Patricia’s 2012 Movie Awards

It would be incorrect to say I watched 108 movies in 2012.  Because I watched TV series too, and they are marked down on the same list as movies.  Also, I saw a few movies more than once (ahem Magic Mike, ahem Moonrise Kingdom) and my list doesn’t account for that, either.  I have 108 entries on my “movies watched” list for 2012 and that uniquely qualifies me to give out awards.  So, without further ado, here are the 2012 Patricia Movie Awards.  You don’t like the awards I gave?  Well, that’s what the comments section is for.

If you want to read my individual reviews of each movie, you can use the search function, or scroll through the “three sentence movies” tag.

(In chronological order of viewing)

Best movie to flip the “Before Sunrise” concept on its head
Medicine for Melancholy
Best silent film of 2012
The Artist
Best version of Hamlet to exclude the “alas, poor Yorick, I knew him Horatio” line (note that I was NOT a fan of this action)
Hamlet 2000
Best series that had me regularly collapsing on the couch, weak from laughter 
Flight of the Conchords, season I
The movie in which I spent a lot of time staring at the actor’s cheekbones
My Week with Marilyn
Quality flick and totally recommended, but not so much if you want to relax after a stressful week
The Grey
Marilyn Monroe movie I liked quite a bit and much more than the 2012 movie about the making of this movie (see “cheekbones” award above)
The Prince and the Showgirl
Avengers Assembly movie which I found strangely moving on second viewing
Thor
Best hilarious and sweet movie about a family keeping secrets from each other
City Island
Avengers Assembly movie that has the best “How it Should Have Ended” short
Captain America
Movie where I finally “got” the Kenneth Branagh thing
Hamlet
Best movie I completely enjoyed while watching and then couldn’t tell you what the heck happened after it was over.
The Avengers
Best movie I would have enjoyed more if I hadn’t seen the preview so many damn times
also
Best performance by actor playing a hotel manager ever
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Best guilty pleasure that did not hold up to a second viewing
Snow White and the Huntsman
Best use of 65 minutes of my time on a rather grumpy day
Glee, the 3-D Concert Movie, 2D version.
Best Horror Film I saw all year, and not just because it was the only horror film I saw all year.
also
Best use of “merman” as plot device
Cabin in the Woods
Movie who felt the need to tack on the traditional ending in a way that made me very grumpy
also
Best movie I got the boyfriend to watch the entire film only because he was worn out from a race
He’s Just Not that Into You
Most awesome incorrect Historical Fiction Action movie with hot/nerdy lead
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter
Best movie you probably haven’t seen
A Perfect Getaway
Movie I liked much, much, much more than I thought I would
Five-Year Engagement
Best movie I saw this year?
also
Best movie that I was still thinking about long after the DVD ended
Winter’s Bone
Best overuse of adjective for underwhelming film
The Amazing Spiderman
Best movie I couldn’t really hear very well
Batman: The Dark Knight Rises
Best movie to launch me on a surpisingly delightful personal film fest
also
Best movie I saw four times this year
Magic Mike
Series that inspired the most gushing discussion emails rife with exclamation points
Downton Abbey seasons 1 and 2
Most surprisingly funny remake of 80s TV series
21 Jump Street
Best Adaptation of Shakespeare I saw this year
She’s the Man
Best movie with four main actors I really like
Stop-loss
Best dance film featuring a foster child as a main character
Step Up
Most surprisingly affecting movie
The Vow
Best probably correct historical fiction movie
The Eagle
Most perfect film in which my front teeth dried out because I was smiling the entire time
Moonrise Kingdom
Very interesting ensemble cast about a very interesting event
Battle in Seattle
Nicholas Sparks film I liked, even though I thought it was going to be very, very lame
Dear John
Worst film I watched in the Channing Tatum Film Fest
also
Film where Channing Tatum’s 10 minutes on screen were far and away better then the entirety of the film
The Dilemma
Best of the kind of “awesome woman” film I would love to see more of
Haywire
Movie I wanted to like, but did not
I’m Not There
Best movie with an interesting concept
Limitless
Best movie saw in a movie theater with no air conditioning on a 90+ degree day
 Men in Black III
Most surprising big, dumb action film that I liked
GI Joe, Rise of Cobra
Best movie made by my Public Radio Boyfriend
also
Best movie to accurately cover that post-college-figuring-things-out life stage
Sleepwalk With Me
Best comedy I saw this year
Friends with Kids
Best tense/dramatic movie you probably haven’t seen and would love
Take Shelter
Best movie to reassure me that wearing socks with my dresses during high school wasn’t lame, it was actually fashionable
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Best movie to practice deep breathing while watching
The Hurt Locker
Best “pretty good” movie that I bet you haven’t seen
10 Year
Movie with great concept poorly executed
In Time
Best Romantic Comedy I saw this year
Ira and Abby
Best movie with a female lead where said female lead is not prostitute, etc.
also
Highly recommended film
Trucker
Best boy-in-Scotland-instead-of-girl-in-Ozarks Winter’s Bone-type of film.
also
Film where subtitles are needed, even though English is being spoken
Sweet 16
Best movie with great sci-fi concept very well executed
(Note that this award is totally different than the award I gave to Limitless. Apparently it was a good year for cool concepts)
Looper
Best drama with lesbian couple I saw this year
also
Best “look it’s Peeta!” sighting
The Kids are All Right
Really mediocre movie that didn’t even have the decency to be bad enough to make fun of
The Trouble with the Curve
Best movie I resisted seeing for too long
The Savages
Best movie I was expecting the be okay, but was actually awesome
The Tourist
Best movie I watched even though the cover told me absolutely nothing about the story
Beautiful Thing
Best movie for setting and costumes
Anna Karenina
Best movie that I thought would be very tense (and it was) but also was quite funny in places
also
Best “toast” to come from a movie, ever.
Argo
Absolutely worst movie with female lead where she’s not a prostitute, but might as well be
Jolene
Best remake I liked better than the original
also
Second best “Look, it’s Peeta!” sighting
Red Dawn
Best TV series about High School, ever
also
Best individual performances by every actor making the collective whole amazing
Freaks and Geeks

Books read in December 2012

Five books!  Only five books!

Read
Othello
Shakespeare
For once the “modern analysis” at the end of the book gave me a very interesting insight into the play.  As usual, I enjoyed the performance much more than reading.

The Fault in our Stars
John Green
Matt and I read aloud
John Green makes for good read aloud.

Liar & Spy
Rebecca Stead
Read for Mock Printz
I enjoyed this book, the last I read for the Mock Printz Workshop, but I think it’s not a YA book. In fact, the library agrees with me, shelving it in the Juvenile section.  The prose was lively, the characters interesting.  I even put aside things so I could finish the book, which is always a good sign.  Also, two boy characters.   Always a good thing for the boy readers. 

Memoirs of Hadrian
Marguerite Yourcenar
Read for Kenton Book Group
I did not like this, Sam I Am, I did not like Hade-re-an.  The first person perspective made me feel as if I was trapped on an endless phone call with someone who never let me interrupt his soliloquy and ask clarifying questions.  There was a lot of surface and not much detail.  When I read historical fiction, I like to learn about the historic period in question. Hadrian’s endless blathering meant that I got a glimpse into things I might find interesting, but there was never any follow up on those things.   The book club member who chose the book began by apologizing for choosing it, because, though it is his desert island book, it is not a “book-club” kind of book, not being very linear.

Days of Blood and Starlight
Laini Taylor
Ah, the tricky “middle book” in a series of three where one must build plot, maintain characters, and juggle what happened in the book before this one with what will happen in the book after this one.  Taylor does a good job on all fronts.  We, who don’t have a clear memory to every plot point are looped back in with grace and there is inner struggle between the two ill-fated lovers.  Even friends manage to make the transition to the second book.  All in all, it was a pretty gripping read.  I’m a bit impatient for the third in the series.

Three sentence movie reviews: Promised Land

I’m a great fan of Gus Van Sant, but I’ve noticed that his “blockbuster” style movies tend to wander a bit in the middle and this one was no different, giving me time to contemplate a variety of things.* But even with that meandering, I enjoyed this film: the plot, the acting, the Van Sant trickery of it not really being about the purported topic, but instead being about relationships.  There were a lot of authentic looking locals too, which is important, in my book.

poster from:  http://www.impawards.com/2012/promised_land.html

*such as:

  • What month is it, exactly?  It seems still cold, but kind of spring/no snow.  Is it March?  April?
  • I wonder if the suctioning sound my fancy hot tea mug makes when I press the button to drink is bugging the lady next to me?
  • Well, now that lady next to me is mouth breathing, so I guess if she was annoyed by my mug, we are even.
  • Nice effect of peeling paint on the basketball gym.  I wonder if they had to create that, or if it was there.
  • Where have I seen that Rob guy before?
  • I do enjoy that Rosemary DeWitt.
  • I’m not sure how the bartender could do that many shots and still stand up, let alone work in any sensible fashion.  It seems she should have cut herself off.  Don’t they have bartender training in Pennsylviania?
  • I think “Promise Land” would be a better title than Promised Land.  The former works on a few different levels the latter, not so much.
  • My mom (who was the person sitting next to me who was NOT mouth breathing) even had an observation. She leaned over halfway through and said, “I’m sorry, but  if he’s a farm boy, there’s no way he wouldn’t know how to drive stick.”  Very astute observation.

Three sentence movie reviews: Freaks and Geeks

Perhaps the most perfect TV series ever made about high school which manages to encompass in 18 episodes what most shows don’t manage to convey over years of airtime.  This was just as good as the first time I watched it and I marveled again how each character–adults and teenagers–was fully formed and incredibly nuanced.  I also fell in love with Busy Phillips’ amazing portrayal of concrete-covered-marshmallow Kim Kelly.

Cost:  Free from library
Where watched:  at home.

poster from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0193676/

*I feel it important to note that the teachers in this series are mostly of the grumpy and put-upon variety, not the “let’s make an inspiring movie” variety.

Three sentence movie reviews: Magic Mike

If your friends are visiting from out of town and your aren’t sure what to do, perhaps this movie will fit the bill.  It was my fourth outing (since the end of July) with Mr. Magic Mike and I can say I still found the movie full of its enjoyable self, dark sad strippers notwithstanding.  If you’ve seen it, already you will know when to watch your friends’ reaction when the penis pump appears in the left-hand corner of the screen.

poster from:  http://www.impawards.com/2012/magic_mike_ver8.html

(I’m starting to run out of posters)

Three sentence movie reviews: Red Dawn

My expectations were EXTREMELY LOW for this film, low enough that I greatly enjoyed myself despite the fact the brother of Chris Hemsworth was a bit goofy-looking and the women didn’t have much to do other than bat their eyes.  There were some quite fun moments, it didn’t drag endlessly in the middle like the original and Peeta was in it!  I’m not sure why they felt the need to set it in Spokane, Washington when it was filmed in Michigan, but whatever, it was fine.

Cost:  $3.00*
Where watched:  Kennedy School

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2012/red_dawn.html

*I was bored while waiting in line to pay, so to kill time I got out my three dollars and fanned them aesthetically   The man behind me said, “It only costs three dollars?” in a voice of awe.  I told him indeed, that was the cost.  “But just for residents, right?”  Nope, everyone gets to pay only three dollars.  “Really?”   He was amazed.  I’m pretty sure he was not from around these parts.

Let’s talk handkerchief skirt construction.

As I said before, overall, I’m quite happy with this skirt.

However, now we will deconstruct it a bit.
It’s a handkerchief skirt, meaning two squares placed at 90 degree angles, with a circle cut for the waist. I got the idea from the book Bias-Cut Dressmaking by Gillian Holman.  The book itself was too involved for me in general, but I really liked the brief instructions for the skirt.  If you have interest in  bias-cut garments and some sewing experience, you might want to check out this book.  There is a huge section on all forms of underwear, which was interesting and which I will never make.  The book seems to be quite expensive right now online, but I got my copy from the library.  The author photo cracked me up, so be sure to take a look at that if you get the book.

 

The directions in the book were quite brief and glossed over how one would add a waistband.  However, I have just purchased the quite excellent Gertie’s New Book for Better Sewing by Gretchen Hirsch (still on sale at Powell’s for $24.50!) and in her instructions for making a dirndl skirt she covers waistband construction.  So that went off without a hitch.  The waistband came out quite well.
 
Something that did not work well is that the circle cut for my waist was much, much too large.  I suspect that my half circle I free-handed on the pattern was not entirely spherical in nature.  But I also might have fallen victim to something called “bias bag.”  In order to make the skirt fit, I had to take in six inches.  SIX!  I did this by making four pleats, which I feel just enhanced the two-color effect of the skirt.  I did, however, error in making the pleats face all the same direction  After I finished, I remembered that the two in front should have faced each other, as should have the two in back.  This is one of those errors that probably only I notice.
 
As mentioned in the initial post, this was my first time making bias tape.  It was pretty easy, especially with the taffeta  which wants to do whatever the iron is encouraging.  I was was leery of the orange material, though, afraid it would melt.  Instead of taking the time to test a swatch so I had good information (sewing really highlights how incredibly impatient and lazy I can be) I just sort of assumed it would melt and instead of nicely pressing, kind of just shoved everything into shape and through the machine.  I also made much too much of the orange bias tape, wasting a good hour of my time.  Learning from that, I measured exactly what I needed for the taffeta.
 
I took along my sewing friend Julie to pick out material, as it is the part I hate most about making something.  I sometimes get caught up in an idea and that idea doesn’t translate well to wanting to wear the completed garment in public.  Julie is fun to shop with because she likes to find bargain material and make wonderful things, and I’m a fan of that too.  I glommed on to the sheer orange early on, but the other layer was tricky.  Julie’s color palette is different than mine, so I resisted her initial pushing of the beige sparkly taffeta.  But when doing a side-by-side comparison, she was quite right and I love how the beige sets off the orange while the sparkly sequins shimmer from beneath   The material cost me $15.00 at Fabric Depot’s clearance room.  The zipper was about three dollars and the thread I bought was six dollars. 
 
Oh zippers.  You are the worst part of sewing.  Zippers aren’t hard, but there is so much room for error.  And I have a history fraught with improper zipper installation, see below.  This zipper was more complicated because I needed to put a zipper where there was no seam and I’d not done that before.  Happily, the internet is one’s friend for such things and I used this tutorial.  With a little background information from this post.  I think the technique worked pretty well for me, considering I was working with two layers of very slippery fabric.  I did err in marking my fabric with a Sharpie (again:  lazy!) and the opening at the bottom of the zipper was much larger than in the tutorial, but overall, I’m pleased with the fact I learned how to do this.  As for inserting the zipper, I was in the thick of “almost-done-finish-it-dammit” impatience.  So I just used the thread that was in the machine at the time, instead of re-threading the color suitable for the orange fabric.  And I kind of just jammed in the zipper, free-handing the seam.  So the border is wider at the bottom.

That said, the zipper does its job and I don’t think it’s something that most people (ahem, non-sewing people) will notice.   If they look too closely, I’ll just spin and distract them.
 

The other thing that happens with zippers is that I nearly always put them in backwards.  It has been that way since the very first skirt I made.  I think to myself, “now, make sure you put this in the right way,” and then some trance comes over me and the next thing I know I ‘m looking at my newly inserted zipper and it’s backwards once again!  If’ I’m not in that lazy/impatient stage, I will pick them out and put them in properly, but I was in that stage with this project and I figured tearing it out would cause more damage.  So I left it as it was. Happily, backward zippers still work.
 
My favorite part of this skirt is that I used a closure I inherited from my grandmother.  She had a pack of these in her sewing kit and I’m happy to install it in my skirt.  I love the adjustable closure and the metal is much more sterling than I would have been able to buy today.  I’ve made a mental note to harvest this closure when I eventually donate the skirt to the Goodwill.

Also, I should move the closure over about an inch as I have a lot of waistband overlap.  I may never do this, or I might be able to muster up enthusiasm for the project while watching a movie.  And this view shows that I should have given just a bit more to the short side of the waistband because the lack of extra fabric means that edge wants to fold back like this.  Happily, this is something only I will ever notice.
 

Also, I think the zipper isn’t straight.  But again, the way the skirt is constructed means not many people will notice.

Overall, I’m thrilled to have this skirt which I will wear multiple times this Holiday season.