I went to Western University (the one recognized by Playboy) and I didn’t party much. I think about this all the time and even more so now that Olivia Wilde released her directorial debut, Booksmart. Now I regret it!
Some of my favourite female celebrities like Busy Phillips and Lena Dunham endorsed Booksmart and now I understand why. It’s a great movie about female friendship and coming of age after high school. It’s filled with good music, good laughs and good lines.
The Scotiabank Arena hosts the biggest stars who come to Toronto. I’ve seen many concerts there over the years, including the Arkells last month. On Sunday, Ellen DeGeneres delighted her Canadian fans with a special visit and shared her story with two nearly sold out crowds. I attended the afternoon event, surrounded by thousands of women who adore Ellen.
“Josh does not complete me. I complete myself.” I loved hearing this quote as I sat in the movie theatre alone watching Isn’t It Romantic. It’s a refreshing type of romantic comedy that I saw after visiting the movie’s pop-up shop on Queen St. West on Valentine’s Day.
Isn’t It Romantic is about a young professional in New York who becomes unconscious and enters an alternate universe. It’s an alternate universe where Natalie (Rebel Wilson) gets to critique the romantic comedies she grew up watching and experience that lifestyle at the same time.
All of a sudden she’s got it all, including a handsome, wealthy boyfriend. She’s recognized as a superstar at work and she has an amazing walk-in closet too. After Natalie walks into her magically renovated apartment for the first time, she says, “You win. I’m going to love it, not list it.” Through a mix of authentic and fake looking scenes, the movie makes New York look beautiful. Obviously I loved how they recreated Prince St. in SoHo!
The satirization of a rom-com within a rom-com is very meta. Sometimes you’re laughing at how the whole story develops and sometimes it’s funny to see how the alternate universe is so phony. For example, when Natalie tosses things out the window, like an alarm clock, someone acknowledges and appreciates it, which would only happen in fantasyland.
I don’t think this movie will become a classic like the movies it mentions, such as Sweet Home Alabama, The Wedding Singer, Pretty Woman and 13 Going On 30. After all, how could it? A movie mocking rom-coms can’t be as iconic as the original rom-coms.
But it’s timely. It’s a modern romance without any texting. Natalie only looks at her phone once to check the time. She also jokingly references her tracking device while talking to Blake (Liam Hemsworth). “Sometimes my Fitbit says ‘Wanna stroll?’ but when you say it, I don’t want to smash you!”
This movie is fresh, vibrant and charming. Or shall I say beguiling? (You’ve got to see the movie to understand why!)
All of Rebel Wilson’s outfits looked like they were tailor-made for her body, proving that anyone as talented as her can look gorgeous in a leading role. And in the age of inclusivity, I think that’s important. It’s good that they mocked how cheesy gay sidekicks can appear in movies. It’s good that the main actress was a plus-sized woman who killed it and made Priyanka Chopra’s character look like an idiot. It’s good that this movie came out when it did. I hope that going forward, studios will release movies that offer a mix of criticism and escapism. That’s important, isn’t it?
The cold weather isn’t going away anytime soon, so get cozy, stay home and binge watch new shows from HBO!
If you’re curious about corporate America like me, you’ll love Succession. It’s about a wealthy family in New York that owns a media empire. The show illustrates how they navigate work, power, money and relationships.
Sharp Objects is a limited series about a journalist who investigates a murder in a small town. How could you say no to a show starring Amy Adams?
Photo Source: Vulture
Awards season starts tonight and everyone is obsessed with Meryl Streep, so of course I had to see The Post. I live for watching movies about the media industry! Over the break, I finally saw State of Play. I also loved similar movies based on real stories, especially Obit (The New York Times) and Spotlight (The Boston Globe). In fact, one of my top professional highlights of 2017 was writing a tweet that was noticed by Kim Kardashian and then featured on the Boston Globe’s website.
The Post is about how Meryl Streep’s character Kay Graham, the first female newspaper publisher in America, handled the decision making process when her team at The Washington Post had the opportunity to publish the Pentagon Papers.
These papers were key because as one character points out, the U.S. government “knew we couldn’t win and still sent boys to die.” The movie explains how the classified documents went public while presenting the workplace drama that transpired at The Washington Post, as well as The New York Times and The White House.
If you’re passionate about politics and journalism, then this is a movie to strongly consider seeing.