Notoriety for whatever reason, never seems to benefit the noted, only the notees

The first time I saw the trailer for Easy A, I knew I was going to love it. No, really. If you go back through my Twitter feed to last year at some indeterminable time,  you’ll find my tweet. It was even responded to.

I say this not in the Hipster, “Oh, I liked that waaay before it was mainstream” way. I say it because this movie was released in September of 2010 and I took my precious damned time in watching it.

I begged people to see it at the theater with me. (Yes, I am one of those people) I got it from the library twice. I returned it, put it back on hold, and felt like an overwhelming failure.

But HA HA, I finally watched it. Suck on that, Hipsters!

I relate in absolutely no way to this movie. That is for one reason, which can be summed up in one word: "Discretion”. Also, I lucked out in that cell phone popularity was still a year or two away, and mass texting was several years away. Seriously dodged a bullet on those fronts.

But this is a ridiculously fun movie. This is fun in the greatest Mean Girls sense of the word. The addition of Patricia Clarkson and removal of Lindsay Lohan could potentially push it ahead on the list. No, wait, there’s apparently a Twilight actor in here. Okay, it may not beat it, but it could definitely tie.

The humor is quick and sharp, my favorite kind. The humor is not visual, it’s all in delivery, and that is my kind of movie. Plus Olive is ridonculously smart, so everything out of her mouth, whether biting or sincere, is a real treat.

Let’s get my new found adoration for Emma Stone out of the way right away. Because holy crap.

I have never seen anything Emma Stone has been in. To be fair, I’ve reviewed the movies and television projects she’s been in, and she was pretty much in one suckfest after another for a very long time. I mean, Marmaduke? And she was in Nathan Fillion’s craptastic Drive, which just tells you everything you need to assume about her acting career.

She is a tiny little redheaded gem in this movie. Everything she does is utterly believable, from the monologue about seafood as an aphrodisiac to bouncing up and down on the bed with the poor little closeted boy. I truly believe she is Olive, and that she is the great defender of the underdog. If I were in high school with her, I…would’ve believed the rumors and considered her a big whore bag. BUT! I would’ve had mad respect for her hot ass corsets.

The cast was all well chosen, especially the adult characters, but I really have nothing to say about almost any of them on an individual basis. Stanley Tucci is always a treasure, Patricia Clarkson could turn Angela’s Ashes into a laugh riot, and Thomas Hayden Church and Lisa Kudrow? Do I need to elaborate?

I do not worship at the Gossip Girl altar. I have seen more than a handful, less than a dozen episodes, almost all of them with Michelle Trachtenberg in them. I really dislike the show. Most especially for the main actress, Blake “Please don’t mind the mouthful of spit I keep in my mouth while delivering my lines” Lively, but also for the contrived plot lines and idiotically spoiled children who comprise a cast I think I’m supposed to feel for.

Little did I know that Penn Badgley is actually a decent actor. I never would’ve figured that out based on his pointless role on GG. He is lovely in this movie as Lobster Todd, and I was immediately drawn to his character. And I rooted hardcore for him. He was the biggest surprise for me, and I enjoyed it.

Amanda Bynes made it big just as I was out of the Nickelodeon phase of my life. But she was on All That when I was transitioning, followed up by the joy that was What I Like About You. Her movies have never made me do cartwheels of glee in anticipation of them. I watched Sydney White because Danny Strong was in it, and though I did enjoy it, it had less to do with her than with the entire cast as a whole.

This is a very different role for her, and it’s perfect. She reminds me of Reese Witherspoon for some reason, maybe because Reese has never been afraid to play the really really different rolls, like Tracy Flick. She’s not a one note character, which she could’ve been, and she’s sassy. I would have hated her character in high school. I did hate the male equivalent of her, and spent a great portion of time doing things I knew would offend him. Funny stories for a different blog.

It doesn’t take much to make me want to rewatch the 80’s movies of my childhood, but this movie seriously kicked in a nostalgia desire. Most especially to watch the Molly Ringwald-era John Hughes movies. The respect paid to those movies really made this movie worthwhile for me. Gotta love pop culture that pays its dues to the ones that came before.

The performance scene was so completely over the top and unbelievable that there was no way it wasn’t going to work. And the groundwork had already been laid for it throughout the movie. And also, did I mention the corsets? The final speech via webcam was also perfect, including the iPod boombox, lawnmower ride, and fist pump.

Just a truly joyful movie. Makes me wish I’d been less discreet in my time.

This was not the only movie I’ve watched in the last week. Let’s do a quick run down.

Rewatch: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 1: Still amazing. Though I’ve been seriously depressed over a lost (now found) pet, so Dobby’s death scene seriously ripped my heart several new holes.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: Never saw it before. What a weird ass movie. Kevin Spacey and John Cusack were, as always, a joy. Suppose I need to read the book.

It: Watched with commentary only. I watched this for the first time when I was six years old. Not kidding. Still traumatized. The commentary featured all of the adult cast plus the director. It was jarring to hear John Ritter’s voice, talking about how someday he’d watch the movie with his children. Very sad.

Diabolique: The original French version with subtitles. I saw the remake when it first came out (rented, on video, I am old), and was not impressed. The original holds that proper tension, and the bathtub scene was creepy the way it’s supposed to be, not in that ridiculous way it was handled in the Sharon Stone version. Which, in fact, I am rewatching right now. It’s as ridiculous as I remembered.

I miss watching movies. But I recently acquired a treadmill, so I should be getting back into the habit, and actually bloggin’ away more often now.