Austenland & the Apocalypse

Duke and I were talking the other day about how we went forever without seeing any new movies... then I went and saw three movies in the last few weeks!  All of them were comedies, but I think they kind of run the gamut in terms of genre.

To go alphabetically, most recently I went with Emma (of The Fiercest Lilliputian) to see Austenland, that was only playing in Green Hills due to a limited release.  I was worried about whether it would be worth seeing in theaters, given that the critics universally panned it as terrible... but 'real people' on Rotten Tomatoes disagreed.  So we decided to indulge without the boys!

image source

Austenland is based on a novel (that I now feel like I need to go read) with an awesome cast... Keri Russell is wonderful as ever in the lead role, and the supporting cast like Bret McKenzie, Georgia King, Jennifer Coolidge and Jane Seymour were hilarious.  AND there's cast member who played a role in my beloved BBC Pride & Prejudice.  I won't spoil who!

Overall we agreed that it was a fun romp!  If you like rom-coms, are an Austen fan, and like a bit of silly, it's a great movie.  I can already tell that once it hits Netflix, it will be one of my lazy Sunday movies.

In another genre completely, Duke and I watched two apocalyptic comedies that really made us laugh hard.

The first, This is The End, is a raunchy comedy a la Superbad/Pineapple Express.  It stars Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, James Franco, and more as exaggerated versions of themselves in Los Angeles during the end of the world.  It's crude and silly and crazy.  Completely out there.  Violent and filled with expletives.  But if you're a fan of these actors and the kinds of movies they're in, add this one to your list.  Duke in particular likes these actors (he met Seth Rogen while working as an extra on Zack and Miri) and enjoyed it.  I'm not quite sure how this film got such excellent reviews, because there were points it really lagged and didn't entertain me... but any movie the culminates in a Backstreet Boys reunion is worth it to me.  (Sorry for that spoiler, but this movie has been out for ages.)

image source

The second movie, with similar title and end of days kind of theme, was The World's End.  Simon Pegg is behind this thing, but if Duke hadn't made me watch Shaun of the Dead, I'd only have known him as Scotty in the new Star Treks.  But he actually co-wrote this movie and it's pretty entertaining... it's British humor, so if you don't like that you won't like this.  In fact, whether or not you found Shaun of the Dead to be a good movie will determine if you like this.  It's basically about a loser who was hot stuff in high school who reunites his old buddies in an attempt to reclaim his former glory.

image source

These trips to the theater have made me realize how much I really enjoy going to see films.  I spend more time these days waiting for things to hit Netflix, but there's something different about seeing certain films in a theater environment.  I'm looking forward to the next Hunger Games and Hobbit movies, which I'll see for sure!

Have you seen any good movies lately?