Ode to 'Joy'

Joy

Director: David O. Russell

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Virginia Madsen, Diane Ladd, Isabella Rossellini, Elisabeth Rohm

Released: December 25, 2015

Viewed in theaters: December 29, 2015

I saw this movie with my friend Cameron. He has joined me for a couple of video reviews you've all had the pleasure to watch. (All fifteen of you, haha!) You may remember our video reviews of the last two Twilight movies. We were originally going to see Sisters, but it was already sold out for the evening shows, so we decided to see this one instead. (And before you ask, we didn't even consider seeing Star Wars: A New Hope and Force Awakens or whatever it's called!) In a way, I think it worked out for the best because I probably wouldn't have seen this movie until it was released on DVD and I'm glad I saw it in the theater because I really enjoyed it. I had no idea what this movie was about going in. I just assumed it was a Christmas movie since it opened on Christmas Day and was called Joy, but, spoiler alert....it's not! (Although there is a scene that takes place at Christmas). We joked that it was the sequel to Silver Linings Playbook since it had the same director and Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, and Bradley Cooper were in it.

The "Joy" in question is the name of our main character (Jennifer Lawrence). This movie is based on the true story of a woman named Joy Mangano (never heard of her!) She's struggling with her finances and being a young, single mother of two while living with her grandmother (Diane Ladd), her mother (Virginia Madsen), and her ex-husband, who she's still friendly with, lives in the basement. At first, I thought her mother was sick and bedridden because all she did was stay in her room and watch soap operas, but later in the movie, she's walking around with no problem. There seemed to be something off mentally with her mother.

Joy works at an airport but has to quit when they change her hours and she can't work those because of her kids. She and her older half-sister, Peggy (Elisabeth Rohm who I didn't recognize at all because she had dark hair) help out at their dad's (Robert De Niro) auto-repair shop. Rudy, their dad, who has been married twice and is all about being in love, has joined a dating service. At first, I was so confused by this scene because he would call a number and leave a four digit number and a voice would give him a four digit number of a potential match and he would call that number and talk to the woman. It seemed very complicated. I was wondering, Why doesn't he just join eHarmony or Match.com? Then I remembered that this being based on a true story, it probably isn't "current" day! (I don't remember if it gives us a date, but I'm guessing it started out in the late '80s/early '90s). He meets Trudy (Isabella Rossellini) and they are just having a laugh over their rhyming names. Trudy is a widow of a wealthy businessman and she and Rudy hit it off quite well that she invites Rudy and his family to spend the day on her yacht. She tells him to bring the wine, but not red wine because it will stain the teakwood floors. Joy's ex, Anthony, who is well-meaning, brings a bottle of red wine. It ends up spilling (who didn't see that coming?) and Joy mops the deck, but when she wrings out the mop with her hands she gets lots of nasty cuts with the glass shards. This inspires her to come up with an idea for a mop where one doesn't have to wring it out with their hands and the mop head is detectable and can be thrown in the washing machine. The year is 1995 when the finished product is ready. I can tell I have never mopped until the 21st century. I have never in my life even known of a mop that you had to wring out with your own hands. Never mind glass shards, who would want to touch that nasty mop head with the dirty water? Ewww! 

She patents the design and has some prototypes made with some money she asked Trudy to invest in (Trudy agreed after Joy passed the test she gave her). Unfortunately, when she tries to take it to stores and sell them, her product gets declined. One man tells her that he doesn't want to sell a mop for twenty dollars to his customers that will last a lifetime when he can sell five or ten dollar mops that will need replacing every few years and that way the customers will have to keep coming back. Joy and her friend Jackie try to sell the mop outside a K-Mart by Jackie being the salesperson and Joy being someone who is being sold the mop. They get a crowd of curious onlookers who seem to like the mop, but are quickly caught by the police and the mop is confiscated. 

It kept bugging me whenever I saw Jackie because the actress looked so familiar and I knew that I knew her from somewhere, but I just couldn't place it! When I looked her up, I realized it was Daya from Orange is the New Black. She has such a distinct accent and distinct facial features, but I guess she's unrecognizable to me if she's not in her prison garbs or pregnant, haha! 

Joy arranges to meet with Neil Walker (Bradley Cooper), an executive at QVC. When he sees and hears about the mop, he tells Joy to have twenty thousand of them made and Joy has to take out a second mortgage on her house. She still owes Trudy money and Trudy does not want to invest any more until she knows the mop will make money. Neil takes Joy on a tour of the set and tells her they only have celebrities hawking the products. The only celebrity I recognized was Joan Rivers. She is played by Melissa Rivers who looks EXACTLY like her mother (perfect casting, right?), but I don't think she has her mother's voice down...she tried, but Joan had a very distinct sound to her voice. 

There's a big scene at Joy's house where everyone is gathered in the living room to watch the big debut of Joy's mop and I just knew something bad was going to happen. And it did! The guy promoting it had no idea how to use it! They get no calls or questions for the mop and they go straight to the next product (the most hideous evening gowns I've ever seen!) The whole segment is less than twenty seconds! Did they not give the guy a tutorial on how the mop is used? Not surprisingly, Joy is pissed. At first I thought Neil was trying to sabotage Joy, but that doesn't make any sense because they want their products to sell. I watch Shark Tank; I know how it works! Joy goes to the QVC office and demand the she be the one to sell it on TV. She does and they sell like hot cakes. 

This, however, is not the end of Joy's troubles. She still has a rack of debt to pay and she finds out that the manufacturing company is taking credit for her designs. There's a bunch of legal battles she's fighting. She goes through one obstacle after another. There are several times when she just wants to give up, but by the end she fights for what is hers and emerges victorious. We see her in the future, in her forties, helping others patent their ideas. (Why is this woman not on Shark Tank?) I got a very Cate Blachett-like vibe from an older made-up Jennifer Lawrence. 

Cameron and I both agreed that this was our favorite Jennifer Lawrence performance. I have not seen the last two Hunger Games movies, but I hated the last book so I'm willing to bet that's not going to change my mind. 

During the movie, somebody behind us started snoring! Really loudly! It was quite distracting. And then all of his friends were giggling so that made it even more annoying. This movie was not boring at all so I don't know what his problem was. I guess that was bound to happen at a theater where you can recline all the way back in the seats. They even have a commercial for the theaters of some old guy in his pajamas telling his son he's ready to see the movie. Like, are they trying to encourage people to fall asleep and snore and annoy people who are trying to watch the movie? Great marketing! (That was sarcasm in case you couldn't tell!)

Weekly Movie #13

The Hunger Games
Director: Gary Ross
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Hemsworth, Lenny Kravitz
Released: March 23, 2012
Viewed in theaters: March 26, 2012

I, like most everyone else in the country, have read The Hunger Games trilogy. I really loved the first book, still enjoyed the second book as though it wasn't as good as the first, and was heavily disappointed by the final one. I didn't like that one because it didn't have the same flow as the first two and I was really angry and baffled at a certain character's death. I mean, I know a lot of people die in these books, but I didn't understand why Suzanne Collins chose to kill off this particular one.

The Hunger Games is what you would get if you combined the short story, "The Lottery" with the reality show, Survivor, and the Japanese movie, Battle Royale. Oh, and throw the Olympics in there as well. The parade of the tributes, the personal stories, and the training reminded me of the Olympics. The film (and book) takes place in a dystopian future where the United States no longer exists and is now a place called Panem. It doesn't specify when in the future it takes place, but I'm guessing a couple hundred years.  

Panem consists of the Capitol, which is really wealthy and where the Hunger Games are held. Also, part of Panem are twelve districts that each have their own specialty (mining, agriculture, fishing, technology, transportation, etc.) and the higher the number, the poorer the district. Our heroine, Katniss Everdeen, lives in District 12 - the poorest district. The citizens have to hunt for their own food and trade their goods for others. Even though the film takes place in the future, there were times when it looked like it took place in the past!

The Hunger Games have been going on for 74 years and it's something the Capitol (aka the Government) came up with to show that they are in charge, pretty much, and they won't tolerate other people rebelling against them or making their own rules. Each year a boy and girl between the ages of 12 and 18 are chosen from each district at the annual Reaping to fight in the Games (and it's done by drawing names ala "The Lottery") and they must fight to the death and the last one standing is the winner.

Katniss's sister, Prim, is the female tribute from District 12 who is picked, despite this being her first  Reaping and Katniss volunteers to take her place in order to save her sister. This is one of the most powerful scenes in the movie and it definitely got me choked up! Peeta (Hutcherson) is the male tribute chosen and they're mentored by the only former winner of the Hunger Games from District 12, Haymitch (Harrelson). 

After the 24 contestants have been trained and prepped, they're put into a terrain that's controlled by the Capitol. They all stand on individual platforms and there's a huge pile of weapons out in the open they can grab. Haymitch has advised his tributes not to grab anything because most of the tributes are killed in the first few seconds of the games. Katniss, the accomplished archer, sees a bow and and arrow, but forgoes it for a nearby backpack filled with supplies instead.  

This is how it reminded me of Survivor: not only is this being shown on TV as the world's most effed-up reality show, but they do things you'd see on Survivor - build fires, make alliances, catch food (and sometimes they even "win" food and supplies), make shelter, etc. 

And then you add in the whole middle school and high school-aged kids killing each other with whatever weapons they can get their hands on, and you have the plot of Battle Royale! 

It's been over a year since I've read the book, but I thought the movie did a good job of following it. Everything that happened in the film, I remembered reading in the book. The character of Gale, Katniss's friend from District 12 really has nothing to do. He's just there to look jealous when he sees Katniss kiss Peeta on TV during the games. 

Apparently there have been some uproar on Twitter with really stupid and really racist people having a hissyfit because the actress who plays Rue, the young girl in the Games from District 11 that Kat allies with, is black. I don't know why they are getting so angry over this  - anyone who actually read the books should know that the character is black. I believe the author describes her as "dark-skinned" so maybe these idiots thought she was white with a tan? I don't know, but it's really stupid how these morons are acting. 

Well, I think it's really cool that both Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are fans of the books and got to play two major characters (well, duh since Jennifer plays the main character!) in the movie. If I were an actor, I would love to play a character in one of my favorite books. 

X-tra Ordinary

X-Men: First Class

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence

Released: June 3, 2011

Warning: spoilers

When it comes to the X-Men, my only knowledge is the first three movies which I've only seen once. (I've also seen Wolverine - big mistake, but I like Hugh Jackman!) I've never read the comics or watched the animated series. I've enjoyed all the movies (well, except for Wolverine, obviously) and this one was no exception (or should I say X-ception? Haha!).

It takes place in the early '60s and we meet Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) before he became Professor X (played by Patrick Stewart in the previous films) and Erik Whoever (Michael Fassbender) before he became Magneto (who Ian McKellen played in the other films). Before they were enemies, Charles and Erik had to work together to stop the bad mutants from starting World War III. As far as super powers go, Charles definitely has Erik beat. Erik can move objects with his mind, which, okay, that's cool and it did come in handy a few times in the movie. However, Charles can read minds (and he can control at will whose mind to read), have conversations with people inside their minds, freeze people in time, and who knows what else. Team Charlie! 

I can understand why Erik becomes evil because his mother was killed right in front of him as a young boy, so it's understandable why he has a bunch of pent-up rage. I don't understand why both young mutant girls decided to go to the dark side. First, when Kevin Bacon leads the bad guys to the government building where the young mutants are being guarded, Angel doesn't put up a fight and just decides to join them and it was like, "Really?! Really?" Like I said, I've seen the X-Men movies, so I knew Mystique was a bad "guy", but how she got there makes no sense to me. She and Charles are quite close and have a brother/sister relationship, but at the end of the movie, after Erik nearly kills thousands of innocent people (but Charles manages to stop him), he asks who wants to join him, and Mystique decides to go with him and Charles is like, "Okay, that's cool. I know that's what you want to do." Um, hello, Charlie? But you're letting one of your closest friends join the bad side! 

Mystique has one of the coolest powers of all the X-men (or women, in her case). She's a shift shaper and can turn into anybody she wants. At first I was a little confused that 1960s Mystique was played by 20 year old Jennifer Lawrence and Mystique in 2000 was played by late 20s Rebecca Romijn, but it's explained to us that she has genetic make-up that makes her age quite slowly. We also find out that Mystique was the one who suggested the nicknames Professor X and Magneto for Charles and Erik. 

There's a few fun cameos: Rebecca Romijn and the best is Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. It was unexpected and really funny; they made nice use of their one F word in the PG-13 movie. 

How about that death scene with Kevin Bacon? If anyone had to be killed in that manner, than he certainly deserved it - he was the one who killed little Erik's mother right in front of him, after all. I have to give the movie credit; I've never seen anyone killed like that. That made me cringe! I will never look at a coin the same way again. 

I was really entertained by this movie and the special effects were amazing, though in ten years they'll probably look awful!