Movie Monday!

You might be thinking, "Hey, you big dumb stupidhead! It's not Monday! It's not Monday at all! You're just a BIG DUMB STUPIDHEAD who doesn't know how WEEKS work, you STUPID PERSON. You're FAT."

To which I would like to say, "Bite me, unnecessarily angry guy! I'm doing this in anticipation of the fact that I won't have access to the Internet on Monday, because I'm spending the day WITH MY MOM. So there. And fat? Really? Have you even seen me lately?"

So without further ado, or conversations with people who might not exist, I would like to present to you

Movies I Totally Thought Were Going To Turn Out Different Because Of Retardedly False Advertising, But Really Liked Anyway Because They Were Awesome

Saved!
Jena Malone, Eva Amurri, Macaulay Culkin, Mandy Moore, Patrick Fugit

This movie came out in 2004, and if you don't remember it, don't feel bad. A lot of people don't. This is because the advertising for this movie ("OMG CHRISTIANS LOOK HOW STUPID THEY ARE LET'S LAUGH AT THEM BECAUSE THEY'RE STUPID HAHAHA") was so incredibly off-putting that no one wanted to see it. I mean, would you want to see a movie whose sole point was poking systematic, douchey fun at a system of beliefs, even if you didn't necessarily follow them?
I didn't, really, but i was 13 and Rachel picked it out when she was spending the night, and I didn't really care.
I'm glad I actually saw it, because it was fantastic and remains one of my favorite movies to this day. Instead of happy-assholing all over the place about how Christians are stupid and hilarious and we should make fun of them, it gives you kind of a nice inspirational message without being too preachy. It's more about how extremists are created, how something that is supposed to be a good thing (ie, Christianity) can get morphed into a bad thing just that easily, and instead of alienating people (which is what all the trailers showed), it should be accepted that everyone is different for a reason.
In other words, the exact polar opposite of what everyone thought it was going to be about.
You might say that's kind of a stock feel-good message, and i might say, so what? Movies don't all have to be about messing with your twists and unexpected endings and messing with your head; if they give you a simple message while being incredibly original about it, that's an awesome achievement and I applaud it. TEN GOLD STARS.

Moon
Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey

If I'm recalling correctly, I first saw trailers for this when I went to go see Coraline, which makes sense, I guess, given what Coraline ended up being about (those poor kids in the theater). That trailer led me to believe that it was either going to be about A) some Dead Space shit where monsters and/or aliens invade a moon base where Sam Rockwell is stationed, or B) some Stephen King shit wherein Sam Rockwell has been alone on the moon for so long with only a Kevin Spacey robot for company that he eventually just loses his goddamned mind. As I don't like scary movies (and, while i do like psychological thrillers, and anything by Stephen King as a general rule, 1408 scared the hell out of me when Jon insisted I watch it), I understandably was not too excited when Jon wanted me to watch Moon.
As it turned out, it wasn't about either of those things. What it is, is Sam Rockwell thinking he's losing his goddamned mind when really, there's something entirely different that you don't even expect going on. It does kind of mess with you for about half the movie, but it doesn't really try to; you're just following what the original Sam Rockwell is thinking, and discovering stuff at the same time as his character does.
Now, I should tell you that I love Sam Rockwell. He was the best part of Hitchhiker's Guide, and that was a terrible movie. I mean terrible. This movie further solidified what I knew all along: Sam Rockwell is a brilliant actor. They basically just gave him a movie, and rather than just just kind of trudging his way through it like a lot of other people would have, he acted his ass off and made you believe it, right up to the end. If you haven't seen Moon, see it. You won't be disappointed.


The Invention of Lying
Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Louis C.K., Rob Lowe

I have to admit, I was really curious about this movie when it came out. . . but not because of the adverts. I was more curious about the mechanics of a world where people are honest all the time, than I was about what crazy batshit lies Ricky Gervais would come up with.
The trailers don't give you very much, but what they do give you is kinda misleading. It looks like just another stupid comedy that they could've done a lot more with, but chose to just bullshit around and go "hey, wouldn't it be CRAZY if".
Zack and I rented it one night, and I have to say, I loved it. They went a lot deeper into the implications of a world without lying than I thought they would, and Ricky Gervais is a lot more likeable than I've ever seen him. Jennifer Garner is unexpectedly adorable, and the plot is WAY more developed than you'd expect from such an over-advertised movie. Rent it if you can; it's easy to love.

Funny People
Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill

When I saw the previews for this movie, I think the first thought that went through my head was "Oh. Another irreverent Apatow movie. I guess this one's about comedians or something? No thanks."
I do like Judd Apatow, don't get me wrong. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is one of my favorite movies, and I basically had the delivery experience from Knocked Up, right down to the unwanted Asian doctor. But there are only so many varieties of penis jokes one can take before it starts to get, you know. . . stale. And I've never really been a big fan of Adam Sandler.
Zack watched it the other day, and he kept telling me how much I would like it, since we have the exact same taste in movies. I had to trust him.
Right off the bat I knew it wasn't going to be what I'd originally thought. Literally the first thing that happens (and it's right in the On-Demand summary, so it's not really a "spoiler") is that Adam Sandler finds out he has a rare strain of leukemia that cannot be cured. That sets the tone for the entire movie, which is funny (because it is, after all, an Apatow film, and it does, after all, star Seth Rogen), but also kind of heartbreaking. It gave me a new level of respect for Adam Sandler as an actor, and Seth Rogen plays a completely different sort of character than his usual stoner-douchebag-with-a-heart-of-gold. This movie honestly shocked me. It gave me a completely different experience than any of the promotions for it had told me to expect. If you haven't seen it, and you don't mind wading through the dick jokes (and I have to warn you, there are a LOT), I'd absolutely recommend it.