Brittney Has Something To Say » movies

Bridesmaids Review

Brittney — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 02:57:50 +0000

Last night, I had the privilege of attending a free advanced screening of the forthcoming movie Bridesmaids. It comes out in a month, but I’ve been quite excited for its release for many months because I am a HUGE fan of Kristen Wiig, the movie’s co-writer and star. You know how people get really fanatical about Tina Fey? I’m that way about Miz Wiig (though I get the whole Tina Fey awesomeness as well.) My affection for the movie’s star I don’t think really affected my overall opinion of the film because absolutely everyone else in the theater shared the same reaction: it was hilarious. Seriously. So funny. So much laughing out loud– Natalie was sitting next to me and was crying from laughter at one point. From start to finish, it is a smart comedy that will have people falling in love with Wiig as much as I already am. I feel I shouldn’t give too much away, but I’ll tell you of a few qualms I had about the movie before seeing it. I had watched the full theatrical trailer online before going and was slightly underwhelmed. After seeing it, I can tell you the funniest parts are definitely not in the trailer. The trailer shows them picking Vegas as the destination of Maya Rudolph’s bachelorette party, and I was leery that this was going to be a female version of The Hangover (don’t worry, it’s not.) Jon Hamm is in the movie (unbeknownst to me before going in) as well as an unknown Scotsman who’s kind of the Michael Cera version of Gerard Butler. There was lots of squealing and “Awwwww!!!”-ing at certain points because the audience was at least 95% female. Never fear, gentlemen– a guy and his girlfriend were walking in front of me as we left the theater, and he said something about, “So much for a chick flick!” and then shared his general excitement over the fact that it wasn’t just another sappy girl-centric movie he’d been conned into attending. The movie takes some turns that you might not expect, though does end like you’d probably expect, but it’s seriously a gem the entire way through. And make sure you don’t rush right of the theater at the end. Afterward I tweeted that it was definitely in the top five funniest movies I’ve ever seen. Or top three. Or maybe number one, just because I’m so happy that a movie written by and starring so many women is so damn good. Mark your calendars for May 13– you’re going to the movies.

The Social Network

Brittney — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 05:27:26 +0000

Oh my sweet goodness, where do I start.

Perhaps I was the last person on the planet to see The Social Network, but Neil and I grabbed it at a Red Box after class this evening and are almost done viewing it. She’s blogging and the movie’s not even over? Not a good sign. I do not enjoy this movie. I would not watch this movie again. I’ve never liked Jesse Eisenberg (being Team Cera and all) though I suppose he’s a good actor if this movie makes me hate him even more. I’ve also been of the school of thought than any movie with Justin Timberlake in it has no business being nominated for awards, but that’s neither here nor there. Quite simply, I am bored with this movie. Let’s leave alone the fact that it makes me hate Mark Zuckerberg with a passion (yes, I get it, it’s a movie and not true, but the guy is still an A-S-S-H-O-L-E) but this is not a great movie. It’s a movie about a bunch of self-absorbed assholes that got lucky, then self-inflated, then couldn’t deal with suffering the consequences. Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher can collect awards for weaving together the court scenes with the flashbacks, but that’s about all I’ve got to put in the “pro” column so far. I can’t seem to separate my intense hatred for most people involved (so I can give a small pat on some backs for good acting) and simply put, I do not enjoy this movie.

Ooh, one lesson learned: don’t blog drunk. I’m looking at you, Kayla Rae

Golden Globes

Brittney — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 15:57:32 +0000

After a fever of 104, two hours at a walk-in clinic, and a chest x-ray at the hospital, Neil has been diagnosed with pneumonia. I am (perhaps foolishly) not too concerned about contracting a similar illness and have instead played the role of his and Fergus’ exclusive caretakers. When he gets better, I’ve already vowed to never take out the damn dog again. Don’t even get me started on the coughing– suffice it to say, my compassion has run out for this patient.
Well, my last semester of college starts tomorrow, and I am nothing but pumped. After a delicious reunion date with Natalie at the Vine yesterday, I am even more pumped about what comes after graduation because of my delirious optimism for all things job search related. Afterward, the roomies and I bunkered down on our respective couches with our respective Hy-Vee snacks (I just typed ’snakes’) and dissected every delicious minute of the Golden Globes. My fashion favorites included Claire Danes, Anne Hathaway, and Emma Stone, even though her skin looked straight up orange. You can Google them if you don’t know what they looked like, I’m far too lazy and concerned about copyright laws to slap up some pics for you. Ignoring Helen Bonham Carter’s desperate attempt at attention, I will say my worst dressed pick is Julianne Moore for that hideous one-sleeved Lanvin creation. And Natalie Portman for that FUCKING FLOWER on the front of her dress. WHAT THE FUCK. Yes, it deserves that many F-bombs. So hideous. Also, I’m tired of her. Your movie apparently wasn’t that great compared to The Social Network (still haven’t seen it), and by the way completely other tangent happening, why did Inception win nothing? I was so, so happy that Melissa Leo won for her role as the mother in The Fighter, and they could have just mailed Christian Bale is award months in advance because he had the Best Supporting Actor category in the bag three minutes into the movie.
I hate Glee, thus it winning Best TV Show or whatever it did was s-toooo-pid, but I was thrilled to see Chris Colfer and Jane Lynch win because well, they’re awesome. (By the way, did you notice how they panned to Lynch after Annette Bening won for playing a lesbian in The Kids Are Alright?) Speaking of, that movie was just alright– she was great, and don’t even get me started on the sexiness factor going through the roof with the casting of Mark Ruffalo, but alas, the movie was kinda flat.
And now I’m hungry, thus will leave to go make a sandwich with coleslaw on it. DON’T ASK– it’s my food phase of the moment. An odd one, yes, but also oddly delicious.

Afternoon

Brittney — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:31:04 +0000

Yesterday was my 200th post, whaddya know.

I am far more sore today than I was yesterday, holy butt muscles it hurts to move. My poor NPH has the flu– fever, body aches, sleeping all day. Thankfully a slightly pushy doctor back in November talked me into getting the flu shot so hopefully I won’t get this, but you never know. I am playing the part of diligent girlfriend and catering to his tomato soup and grilled cheese requests; I will demand monetary reward later. This evening a friend from work and I are going to show around some of the newly arrived foreign exchange students, I’m pretty excited about that since they seem to be as well. The girl coordinating all of it is from The Netherlands and keeps asking about “the pubs” which I think is delightfully European of her and might just start referring to them as such myself. I’m currently watching the Sex and the City movie for really no other reason than background noise while doing some work online, oh well that and Roomie Lauren hates when I go into her room, thus I try to do it at least thrice daily. This just reminds me that I need far more impossibly chic outfits for my random daytime errands. And that Kim Cattrall is just the worst actress.

Black Swan

Brittney — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 01:47:20 +0000

Holy shit.
Mind blown.
What just happened.
“I can’t even… like how did…” -actual person leaving the theater.

So we just returned from seeing Black Swan in Cedar Rapids (followed by the most DELICIOUS veggie enchiladas at Los Portales that have probly e’er been concocted, ever) and wow. First of all, if I was a betting woman, I’d put $1,000 on Natalie Portman winning this year’s Academy Award for best actress. Homegirl was phenomenal. I’m not really into ballet, but that certainly doesn’t matter when you’re watching this flick. Mila Kunis managed to not just make me think of Family Guy the entire time, and who knew Winona Ryder’s in it?! It wasn’t scary like “ahhh scary movie!” but it was definitely a thriller– SUPER intense. There were plenty of times I looked over at NPH like “Is this really happening?” The show started pretty promptly around 3:05 and we were out of there by 4:55, gotta love that. Also, I now wanna lose 100 pounds and become a ballerina AND I can’t get all the Swan Lake songs outta my head.

Hats off to you, Mr. Aronofsky.

Almost home

Brittney — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 14:35:27 +0000

For being officially on Christmas break, I sure have left myself a lot with much as-yet-unfinished business before leaving Iowa City tomorrow. While packing for home is the most daunting task on my to-do list, it’s surely the one that will be put off the longest. NPH, his roomies, and I are hoping to catch a showing of Black Swan in Cedar Rapids this afternoon (Fandango doesn’t show it playing in Iowa City?) I’d also like to see The Fighter sometime over break, but I feel that’s more of a kettle corn with the Pops event. Tomorrow I’m loading up the car with NPH and Fergus and heading to the booming metropolis of Fort Dodge, Iowa so that the grandparents and boyfriend can finally meet. Mostly I just want him to experience my grandmother’s house at Christmas because it’s off the CHAIN and not able to be adequately described with words. But seriously, trees in every room. And that’s not even the tip of the iceberg. Afterward, we’re headed to Adel so my mother can see Fergus again (ok, not the only reason, but definitely the one she’s most excited for. For not being exactly thrilled that we got him, T-Bone is in l-o-v-e with this dog.) Perhaps send some well wishes NPH’s way that he makes it out of this family-filled weekend alive and still sorta fond of me. Now if you’ll excuse me, Roomie Rachael made cookies last night, and I’m hoping to snag a few for breakfast. Break is quite necessary, if only for the free food.

OH AND PS– for some reason ICON is being terribly dumb and enlarged on my screen and not showing the toolbar to get to my grades. Any other Hawkeyes experiencing this? Because I’m gonna need to see how I did on my EU final like now.

Mental health decisions

Brittney — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:23:15 +0000

Say hello to Brittney “Journalism & Mass Communication major, International Studies minor.” It feels pretty good, not gonna lie, mostly because I get to drop my dreaded linguistics class. Cue the parting of the clouds and the Hallelujah chorus. In order to make up for some of those lost credit hours, I’ve added an online money management course and some as-yet-to-be-determined one hour fitness class that will start in mid-October, but really anything is so, so much better than subjunctive clauses. In other news, I fly to D.C. in two weeks. I most definitely thought this was at least three weeks away, but at least I still have time to rummage Target’s racks for multiple super-professional outfits before departure. There are plenty of things to look forward to until then, namely Roomie Rachael’s 22nd birthday on Sunday. Luckily for our livers, she’ll be out of town for most of the weekend doing a Buddy Walk with her adorable nephew, but she’ll grace us with her presence just in time on the actual day to enjoy Happy Sunday sushi and perhaps a viewing of The Social Network. Apparently this movie is just beyond off the chain (does anyone still use that phrase anymore? No?) though I have a feeling I’m going to get supremely creeped out by it. (Also, Wordpress is telling me that “creeped” is not actually a word. They are so, catastrophically mistaken.) I apologize this wasn’t a riveting, gut-busting post (yes, I’m still under the assumption there a few of these on here) but I wanted everyone updated on the fact that I was not on a bridge somewhere and have gotten my academic life under control, for now at least. In the meantime, I get to hand in that glorious drop slip and then perhaps literally skip to work. Happy-it’s-essentially-the-weekend!

Once again, pretzel M&Ms

Brittney — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 02:03:13 +0000

You know when you just know that a satellite in space can see that your ass is equivalent in size to one of those smaller chain islands in the South Pacific? Yeah, it’s been that kind of day. If you couldn’t already tell, NPH’s mom definitely delivered on the pumpkin bread, and he held up his end of the bargain with giving me the whole top slice (and most of the middle and sides, too.) She also brought a pan of lasagna (with spinach!) and extra-dark homemade brownies, but my tummy doesn’t want to discuss these things. I would also like to not talk about the Hawkeye game last night– there’s nothing to say but congratulations to Arizona and holy Lord, Ricky Stanzi– cut that hair. My time at home was successful, albeit it a bit too kettle corn laden… oh, who am I kidding, that’s not really possible. Savannah and I went to Going the Distance– SOOOOO cute, made me miss NPH (we had been apart approximately four hours at that point. Yes, I’m that person.) Afterward I had fun reminiscing with her mother, who has recently become a reader — HI, AMY!!!– and who I hope has finally tried pretzel M&Ms. Speaking of those little spherical devils, Roomie Lauren was kind enough to ration me out a baggie-ful from her party size bag, lest she come back from Maryland tomorrow to find them all gone. I decided they would make the perfect road trip treat and gave them prime passenger seat status, however got a tummyache about halfway in. To save me from myself, I threw the bag with the rest into the far corner on the floor of the other side of the car so I wouldn’t be tempted to snack on ‘em out of boredom. Well, I’m sure you can see where this is going. Speeding down I-80 near Newton, I realized those pretzel M&Ms once again had to be mine. What to do, what to do– cause a thirty car pile up even though they were clearly out of my reach, pull over, live without them? Clearly none of these. I grabbed a library book out of my backpack and used it as an arm extension to lean over– keeping half an eye on the road, of course– and flail it about, trying to flip the magical treats into arm’s reach. This actually wasn’t nearly as complicated or dangerous as it sounds, and I was able to finish those babies long before entering Polk County. Success. I’ve found I enjoy sucking on them to melt and eat all the chocolate, then enjoy the pretzel center on it’s own. It would be probably be healthier and less time-consuming to just buy a bag of pretzels, but that would ruin all the fun.

Day Two: Nine Things

Brittney — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 19:00:58 +0000

Day Two: Nine things about yourself
…this whole blog is about myself, so I’ll try and get creative with things you haven’t heard. They won’t be “I’m watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall right now” (which I am) or “I skipped class today” (which I did.) Hey, I turned in my assignment first.

9. My favorite beer changes often, but it’s currently Boulevard Wheat, extra points if served with a slice of lemon. Do NOT confuse this with Boulevard Pale Ale which is what I imagine fermented chalky piss to taste like if it were to be bottled and distributed at the local HyVee Wine and Spirits.
8. Lunch is my favorite meal of the day. It used to be breakfast, but somehow the noon-day eating has really taken hold of my heart. Perhaps because once you’ve eaten lunch, it’s more socially acceptable to just keep snacking into the next meal.
7. I don’t like s’mores. I don’t like the three things that make up s’mores (unless the milk chocolate is in the form of M&Ms and then well, all bets are off, buddy) though I have had s’more Pop-Tarts and can’t say I hated them. Anything with that much partially hydrogenated oil is guaranteed to be yummy, though.
6. I no longer have a key to 713. This hasn’t really affected me in the least, and I voluntarily surrendered it to one of our friends who is parking his car in their driveway for the year. (Are you paying them for that, Jordan?)
5. My current roommate situation is the first I’ve been really diggin’. I like the dynamic of living with two other people instead of just one. We’re only about a month in so this could change, I suppose, but Vegas is already booked bitches (166 days!)
4. Speaking of roommates, we’ve all been given nicknames. I was probably at 713 during this process, thus just came home one day to the name “Bitch Duck” in block letters taped to my door (I’m told it’s from an episode of Family Guy.) The others are named Ho-Train and Skankasaur– our first names are merely formalities. On the first day of class when my professor told us to shout out during roll call if we preferred to be called something else, every fiber in my body was screaming “Call me Bitch Duck!” But instead I just corrected her about the pronunciation of my last name.
3. I have really good pitch, singing-wise that is. Or so I’ve been told. And so I’d like to think when belting Katy Perry and speeding down I-80. But seriously, collegiate music majors have told me this. Homegirl can saaaaang.
2. Horrible acne. Even at age 21. What?! I figured one of these nine should be horribly TMI.
1. The song One Night in Bangkok makes me so, so happy. Like, deliriously so. What a silly, fun song. I realize this was a very anti-climactic #1, but it’s really the most on-my-mind thing as of late. Besides pretzel M&Ms, of course.

Today is faboosh

Brittney — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:06:05 +0000

Currently, I’m chomping on some cherry Twizzler nibs, bought for me by my favorite navy-sweatered boyfriend on this very autumnal day. He has finally wised up and realized that nibs are where it’s at, and that cherry Twizzler bites are NOT the same and nearly vomit-inducing. I suppose I can’t complain, though, since he’s finally realized buying me candy is the key to my heart… or at least to getting me to shut up and do my homework. These miraculously sugared gummies are only a string of fabulous things that have happened in the four short hours I’ve been out of bed. It was most certainly a coffee morning– why I haven’t yet made very morning javaliciously caffeinated, I’m not quite sure. With German-flag mug in hand, I logged onto Facebook to read the sweetest message from my friend D-Bag (not familiar? He was my best friend in Germany) that me laugh aloud, smile a lot, miss him like crazy, and generally start my day off on the best foot possible. When roomie Rachael finally arose after hitting the snooze button no less than six times, we had a 90’s boy band dance party (or me YouTubing Backstreet Boy and N*Sync hits as she questioned my delirious mood) while getting ready because we share our first class of the day. Ten plus years post the height of both of these bands, I can appreciate a little “Tearin’ Up My Heart” and “Bye Bye Bye” every now and then. In my formidable years, however, I was a Backstreet Girl til death and refused to acknowledge JT and crew were anything more than BSB wannabes. Before that, I was– and no, this is not a joke– a member of the Hanson fan club, and had a giant poster of the brothers on my closet door where I could wake up and have Taylor’s heart-breakingly adorable face greet my day. Looking back, the kid looked like a straight up girl. Apparently I’m compensating now by dating a whiskey-swilling, fully-bearded lumberjack of a guy whose idea of cleaning his room is fitting all four corners of his bottom sheet to the mattress. His parents are coming this weekend, by the way, and I was quite looking forward to seeing them. Unfortunately, I’ll be missing out on an awesomely awkward dinner with them and instead returning home (that’s not the unfortunate part) to visit Savannah and see The Town (!!!!!!) with my dad and a refillable tub of kettle corn. Dammit, the Twizzlers are gone. I suppose I’ll get cracking on my assignment due in an hour.