey last Wednesday, but when I got sick I didn't have the will to make a post. :/ (I was already feeling under the weather that day, but then it got so much worse.) I'm not sure why I wanted to see it, but when D. invited me, I was definitely into it. It just seemed like one of those "event" movies. People would be talking about it, and I wanted to be informed. It also seemed like the type of movie that would be so bad it would be enjoyable to make fun of it in real time, with other cynical people (the movie critics we'd be with). As background, I wasn't a fan of the book. I wanted to like it on a guilty pleasure level, but it was terrible. And that's not me being book snotty. I have liked plenty of terrible things (see After, by Anna Todd, the series that started on Wattpad as a One Direction fanfic), so it's not that I felt 50 Shades was too lowbrow for me. (I do think I'm finally ready to face the fact that I just don't find BDSM sexy or interesting. It always gets very clinical, and none of the stuff actually does anything for me on any level. The idea of domination or submission, on an emotional level, is interesting, but when it comes to the physical stuff, I just find it... boring.) It was just so very badly written, and the subject matter didn't appeal to me, so the latter couldn't make up for the former. But! It's been ages since I read it, and the movie seemed like prime heckling material. :D
D. had initially been told that no plus ones would be allowed. I was disappointed, but had other shit going on, so I wasn't too bummed. Besides, even if he could have one, there was no guarantee his girlfriend would be okay with him seeing this movie with me. Then on Tuesday, his publicist sent the critics an email that read:
"Sheeeesh people...it seems that many of you NEED a plus one at this screening (for moral support? I won't ask for details). SO, you can now have a plus one.
No plus twos though because then, I'll wonder...
If you RSVP'ed already, no need to email me again. I will just assume plus one for all y'all who RSVP'ed."
Hilarious, no?
First, it was/is insane how popular it is. I would have thought the interest in this thing would have died down -- I mean, the book was popular ages ago, enough time, I would think, for it to be in backlash territory, since the book itself is now universally panned. But either people are still reallllly into it, or they were like me, and reallllly into watching a movie they could make fun of. But it was pandemonium at our screening, and apparently it was a similar experience at other theaters across the country.
D. and I first had dinner at Din Tai Fung, which is normal for us (or we go to Korean Tofu House). We checked in at the screening, and the line for the general audience was made up of 99% women. Some of whom were dressed. up. I don't get that, but whatever. They were even giving away swag... normal stuff that looked like other stuff. T-shirts that read "Curious?" (although they ran so small I couldn't justify taking one), codes to download the soundtrack (which was more than just bow-chicka-wow-wow, but wasn't very good, imo -- and yet it was scored by Danny Elfman. I don't even know), sleep masks, and EOS chapstick that reminded one of a ball gag (that's the one I chose. Now I have lip balm that I can use for months!).
OK, now my thoughts on the actual movie:
- It was OK. It was pretty much about what I expected.
- Dakota Johnson was surprisingly good. Well cast, well acted (all things considered). She actually made me LIKE the heroine in a way that I certainly did not while reading/skimming the book.
- Jamie Dornan was ... meh. I didn't find him very attractive. And he's apparently the ONE British/Irish actor who cannot do a convincing American accent. I mean, it was OK. Certainly better than any Irish accent I could do. However, in just a few lines I was thinking to myself, "He must not be American."
- It could be that I just don't find the character of Christian Grey attractive. I don't know why I don't like him... I generally don't mind alpha males and in fact have a soft spot for them, but... he just doesn't do it for me. And nothing about Jamie Dornan's portrayal of him made me like him any better, whereas Dakota did make me like Anastasia Steele.
- Initially the movie was really fun. The crowd was in high spirits, the first scene, a panoramic shot of Seattle, got a huge cheer from our crowd (it was particularly awesome that they flew over a building with a 12 flag prominently displayed).
- The first bit of the movie, with Anastasia getting to know Christian, was the best part. Dakota really wins you over. Plus the crowd was deliberately silly, and anytime Christian said anything remotely provocative, people would be like, "Oooooooooooooh *nervous titter*" and everyone would laugh. And the first time Christian Grey took off his shirt, D. shouted "OH YEAH!", which was freaking hilarious.
- But then... the movie kept happening. And as it went on (and on) it just stopped being fun. Before long I was mentally trying to recall, plot wise, when it would finally come to an end and I could leave.
- See, by the end, it's very angsty, so the fun was kind of sucked out of the room. That or people were actually into the angst. I couldn't tell, because I was not one of them.
- It's not a horrible movie. In fact, I give the filmmakers props for 1) being as faithful to the book as it seemed to be, while 2) keeping the sex to pretty much what it absolutely had to be.
- Speaking of the sex... they tried to be all hardcore/racy with it, but it was disappointingly softcore. I think the sex in Outlander is way sexier/more porny!
- I really wanted this movie to be like Jupiter Ascending, where it's so bad it's good. And at first it seems like it might be like that. But then... that stops, and it's just the characters and their issues, and it is what it is.
- At the end of the day, I think the movie was a good adaptation of the book, so people who liked the book or at least didn't NOT like the book, should enjoy it. But for others, the story is just as boring and needlessly drawn out as in the book, while the Christian Grey character remains a "hero" who elicits feelings more of ambivalence than either intrigue or sympathy.
ropo, I've been making good use of your apple pie cough drops, as I've been sick for the last 5 days or so. -.- I wanted to eat them more like candy, but sadly they're being put to the use for which they were intended. (And I can't even taste them as well. :( )This is the SECOND TIME in as many months that I've gotten sick. The first time was just a cold, annoying but didn't really drag me down. I was JUST getting over that when this new thing hit. My coworkers think it was the flu or strep throat -- it definitely wasn't just a cold. Usually the way these things progress for me is that the first day, I have a sore throat, which then turns into all the congestion stuff. This last one, I started with a funny-feeling throat, which turned into a super painful throat thing for like 3 days, before now finally devolving into the congestion stuff. Ugh. Seriously, getting sick twice in a row is particularly galling. -.- And definitely not what I needed given everything else going on in my life.
Anyway, I saw 50 Shades of Grey last Wednesday, but when I got sick I didn't have the will to make a post. :/ (I was already feeling under the weather that day, but then it got so much worse.) I'm not sure why I wanted to see it, but when D. invited me, I was definitely into it. It just seemed like one of those "event" movies. People would be talking about it, and I wanted to be informed. It also seemed like the type of movie that would be so bad it would be enjoyable to make fun of it in real time, with other cynical people (the movie critics we'd be with). As background, I wasn't a fan of the book. I wanted to like it on a guilty pleasure level, but it was terrible. And that's not me being book snotty. I have liked plenty of terrible things (see After, by Anna Todd, the series that started on Wattpad as a One Direction fanfic), so it's not that I felt 50 Shades was too lowbrow for me. (I do think I'm finally ready to face the fact that I just don't find BDSM sexy or interesting. It always gets very clinical, and none of the stuff actually does anything for me on any level. The idea of domination or submission, on an emotional level, is interesting, but when it comes to the physical stuff, I just find it... boring.) It was just so very badly written, and the subject matter didn't appeal to me, so the latter couldn't make up for the former. But! It's been ages since I read it, and the movie seemed like prime heckling material. :D
D. had initially been told that no plus ones would be allowed. I was disappointed, but had other shit going on, so I wasn't too bummed. Besides, even if he could have one, there was no guarantee his girlfriend would be okay with him seeing this movie with me. Then on Tuesday, his publicist sent the critics an email that read:
"Sheeeesh people...it seems that many of you NEED a plus one at this screening (for moral support? I won't ask for details). SO, you can now have a plus one.
No plus twos though because then, I'll wonder...
If you RSVP'ed already, no need to email me again. I will just assume plus one for all y'all who RSVP'ed."
Hilarious, no?
First, it was/is insane how popular it is. I would have thought the interest in this thing would have died down -- I mean, the book was popular ages ago, enough time, I would think, for it to be in backlash territory, since the book itself is now universally panned. But either people are still reallllly into it, or they were like me, and reallllly into watching a movie they could make fun of. But it was pandemonium at our screening, and apparently it was a similar experience at other theaters across the country.
D. and I first had dinner at Din Tai Fung, which is normal for us (or we go to Korean Tofu House). We checked in at the screening, and the line for the general audience was made up of 99% women. Some of whom were dressed. up. I don't get that, but whatever. They were even giving away swag... normal stuff that looked like other stuff. T-shirts that read "Curious?" (although they ran so small I couldn't justify taking one), codes to download the soundtrack (which was more than just bow-chicka-wow-wow, but wasn't very good, imo -- and yet it was scored by Danny Elfman. I don't even know), sleep masks, and EOS chapstick that reminded one of a ball gag (that's the one I chose. Now I have lip balm that I can use for months!).
OK, now my thoughts on the actual movie:
- It was OK. It was pretty much about what I expected.
- Dakota Johnson was surprisingly good. Well cast, well acted (all things considered). She actually made me LIKE the heroine in a way that I certainly did not while reading/skimming the book.
- Jamie Dornan was ... meh. I didn't find him very attractive. And he's apparently the ONE British/Irish actor who cannot do a convincing American accent. I mean, it was OK. Certainly better than any Irish accent I could do. However, in just a few lines I was thinking to myself, "He must not be American."
- It could be that I just don't find the character of Christian Grey attractive. I don't know why I don't like him... I generally don't mind alpha males and in fact have a soft spot for them, but... he just doesn't do it for me. And nothing about Jamie Dornan's portrayal of him made me like him any better, whereas Dakota did make me like Anastasia Steele.
- Initially the movie was really fun. The crowd was in high spirits, the first scene, a panoramic shot of Seattle, got a huge cheer from our crowd (it was particularly awesome that they flew over a building with a 12 flag prominently displayed).
- The first bit of the movie, with Anastasia getting to know Christian, was the best part. Dakota really wins you over. Plus the crowd was deliberately silly, and anytime Christian said anything remotely provocative, people would be like, "Oooooooooooooh *nervous titter*" and everyone would laugh. And the first time Christian Grey took off his shirt, D. shouted "OH YEAH!", which was freaking hilarious.
- But then... the movie kept happening. And as it went on (and on) it just stopped being fun. Before long I was mentally trying to recall, plot wise, when it would finally come to an end and I could leave.
- See, by the end, it's very angsty, so the fun was kind of sucked out of the room. That or people were actually into the angst. I couldn't tell, because I was not one of them.
- It's not a horrible movie. In fact, I give the filmmakers props for 1) being as faithful to the book as it seemed to be, while 2) keeping the sex to pretty much what it absolutely had to be.
- Speaking of the sex... they tried to be all hardcore/racy with it, but it was disappointingly softcore. I think the sex in Outlander is way sexier/more porny!
- I really wanted this movie to be like Jupiter Ascending, where it's so bad it's good. And at first it seems like it might be like that. But then... that stops, and it's just the characters and their issues, and it is what it is.
- At the end of the day, I think the movie was a good adaptation of the book, so people who liked the book or at least didn't NOT like the book, should enjoy it. But for others, the story is just as boring and needlessly drawn out as in the book, while the Christian Grey character remains a "hero" who elicits feelings more of ambivalence than either intrigue or sympathy.