
If there is one thing Greg makes fun of me for its my NetFlix queue. He says its annoying which is his gentle way of calling me snobby and uptight. He also accuses me of applying this psychology to the music I listen to - according to Greg, on more than one occasion (per Greg, "All the time") I've told him I didn't like some new band we were listening to at work and then as soon as I hear it on NPR All Songs Considered it becomes my new favorite. Isn't Greg vicious?
Anyway the point is that if I'm going to watch a movie for leisure (we have to watch movies for work all the time) I want it to be one that makes me feel better for having watched it. Movies that come up in conversations that I would like to contribute to, you know?
Well last night I saw a movie that would make a phony out of me. THE HANGOVER. There is nothing uptight about it. This is a movie that crosses the line.... and then keeps going and going. Its completely absurd. Did I feel like a bad person for laughing when Zach Galifianakis takes a baby's hand and makes him appear to masturbate? Yes. Did I keep laughing anyway? Yes. Racial profiling - check. Mental Retardation jokes - check. Misogyny - double check.
This movie is raunchy, bordering on foul, but it works. I think it works because all the actors totally go for it - they go all the way. And we are talking about a cliche bachelor party meets Vegas plot!
So this is what I take away from THE HANGOVER- Don't take yourself too seriously. Things that are absurd and don't happen in real life are the most entertaining. There is a bad person in all of us.
Greg leaves for Vegas today at 5pm (I swear.) And like they say in Slumdog, it is written.