#2, One Nation Under God

Look at me, two new movies in ONE DAY! Can you tell I've reached the point in my February vacation that I actually have to get work done ... and have somehow convinced myself that rejuvenating this blog -- a task that requires deviations along the lines of watching a movie or 10 -- is a viable reason not to be working on stuff that I really should? Can you? Because that is totally what has happened here.

#2: One Nation Under God (1993, documentary)

This is a really great look at ministries and even secular groups that have tried to cure people of homosexuality. The structure is largely chronological and there are equal parts video footage and talking heads. The film seems to center partially around the story Gary Cooper and Michael Bussee, two founding members of the uber-creepy Exodus group, who fell in love, renounced Exodus and lived a beautiful life together until Cooper died in 1991.

The directors did a really great job of framing and exploring the issue, as the film moved from historic perspectives through the changing thoughts from psychology -- then into the HOW (info on the therapy itself) -- then into the bigger issues: the effects of ex-gay therapy, how it promotes further homophobia, lgbt community as scapegoats and how homosexuality has been sort of co-opted by the Right Wing.

There were several aha! moments that made me punch the air triumphantly, the biggest one being where several people began explaining homophobia as a true extension of sexism. Very early on in the film, a clear cut distinction was made between sexual orientation and sexual behavior, and how we can change the latter but not the former. The homophobia-sexism connection was one I struggled with when I first heard about it years ago and the behavior/orientation distinction is one that I have noticed a lot of people don't seem to GET right away ... and the film does a really nice job of breaking down these ideas (and many other) so they really make sense. Masterful!

While the bias on the part of the filmmakers was obvious and evident (and also correct; they find conversion therapy as ridiculous as all intelligent people do), it was just as obvious that the directors sought out people to speak from both sides.

Final Grade: A-
This is actually something I would use as a teaching aid, if I were teaching any sort of civil rights/lgbt history/psychology class. It's concise (only 83 minutes!), basic and lets the viewer do a lot of the thinking. It's nearly 20 years later, so I would love to see an update. A lot has changed in our world in the past 20 years (plus: I'd love to see them tear Michelle Bachman and her malarky apart).

#1, No Strings Attached

It's 2012, so I'm going to give this whole blog one more shot.

It's only fair to start from #1 again, though, so this morning I bring you

#1: No Strings Attached (Ashton Kutcher & Natalie Portman, 2011)



This is certainly not a keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat guessing type of film. It is pretty much disgustingly predictable from beginning through end. Boy and girl meet several times and become friends. Girl is emotionally stunted and finishing med school and can't "handle" a real relationship, so she and boy become friends with benefits. Which works out exactly .99% of the time in real life (and has an even lower success rate in the movies). Of course, because this movie is so very "edgy" and "now" it is the GIRL who does not want more commitment -- it is the dude. Which might have been edgy or modern in 1964, but not so much now.

There was also not much rise and fall -- virtually no difference between the first 10 minutes and the 10 minutes leading up to what we'll arbitrarily call the climax of the story. So since this film had absolutely nothing original to offer in terms of plot, it had two things to fall back on: dialogue and acting.

The Acting:
I'm sorry, but I'm just unable to deal with Kutcher as a romantic lead -- as someone that as a 20-something female I'm supposed to find desirable. I just don't. And it's not because he's a dude, either ... because I can totally get behind Ryan Gosling or someone as a romantic lead ... you know? So that was rough.

Natalie Portman had some incredibly hilarious moments as Emma, where her character reminded me of her role in Garden State, all quirky and fast and funny. There were also some great characters in the movie (in fact, I prefer pretty much all of the cast to Mr. Kutcher), played by very fun actors such as Kevin Kline (playing Kutcher's father) and Mindy Kaling (of The Office) as one of Portman's roommates.

The Dialogue:
I can't even get to much into this, it's so painful. I'm just going to share with you this climactic moment:

"I'm warning you ... if you come any closer ... I may never let you go."

Yeah, this was a SERIOUS line. My eyes almost rolled themselves out of my head at that one.
So the dialogue ranged from that to slightly-less-wtf ... not the high point of the movie.

Final Grade: C-
Portman and the cast of supporting actors saved this one from the D zone, but only just barely.