Kiss Me Stupid

        Every year The New York Times celebrates some of the best performances of that movie year with cinema-themed shorts. To the best of my knowledge, they've always done shorts around single actors like the one using movie lines or the only-actresses one. This time 'round, they've chosen movie kisses as their theme and this one might be my most favourite yet. I really think so much of acting is about reacting and so it's great to see these actors work together. Also, the whole concept reminds me of the ending of Cinema Paradiso which is one of the greatest movie endings ever!

Benedict Cumberbatch and Reese Witherspoon

 Swoon! God, even Edgar Wright wants a full movie about Witherspoon's Barbarella and Cumberbatch's Zorro. Make it happen, Hollywood.

Laura Dern and Steve Carell

It's sooooo funny! I think the funnier ones were my favourites and this one is definitely there. They're adorbs.

Jenny Slate and Rosario Dawson

Awwwwww. Again, I will watch an entire film about both of them, even if it is just them partying all night.

Chadwick Boseman and Kristen Stewart

This was a bit meh but god, so much energy from Stewart!

Patricia Arquette and Jason Schwartzman

Lolwut? I'm so happy Schwartzman is in this list btw. I really hated Listen Up Philip but the performances in it were so great.

Timothy Spall and David Oyelowo

My favourite one! It would be my favourite based on the way Spall fixes his tie at the end alone.

Shailene Woodley and Jack O'Connell

Aww this one was sweet. These two should totes come in a movie together btw. Both of them are such natural performers.

Julianne Moore and John Lithgow

Does anyone else think that Moore is getting hotter with age? She's like my role model. This one was so much fun. I want to go dancing with both of them!

Miles Teller and Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Gosh, Gugu is one stunning woman. I really like their pairing too. It was beautiful.

            I want someone to make a 200 Cigarettes type movie (but better than that, obviously) with all these actors and all these story lines. I would seriously watch it and probably love it.

Do you all look forward to these shorts every year too? Which one of these is your favourite? Does anyone else miss Rosamund Pike in this list?

"We are going to BANG!"

             About 5 months back the trailer of Crazy, Stupid, Love released and I went nuts over it. But being a film of the majorly terrible (nowadays) romcom genre, I had some reservations about it. When I finally watched it yesterday, I was glad to see that the film did meet my expectations on most parts, and was just the kind of completely entertaining film I needed to break my movie-watching dry spell (I could not go through Eclipse okay).

           The film basically centers around three plots about the craziness and stupidity of falling in and out of love. The first story is of Cal and Emily, a married couple of nearly 25 years who see their marriage coming to a standstill after middle-age has hit them, especially with Emily having had slept with a co-worker, David Lindhagen. The second is about how a rich ladies man named Jacob sees Cal in his pathetic, depressed state and decides to help him "rediscover" his manhood, and by that I mean wear a lot of expensive clothes and hit on women with utmost ease and then bang 'em. It is at this time when Jacob finds the awkward and gorgeous Hannah who starts to change his life and lifestyle too. The third story is about Cal's son, thirteen-year-old Robbie's love for his seventeen-year-old babysitter Jessica and her love for "like parent-old" Cal. 


            I liked how the different stories interlinked in the film. It could have been deadly generic, but it was fresh and funny. There is a part where it starts raining and I was like "What a cliché!" and then Steve Carell, who plays Cal, says exactly that. I think the film stayed very true with its title and showed love and all its facets in all age groups and many realistic scenarios. It was funny not in a slapstick or gross way, but in a relateable way, like how I mentioned above. I love pop-culture references and this one had quite a few of them...I mean I will never look at Dirty Dancing the same way again.

             Obviously what really drives the film is the super attractive and well, effortlessly talented cast. Steve Carell is adorable here. From being all depressed to being goofy and then charming, and all throughout being a man who has never stopped or never will stop loving his wife, his character was very likeable and I sort of liked how they didn't show him reaching total rock-bottom, because they do that a lot. His wife is played by the beautiful Julliane Moore who is as naturally funny and sweet as she is dramatic and awesome. Both of them had such a real chemistry between them and their random jokes and conversations were very believable because that is how married couples are, or should be. Emma Stone, whom plays Hannah, is going to be a comic genius one day, I know it. She is so expressive and hilarious and awkward, but in an honest way, that she always makes one feel that they know her. Ryan Gosling plays the suave playboy extraordinaire Jacob. He was..ahem..good, ofcourse. I think I should leave it at that otherwise I will be slobbering all over my key board. I mean seriously it's like he's photoshopped unreal, and I am not going to lie- a HUGE reason why I enjoyed the film as much as I enjoyed it is because Ryan Gosling is a total sex-god in it who should be worshiped everyday, all the time. Marissa Tomei plays one of Cal's "conquests" and she is probably the funniest person in the film. I just love her. Kevin Bacon was Lindhagen, a universally hated character in the film. Robbie was played by Jonah Bob and he was a cute kid. I liked how he idealised love...in my head he grows up to be Tom Hansen. I was surprised to see Analeigh Tipton from ANTM there, but she was sweet and confused like all teenage girls should be. Also Josh Groban made his film debut in this, playing a bore. Lastly, I loved Liza Lapira as Liz, Hannah's best friend, because she reacted to everything, especially to Mr. Sex-on-Legs Jacob, as I would.


           I personally thought that after the great revelation towards the end of the film, the film gets a bit boring. Especially with the Jacob-Hannah story. If they had ended it on a higher note, or atleast have an amusing ending, I would've liked it better. Also I want a spin-off with Marissa Tomei's character being the protagonist- "I am 5 years SOBER!" Still, the film was cute and enjoyable and keeps the romcom candle burning brightly. Watch...if not for anything else then for Ryan Gosling eating a slice of pizza like it was some sort of ambrosia and he is was a Greek god from heaven, in a suit.