Movie Madness

I love movies, but I don't watch many.  I'm too restless to spend two hours on the couch unless I have a big pile of laundry or some other mindless chore to do.  Plus, when and if I decide to watch a movie, I can never seem to find a single one that suits my mood, even though the list of movies I haven't seen is endless.  

Hard to believe then, that I watched 3.3 movies in less than a week!  I'm on a roll, friends. 

Here's the recap ...

The Intern
I watched this movie in two parts, last Tuesday and Wednesday.  Starring Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro, this film was easy to watch and had some heart.  I've heard tell of some Hathaway-haters out there, but I'm not among them.  I think she has a beautiful and expressive face, and I like the way she is awkward and graceful at the same time.  The Intern is not going to change your life, but it makes you think about marriage, gender roles, and "having it all."  I thought the premise of this movie, senior citizens as interns, was really cool.

Love and Friendship
My friend Natalie and I are on the same narrative wavelength (superfans of Pride and Prejudice and Gilmore Girls, not that these preferences make us unique) and try to see a movie together every few months.  We knew we had to see Love and Friendship, inspired by Jane Austen's Lady Susan, before it left theaters.  A foursome of senior citizens left the movie about twenty minutes in, grumbling about refunds.  There are many characters and a lot of dialogue so maybe they found it confusing, but I was really delighted with it.  Great casting, performances, and costumes.  Plus, I thought it was a hoot.    

I haven't read Lady Susan and feel like the film must have taken some license, but I'm not a purist when it comes to this kind of thing.  Natalie found a free Kindle edition of Lady Susan so we can read it and see how the movie and text match up.

Only downside was that the theater offered Pepsi products, but, silver lining, their poor beverage offerings kept me from overdoing it on the popcorn.  

Me Before You
Some friends and I were planning to see this long-awaited movie but no firm plan was in place.  I sent a few texts less than two hours before show time.  One friend and her mother-in-law came from Chuck E. Cheese.  Three of us arrived soggy from rainy soccer games.  One friend was still in her pajama pants.  We all loved it.  The casting was perfection.  The British setting was gorgeous.  My only criticism was that Louisa's backstory was not as fully developed as in the book, but I can see how that storyline would be challenging to translate on screen without being super duper dark.  I definitely cried but did not experience the cleansing but ugly, ugly, ugly cry that occurred when I finished the book.  I'd see it again.

Just as great as the movie was the fact that five people could enjoy it together spur-of-the-moment on a rainy Saturday afternoon.  So you wanna see a movie?  Pick a time, text some friends, and see what happens.  Forget exchanging a hundred emails about preferences and availability.

I mentioned that I watched 3.3 movies.  The .3 was Magic Mike.  I suffered a weird vertigo/seasickness episode during this movie when I pressed pause and got up to move laundry from the washer to dryer.  The first third of the movie was fine, but I doubt I'll ever watch the rest as I now associate it with a nauseous feeling that actually had nothing (?) to do with the movie.  I'll never know if Mike gets the loan for his furniture business.  I watched enough to know that if I were ever at a male strip show, I would not be able to stop laughing and/or hiding my face.

Illness aside, I'm assuming I could have found something better than Magic Mike to watch from my couch.  Any suggestions?