365 Days, 365 Movies: September [Charlie's Angels]

You guys! Watching an average of one movie a day has been a glorious experiment, but I'm almost positive that it's making me a dumber person. My reflexes are slower, my reading skills are diminished, and sometimes I space out for minutes at a time. I might be getting more film-literate, but at what cost!? Anyway, I still thought I would do a post about the movies that I watched way back in September, so that, if I end up turning into a real dumb-dumb, someone will be able to track my descent into dunce-hood through this blog.

September was the most fruitful month for me in terms of the amount of movies watched -- 62 in 30 days! I very quickly decided that my theme was going to be the films of the women and men of Charlie's Angels, the 2000 movie starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu. Surprisingly, there were a lot of films by those three women that I hadn't seen. Additionally, I watched the films of Bill Murray and Luke Wilson, because they're both fairly important to the movie as well.  Below are the movies I saw from each of them, and my thoughts on their filmography so far. Of the 62 movies I watched in September, 30 of them included some member of the Charlie's Angels family:

Cinderella? More like Seen-it-derella!

This weekend, we welcome the latest in a long series of Cinderella movies: Disney's Cinderella, a live-action adaptation of the 1950 Disney film of the same name. Like most film adaptations of this classic tale, this newest Cinderella boasts an impressive cast and a substantial budget. Also, like most adaptations, it exists for no reason.

The tale of Cinderella has been told and retold countless times through generations, passing through oral tradition and written word for centuries. The story shifts and changes depending on who is telling it (and what message they want to impart), with the Brothers Grimm favoring a three three-day ball, a magical tree, and feet mutilation and Perrault favoring a glass slipper and fairy godmother. The core of the story is about a young girl being misunderstood, abused, and unwanted despite her many attempts to be anything but, and the prince who finally sees her for who she really is. It's a pretty simple tale, which makes it easy to adapt. Need to make it a morality play about the joys of being dutiful and subservient? Cinderella's got you covered. Want it to be a story about making your own decisions and self-empowerment? Cinderella's your gal. 

So many movies have been made with Cinderella at the center, but which adaptation is the best?  Let's take a look. For this incredibly scientific study, I'll be focusing on Disney's Cinderella (1950), Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997), Ever After (1998), A Cinderella Story (2004), Ella Enchanted (2004), and Sondheim's Into the Woods (2014), because they're the ones I like. Sorry, CinderFella.

Needing A Lot Less Barrymore

Guest blogger Jennifer Love Bacon is back 

with even more anger and a soupçon of sass.

[Photo Credit]

To continue my trend of writing about mediocre movies released months ago that I’m just now getting around to…

Going the Distance was on HBO Zone this weekend and I just could not resist. Basically, it’s this generation’s Sleepless in Seattle. It was one of those movies that I couldn’t see spending 13 bucks on when it was in theaters, but I planned to watch it one day on TBS. Well, thanks to pay-cable, my plans came to fruition sooner than I thought.

Now, in all fairness, I missed the first 10 minutes, but it really didn’t seem to matter. I joined Drew and Justin after they “knocked boots” (as Kenny from Can’t Hardly Wait would say), and Drew mentions how stressful her internship is. Now, I don’t know how old Drew

Slow Motion: Slow Your Roll

Guest Blogger Jennifer Love Bacon is as mad as hell, 

and she's not going to take it anymore!

I recently saw Happythankyoumoreplease, and it was good – I totally recommend it. I left with a smile, whatever.

However, I have a bone to pick with Happythankyoumoreplease. In the movie, when the protagonist first lays eyes on his soon-to-be love interest, the girl’s motions are suddenly slowed – way down. This isn’t Never Been Kissed! I was under the impression that this movie was set in the real world.

Don’t get me wrong. I love a good hair-blowing-in-the-wind-confused-eye-contact-half-smile slow motion entrance as much as the next person, but only when and where it’s warranted. Slow motion meet-cutes are great for high school flicks and bubble-gum-pop romantic