Monday, June 29, 2009

Fanboys (2008)

Dan Fogler, Jay Baruchel, and the greatest detail job I have ever seen

First off readers (and I really don't know how many more of these I get) I apologize for the lapse in posts. I'm not sure what is going on lately, but I'm fairly certain it has to do with sunshine, going outside layer-less, and a renewed affinity for tennis doubles.

Second, what you may or may not know is that Millie and I are nerds. Perhaps some shake a stick, claiming we aren't really nerds, but I assure you, as a Stargate watching, Harry Potter reading, Battlestar Galactica enthusiast, I most certainly have a tried and true nerdy streak. However, the core of my nerdiness rests with a little trilogy you may have heard of called Star Wars (John Williams, you're on).

Still need some proof? Ok.
  • In high school my AIM name was Obijen (my other AIM account was Trillianjj, do we have any Hitchhiker fans out there?).
  • My friends took this one step further and renamed me Obijen Kenerdbi.
  • One entire wall of my fluorescent yellow bedroom was covered entirely in Star Wars pictures and paraphernalia (helped in part, of course, by tearing off expired pages from my Star Wars day planner).
  • I skipped school and waited 13 hours in line to get tickets for Episode One.
  • Depending on the time of day you're reading this, there is a 33.3% chance I'm tucked comfortably under the old Star Wars blanket I sleep with every night.
I'm not ashamed, these things are true, and I'm darn proud of them. Proud to say that I support the Rebel Alliance, that I've scored higher on Super Nintendo's version of A New Hope than any other video game I've ever played (ok, besides Super Tetris, I am a master of Super Tetris), and that I have not one, but two copies of the original Star Wars soundtrack on vinyl.

These are just a few of the reasons why Kyle Newman's Fanboys merits a post.

Marquette, Fogler, and Huntington at 'Java the Hutt"

The basics: It's 1998, six months before Episode One: The Phantom Menace is due to hit theatres. Four best friends from Ohio decide to drive across the country, break into Skywalker Ranch, steal a copy of the film, and see it before anyone else. Oh yea, and did I mention that one of them has terminal cancer? It's a road trip movie with a super-Warsy twist with a bit of dramah thrown in to push the plot along.

yea . . . why don't you take a look at the upper left hand corner . . .

From the onset, I was intrigued. Not only because Fanboys opens with classic Star Warsian title scrolling, but when the camera moves down to sweet little O-Hi-O it's to the unforgettable tune of Chumbawumba's "Tub Thumping." Oh 1998 . . . then we meet our nerds: Eric (Sam Huntington), Linus (Chris Marquette), Hutch (scene nabbing Dan Fogler), and Windows (Undeclared's true blue nerd Jay Baruchel), dressed as stormtroopers and declaring "Halloween just got awesome bitches."

Okay, so the tunes are timely and the costumes enticing, but between Jar Jar Binks, a gross lack of puppets and suped up trash cans, and a little scene sucker named Hayden Christensen, Star Wars fans have learned to be a skeptical bunch, so it wasn't until the following bit o' dialogue that Obijen was as wrapped up as that AT-AT Walker's legs during the schweet battle on Hoth:

Windows: "You guys have to stop perpetuating the myth that Boba Fett is awesome. He has a jet pack. Oooohhh. So did The Rocketeer. Real cool . . . all I'm saying is when it comes time for battle he's like Michael Bay - all style, no substance."

Fogler's shenanies are for the fans, all the way.

From that point on it's one righteous reference after another: Eric's older jerky brother calling the guys C3-Penis face and R2 dickhead, Windows exclaiming"what in Greedo's name?" when they come across a dive bar that Linus later calls "a wretched hive of scum and villainy", playing "Chewie" instead of shotgun, calling the masterbating Windows 'Admiral Jackbar', I mean the list goes on and on. Keep in mind too this is a movie made by geeks for geeks, so we're not only talking Star Wars references, but Terminator, Zelda, Stargate SG-1, Mario Kart, Jeri Ryan, Menudo, The Presidents of the United States of America, Top Gun, Big League Chew. Again, the list goes on and on.


Rogen leads a team of "Trekkers"

Like any good comedy we have our bevy of cameos as well and Fanboys doesn't disappoint, like Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher to start! Then there's Seth Rogen (in two roles, one being some of the most inspired work I've seen since Undeclared), Danny McBride, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, William Shatner, Joe Lo Truglio, and even Ray Park (Darth Maul).


The trash area at Skywalker Ranch . . . could it be?!?

There is one scene where I literally bantha foddered in my pants. Incredibly, but predictably of course, our heroes have broken into Skywalker Ranch. Somehow they come upon the Archive Room. Reader: it's heaven, pure and simple. I think one character even says "this is where I want my ashes scattered." Literally, Wars fan heaven. We're talking original Vader, R2D2, C3PO, Han's costume with the blaster attached, a thermal detonator, even Indi's hat and Willow's book of spells. I have to admit, as silly as this may sound, a palpable hush came over me, and I thought "wow, even though this is fiction, I'm in awe."

Opening night! Kristen Bell in that Leia costume, shocking . . .

Is this a great film? Of course not. There's a bit too much sentimentality at the end, it's obvious Kristen Bell is a truer blond than nerd, and upon watching it a second time I can positively state it doesn't have the perpetual rewatching capabilities of a Wet Hot American Summer. But it's certainly a funny flick, and if you're a Star Wars fan, well, it's probably the only film that encapsulates that precious time before Episode One dashed our hopes and dreams. Fanboys takes us on the geektastic journey we all dreamed of, giving us the schweest van imaginable (complete with a Chewie sounding horn, custom detail job, and light speed . . . ), and encourages the Rouge Leader within to cheer out loud, homemade saber in hand.

I remember the magic. Cinema 9 baby!

No matter the decade you were born, whether you saw the originals in theatres or on vhs (all three in a row my first time), there was an indescribable, unrivaled excitement. I mean, this was epic. The clone wars? Darth as Anakin? Yoda as a young(er) Jedi? All finally revealed! This frenzied energy was unlike anything I'd ever felt for a movie opening and it wasn't really until those lights went down and that music came up that I thought the last line of the movie: "what if it sucks?"

Shame on you George Lucas but bless you Fanboys for reminding us why could be so disappointed to begin with.

Millie's bees to knees meter (1 bee = blah, 10 bees = hoo-rah!): Millie: 6.75, Obijen: 9.5

Director: Kyle Newman
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Sam Huntington, Chris Marquette, Dan Fogler, Kristen Bell
Distributor: The Weinstein Company
Released: 2008

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)


Can you believe that until recently I had never seen Steven Spielberg's seminal sci-fi pic Close Encounters of the Third Kind? Perhaps Millie and I had been distracted all these years by another famous space flick that also came out in 1977 . . . Well reader, it's quite impressive, and if I may say, for a science fiction film made over thirty years ago, visually stands the test of time. There is one scene in particular that remains in a class all it's own. I've never seen anything made before or since to compare.

Now, one reason for watching Close Encounters, other than it being canonical in a genre I adore more and more each day, was to continue the heated debate raging about Spielberg's alleged assassination of Hollywood cinema. The debate, if you haven't been involved, began with our discussion of Jaws (here's a refresher). In it, some pretty hefty accusations were thrown at the director, the gist being that his outrageous blockbusters have exploited everything from great whites to WWII to the Holocaust and that nothing he made was every really worth a damn. Readers, especially those who have seen Close Encounters, can you really agree that Spielberg has added nothing to American cinema? Honestly?

I mean look at that sweet hat, he can't be all bad . . .

Close Encounters, written and directed by Spielberg, tells the story of a small town in Indiana that's suddenly turned into a hub for UFO's. Two folks in particular, Roy (Richard Dreyfuss, who's awesome, per usual) and Jillian (Melinda Dillon), are severely affected by the sightings and begin to hallucinate a particular image, the same image, as their lives deteriorate around them. Called to the place they imagine, as an invitation from the aliens themselves, Roy and Jillian are lead high atop a mountain for a close encounter indeed . . .

Okay, rereading that plot makes it sound a little cheesy, but here's where Spielberg's art - and yes, I'm gonna go ahead and classify him as an artist (whether he always hits his mark or no this remains true) - takes over. What could have been an otherwise run-of-the-mill alien story is originally recounted, subtly built, and tenderly filmed. By today's standards it's almost slow - the careful pacing creates an almost orgasmic build, slowly, deliberately, leading to this, as a friend watching put it, "bombastic" finish of symphonic proportion.

Plus Francois Truffaut is in it.

Nerds rejoice "this is awesome."

What makes this film truly stand out is the expert sound. Not only the quiet creaking of the ceiling lamp or careful steps of a three year old discovering intruders, but the unforgettable call sign of the aliens themselves and the righteous electronic tunes throughout. If I closed my eyes during certain scenes it was almost like attending a noise show! Human/alien communication is through music? Sweet, sweet music? I couldn't help but think of James Cameron's The Abyss, a film I simply love. Not that I feel one is a copy of the other, but rather how they compliment each other with this highly attractive concept of the intelligent, peaceful, well intentioned extra terrestrial.


And this brings us to my favorite scene. When the ship finally arrives, a keyboard player (center, above), operating the biggest synth I've ever seen, begins the tune the aliens originally used to signal the landing site. They respond. The keyboard player responds. The aliens begin to add notes, changing tone, and again the humans respond. With each note comes a corresponding colorful flash of light, like the biggest light bright you've ever seen connected to the sweetest keyboard 10-year-old-you could ever have envisioned. The result is an intoxicating, resounding symphony of noise and light wrapped up in the supernatural. It's like watching an unforgettable nerd concert, with every character in the film watching it with you, completely transfixed, completely enthralled.

Really though, did we need a line-up?

My one qualm with the film, and I hear this is perhaps to the director's distaste as well, is the physical representation of the aliens themselves. It is totally unnecessary and unfortunately becomes the one element, other than the sweet bellbottoms and feathered hair of course, that dates the film.

Super famous scene. So famous M. Night totally stole it.

Okay, so readers, what say you of Spielberg now? I mean, this film is highly regarded as darn good for its genre. I mean, M. Night Shyamalan practically ripped the entire thing off for that monstrosity of a film Signs. Close Encounters is a good film, and not just a good Hollywood summer blockbuster of a sci fi pic, but a thoughtful, interesting, highly rewatchable film. It's not fluff. And just for the record, neither is Munich!

Millie's bees to knees meter (1 bee = blah, 10 bees = hoo-rah!): 8

Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Francois Truffaut, Bob Balaban
Released: 1977
Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Friday, June 5, 2009

The Hangover (2009)

Zach Galifianakis, a baby, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms

Well I suppose I've already reneged on a promise made that Millie at the Pictures would return to its art haus roots and start writing about anything less mainstream than we have been - you know, Twilight, Role Models, I Love You, Man. Alas, I set out tonight for some enjoyable Hollywood fare and ended up at Todd "Old School" Phillips' new comedy The Hangover . . .

If it means anything, I did watch 3/4 of Some Like It Hot, loving every minute, until my Netflix dvd completely stopped working with 30 minutes to go! I could have been posting about serious issues relating to gender identification and misogyny embedded in Wilder's screwball drag comedy, and the voluptuousness of a size 14 Marilyn Monroe (sex symbols can have hips and backsides ladies!), but instead I'm here chatting with you about the illustrious Vegas bachelor party comedy. At least there weren't any fart jokes.

quite the hangover indeed . . .

Wow, now that I say it I can't believe there weren't any fart jokes . . .

Cooper, Galifianakis, and Helms in a patch o' trouble

The basics: Doug (Justin Bartha) is getting married in two days, right after he and best buds Stu (The Daily Show's Ed Helms) and Phil (the yummy and talented Bradley Cooper) head for one wild and crazy night in Sin City. Oh yes, and his fiance's socially awkward, self titled "lone wolf" brother (scene stealer Zach Galifianakis) is also along for the ride. The lights go down, the first round of shots are thrown back, and before we know if the entire thing is over and they wake up with no knowledge of what happened the night before. Oh, and Doug is missing. In the search to determine exactly what happened the night before, and retrieve the missing groom hours before his wedding, shenanigans most certainly ensue . . .

Helms with just one of the random animals in this film

I went to see The Hangover on a total whim. Okay, you got me . . . you . . . that's only partially true. I had been jonzing for a big theater experience, and The Hangover had been on the back burner, but it wasn't until seeing an ad where Peter Travers called it the "surprise comedy of the summer" and said I should "see it before all my friends do because they won't stop talking about it" that I jumped. Travers and I are usually in sinc - I often respect his yays and nays - plus it's rated R and I find that no decent comedy these days is rated anything less.

Major scene stealer, not the baby, the bearded guy.

Here's your review: it's pretty funny. I mean, honestly, what else do you want to know about a laugh-out-loud comedy? Nuance? It's very well cast, so there's plenty. Political message? No, not really. Excellent score? Well yes actually, Randall Poster (Rushmore, The Squid and The Whale, Jarhead, The Savages to name a mere few) is the music supervisor, so you're in for a real treat there.

Here's what Millie and I feel you should know: stun gun, wolf pack, cameos (Jeffrey Tambor, Mike Tyson, Todd Phillips, Wayne Newton, Carrot Top), infant masturbation, "rapeies". If that doesn't wet your whistle then I suggest you head over to the bookshelf, pick up a dictionary, and look up the word "funny."

Millie's bees to knees meter (1 bee = blah, 10 bees = hoo-rah): 7.5
Director: Todd Phillips Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Ken Jeong Released: 2009 Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Twilight (2008)

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson

Yes reader, you read the title correctly, I watched Twilight. In true Millie fashion, I've been aloof to this now waning tween craze until finally, by chance, I happened upon last summer's blockbuster that had nearly every 12 year old in the country wetting her low-rise stretch jeans. Actually reader, I love this. Well, not the sexual references to 12 year olds. I love reading or watching something that's frenzy has expired. I feel it allows me a truer, if not fuller, experience. My motto: see it opening night or hunker down and playing the waiting game. And now that I've convinced you I enjoy films most when I'm far from people's opinions of them, how's about you read this review?

Stewart and Elvis, I mean, Pattinson

The basics: Based on Stephenie Meyer's novels - best selling is an egregious understatement, - Twilight follows Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), a 16 year old who's recently moved from Phoenix to Fork, Washington. Although she's expecting little from the teeny, rainy town, Bella is soon thrown for a major love loop when she meets the pale, mysterious, almost fictionally handsome Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). He never eats, skips school when it's sunny, and is cold to the touch . . . oh dear, could she have fallen hopelessly in love with . . . a vampire?!

Well, well, well reader, so what do we make of Twilight? Is it worth the incredible buzz it stirred up, the gazillions it continues to make, and the overwhelming fanfare? Sure.. Why not?

First off, I have to admit that I have not read the book. Okay Twilight fans - I have not read the book - so I cannot speak to what's missing, Kristen Stewart's being miscast, or the fact that scaling a tree is a lot less humorous in prose. That major fact aside, yea, it's a pretty entertaining film with really hot leads that is thoughtfully directed.

Nikki Reed, Peter Facinelli, (from Can't Hardly Wait, woohoo!), and Pattinson

Speaking of direction, I fully endorse Catherine Hardwicke, despite the fact that many fans felt she took wind out of the book's sails and was perhaps not seasoned enough a choice. To them I say, stick some garlic in it! The Thirteen alum is obviously dealing with a completely different beast here: the Harry Potter of vampire books instead of a shockingly raw indi pic. Does it work? For the most part, it sure as stake does. Although, you are talking to a couple of gals who so easily tire with the typical Hollywood output. Gals who are thrilled with something so simple as an extra crossing in front of the camera, covering our main star for even a brief second. There is something nontraditionally presentational about Hardwicke's "Hollywood" style and I firmly believe this adds some much needed street cred (by which I mean cinematic cred) to the movie. Her shot composition is literary, and by typical mainstream standards, almost complex. There's an eerie and (somewhat shrouded) gritty quality to this film - it's obviously nuanced - and for me, for Hollywood, I cannot complain.

Sure, there are some technical elements that come off as silly (the "speed running" up a mountain and aforementioned tree scaling look a bit foolish), and yes, this does distract from the overall success of the film. It gets knocked it down a few pegs, though remains on the top rungs of the really-not-so-bad ladder.

"Like two sparrows in a hurricane . . ."

And the kids, you ask? Well, here's the ratio. For all of the film Pattinson is prettier. For most of the film Stewart's a better actor. They are both highly watchable, though I was left wanting a certain, hmmmm, maturity maybe? Perhaps their performances are ideal, for after all they are teenagers, but I'm almost speaking to their abilities as actors as much as anything else. Maybe they'll wow me in the upcoming The Twilight Saga: New Moon, but the trailer made them appear even a bit stagier than before! About a Boy and Golden Compass director Chris Weitz has large expectations to fill for sure . . . and maybe we can see some fangs this time?

Jealous.

Before I leave you to the meter, there is one thing that must be said. This film, and the story that inspired it I imagine, is a romantic's wet dream, especially if said romantic can easily recall those awkward days of high school where fantasy and day dreaming reigned supreme. There is an undeniable chemistry between Stewart and Pattinson that makes the naive-turned-super-intense-love between these two teenagers root-for-able. We all know I'm a sucker for a good love story (pun most certainly intended) but there is something all the more enticing about the teenage version. Something that reminds me of a place where nothing like the movies ever happened, but there existed a genuine belief that it might. A wide-eyed hope that fades pretty much as soon as that cap and gown are donned for the first and last time (or the first time you get in a B+ in college, ugh).

So, to recap, it's not Murnau by any stretch of the imagination, but it's arguably something to shake a stake at. Oh puns!

Millie's bees to knees meter (1 bee = blah, 10 bee = hoo-rah!): 6.5

Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli
Distributor: Summit Distribution
Released: 2008

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Open Forum: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Jack Nicholson as R.P. McMurphy

Unlike me until recently, I'm sure you've seen this top-notcher! Why don't you tell us what you think about Captain Jack and his colorful crew? Here are a few reminders to twist your brain around the creative juicer . . .


Vincent Shiavelli, William Duell, Christopher Llyod


Danny Devito


Louise Fletcher


Sydney Lassick, Nicholson, Will Sampson

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I'm Sorry, it's the Vampires . . .


Hello readers! I know, it has been a dog's age since I've posted and Millie and I are simply torn up about it. Our social calendars have been full as a church on Sunday and time spent blogging has been for work, not pleasure.

And then there's the vampires.

The new Mr. Jenn Jarecki, Stephen Moyer, oh he's stolen my heart . . .

You see, I have become completely enamored with HBO's True Blood, a vampire series based on Charlaine Harris' books, starring Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, and a bunch of other ridiculously talented people. If you must know, I'm actually in love with Bill Compton (Moyer), a vampire turned in 1865 just after the Civil War, a true Southern gentleman, and one heck of a dreamboat!


I promise Millie and I will take up post again . . . once I've been bitten I'll have all the time in the world . . .

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Before Sunrise (1995)

Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) moments before they part

Just the other day I was thinking 'Jenn, is there a movie so excruciatingly beautiful that it leaves me feeling both completely broken and whole?' I have been listening to so much Joanna Newsom lately - so much delicate, heartbreaking harp -that I've been hankering to watch a comparable, painfully stunning piece of art. So, what do you think reader? Is there a film that sears into your heart, perhaps to melt or maybe to scorch? Sadly, I had a really hard time thinking of one . . .

The irreplaceable Joanna Newsom, so you can pick up what I'm putting down here. You know, otherworldly beauty, the power of the songstress, strings so gorgeous they hurt . . .

(link)Later, while applying library cards to those dvds still lacking them (my collection now finally reorganized, I shall leave you in suspense as to how), I came across Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise. I had only seen it once, but enjoyed it enough to add it to a particularly particular collection. I remembered two very simple things about it (and I hope you don't balk at my naivete): it was chockful of truth and beauty. Oh! And I remembered that it was one of the most romantic films I've ever seen. I wondered 'is this perhaps the beautiful film I've been looking for? Could Linklater compare with "Sawdust & Diamonds" and "This Side of the Blue?"' (ps I recommend listening to these songs while reading this entry)

The answer? Oh yes reader, most certainly, though Before Sunrise is more like a harp/cello duet, dreamy and indulgent, but with a piercing, discomforting truth.


The basics: On a train to Vienna, Parisian Celine (the gorg Julie Delpy) and American Jesse (greasy-and-delicious-as-the-best-fries-you've-ever-had Ethan Hawke) find themselves across from one another and begin an easy, captivating conversation. Though she's heading to Paris, on one of those spontaneous whims you entertain only while traveling, when "you have ideas you wouldn't normally have", Jesse suggests that Celine get off in Vienna, spend the entire night walking around the city with him, and get back on her train in the morning. She agrees, they do, and the most wonderful shenanigans ensue . . .


Let me be frank with you reader. Before Sunrise washed over me so entirely because it hits startlingly close to home. Its two main characters grapple with the same life and love queries I've been debating since puberty (well, knowing me, I probably brought them up in the womb with my twin sister Jane). In fact, my astrological chart says I am ruled by air . . . constantly in the sky . . . in my thoughts . . . in another world . . . and here is a story of two people living as though in a dream, talking endlessly about fundamental wants and needs, knowing full well how temporal their situation is, while doing all they can to betray time's inevitable, perpetual curtain. Or, as Newsom puts it: "though our bones they may break and our souls separate/-why the long face?/and though our bodies recoil from the grip of the soil/-why the long face?"


Seamlessly, Before Sunrise articulates my every hope and fear about the big L and in doing so holds fast, and tight, onto my little jenny heart. Like Celine and Jesse, I'm fascinated by the idea that everything is fleeting and yet we have a sincere desire to connect, to hold on, to plant our feet and deny these statutes of time we invariably, without choice, concede to. Jesse quips "people have these romantic projections that aren't really based in reality" and later Celine wonders "isn't everything we do in life a way to be loved a little more?" Oh it's excruciating (beautifully excrutiating . . . ): the want to be loved so completely and without question and the fear that time will inevitably wear that love away.

Celine and Jesse in an nervous, awkward moment as they get off the train

The film succeeds in avoiding the maudlin and obvious because of Linklayer (yea, I said it), who expertly uses Vienna and it's own cast of characters to create a world in which the story is both primary and backdrop. Our characters' tale is one of an infinitesimal number, a mere speck on Vienna's storied canvas, and yet is indisputably singular. This paradigm is one of many in Before Sunrise: male/female, lust/love, philosophical/rational, awkward/natural - always the two sides to each coin.

Locations, people, and conversations drift by, one leading organically to the next, imbued with positive and negative. In the morning, when they part, in the quickest flash it's all over. In one swift moment that which seemed so real, so true, is mere memory. It's as though we've imagined the entire thing (only unlike the characters, and unlike life, we have the bizarre ability to rewind and relive). Though in truth, aren't all moments like this? Aren't they constantly ready to expire? No matter how honest, how real, or how true they feel to us in their time, moments never last.

And so I must ask, why do we ever get off the train? What is the point of starting anything, giving yourself to anything, if it's nothing but history waiting to happen? Jesse and Celine move on to their separate lives and I had to ask: would it ever have worked anyway? Does it make their experience any less beautiful if the answer is no? Does the answer always have to be no? Ah, but then I remembered that I am an eternal optimist! Although I know everything ends, I have no idea when that end will come, and I intend to enjoy as much as I possibly can until that which I have no control over occurs. Is it not better to feel the giddy and the gloomy rather than sit comfortably in a dining car watching it all speed terribly fast out of site? As it stands, these moments in which we "truly live" or "feel fully" are gone as quickly as those in which we sit passively back. If everything is going to end, and of course it will, I see no reason not to invest in life and love, no matter how long or short lived. Joanna puts it so eloquently:

"And the rest of our lives will the moments accrue
When the shape of their goneness will flare up anew
Then we do what we have to do(-re-loo-re-loo)
Which is all that you can do on this side of the blue"

For Millie and me, Before Sunrise enforces this skeptical optimism. It's exceptionally beautiful, leaving my heart encouraged, enlightened, and a little melancholy. What more could I ask for?

Millie's bees to knees meter (1 bee = blah, 10 bees = hoo-rah!): 9

Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Released: 1995