Tag: Gaby Hoffmann

I knew something was up when I went to my screening of Obvious Child. Two things were of note.

One, I was invited to a free screening of a film, that technically was already released in theaters the week before. Most of the time free screenings are before they are out, to build hype and stuff, but this could just be an indie movie thing.

Two, the tickets I had were sponsored and given out by a Pro-Choice group. Huh. That is an oddly specific group to sponsor a show time. I guess…this movie…is about abortion?

That isn’t an issue or something. But it is basically all I knew about the movie going into it. Like Citizen Ruth.

Obviously.

This movie is about a few months in the life of Donna Stern (Jenny Slate). She is a stand up comic, works at a hipster book shop in NYC, and isn’t doing too much with her life. Just telling jokes about how it is. Well, her boyfriend doesn’t like this path and doesn’t like to be talked about in front of strangers. So he breaks up with her. And then she finds out her book store that she works at is closing.

So she does what anyone would do, get really drunk and avoid her problems. If by avoid her problems, I mean talk about it on a stage, of course. Either way. She sexes up a guy, Max (Jake Lacy) who is very nice, and apparently the rubber wasn’t used. She gets pregnant, has a few panic attacks to add to her problems, and wants an abortion. The abortion isn’t even the scary part. It is the telling of her mom (Polly Draper) and getting the money together when she is already losing her jobs. At least she has friends (Gaby Hoffman, Gabe Liedman) for support.

But why does that fucker Max have to be such a nice guy?

Richard Kind is in here as her dad and David Cross as an old friend.

I think this scene is a metaphor for birth. But I think that about all boxes.

The main selling point for Obvious Child is its realness, and it really excels at that point. Really.

Everything in this story feels like something that could actually happen. That is where it gets all of is charm and humor from. The humor is pretty funny, both in a “ha ha funny” way, and a “I am uncomfortable by their awkwardness” kind of way.

And really, there isn’t much more to say about it? The film is funny and incredibly awkward. It is about abortion, but doesn’t make it a big life changing event, just turns it into something that has to happen. And hey, it involves that guy who joined The Office for its final season, so that was cool too.

Alright everyone. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

This is the moment a lot of you may have been waiting for. Veronica Mars has finally been given a movie.

For those who weren’t blessed with experiencing one of the better TV shows of the mid-2000’s, Veronica Mars ran for three seasons before getting canceled. It was one of those shows that was critically acclaimed, but suffered with ratings. It also didn’t help that the third season was a lot different from the first two (college), with several minor arcs instead of a big one. It also unfortunately ended on an awkward unfinished cliff hanger. Not as awkward as the series finale of My Name Is Earl, but awkward nonetheless.

But that isn’t the only crazy thing about this movie! No, it was funded by Kickstarter. Warner Bros. wouldn’t green light the film, so the cast raised money. They wanted $2 million to make the movie. In ten hours, the $2 million was raised, a record for the website. In the month time frame over $5 million ended up being donated. Needless to say, there was a lot of hype around it. Because of the Kickstarter, not only was the film released theatrically, it was also released same day Video on Demand, and the movie being sent out to all who backed it at the same time. Wow.

I will admit some bias. As a fanboy of the TV show (and as a Season 3 apologist), there is a good chance I like this no matter what.

Total nostalgia overload aAAAAGGHHH11!!~

Guess what! It is time for Neptune, California’s favorite high school class to have their ten year reunion. Turns out after the third season of the show, Veronica (Kristen Bell) switched out of town to Stanford. Yeah. She got real far away. She went to law school and now she is about to get a high paying fancy lawyer job at NYC. But just when she thought she was out, they pulled her back in.

That’s right, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring) is being charged with murder. He was dating another former Nuptunian, don’t worry about her, she had two episodes in the series. She eventually became a pretty famous pop star, and now she was found electrocuted in her own bath tub. Logan says he is innocent and for whatever reason, Veronica believes him.

So she is back in town. Her dad (Enrico Colantoni), still a P.I., the police force still inept, and her friends Mac (Tina Majorino) and Wallace (Percy Daggs III) are still by her side. Will this be her final case, something she swore she would never do again?

It also features more returning cast members than you can shake a stick at.

Piz (Chris Lowell), Dick (Ryan Hansen), Gia (Krysten Ritter), Weevil (Francis Capra), Leo D’Amato (Max Greenfield), Deputy Sacks (Brandon Hillock), and Vinnie Van Lowe (Ken Marino).

Also featuring some new faces, played by Martin Starr, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jerry O’Connell and Gaby Hoffmann.

Yay, BFFs, still after 8 years of not really talking. They too must be raging on nostalgia.

Going into this movie (despite my fanboyism) I was still a bit skeptical. I am used to the plot taking 22 episodes to solve, not one in less than two hours. I thought the plot might feel rushed/forced and I wouldn’t get enough cool clues along the way.

Well, after seeing it, I think the story really does work. It has twists and turns, there are multiple plots, and they did a few things I definitely would never have seen coming.

At the same time, this film might actually be accessible to those who haven’t seen the TV show. I wouldn’t suggest seeing the movie first still, because the show is phenomenal (What are you doing? Go watch it now!) but everything you need to know gets explained in the plot. You won’t get every character reference or throwback joke, but you can still get by.

Still, this film only seemed to arouse my appetite without bedding it down. What I (and everyone) really wants now is new seasons to continue the story onward. From what I can tell, there is absolutely nothing in the works but a small web series and that is all we are getting.

With just the length of a movie, although the story was good, it just didn’t feel like enough for me. Now I might find myself living in denial that it is truly over and done.

Veronica Mars is an excellent film continuation of a TV series, but I would argue it doesn’t match the quality given to us from the first two seasons. Alas, perhaps my lofty goals were set too high.

Shit, I don’t even know the name of this movie. On IMDB, on the internet, on other reviews, on wiki, everyone lists it as just plain old Crystal Fairy.

But the DVD and DVD Cover state Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus. Who do I believe?!

The reason I am watching this movie is because of the director, Sebastian Silva. He made a movie, in Chile, with Michael Cera as one of the lead roles, named Mirror Mirror. While he was there living with his family, Silva I guess decided to do another movie. This one, still set in Chile, but with Cera as the lead role. I guess this director dude just really really likes Michael Cera.

Who wouldn’t with a smile like that?

As I said, this movie takes place in Chile, and like the other other movie that takes place in Chile (Aftershock), there is only one white character with a bunch of Chilean friends. Jamie (Michael Cera), is your typical American tourist. Not much is given on what he does normally, how long he is there, or what. But we know he likes to party, wants to drugs, and even more so, drink from the San Pedro cactus that grows in this area. It is a bit rare, I guess, but it might have some hallucinogens in it if you make it right (like, 9 hours of cooking), and it is supposedly like a trip like no other.

He was heading on a few day trip with some friends, Champa (Juan Andres Silva), Lel (Jose Miguel Silva), and Pilo (Agustin Silva), to acquire a cactus and drink it on a beach and experience that feeling, but the night before hand he meets Crystal Fairy (Gaby Hoffman).

While on crack, he loves her and invites her along, despite his friends warning him not to. Well he does. And he regrets it.

She is a free spirit with no money and he finds her annoying. But his friends, to be frank are finding him a bit annoying as well. Fucking Americans.

But really. Will his trip end with the trip he has always wanted? We will see.

Did you miss the naming convention of the other guys on the trip? Yep. All of the director’s sons.

So the director likes Michael Cera, and puts his sons in his movies. I mean, Agustin Silva was in Magic Magic as a guy named Agustin. Crazy.

But Gaby Hoffman is the weird one. She looks familiar, and I don’t know why. So I look it up! She was the little girl in Field of Dreams. The one who helps with the creepy prophecies. Well, you will be happy to know she is super naked in this film, a lot multiple times, fully, and if that doesn’t make you feel awkward knowing full well you know her most famous role, then I don’t know what will.

I believe this movie did a good job of giving a realistic portrayal of a trip which is basically the last 30 minutes of the film. I hated Cera and Hoffman, annoyed equally at them, and their behavior towards each other, which means they are acting their roles perfectly.

But I can’t help feel like this movie just didn’t really do anything, despite the good acting, and the almost interesting story line. I wanted more. Not more awkward scenes, just more reason to care.