Smart People....

So I watched the movie "smart people" last night and it is an amusing movie that almost works. Thomas Hayden Church is hysterical and I don't know why he doesn't get cast more often. The movie has a few things working against it, though:

1) Sarah Jessica Parker's face
2) Dennis Quaid's gut
3) Over-emphasizing Ellen Page's character

I'll go in reverse order.

Ellen Page is a charming actress and is certainly as cute as a bug's ear, talented, blah blah, etc. It is obvious, though, that the movie was edited in the post-Juno (or PJ) era to feature her more and the script just doesn't support it. She brings a lot to her scenes and it is not her fault, but the story just doesn't make sense with her as the main character. In fact, it is very difficult to determine who the primary character is because she has a sub-plot that is more interesting and has more subtext than the central romantic relationship. In the end, her presence is almost stifling because the other actors and the script don't balance out her onscreen dominance.

Dennis Quaid sports a gut that looks like he is wearing a pillow or a fake pregnancy belly. Also, his supposed-to-be noticeable limp changes from scene to scene. During his love scenes, and actually throughout the whole movie, his general appearance resembles a pair of stretched out gray sweatpants. I get the subtext, but it would've been nice to get a slightly more varied appearance from Quaid - even if it was just a change in expression from arrogantly befuddled to pompously bemused.

"Sarah Jessica Parker shouldn't be allowed to act in anything that's not related to 'Sex & the City'. She can't stop herself from being Carrie Bradshaw". This is an exact quote from my husband during the first date scene in the movie. He's completely right. Unfortunately, SJP isn't all that likeable as anyone other than Carrie. You almost wish she would just BE her in all her roles - like Matthew McConnaughey plays himself and Ben Stiller plays Zoolander. Sadly that is not the case in this movie...AND her face looks like a foot. I'm sorry. I know I'm supposed to say that she has "real" beauty and character and all that...no. Not for me. I'd give her tits a 9.2 and her face a paper bag. Judge me if you will, but I just can't keep it inside anymore.

Introduction

I suppose that I should start my posts with a description of myself or at least what I'm trying to say here, but the truth is I'm not sure how much it really matters. I could be anything or everything you love to hate or hate to love and it wouldn't really matter to you unless we agree about who should be president, or whether god really IS dead or which David should've won American Idol. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think sometimes it's good just put things out there with very little intention and absolutely no expectations. Not because there is no disappointment that way, but because there is never any way to know what will come back to you and guessing is pointless and steals your chance of joy.

All that said, I guess I will include a short description, because if I am anything I am self-contradictory and often oblivious to my own inherent irony. I live in Austin, I am married to my best friend and I have an adorable balding dog that is the (other) love of my life. I enjoy long walks on the beach hand-in-hand, watching romantic comedies, eating chocolate, petting puppies, braiding hair, making posters with bubble letters for the cheer squad....and sarcasm. If you're reading this and you can't figure out which of those are true, maybe you should stop reading now. All of this makes me sound very poorly adjusted, and maybe I am. I really don't know. I also have parents and a sister and in-laws but I'm sure I'll get to them later and frankly it's only Tuesday and I can't waste my limited mental energy on painting them in a fair and truthful way so early in the week.

I guess the real reason why I am doing this is to have something for myself that is only mine. Collaborating on things is a true strength of mine (read, I have trouble accepting credit for work that I've done because I'm insecure and need people to like me) and it is certainly it's own reward. I have a wonderful life full of things I don't own; choices I didn't fully commit to and experiences I wasn't fully present in. I want to change that. I want to begin something that is mine and then decide consciously how other people will contribute to my own experience. I expect to be surprised by the outcome and feel hopeful that, even in disappointment (if that is what awaits me) I will, at least, be the author of my own experience.

Oh, and by the way, I won't do nearly as much philosophizing and whining in my next post. I am aware that the last paragraph, combined with the title of my blog may be enough to make many readers give their computer screens the finger and never come back again (or even worse, it may attract the kind of psedo-intellectual douchebags that quote Satre at superbowl parties and debate David Sedaris' credibility as a writer). In any case, I'll try to write something funny (doesn't that sound promising) next time.