Unimpressed. Times three. Spoilers. Times three.

Happy-Go-Lucky. I wasn't really interested in this until Sally Hawkins won a Golden Globe. Figuring it might be an Oscar contender, I caught a matinee yesterday. IMDB says it's "a look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her." Well, they got that part right - she annoyed the crap out of me for 75% of the movie. It was a visual exploration of why I don't bother with chatty small talk and smiling all the time - bad things happen. When she was real, though, she was amazing and vulnerable and... well, real. I think that 25% of the film earned her the award. I'd be very surprised if any Oscar nominations are in this film's future.

The Wrestler. I hate wrestling. But with all the buzz about this film I thought I had to check it out. Interested viewers, be warned... The previews are deceiving but it felt like at least 40% of the movie is actually wrestling scenes. (Maybe less but it just felt like almost half because I hate wrestling.) And at least 5% of the movie is a really gruesome "wrestling" scene which caused me to physically cover my eyes for a few minutes... This is coming from someone who loved Saw the First (the only one that matters), is now obsessed with Dexter, clapped with joy during Sin City and Grindhouse, and has watched the Fight Club close-up scene where Ed Norton pummels Jordan Catalano over and over again. Maybe it was so disturbing because it was men doing that to each other for "entertainment"? Anyway, I'm really on the fence about this film. And I'm actually kind of upset that Mickey Rourke beat Sean Penn and Frank Langella at the Golden Globes - anyone* could've played Rourke's role, but Penn and Langella were born to play those roles.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. I also hate westerns. Generally not a big Brad Pitt fan either - in my opinion, the highlight of his career was his small but memorable role in True Romance, followed closely by Fight Club and A River Runs Through It. But the rest - meh. However, this was one of the only 2008 Oscar nominated films I didn't see last year, and Casey Affleck has won me over for various reasons so I opted to queue it. According to IMDB, "Making James was a long and arduous process. " Yeah, well, so was watching it. I kept dozing off and eventually just gave up and took a nap. Affleck, what I saw of him anyway, was amazing and he did deserve that Oscar nod. But the rest - meh.

And I think I am the only person in Portland who opted for two matinees and a closed-blinded viewing of a DVD on one of the only sunny weekends we have had lately (and probably will have for a while). Clearly still in tourist mode.

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* And anyone almost did. Nick Cage was first in line, then Sly Stallone. Either of their castings would've closed the door on that movie for me for all of eternity. They had to settle for Rourke. Interestingly, Shia LaBeouf almost won the part of Robert Ford but was determined to be "too young." His casting would've closed the door on that movie for me for all of eternity. Ford was only supposed to be 19, LaBeouf is around that age, Affleck is most definitely older than me. I am starting to think Hollywood has it in for me.