I haven’t seen much of Amy Schumer’s comedic material, but her turn in Trainwreck was memorable enough for me to read this enjoyable autobiographical collection of essays and recollections, told with frankness, humour and quite a bit of raunch and cussing. There’s always a measure of scepticism when one reads a memoir by a celebrity – particularly a performer – in how much of it is a carefully edited performance and how much is genuine. As far as my impressions went, Schumer at least doesn’t come off as a person who pretends to be someone they’re not.
I continued my Disney exploration with this cute and quirky 2002 movie about a little Hawaiian girl who unknowingly adopts an alien creature from outer space. One of our heroes is a strange, angry, destructive force, another is shaped like a cross between a koala and an insect.
I’m not fussed to watch the latest Thor extravaganza, but its release at least reminded me to track down director Taika Waititi’s earlier film, a mockumentary about house-sharing vampires in Wellington, which he made with Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement.
A poptastic debut and a perfect soundtrack to a wintry night.
The DVD I rented offered me a choice of the theatrical cut, and the alternative version with the original ending that was scrapped after it was unfavourably received at the test screenings. While I really enjoyed the movie this story of two radically different endings is probably its most interesting aspect. The DVD menu made me feel like a character in a fairytale: shall I take the road on the left, or the road on the right? With the magic of the remote, I watched both endings, and once again marvelled at Hollywood’s willingness to ruin a perfectly fine film.
A mind-bending Spanish psychological thriller with Penelope Cruz, which later was remade as Vanilla Sky, an ill-received American version with Tom Cruise and, bizarrely, Penelope Cruz again. I’ve watched this in a rather groggy state of mind after a poor night’s sleep, and the movie’s twists and turns definitely perked up my brain by the end of it all.
yggdrasille.com 