Shutter Island (2010) - Martin Scorsese

Shutter Island (2010)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Laeta Kalogridis (Screenplay), Dennis Lehane (Novel)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Jackie Earle Haley, Ted Levine, John Carroll Lynch, Elias Koteas

In the film Adaptation (2002) a character states that the only thing that matters for a successful film is that you wow the audience in the end. He says "The last act makes a film. Wow them in the end and you got a hit. You can have flaws, problems, but wow them in the end and you've got a hit." This is how a lot of movies are viewed. If you wow the audience enough in the end they will forget all about the problems with the rest of the film. Unfortunately filmmakers have used this as a crutch to make audiences fall in love with bad films. Audiences have learned to love and expect twist endings so much that they want to see them every where. Marketing teams take advantage of this and advertise the hell out of anything that comes close to having a twist ending.

I think this is part of the reason that Shutter Island (2010) seems to be such a misunderstood film. It was marketed as having a really big twist and many people that see the film want to believe that there is a huge twist.. The truth is though, there isn't really a twist in the film and I think that this disappoints a lot of people. The movie is just an extremely well told, suspenseful story. It makes you question where it is going several times. However the story follows a very logical progression and things are slowly revealed in a way that makes perfect sense. This is the difference between a good, "Hitchcockian" suspense film and a film that uses a twist as a crutch.

I am a big fan of Hitchcock so I tend to not just throw around the term "Hitchcockian" to any suspenseful film. Hitchcock was the master of creating suspense and Scorsese manages to come pretty close to creating a film that Hitchcock would have been proud to claim as his own. Hitchcock also knew how to create a great suspense film without relying on a twist to sell the film. Rear Window (1954) is one of Hitchcock's most suspenseful films and there isn't a twist to be found.

Everything that happens in Shutter Island makes perfect sense and is actually foreshadowed several times throughout the film. You may not see exactly where the film is going and there are several parts in the film where you will question why certain things are happening. It will all slowly begin to come together in a very well thought out and realistic way though. This is one of the stories that was completely planned out from the beginning and didn't feel like some twist was added because the writer painted himself into a corner and had nothing else to do.

On top of how well written it was the film was also extremely well acted. I am not the biggest fan of Leonardo DeCaprio, he just never really seems old enough to play the roles he is playing. I did like him in this movie though. Sure, he still looked young but he did a great job pulling off the U.S. Marshall that is tormented by his past. Mark Ruffalo also did a great job as Decaprio's partner and Ben Kingsley does a great job as the Doctor in charge of the asylum. All of the smaller roles were well done as well from Jackie Earle Haley's performance as an inmate to Ted Levine as the Warden.

Scorsese also manages to have an amazing visual style as well. As mentioned he manages to do a pretty good job channeling Hitchcock to create suspense but he also seemed to do a great job channeling Stanley Kubrick's visual style during different parts of the film. He doesn't copy Kubrick's style exactly but there are definitely parts of the film where you can see how much Scorsese was influenced by Kubrick. Scorsese does this without sacrificing his own style though. You can definitely tell that this is Scorsese's movie but he was smart enough to know when to borrow from some of the other masters out there.

Rating: 8/10

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The Hurt Locker (2008) - Kathryn Bigelow

The Hurt Locker (2009)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writer: Mark Boal
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, Evangeline Lilly, Christian Camargo

Well I keep hear nothing but good things about Kathryn Bigelow and her newest movie The Hurt Locker (2009). Now that she has won the top prize at Director’s Guild of America Awards, her film is getting even more and more Oscar buzz. That means it was about time for me to see this movie. I was a little worried though, there was so much hype that I didn't see how it could live up to it all.

Most movie never live up to their hype and this movie wasn't any different. I thought it was a good movie but not a great movie. It just didn't do much for me. The movie had a few exciting and tense action sequences but honestly there wasn't much more to the movie than that. It attempted to have a message about war being a drug and it questioned how exactly soldiers are supposed to live in the real world after the experience of war. This message has been done before and much better by many movies in the past. This movie is just too shallow for the message to really work.

The shallowness of the movie comes from just how shallow all the characters are. None of the main characters in this film have any dimension to them at all. They are the same stock characters that show up in every war movie that has ever existed. This would be fine if they had some other personality going for them but they don't. There is nothing to distinguish these characters from the characters of most other war movies.

The main character, William James, is the gung-ho military character that plays by all his own rules but manages to never get into any trouble. Even though he puts everyone around him in danger his methods always work so everyone lets his behavior slide. He breaks every rule in the book and everyone just constantly looks the other way. This character is reckless for the sake of being reckless; he is such the stereotypical reckless and dangerous character that if this movie has been made in the late '80s the role would have been tailor made for Tom Cruise.

The other two main characters are not much better. First you have Owen Eldridge who plays the military character that obviously never should have joined the military. He doesn't have what it takes mentally to make make it through a war. He is scared of everything. Now I know everyone is going to feel fear during war time but this is that character that you can tell doesn't have what it takes to be in the military. However, his fear is used to manipulate audience into feeling bad for him. The truth is that the character is played so over the top that he just doesn't seem real and therefor I had a hard time feeling anything for him.

The next team member is JT Sanborn and he is slightly more realistic than the other two characters but not by much. He isn't as over the top as the other two characters, in fact he is portrayed as a normal, good soldier who is doing his best to stay alive and serve his country. My only problem with him is that I found it hard to believe that he would have let William James get away with all his dangerous behavior. I don't buy that he wouldn't have said something to a commanding officer about how much danger William was putting the team through. He seemed like too good of a soldier to let things like that pass.

Now, a lot of the praise this movie has gotten is for its realistic portrayal of a war zone. That doesn't fly for me. I didn't really see anything that realistic about how the military was portrayed in the film. There were far too many times in the film where characters were going off on their own and getting into trouble. I am sure these things don't happen in the military and if they did there would be consequences. For example, William James sneaks off the base at night and goes out into the war zone alone and then is able to get back on to the base without any kind of reprimand for leaving the base. I am sorry, I just don't buy that. Now, perhaps I should not fault the movie for being unrealistic because the film makers may not have been going for realism. Since the realism was touted by all the critics, that is one of the things I was expecting though.

In the end, the movie was pretty good but it was not great. It is not the best movie I saw all year and is most definitely not the best directed movie I saw all year so it really deserves neither of those awards. It had some exciting action sequences but that just wasn't enough for me in a movie that is getting as much Oscar buzz as this one. When it comes down to it my friend Paul was able to sum up the film perfectly in one sentence; it "carries itself like a serious war drama but it's really at best a decent action film."

Rating: 6/10

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High Plains Drifter (1973) - Clint Eastwood

High Plains Drifter (1973)
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writers: Ernest Tidyman, Dean Riesner
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Mitch Ryan, Jack Ging, Stefan Gierasch, Ted Hartley, Billy Curtis, William O'Connell, Buddy Van Horn

I have a confession to make. Clint Eastwood has directed over 30 movies and I have only seen 3 of them; Gran Torino (2008), Unforgiven (1992), and High Plains Drifter (1973). Clint tends to direct movies that look like movies I might enjoy but I just never get around to actually watching. I've probably just lost the respect of many of my film geek friends but I will try to fix the problem as soon as possible.

Now, you would think that when Clint Eastwood was announced as this month's choice for the Lambs In the Director's Chair feature that I would take that as an opportunity to see some of his films that I have missed. You would be wrong though, I decided to go with an old standby that I had been wanting to write up for quite awhile. Hopefully reading some other entries for the Director's Chair will inspire me to finally watch more of his movies.

High Plains Drifter is not your typical western. In fact, if reports are to be believed, John Wayne criticized the movie for being a violent and revisionist portrayal of the Old West. In most westerns there is a likable protagonist for the audience to connect with. Even if that protagonist was an anti-hero like John Wayne's Rooster Cogburn in True Grit (1969) there was still some underlying trait that would allow the audience to connect with them.

Clint Eastwood's The Stranger in High Plains Drifter is not only an anti-hero but he is a sadistic anti-hero that wants nothing more than to see the town of Lago suffer. Now, the town of Lago may deserve everything it gets in this film but that doesn't necessarily make The Stranger a likable character for what he does. Clint Eastwood, as both director and star makes it hard for us to like The Stranger from the very beginning. Within ten minutes of meeting The Stranger we see him kill three people and rape a woman. These are not exactly the traits of a hero in the normal western.

Now even though there are no really likable characters in the movie that doesn't stop the movie for drawing me in for others reasons. All of the characters have a mystery behind them that keeps me interested in finding out just what dark secrets everyone has. What does The Stranger have against the town of Lago, why is he there, where did he come from and most importantly just who is he? The town of Lago has its own secrets that are slowly revealed as the movie moves along. The mystery of the town's sordid past and just why all the people in the town are so afraid is enough to pull me into the film without any of the characters being likable.

Clint Eastwood's direction in the film is marvelous and helps to tell the story. He obviously takes a lot of his inspiration for how he shot the film from Sergio Leone. However, Clint manages to create his own unique style in the film that is able to set him apart of Leone. Some of the choices he made really help make the story seem more real. For example, actually building the small town completely on the bank of a river instead of trying to shoot on a Hollywood backlot really helps to create the feel of a small, western town. In fact, one of my favorite iconic shots from any western comes from this film. The long shot of the town of Lago completely painted red always had such an eerie feeling to me.


Over all High Plains Drifter is one of my favorite westerns and the fact that it is kind of an "anti-western" is probably part of why I like it. I tend to prefer the non traditional westerns like this and High Noon (1952). In fact High Plains Drifter and High Noon have a lot in common, both focus on a cowardly town that is looking for someone else to clean up one of their messes but don't necessarily want to help with the clean up. Clint Eastwood's The Stranger is a much different character than Gary Cooper's Marshal Will Kane.

Rating: 8/10

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Avatar (2009) - James Cameron

Avatar (2009)
Director: James Cameron
Writer: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel Moore

Well, I finally got around to seeing Avatar (2009), a little late perhaps but there is no way I am seeing a movie this over-hyped during its opening weekend. With big event movies like this I tend to prefer to wait a couple weeks for things to settle down before I venture out to see them. I also like to try and see an afternoon show during the week to minimize the effects of the screaming crowds of fanboys. If what you are taking from this is that event movies usually aren't my cup of tea, well you'd be right.

Avatar wasn't exactly my cup of tea but it wasn't a bad cup of tea either. For the most part I found myself being entertained by the shear spectacle of the film. The CGI is very well executed. The landscapes James Cameron created in the film really look amazing. The Na'vi (the completely CGI created race that inhabits the planet of Pandora) are rendered very well and for the most part you forget that they are CGI characters during the film. They aren't perfect and their a few times during the movie where you can tell they aren't real but they are better than any humanoid CGI characters that have come before them.

The action sequences are well done and pretty exciting. They may have been created in a computer but they are far better looking than any of the computer generated battle sequences from the Star Wars prequels. James Cameron put a lot of effort into creating all these photo realistic landscapes and then animating the battles in them and it shows. The effects sequences are first rate and some of the best I've seen. The 3D in the film is also used perfectly to pull the audience into the battle sequences (and the rest of Pandora for that matter). The 3D wasn't at all intrusive and gimmicky like it can be in other films. It actually did add to the experience of this movie.

Now, I started out with all the good things about the film so I know at this point you must be asking yourself why this wasn't my cup of tea. Well, it comes down to story for me and the story in this one just didn't do much for me. For starters, this story has been told hundreds of times before. Now, I don't think every story out there needs to be one-hundred percent original. There are plenty of ways to use an old story and still make a pretty fresh movie. However, if I know how the movie is going to end less than half way through then there are problems with the story. I don't just mean that I knew the good guys would win and the bad guys would get what they deserved. I mean I had the entire final act mapped out in my head. That is not good story telling and the fact that James Cameron has proven in the past that he can tell a good story just makes that all the more disappointing.

Now another problem I had with the plot isn't just that the story is overused but that this story really needs to stop getting used. Now, I am not one to throw out the racism card but this plot has the white person "going native" and helping the "savage" race defeat the people that he is supposed to be working for. I have yet to figure out exactly how Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) was useful to the Na'vi in helping them defeat the humans though. He didn't seem to tell them any intel that would help them defeat the modern technology. He mostly just said "we need to come up with a plan and unite all the clans." Seriously, the Na'vi couldn't come up with that on their own? It just so happens that this human who has been learning their ways for one month is able to do this one special thing that only five Na'vi have been able to do in the entire history of their people? As Shaw Girl puts it, it is because "White Folk Get Shit Done." I think there may have been a hint of sarcasm in her voice when she said it though.

One other thing I don't get about this film is Sam Worthington. Some how he has become the go to guy for the sci-fi fantasy genre and I just don't get it. He seems to get all this praise for his acting and honestly he didn't really impress me in this or Terminator: Salvation (2009). His performance in this was better than his Terminator performance but I didn't think it was anything special. I will say that I am pretty impressed by Zoe Saldana though. I thought she was great in this and she was great as Uhura in Star Trek (2009). Hell, I even seem to remember enjoying her performance as the Trekkie in The Terminal (2004). Sigourney Weaver did a great job playing Dian Fossey Dr. Grace Augustine, the scientist who wants to learn about the Na'vi by mimicking them to gain their trust.

So on some levels I was able to enjoy the film and I would say that if you do plan of seeing it then you should see it in the theater and in 3D. I didn't see it in IMAX mostly because seeing The Dark Knight in Imax made me dizzy so I am guessing I wouldn't have done well with this one. From what I did see though I can see how IMAX might enhance the experience on this one. This isn't a movie that I really feel the need to see again but if you think it is the type of movie that you will enjoy then don't wait for the DVD. The pure spectacle of the film is worth seeing in the theater even if, like me, you walk away feeling lukewarm about the over all movie.

Rating: 6/10

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District 9 (2009) - Neill Blomkamp

District 9 (2009)
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Writers: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
Starring: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope

There are a few reasons I missed District 9 (2009) when it was in theaters. For starters, I have just been really busy for the last few months. Life happens and sometimes real life just has to take precedence over the blog. I know, I know... it sounds blasphemous but it is true.

There is another reason I didn't see though. Honestly, I just wasn't that interested. I love science fiction but get am leery of most modern sci-fi because it tends to emphasize effects over story. On top of that the hype machine put Peter Jackson's name all over it and I am just not a fan his work. I am well aware of the onslaught of negative comments I am about to receive by saying that but it is true... it is also a topic for a whole other blog post. Because of this, I assumed that it would be one of those movies that everyone else would love and I would feel pretty lukewarm about so I just avoided it.

I am really glad that I ended up renting this one though. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. The film actually takes the time to develop a good story with interesting characters. I was surprised by how quickly I found myself caring about the situation that the characters were in. Not only are the characters interesting but the characters manage to change and grow throughout the film in a realistic manor. The major changes that Wikus (Sharlto Copley) goes through (and I don't mean the physical changes) come around iso organically, nothing he does ever seems forced or out of place. His character really manages to learn and change his point of view during the film.

On top of that, the story is well told, interesting and definitely has something to say. I didn't feel that it was beating the audience over the head with its philosophies though. Like any good science fiction the film manages to have something going on under the surface but still manages to be an movie that can be enjoyed on a fun and entertaining level. If you let it, District 9 will leave you with plenty of think about but if you just want a fun sci-fi action flick then it could still be your cup of tea.

The special effects in the film were also extremely effective. The CGI "Prawns" were just as realistic looking as any other CGI I have seen recently. For the most part it didn't even stand out that they were CGI. They were so seamlessly integrated into the film that they looked like real flesh and blood characters. Of course the fact that the characters were written well enough to completely engross you into the film probably helped with not noticing that the characters were CGI.

Now, I know in my review of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006) I talked about how I did not enjoy the way the movie mixed the documentary and narrative film making styles however I think this actually worked really well in District 9. I can't think of any real reason for why I liked the style in one film and not the other except that the two styles seemed to intregrate much better in District 9 than they did in Behind the Mask. In Behind the Mask the switch between styles just seemed more jarring and took me out of the film a lot more than it did in District 9. Overall this film managed to pull me in far more than I expected it to and I highly recommend it.

Rating: 8/10

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The Road (2009) - John Hillcoat

The Road (2009)
Director: John Hillcoat
Writers: Cormac McCarthy (Novel), Joe Penhall (Screenplay)
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron

John Hillcoat's The Road (2009) was one of my most anticipated movies of the year. Well I guess it was really one of my most anticipated movies of last year but then the studio kept pushing back the release. Not that I blame them, I can see how this would be a hard movie to market. I did start to worry a bit after they pushed it back though. I was beginning to think that it wouldn't live up to my expectations.

It is kind of hard to say whether or not it lived up to those expectations because I tried my best to leave them at the door. I will say that I did really enjoy the movie though. Well, I don't know if this is really a movie that you enjoy as much as you appreciate. It is, for the most part, a pretty bleak movie even though there is a thread of hope woven through it. And that thread of hope is what keeps the father and son moving down the road in the film.

The focus of The Road is the characters. They really make the movie come to life. The father/son relationship between Viggo Mortensen (only credited as The Man) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (only credited as The Boy) is extremely well done. In a world where it would just be so easy to give up and roll over and die, this father is teaching his son how to live and why life is still important even in a world without much to live for. The acting really stands out in the movie and if it had not been great the movie would have suffered. Everyone really carries their parts perfectly. Even the actors that only have a few minutes of screen time like Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Charlize Theron really shine in their roles.

The great acting in combination with the great writing and story creates very memorable and realistic characters. While the movie does seem to separate characters into good guys and bad guys, all the characters are just doing what they feel they need to do to survive. There are even times when The Man breaks down and does what could be considered a bad thing. His son acts as his conscience for a lot of the movie and it really makes you wonder what The Man would be doing in this world if he didn't have his son to keep his conscience. While the father is teaching his son to survive the son is also teaching the father quite a bit about his own humanity.

The other star of the film is the landscapes that the characters inhabit. John Hilcoat manages to create extremely realistic and bleak looking landscapes that seem to go on forever. While some of the landscapes had to be rendered in CGI they all still look very real. I would be hard pressed to tell the difference between what was real and what was computer generated in the film. I never once thought about the CGI during the film. It wasn't until after the film that I starting thinking that some of the large scale settings would have had to be created by computer, they were just too vast to exist in real life. In my opinion this is the definition of well used and well placed CGI, it never once takes me out of the movie.

Overall I really enjoyed the movie. It is definitely a bleak film but the thread of hope running through it keeps it from becoming a depressing film. It will leave you thinking about just how far you would go to survive in a similar situation but it also leaves you with hope that survival is an option even in the most dire circumstances.

Rating: 8/10

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It's Complicated (2009) - Nancy Meyers // Guest Blogger: Shaw Girl

It's Complicated (2009)
Director: Nancy Meyers
Writer: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, John Krasinski, Steve Martin, Hunter Parrish, Zoe Kazan, Rosalie Ward, Rita Wilson, Mary Kay Place, Alexandra Wentworth

Hello readers, I know I haven't been around much lately but I assure you that I am not gone for good. A few things have contributed to my absence. For starters I bought a Wii and every time I think I should blog I end up playing Mega Man II instead. Oh yeah, I bought a $200 game system to play 20 year old video games. Okay, Wii Bowling kicks ass too.

However, the biggest factor is probably that I haven't seen any movies lately that have really inspired me to write a review. I am going to see The Road (2009) today though so hopefully that will give me something to write about. Now, I hate to leave my readers without something to read and it just so happens that Shaw Girl went out with a friend last night to see It's Complicated (2009) and she enjoyed it so much that she wanted to write a review. So, without any further ado I bring you Shaw Girl's review of It's Complicated:

“It’s Complicated” is the cinematical equivalent of a warm, enveloping hug from an old, dear friend you haven’t seen in ages. No, there isn’t anything original about the premise (woman stuck between two men – one clearly better for her than the other one), but the actors bring these usually stock characters to life. And it helps tremendously that these are mature characters playing out real situations – not the cast of Gossip Girl pretending to have insightful conversations. Meryl Streep plays Jane Adler, a divorced mom of three grown children who is grappling with watching her last child leave the nest. As Jane freely admits throughout the film, she has had a hard time adjusting to being divorced but she feels she may have finally gotten things figured out. A successful owner of an almost Barefoot Contessa-esque restaurant called The Bakery, Jane has learned to tolerate social occasions with her ex-husband Jake (played with relish by Alec Baldwin) and his new, and much younger, wife Agness (Lake Bell). But one drunken night in New York City completely shakes up Jane and Jake’s relationship, throwing Jane into the unfamiliar role of the other woman. And as if that wasn’t enough, Jane starts to develop feelings for Adam (Steve Martin), the quiet and unassuming architect helping to bring her perfect house to life. With me so far?

One cannot argue Meryl Streep’s uncanny ability to completely disappear into a character. And she delivers yet again with It’s Complicated. Not only does she manage to become the not-so-gay divorcee, she makes her relatable to every woman in the audience. Watching Jane struggle with finding herself struck a chord with not only me, but many of the women in the audience. Murmurs of “Man, I know exactly how she feels” peppered the dialogue of the entire movie. This is not just a credit to Meryl’s fine acting chops, however. Nancy Meyers, serving as both the director and writer, managed to create a script with true-to-life dialogue that is whip smart funny one moment and quietly sad the next. Scenes are juxtaposed fluidly to convey emotion without anyone on screen uttering a single word. What could have become a series of cliched roles is transformed into living, breathing human beings bumbling around life and hoping not to leave too many scars. Jake could have devolved into a one-dimensional asshole cheating ex-husband, but with Meyers’ direction and Alec Baldwin’s comedic timing, you see the regret and longing underneath the swagger and bravado.

The entire cast works extremely well together, from Streep’s children (Hunter Parrish as Luke, Zoe Kazan as Gabby and Rosalie Ward as Alex) to her obligatory gaggle of female friends (including hilarious turns from Rita Wilson, Mary Kay Place and Alexandra Wentworth). But it’s John Krasinski’s turn as Harley, Alex’s fiancé, and Steve Martin’s Adam that really captured my heart. Harley is every woman’s dream: a funny, sweet guy with a kind heart and hair that begs to be mussed. And while Harley may seem like the perfect guy on paper, Krasinski’s wit and warmth saves Harley from becoming an annoying Stepford Fiancé. His attempts to spare Alex any embarrassment or pain lead to laugh-out-loud moments but are delivered with heart. Martin’s Adam is the biggest (and nicest) surprise for me. I’ll freely admit I’m not usually a Steve Martin fan – he tends to go waaayyy over the top for my taste. But he manages to reel himself in here, giving Adam a soft-spoken, yet quietly sexy air. The quintessential nice guy, Adam is struggling with the aftermath of his own divorce when he meets Jane. The two quickly discover they have a lot in common as they work on renovations to Jane’s already spectacular house. Sure it’s obvious Adam is a bit of a push over, but Martin plays him with such perfection, you genuinely want to see him happy.

As much as I loved the cast, I must admit I was just as transfixed by Jane’s house and her restaurant. Being a bit of a cook myself, I openly wept when I saw her gorgeous marble center island and Viking stove (oh yeah, I can identify kitchen appliances from a mile away). Room after room in her home was light and airy, without feeling like a museum. This was a real home, born of love and of family. And don’t get me started on her garden – or the perfect tomatoes she picked as she tried to reign in Jake’s fantasies of a romantic reunion. I poked my friend Mazzie during a pivotal scene in Jane’s restaurant in which she was making chocolate croissants for Adam. Not because I thought the flirtatious banter was sweet. No, I was all a flutter over her dough rolling machine. I know this isn’t a blog about food, so I won’t go on and on about it. But can I just say that from an avid baker’s perspective, a dough rolling MACHINE is the bee’s knees.

Yes, this is a romantic comedy, but it’s also so much more. It’s about that eternal search we all go through to find a place of peace in our lives. To forgive ourselves the mistakes of our past and embrace the person we’ve become as a result. To finally look in the mirror and be okay with the reflection we see staring back at us. But most importantly, it’s about how freakin’ awesome it would be for me to live in Jane’s house. Oh wait, that’s just what I kept thinking.

Rating: 8/10

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