#10 - Better than Chocolate

I should admit that I saw this movie a while ago, and wasn't very impressed. I couldn't bring myself to watch it again. No, it wasn't that terrible, but it also wasn't memorable enough for me to be okay with losing a couple hours of my day watching it.

But I will give it credit for being one of the first movies to introduce me to a whole new level of lesbian subculture. How do you ask? Well, this movie was made for lesbians. No duh right? I mean that this is indeed a lesbian movie. There are plenty of movies that would work regardless of the sex of the characters. This isn't one of those movies. The situations that happen in the movie only happen as a result of the characters being lesbian. Don't get me wrong - this isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, if you're the type of person who prefers movies where lesbian-ism isn't the main theme, then this isn't the movie for you.

This movie also isn't for you if you don't like overtly graphic/sexual material. I had a major problem with how sexual the movie was. While I don't mind sex scenes, hell a lot of people can attest to that, but I like them to be done tastefully. There is nothing tasteful about this movie. It's crude and low brow. The sex scenes are completely attractive, but they weren't erotic. The characters didn't have any real chemistry. It was all forced.

The plot in itself was a bit silly, but I could live with the plot. Wiki does a great job at summarizing the movie:

Maggie (Karyn Dwyer) has recently moved out on her own, and has started a relationship with another woman, Kim (Christina Cox). However, Maggie's mother Lila (Wendy Crewson) and brother, who are forced to move into her tiny loft sublet with her, are unaware that she is a lesbian. Maggie's freedom is compromised, and she believes she must keep her blossoming affair a secret. However, the clandestine romance introduces Maggie's family to a host of new experiences, many of which are "better than chocolate."

Yes, plot alone, this movie didn't have a lot potential, but it also could have had some really great scenes. But, the bad acting and editing makes sure that this doesn't happen. Better than Chocolate does get some laughs out of you, but they come too far and few in between the rest of the movie.

This movie felt like it was a big dream from a young lesbian hitting puberty. It was raw and gritty, and did pack a few obvious laughs. It's a decent movie and has a lot of references to lesbian culture and stereotypes (it was here where I first heard the u-haul joke). Like I said before, I wouldn't see this movie more than once, but it's a couple hours well spent on a rainy afternoon.

#17 - Chasing Amy

Oh Chasing Amy. No one should be chasing anything in this movie. It's so bad. It's difficult to get through the entire movie. I had to actually take a couple breaks because I could not handle the terrible plot and subpar acting. I'm really surprised at it's popularity and critical acclaim. Because honestly, I really don't see it as anything good. A friend of mine pointed out that for its genre its a good movie. And I guess in that regard, yes it's a good stoner movie. But if you are looking at it from a critical perspective, I fail to see how it's any good.

Plot

Holden and Banky are comic book writers that meet Alyssa at a comic book convention. Holden falls for Alyssa but soon finds out that she's a lesbian. Regardless of this, he continues to fall for her, hangs out with her, and eventually confesses his feelings for her. Alyssa becomes angry at him for putting her in this unfair situation, which leads one to believe that she too had developed feelings for him. Nonetheless, they eventually starts too date. But of course, things aren't going to go picture perfect. Alyssa has to deal with the fact that she self identified as lesbian but now was dating a man. Holden had to deal with the fact that he was dating a self-identified lesbian, and had to get over his insecurities. Alyssa had gotten around, and he had to struggle with growing up and being okay with that. Banky was there as Holden's foil and distrusted Alyssa. All these things eventually add up and Alyssa and Holden struggle to maintain their relationship. I won't ruin the ending for you because that would be unfair. Of course, if you're like me and don't like the movie - you won't really care how it ends; you only be happy that it did end.

Characters:

There aren't many redeemable qualities in this movie. And the characters don't really help its case. I hated, absolutely hated Holden, Banky, and sometimes Alyssa. They were all so immature and intolerable. Their actions were inane and at times completely selfish. The only things that make the characters tolerable, the movie for that matter, are the monologues that the characters go into every now and then. These monologues were quite deep and full of emotion. Sure, this would then be followed by something nonsensical but at least for those few moments, Chasing Amy had my attention.

Pros

I must say, the acting in the movie isn't that bad. The characters were believable and there was a certain chemistry between all the characters.

Cons

So, why do I detest this film. The plot was terrible. I much rather prefer the summary than the actual movie. Because past the main points I mentioned, there isn't much else to the film. That's an issue. It's difficult to get through the movie, because nothing really seems to be happening. It progresses further into nonsense and it progresses with some annoying immature characters. I don't want to go on their journey to discovery. No thanks. Do I blame the plot being terrible on the script? Only partially. The directing was the what completely ruined the film. Then again, it's a stoner film - so we're not going for quality here folks. But still, I didn't think that I'd be throwing a couple hours out the window with nothing to show for it but a blog post and a bucket full of angry.

All in all

If you like this type of genre, you'll like this movie. If you really can't stand this types of film - then avoid Chasing Amy. It will hurt you to do otherwise.

#38 - Gray Matters

Why have I not heard anything about this movie before? Grey Matters is one of the cuter, quirkier films I've seen in a while. Although it's a low budget, silly romantic comedy it does have moments that reach beyond the usual emotional complexity of romantic comedies and for the most part - it's pretty touching.

So what's this movie about? Well, it stars Heather Graham and Tom Cavanagh as Gray and Sam Baldwin - siblings who are basically inseparable. They live together, dance together, and are often mistaken for a couple rather than siblings. Yea, their relationship is borderline creepy, but I guess that's what happens when you're both alone in the city with no hopes for a relationship right?

So anyway, the duo decide that they need to stop their incestuous ways and make a pact to look for possible partners for each other - a guy for her, and a girl for him. Let's fast forward to the point where they meet this fantastic girl that completely changes both of their lives. The rest of the movie is mostly about Gray's budding sexuality and how everyone else reacts and responds to her.

The good:

Like I said, there were a lot of touching monologues in the movie that definitely left you thinking. All of them revolved around Gray's coming out and I felt like some touched a lot of feelings that people do have when they realize that they are gay, I know I resonated with what she was saying.

Apart from the fun script and amusing acting, there are a lot of elements that make it a cute movie, and one that is a positive lesbian movie. You see Gray's awkward and seamless transition from in the closet woman to a much more confident lesbian. It's nice to see a movie like that. I also liked that, although the movie was a romantic comedy, it doesn't necessarily have you're cookie cutter ending. It does throw in some interesting twists. The movie as a whole is a bit absurd, but it does have some elements of real life. I also liked the supporting characters in the movie. They were all super supportive and super silly. They weren't just one dimensional characters either - which is great. Even though you don't see much of them, they add to the film in their own special way.

The annoying:

Now, don't get me wrong. I was annoyed by the characters a few times. Some were a bit too awkward and Gray was a bit too self-absorbed. Really, the entire movie played out like a really long episode of Will and Grace. Only in this they are siblings, and Grace is a lesbian and Will is straight. So at times, the characters are a bit too much and can get annoying, but all in all - they grow on you.

All in all

Like I said, I really don't understand why I haven't heard of this movie before. I think it's really under-appreciated, and that really shouldn't be the case. It's a good movie. Not great, but good. Sure at times it does get annoying. But overall the flaws are made up for with the story line.

It leaves you feeling great and the way that it treats the coming out experience is pretty awesome. Its funny, warm, and touching.

Movies that deal with coming out as one of the big themes of the events usually have to find a balance between being cliche and being good. Often times, they fail. Not this movie. This movie is on point.