Here is what I watched in February.
Dirty Dancing (dir. Emile Ardolino, 1987)
It’s not officially a new year until I watch Dirty Dancing. Continue reading “Films Watched: February 2013”
Tag: Anne Hathaway
Do I Really Hate Anne Hathaway?
Every awards season certain directors, actors, and movies are relentlessly picked apart by the media and public. Sometimes this prompts interesting think pieces but most often the big awards season stories are tiresome. (Case in point: Ben Affleck’s alleged Oscar snub.) But the constant scrutinization of Anne Hathaway has been endlessly fascinating.
While other Oscar-nominated actresses like Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain are widely adored, Hathaway can do nothing right. Not her interviews, her red carpet appearances, or her acceptance speeches. (Especially her acceptance speeches.) She has been constantly lambasted. In recent memory, no other actress who is the frontrunner to win an Oscar has been this polarizing. Let’s call this the Anne Hathaway Conundrum.
What has Hathaway done so egregiously wrong to generate so much disdain? On the surface, nothing. She is a two-time Oscar nominee. She consistently makes decent movies although she has appeared in a few duds. (It’s okay, Anne. Everyone was in Valentine’s Day.) She had one barely memorable tabloid scandal, which is admirable given that she became a major star in the last decade. She is intelligent, well-spoken, and passionate. (Just watch her speech after receiving a Human Rights Campaign award in 2008.) She is clearly talented and she even escaped from that Oscars hosting debacle relatively unscathed. So Anne Hathaway seems to be a perfectly tolerable person and actress. Right?
Wrong.
For no apparent reason, people do not like Hathaway. Despite my ability to recognize her many good qualities, I also kind of dislike Anne Hathaway. Maybe “dislike” is the wrong word; I just don’t care for Anne Hathaway.
Since I must over-analyze everything, I need to understand what really bothers me about Anne Hathaway. Therefore I spent the last week watching and revisiting almost every movie Hathaway has appeared in, starting with The Princess Diaries up until The Dark Knight Rises. (But not Les Miserables. You cannot pay me to see Les Mis. My friend tried and it didn’t work.) Here it goes.
Movies That Make Me Irrationally Angry: Les Misérables
Okay. I have a dilemma. Since October, I have been struggling (struggling) to write about Les Misérables. This post has gone through multiple drafts. First, I attempted to mock the character posters, which are awful. Then I called it “My Inability to Give Two Shits About Les Mis,” which fell through because obviously I do give a shit. Now I’m hoping to write this post without seeming like a bitter bitch who hates Anne Hathaway, which is an easy trap that some people apparently fall into. (Hating someone’s face is an absurd reason to dislike an actor/actress. But I digress.)
So why does everything associated with Les Misérables make me irrationally angry? I honestly don’t know. We are in the middle of the full Les Miserables publicity onslaught. Red carpets, talk show appearances, magazine covers, everything. All of this has me convinced that Les Mis will be a massive disappointment. This is really bothering me.
Let me go down my list of grievances and maybe work through my issues. Continue reading “Movies That Make Me Irrationally Angry: Les Misérables”
Review: One Day (2011)
Ever since I saw One Day, I have been thinking about how I want to go about reviewing it. I walked into the theater expecting terrible things that would give me plenty of opportunity to snark. One Day delivered on both accounts but not in the overwhelming fashion I anticipated. This is because, like most people unless you are completely soulless, I occasionally enjoy a good cry or at the very least, a feeling of dampness forming at my eyes. Again, One Day delivers here.
These kids probably love Rachel Getting Married
Oscars host Anne Hathaway surprised the kids of the P.S. 22 chorus yesterday and told them that they will be performing at the Oscars. Cue screaming (seriously, you’ll want to turn down the volume) and some blank stares. It really is precious.
Their reaction throws some life into the Oscars. If these kids can get this excited for some stodgy awards show, why can’t the rest of us?
@Cinefille 