confessions of an amateur cineaste

I’m starting to think that “repressed British folk find quirky ways to loosen up a bit” is its own genre. If so, Kinky Boots is the latest installment. I went mostly because it had The Operative from Serenity as a drag queen and really, what else do I need from a movie? Not much, to be honest. (Except maybe better editing.) It’s no Full Monty, but it’s a damn sight better than On A Clear Day.

I watched a little bit of stuff this weekend: Bring It On (I seem to have dropped use of the deja vu tag… hrm) & more “League of Gentlemen” (all of which is on Amazon, so it should be on Netflix… I’m just sayin’). We finished off the second series and started the third. You think it can’t get any more twisted … and then it does. So great.

Basically, if you’re one of those people who heard about Stick It! and were filled with squee because it was about gymnastics and it was written and directed by Jessica Bendinger (of Bring It On), you’ll totally love it. It’s fun; it’s exactly what you think it’s going to be. Rock!

I -knew- I had watched something else this weekend! We finished the first season of “League of Gentlemen“! Hee. I see it described on the IMDb as Kids in the Hall performing Twin Peaks in a backwater town in Northern England. Which is a pretty fair description. It’s a black comedy written by four guys and performed by three of them, and it is random and sick and awesome and just gets more so as time goes on. Whee!

We’re into the second season of “Gilmore Girls” now. I am in love. That is all.

(Also? The new season of “Doctor Who” started in the UK this weekend. God bless bittorrent. I’m in love there, too. Bodyswapping! And next week, werewolves!)

…I don’t think I saw anything else this weekend. Not all the way through, anyway. What on earth did I do with my time?

Why did I go? Because it was free. Because I didn’t have anything else to do. Because I was going to have to see it eventually because Billy Boyd was in it and I am a fangirl.

But oh, On a Clear Day was mediocre. Not bad, not good — just cliched. The not-terribly-discriminating audience seemed to love it though, so more power to them. And Billy was fine and all; it just wasn’t a challenging or interesting role.

So, whatever. There are worse ways to spend an evening.

Last night I decided what I really wanted for dinner was overpriced popcorn, so I went to see Brick. Which was fantastic. I already knew that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was an actor to watch (I’ve had a hold on Mysterious Skin for approximately five bazillion years) and this just highlights that. (Lukas Haas has not aged well, though.)

I’m a big fan of noir (passive, not avid, because I just don’t have the time), and Rian Johnson did a fantastic job of transferring the genre to high school but still keeping it tight and slick. Thumbs up.

To explain this viewing choice, you have to know that and I have started “Gilmore Girls” night on Fridays, but we turn it off in time to watch “Doctor Who“. While waiting for that to come on this week, we caught the end of one of AMC’s Fear Friday (or whatever) selections: Puppet Master, which was hilariously bad. During a commercial break we saw an ad for the next feature, Piñata: Survival Island, where more toys were promised to run amok. And Nick Brendon! Erm. Not running amok. Just -in- it and all. So we simply had to watch.

We were weak. We admit this. And oh, it was hilarious and awful and I still don’t understand how they knew it -was- a killer piñata. Aside from calling Giles, of course.

Also! Nicky had a producing credit on it, which is just sad, so I clicked through the upcoming movie he also has a producing credit on, and it’s Unholy. It too looks awful! I cannot decide if I am filled with squee or sad criez! Oh, Nicky.

Though I bought it the day it came out, I didn’t have a chance to watch Jarhead until last night. I’m still amazed that there exists a Sam Mendes movie worth watching more than once (let alone buying!), and I’m sorry it came out the same year as Brokeback Mountain, because that very much overshadowed Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance here. I’m looking forward to having the time to watch the special features, but that is more of a fannish pursuit, in all honesty.

(And Peter Sarsgaard, oh my goodness. The minute I get a Netflix account all of that boy’s films are going in the queue. Starting with the one with Molly Parker.)

Since that is the most forgettable title ever, I tend to call it The Bad Dance Movie, but that’s not terribly descriptive either, so we’ll call it The Bad Dance Movie That Stars Antonio Banderas. (Erm.)

So. I had a blast. I mean, come on. It’s a cliched genre film and it runs a little long, but it has DANCING and that is my weakness. No one should run out and see it, but if you also have a weakness for bad dance movies (it has ballroom & urban! yay!) you should Netflix it.

(Also, OH MY GOD IT WAS DOLPH FROM BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER. That was seriously driving me insane. I feel better now.)