The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Apartment
Shakespeare in Love
All About Eve
Rocky
Chicago
Driving Miss Daisy
Gone With the Wind
Rebecca
The Godfather
Saturday, December 15, 2012
My 10 Oscar Favorites (Most fun to watch)
My 10 Favorites (Most fun to watch):
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Apartment
Shakespeare in Love
All About Eve
Rocky
Chicago
Driving Miss Daisy
Gone With the Wind
Rebecca
The Godfather
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Apartment
Shakespeare in Love
All About Eve
Rocky
Chicago
Driving Miss Daisy
Gone With the Wind
Rebecca
The Godfather
Worst 10 Best Picture Winners
Worst 10 Best Picture Winners:The Lost Weekend -The dull musings of a drunk.
Cimarron -An all around unworthy movie.
The Great Ziegfeld -Boring, boring, boring.
The Deer Hunter -Strange Nonsense.
Unforgiven -Dark and pointless.
 |
| It looks like Richard Dix from Cimarron is going to shoot Ray Milland from The Lost Weekend... |
West Side Story -There are no words. Well, I can think of two: Dance rumble.
A Man For All Seasons -Like watching grass grow.
Tom Jones -Beyond stupid.
The French Connection -Confusing and tedious.
No Country for Old Men -?????
I have to give Platoon an honorable mention for being probably my least favorite Oscar winner to watch -though the ones above were worse overall.
Top 10 Best Picture Winners
This is the toughest Top 10 list for me to write, because there are a lot of good choices, and my opinion changes with my mood. I've rewritten the list many times. This is what I've settled on at the moment (not in any particular order):
Gone With the Wind
All About Eve
The Godfather
The Godfather II
Dances with Wolves
The Silence of the Lambs
Schindler's List
Forrest Gump
Chicago
Out of Africa -This was the toughest (the last one to make my list). I vacillated a lot.
Note: If The Lord of the Rings Trilogy as a whole had actually won, it would be on the list; however, The Return of the King on its own does not make the list. The Fellowship of the Ring would have, had it won. In fact, several Oscar snubs would boot others of this list (Shawshank Redemption, Amistad and Saving Private Ryan would have made this list for sure.).
Friday, December 14, 2012
2007 Waitress Part 4
Waitress Part 4
It's not to be. As Jenna stands on the clinic porch, her water breaks, and she has to go the the hospital and deliver the baby. As the baby is born, she yells, "I don't want no baby, Earl!" While the nurses and Dr. Pomatter clean the baby, she is silent, facing away with a blank expression. The nurse tries to get her attention, asking, "Would you like to hold your baby, Mrs. Hunterson? Mrs. Hunterson. Did you hear me? Are you okay? Mrs. Hunterson?"
Jenna finally turns to look at the baby, and her face lights up with eager love as she holds her baby girl in her arms:
Jenna: Give her to me. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
Earl: Hey. Do you remember what I said? Don't you go loving that baby too much.
Jenna: I don't love you, Earl. I haven't loved you for years. I want a divorce.
Earl: That's not a funny joke. We got this new baby here. Shouldn't be making jokes like that.
Jenna: I want you the hell out of my life. You are never to touch me, ever again. I am done with you. If you ever come within six yards of me, I will flatten your sorry ass, and I will enjoy doing it.
Earl: Now hold on a second.
Jenna: Lulu. That's your name. Little Lulu. We're going to have so much fun, little girl. We're going to have so... much... fun.
Becky and Dawn pick Jenna up from the hospital, and tell her she is going to stay with Becky and Ogie for awhile since she has split from Earl. They also tell her that Joe, who was undergoing a procedure in the same hospital, is not going to survive his operation. Jenna is sad, and opens the card he had left for her before going into surgery, to find a check for upwards of two hundred thousand dollars made out to her. Before he died, he made sure she could afford the new life he dreamed of for her.
Dr. Pomatter comes to see her in the hallway as they are wheeling her out, and she makes a clean break of the relationship, with no tears, and no hesitation:
Dr. Pomatter: I know what you're thinking. No, I don't. That's a lie. What are you thinking?
Jenna: I'm thinking I could never thank you enough for everything you've done for me. I'm thinking your wife's around and you probably shouldn't kiss me. The way she looks at you, so much trust.
Dr. Pomatter: So that's it? It's over? I don't have any say in this?
Jenna: We could have a big drama here that gets drawn out for a couple years, makes everyone miserable. Or we could just end it right here, you know? No body count, just say bye-bye. I'm saying bye-bye.
As she leaves him behind, she shows no regret. She has eyes only for Lulu: "Geez, I never seen a baby this beautiful. You ever seen a baby this beautiful?"
The movie ends a couple of years later. Jenna owns her own adorable pie shop, Lulu is a beautiful toddler, and her life is bliss.
It is such a happy, feel-good ending after all the turmoil she went through. Such a transformation.
A part of me wishes that she had stayed with Dr. Pomatter. They were so good together, and he seemed to want to be with her, but I respect that Jenna wanted to start fresh. Tyler didn't love this movie, because he couldn't get past the adultery (I like that about him). I didn't approve of Dr. Pomatter cheating, but I found it easy to forgive Jenna, because she was in such a terrible situation. With Dr. Pomatter, I guess it was simple just to forget that he was married, because we don't see his wife until Jenna is in labor near the end.
The one part that did not resonate with me was the birth of Jenna's baby. Jenna goes from a very depressed woman to a woman in a state of pure bliss in a moment. I assumed after watching this movie that this would be my experience as well, but having suffered from PPD (Postpartum Depression with both my girls), I didn't get to experience that instant glow, and this makes me a little sad when I watch the movie now. I know that based on research, someone already in a state of depression, as Jenna was, tends to be susceptible to PPD; I think, however, that perhaps Jenna was in such a deep depression already that the birth of her child actually worked to reverse that depression. It makes me think of the 1948 movie The Snake Pit: "It was strange, here I was among all those people, and at the same time I felt as if I were looking at them from some place far away, the whole place seemed to me like a deep hole and the people down in it like strange animals, like...like snakes, and I've been thrown into it. Yes, as though -as though I were in a snake pit...Later, weeks later, I understood. I remembered once reading in a book that long ago they used to put insane people into pits full of snakes. I think they figured that something which might drive a normal person insane, might shock an insane person back into sanity. Did you ever hear of that?...Well, it was just as though they'd thrown me into a snake pit. And I was shocked into thinking that maybe I wasn't as sick as the others, and I really might get well." This isn't based on any science, but it's a thought. She was at rock bottom, and the baby brought her back from the abyss.
I don't know why, and it may not be true, but to me Waitress feels like a love letter from Adrienne Shelly to her young daughter, who appears in the final scene of the movie as Jenna's daughter, Lulu. Adrienne Shelly wrote and directed the movie, and played Dawn. Though it isn't really autobiographical, she clearly put her heart and soul into the making of this movie. According to Keri Russell, in the film commentary, Shelly was passionate about every little detail of the movie. The main character's life is turned around, from total unhappiness and misery to complete joy, with the birth of her baby. She finds her courage and her confidence, and makes a new life for herself and her daughter. I can only imagine that this joy was inspired by Shelly being pregnant with her daughter when she wrote the script, and giving birth to her before filming. Of course, this is all my interpretation, but with the tragedy of Shelly's murder before the film's premiere, I think it is wonderful that she left behind such a charming, beautiful testament to a mother's love for her daughter that her daughter can treasure in the future.
It's not to be. As Jenna stands on the clinic porch, her water breaks, and she has to go the the hospital and deliver the baby. As the baby is born, she yells, "I don't want no baby, Earl!" While the nurses and Dr. Pomatter clean the baby, she is silent, facing away with a blank expression. The nurse tries to get her attention, asking, "Would you like to hold your baby, Mrs. Hunterson? Mrs. Hunterson. Did you hear me? Are you okay? Mrs. Hunterson?"
Jenna finally turns to look at the baby, and her face lights up with eager love as she holds her baby girl in her arms:
Jenna: Give her to me. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
Earl: Hey. Do you remember what I said? Don't you go loving that baby too much.
 |
| Jenna sends Earl packing. |
Earl: That's not a funny joke. We got this new baby here. Shouldn't be making jokes like that.
Jenna: I want you the hell out of my life. You are never to touch me, ever again. I am done with you. If you ever come within six yards of me, I will flatten your sorry ass, and I will enjoy doing it.
Earl: Now hold on a second.
Jenna: Lulu. That's your name. Little Lulu. We're going to have so much fun, little girl. We're going to have so... much... fun.
Becky and Dawn pick Jenna up from the hospital, and tell her she is going to stay with Becky and Ogie for awhile since she has split from Earl. They also tell her that Joe, who was undergoing a procedure in the same hospital, is not going to survive his operation. Jenna is sad, and opens the card he had left for her before going into surgery, to find a check for upwards of two hundred thousand dollars made out to her. Before he died, he made sure she could afford the new life he dreamed of for her.
Dr. Pomatter comes to see her in the hallway as they are wheeling her out, and she makes a clean break of the relationship, with no tears, and no hesitation:
Dr. Pomatter: I know what you're thinking. No, I don't. That's a lie. What are you thinking?
Jenna: I'm thinking I could never thank you enough for everything you've done for me. I'm thinking your wife's around and you probably shouldn't kiss me. The way she looks at you, so much trust.
Dr. Pomatter: So that's it? It's over? I don't have any say in this?
Jenna: We could have a big drama here that gets drawn out for a couple years, makes everyone miserable. Or we could just end it right here, you know? No body count, just say bye-bye. I'm saying bye-bye.
As she leaves him behind, she shows no regret. She has eyes only for Lulu: "Geez, I never seen a baby this beautiful. You ever seen a baby this beautiful?"The movie ends a couple of years later. Jenna owns her own adorable pie shop, Lulu is a beautiful toddler, and her life is bliss.
It is such a happy, feel-good ending after all the turmoil she went through. Such a transformation.
A part of me wishes that she had stayed with Dr. Pomatter. They were so good together, and he seemed to want to be with her, but I respect that Jenna wanted to start fresh. Tyler didn't love this movie, because he couldn't get past the adultery (I like that about him). I didn't approve of Dr. Pomatter cheating, but I found it easy to forgive Jenna, because she was in such a terrible situation. With Dr. Pomatter, I guess it was simple just to forget that he was married, because we don't see his wife until Jenna is in labor near the end.
The one part that did not resonate with me was the birth of Jenna's baby. Jenna goes from a very depressed woman to a woman in a state of pure bliss in a moment. I assumed after watching this movie that this would be my experience as well, but having suffered from PPD (Postpartum Depression with both my girls), I didn't get to experience that instant glow, and this makes me a little sad when I watch the movie now. I know that based on research, someone already in a state of depression, as Jenna was, tends to be susceptible to PPD; I think, however, that perhaps Jenna was in such a deep depression already that the birth of her child actually worked to reverse that depression. It makes me think of the 1948 movie The Snake Pit: "It was strange, here I was among all those people, and at the same time I felt as if I were looking at them from some place far away, the whole place seemed to me like a deep hole and the people down in it like strange animals, like...like snakes, and I've been thrown into it. Yes, as though -as though I were in a snake pit...Later, weeks later, I understood. I remembered once reading in a book that long ago they used to put insane people into pits full of snakes. I think they figured that something which might drive a normal person insane, might shock an insane person back into sanity. Did you ever hear of that?...Well, it was just as though they'd thrown me into a snake pit. And I was shocked into thinking that maybe I wasn't as sick as the others, and I really might get well." This isn't based on any science, but it's a thought. She was at rock bottom, and the baby brought her back from the abyss.
I don't know why, and it may not be true, but to me Waitress feels like a love letter from Adrienne Shelly to her young daughter, who appears in the final scene of the movie as Jenna's daughter, Lulu. Adrienne Shelly wrote and directed the movie, and played Dawn. Though it isn't really autobiographical, she clearly put her heart and soul into the making of this movie. According to Keri Russell, in the film commentary, Shelly was passionate about every little detail of the movie. The main character's life is turned around, from total unhappiness and misery to complete joy, with the birth of her baby. She finds her courage and her confidence, and makes a new life for herself and her daughter. I can only imagine that this joy was inspired by Shelly being pregnant with her daughter when she wrote the script, and giving birth to her before filming. Of course, this is all my interpretation, but with the tragedy of Shelly's murder before the film's premiere, I think it is wonderful that she left behind such a charming, beautiful testament to a mother's love for her daughter that her daughter can treasure in the future.
2007 Waitress Part 3
Waitress Part 3
While this is going on, we also get to know Jenna's two friends and fellow waitresses, Dawn ad Becky. Becky has a much older, senile husband we never see on screen, and we find out she is having an affair with the manager of the restaurant. At first, Jenna is angry with Dawn when she finds out, but then she seems to realize that she is really projecting her own guilty feelings over her own adultery, and apologizes. Dawn explains to her, "I love having someone to look pretty for. I love waking up and having something to look forward to. Something fun and sneaky and sexy...He kind of likes me. He kind of hates me. It's fun...He makes me forget about my invalid husband, my loneliness, the dreadful misplacement of my bosoms." For some reason, Becky thinks she has crooked boobs, and nothing will convince her otherwise:
Dawn: I feel sorry for you, Jenna. I mean, I'd do anything to meet a man, and Becky's husband is a senile fruitcake.
Becky: Dawn!
Dawn: Well, I'm sorry, it's true. But now here you are, married to this handsome guy.
Dawn: Who's got very good hair.
Becky: Who's got very good hair. And pregnant with a little girl.
Dawn: How do you know it's a girl?
Jenna: We don't know it's a girl.
Dawn: But neither of us would trade places with you for one second. Now would we, Becky?
Becky: No, we wouldn't, Dawn. No, we wouldn't. Except, just once in my life, I'd like to be able to make a pie half as good as Jenna can make a pie.
Dawn: Yeah, me, too.
Jenna: Oh, come on. So what if I can make a decent pie? Who cares?
Dawn: Look at this, Jenna. As you can plainly see, my right boob is much higher than my left boob and Dawn here has pasty, pasty skin. I'm stuck in a marriage to Droolin' Phil the Invalid, and Dawn eats TV dinners alone, but still, we wouldn't rather be you.
Becky: I do have pasty, pasty skin.
Early on, Becky goes on a blind date, and the man sends another guy, Ogie, instead. Becky is repulsed by Ogie initially. He shows up at the restaurant to see her, and she tells Jenna how terribly the date went:
Jenna: How could a five-minute date be that bad?
Dawn: He took me through the entire medical and psychiatric history of his family.
Jenna: Oh, no.
Dawn: And he told me he wants to marry me.
Jenna: Oh, no!
Dawn: Marry me! And he's not giving up, not ever giving up, that's what he said. First guy that pays any attention to me in years, and he turns out to be the mad stalking elf.
But Ogie wears Dawn down: "Well, you know, he was true to his word. He didn't never give up. His cousin Pete gave him my number. He called me, like, 30 times in one day. I thought I might kill him. But he got to me."
Near the end of Jenna's pregnancy, Becky and Ogie get married in a small ceremony at the restaurant. During the reception, Jenna dances with old Joe, and he encourages her to make a change in her life:
Joe: If I'd ever met a girl like you, Jenna, my whole life could have been different. You don't even know what you are deep inside. You're not just some little waitress. You understand what I'm saying?
Jenna: Not at all, no.
Joe: I'm saying, my whole life I spent lost. If a sign said "go this way," I'd go the other way. Time after time after time. I turned the wrong corner, made the wrong choice, went the wrong way, like a chicken without a head. You understand?
Jenna: You was a chicken without a head?
Joe: Pie lady, listen to me. This life will kill you. I'm saying, make the right choice. Start fresh. It's never too late. Start fresh.
Jenna: I ain't got no money, Joe.
Joe: Who the hell does anymore?
Jenna: And I'm about to have me a baby.
Joe: I know you are, Jenna. I know you are. I was just dreaming a little for you, 'cause all my dreams is gone.
Earl busts into the reception, having found the money Jenna has been hiding around the house. He knocks over a chair and makes a scene, demanding Jenna get in the car, shouting, "Jenna...I'm very upset with you. I'll be waiting in the car. You have 30 seconds to get your ass in gear and join me." Joe observes, "You wasn't exaggerating. Your husband is terrible," and Jenna says a hasty goodbye and leaves. Earl is both furious and crazily upset, sobbing because she was hiding something from him. Jenna finally soothes him by telling him the money was to buy stuff for the baby, and he clings to her in tears, calming down. Jenna writes, in her letter to the baby, "Dear damn baby, If you ever want to know the story of how we bought your damn crib, I will tell you. Your crib was bought with the money that was supposed to buy me a new life. Every time I lay you down in that damn crib, I'm gonna think, 'Damn baby. Damn Crib. Me stuck like a pin in this damn life.'"
The loss of her money is the last straw for Jenna, and when she goes to her next appointment with Dr. Pommater, you can see the despair on her face. Keri Russell does an excellent job of capturing the defeat, the misery that Jenna is feeling, when she finally breaks down crying:
Jenna: I wish I could stop everything and run away with you.
Dr. Pomatter: Me, too. Where could we go? I would go in a second. I would drop everything.
Jenna: Make it go away.
Dr. Pomatter: What?
Jenna: Everything else in my life.
Dr. Pomatter: That's a normal reading. Jenna, get dressed. Meet me outside. I'll be there in 10 minutes. We're going someplace. We might even run away. We'll figure it out. I mean it.
While this is going on, we also get to know Jenna's two friends and fellow waitresses, Dawn ad Becky. Becky has a much older, senile husband we never see on screen, and we find out she is having an affair with the manager of the restaurant. At first, Jenna is angry with Dawn when she finds out, but then she seems to realize that she is really projecting her own guilty feelings over her own adultery, and apologizes. Dawn explains to her, "I love having someone to look pretty for. I love waking up and having something to look forward to. Something fun and sneaky and sexy...He kind of likes me. He kind of hates me. It's fun...He makes me forget about my invalid husband, my loneliness, the dreadful misplacement of my bosoms." For some reason, Becky thinks she has crooked boobs, and nothing will convince her otherwise:
Dawn: I feel sorry for you, Jenna. I mean, I'd do anything to meet a man, and Becky's husband is a senile fruitcake.
Becky: Dawn!
Dawn: Well, I'm sorry, it's true. But now here you are, married to this handsome guy.
Dawn: Who's got very good hair.
Becky: Who's got very good hair. And pregnant with a little girl.
Dawn: How do you know it's a girl?
Jenna: We don't know it's a girl.
Dawn: But neither of us would trade places with you for one second. Now would we, Becky?
Becky: No, we wouldn't, Dawn. No, we wouldn't. Except, just once in my life, I'd like to be able to make a pie half as good as Jenna can make a pie.
Dawn: Yeah, me, too.
Jenna: Oh, come on. So what if I can make a decent pie? Who cares?
Dawn: Look at this, Jenna. As you can plainly see, my right boob is much higher than my left boob and Dawn here has pasty, pasty skin. I'm stuck in a marriage to Droolin' Phil the Invalid, and Dawn eats TV dinners alone, but still, we wouldn't rather be you.
Becky: I do have pasty, pasty skin.
Early on, Becky goes on a blind date, and the man sends another guy, Ogie, instead. Becky is repulsed by Ogie initially. He shows up at the restaurant to see her, and she tells Jenna how terribly the date went:
Jenna: How could a five-minute date be that bad?
Dawn: He took me through the entire medical and psychiatric history of his family.
Jenna: Oh, no.
Dawn: And he told me he wants to marry me.
Jenna: Oh, no!
Dawn: Marry me! And he's not giving up, not ever giving up, that's what he said. First guy that pays any attention to me in years, and he turns out to be the mad stalking elf.
But Ogie wears Dawn down: "Well, you know, he was true to his word. He didn't never give up. His cousin Pete gave him my number. He called me, like, 30 times in one day. I thought I might kill him. But he got to me."
Near the end of Jenna's pregnancy, Becky and Ogie get married in a small ceremony at the restaurant. During the reception, Jenna dances with old Joe, and he encourages her to make a change in her life:
Joe: If I'd ever met a girl like you, Jenna, my whole life could have been different. You don't even know what you are deep inside. You're not just some little waitress. You understand what I'm saying?
Jenna: Not at all, no.
Joe: I'm saying, my whole life I spent lost. If a sign said "go this way," I'd go the other way. Time after time after time. I turned the wrong corner, made the wrong choice, went the wrong way, like a chicken without a head. You understand?Jenna: You was a chicken without a head?
Joe: Pie lady, listen to me. This life will kill you. I'm saying, make the right choice. Start fresh. It's never too late. Start fresh.
Jenna: I ain't got no money, Joe.
Joe: Who the hell does anymore?
Jenna: And I'm about to have me a baby.
Joe: I know you are, Jenna. I know you are. I was just dreaming a little for you, 'cause all my dreams is gone.
Earl busts into the reception, having found the money Jenna has been hiding around the house. He knocks over a chair and makes a scene, demanding Jenna get in the car, shouting, "Jenna...I'm very upset with you. I'll be waiting in the car. You have 30 seconds to get your ass in gear and join me." Joe observes, "You wasn't exaggerating. Your husband is terrible," and Jenna says a hasty goodbye and leaves. Earl is both furious and crazily upset, sobbing because she was hiding something from him. Jenna finally soothes him by telling him the money was to buy stuff for the baby, and he clings to her in tears, calming down. Jenna writes, in her letter to the baby, "Dear damn baby, If you ever want to know the story of how we bought your damn crib, I will tell you. Your crib was bought with the money that was supposed to buy me a new life. Every time I lay you down in that damn crib, I'm gonna think, 'Damn baby. Damn Crib. Me stuck like a pin in this damn life.'"
The loss of her money is the last straw for Jenna, and when she goes to her next appointment with Dr. Pommater, you can see the despair on her face. Keri Russell does an excellent job of capturing the defeat, the misery that Jenna is feeling, when she finally breaks down crying:Jenna: I wish I could stop everything and run away with you.
Dr. Pomatter: Me, too. Where could we go? I would go in a second. I would drop everything.
Jenna: Make it go away.
Dr. Pomatter: What?
Jenna: Everything else in my life.
Dr. Pomatter: That's a normal reading. Jenna, get dressed. Meet me outside. I'll be there in 10 minutes. We're going someplace. We might even run away. We'll figure it out. I mean it.
2007 Waitress Part 2
Waitress Part 2
Meanwhile, Jenna's life takes an interesting turn when she meets her new doctor, Doctor Pomatter (Nathan Fillion):
Dr. Pomatter: Oh, wow, you brought me a pie. How nice. You know what? I've only been here a few weeks, but already I am genuinely impressed with the hospitality of this place.
Jenna: You're not my doctor. Lily Mueller is my doctor. This pie is for her. It's Marshmallow Mermaid, her favorite.
Dr. Pomatter: Well, she's semiretired now. Just sort of happened this morning. She kind of quit. We didn't have time to call anybody.
Jenna: But Dr. Mueller delivered me. I mean, she's been my doctor forever. I really liked and trusted her.
Dr. Pomatter: Maybe you could really like and trust me, too?
Jenna: I've never even seen you before.
Dr. Pomatter: Yeah, I just got hired. Long story, making it short, this is still Dr. Mueller's practice, I'm the junior doctor on staff. Um, just moved here from Connecticut two weeks ago. Dr. Mueller had a class over the summer and I was a student of hers, and is this story boring you?
Jenna: No...yes.
Dr. Pomatter: Sorry, anyway, it's nice to meet you.
Jenna: What's your name again?
Dr. Pomatter: I'm Dr. Jim Pomatter.
Jenna: Okay.
Dr. Pomatter: And you are?
Jenna: Jenna Hunterson.
Dr. Pomatter: It is nice to meet you. So...What seems to be the problem?
Jenna: Well, I seem to be pregnant.
Dr. Pomatter: Good. Good for you. Congratulations.
Jenna: Thanks, but I don't want this baby.
Dr. Pomatter: Oh, well, we don't perform...uh...
Jenna: No, I'm keeping it, I'm just telling you I'm not so happy about it, like everybody else might be. So maybe you can be sensitive and not congratulate me and make a big deal every time you see me. I'm having the baby, and that's that. It's not a party, though.
Dr. Pomatter: Got it, okay, not a party.
At first their relationship is purely doctor-patient platonic. Both of them are married, and she is pregnant. But when Jenna has some spotting, he has her come in to the office early, only to tell her that spotting is normal without even needing to examine her:
Jenna: Why'd you have me come all the way in here if spotting's a perfectly normal symptom in early pregnancy? I mean, I had to get up early, take a bus, walk five blocks, just to hear that spotting is a perfectly normal symptom?
Dr. Pomatter: I have no response to that.
Jenna: And what time does this office normally open, Doctor, 8:30?
Dr. Pomatter: 9:00.
Jenna: 9:00? So-So you came in here two hours early just to tell me that spotting is a perfectly normal symptom?
Dr. Pomatter: Well, it would seem that way, yes.
Jenna: Good-bye, Dr. Pomatter.
Dr. Pomatter: Good-bye, Jenna.
Jenna: I think you're strange. I'm not sure I want you to be my doctor anymore. You make me uncomfortable.
Dr. Pomatter: I'm sorry, Jenna. I'm really sorry. Whatever it is I do, I will not do it anymore. You should not be uncomfortable at this time.
Jenna: You're doing it again.
Dr. Pomatter: How? What did I?
Jenna: I don't know, you know, that nice-guy-talky thing you do. You just...Oh, forget it. [Leaves his office] Damn! My purse!
Dr. Pomatter: You forgot your pur-
As Doctor Pomatter walks out to return her purse, she grabs him and begins kissing him passionately, and he reciprocates. He wants to see her again, away from the office, but she initially refuses:
Dr. Pomatter: I want to talk to you, somewhere outside of here. Maybe we can have a coffee or something?
Jenna: I can't have coffee, it's on the bad food list you gave to me. What kind of doctor are you?
They don't see each other again until she shows up for her next regular appointment. She doesn't mention the kiss, and acts distant towards him at first:
Dr. Pomatter: So I guess we are officially forgetting about that nonsense that happened last month?
Jenna: Yes, we officially are.
Dr. Pomatter: I want to apologize for it. I almost called you just to apologize. I mean, I was so stressed out at the time, taking on all those new patients. I hadn't been sleeping well. My judgment was not what it normally is. I want you to know that'll never happen again. From now on our relationship will be strictly a medical and professional one.
Without further ado, Jenna begins kissing him again. Later in his office, they finally stop fighting the chemistry between them, and agree to start seeing each other:
Dr. Pomatter: Don't do that again.
Jenna: Okay, what? Okay, I won't. Kiss you, you mean?
Dr. Pomatter: No, not that. I didn't mean that. I mean don't go away for a full month and not call...
Jenna: This is craziness, Dr. Pomatter.
Dr. Pomatter: Please, call me Jim.
Jenna: No, I won't.
Dr. Pomatter: Okay, don't. Just Dr. Pomatter's fine.
Jenna: Dr. Pomatter, this is so...
Dr. Pomatter: I don't want to have another conversation about how crazy this is or how sorry I am, or how bad my judgment is, or how I'll never touch you again. Not only would I be lying, but every time I start saying those things, all that happens is you attack me.
Jenna: You're right.
Dr. Pomatter: Have you been taking your prenatal vitamins every day?
Jenna: Faithfully.
Dr. Pomatter: Any bad morning sickness?
Jenna: Not too bad, no.
Dr. Pomatter: No more spotting?
Jenna: No more spotting.
Dr. Pomatter: Good, I'm going to want to see you again on Friday for another appointment. Do you have time in the afternoon? Do you get a lunch break?
Jenna: Yeah, but I'll have to ask Becky to drive me.
Dr. Pomatter: Ask Becky to drive you. Noon. Tell the nurse at the desk on your way out that you want to be fit in. I have to go to St. Mary's now and deliver a baby. Because that's what I do.
Jenna: Okay.
Dr. Pomatter: Are we on the same page now?
Jenna: We're on the same page. Dr. Pomatter: Good, then. I wish it were Friday.
He makes his exit looking so funny with his oh-so-serious expression (Nathan Fillion is so great), and Jenna has a stunned expression on her face, like she can't believe what's just happened. She walks out of the office and to the bus stop with this same look of bewilderment. Then, as she waits for the bus, she begins to smile an enormous, gleeful smile, which stays on her face all the way to work and into her shift at the restaurant. Old Joe, the crabby, gruff old owner of the restaurant (who only Jenna is willing to wait on) notices her face, and her smudged makeup, and makes the connection, though she denies it. She has a soft spot for Joe, and he for her.
Jenna and Dr. Pommater continue to meet frequently at the office for their rendezvous. At one point she shows up to find him out of town, and her former doctor, Dr. Mueller, is filling in. Jenna had brought a pie, and Dr. Mueller asks if it's for her. Jenna answers with a guilty pout, "Kind of. It's just something I invented. "Naughty Pumpkin Pie," and hands the pie over reluctantly. She eventually tries to break off the relationship, feeling guilty that they are both having affairs, but is very unhappy without him. Things are as bad as ever at home, her dreams of the pie contest are long since crushed, and the birth of her baby is looming. One day when she is at home alone, Dr. Pomatter shows up at her door, finding her very depressed:
Jenna: What are you doing here?
Dr. Pomatter: I took the whole day off. I don't know. I wanted to see you. You look awful.
Jenna: Thanks.
Dr. Pomatter: I mean, you look sad. You look really sad.
Jenna: It's taken you a long time to notice this, but, uh, I'm not a happy woman, Dr. Pomatter. And I don't want you to save me.
Dr. Pomatter: I don't want to save you.
Jenna: Don't want to be saved.
And he takes her in is arms and holds her. In a letter she is writing to her unborn baby, Jenna says, "Dear Baby, I hope someday somebody wants to hold you for 20 minutes straight and that's all they do. They don't pull away. They don't look at your face. They don't try to kiss you. All they do is wrap you up in their arms and hold on tight, without an ounce of selfishness to it." They spend the day together, her teaching him to make a pie, the two of them talking. Dr. Pommater tells her, "You make me feel calm. You make me feel peaceful. I don't feel that much. I tend to be neurotic. And you're so beautiful...And I could find the whole meaning of life in those sad eyes." Jenna simply responds, "Wow," overwhelmed by his words. Jenna writes in the letter, "Somewhere in the space between the pie baking and Earl eating it later that night, began the most intimate conversation of my life. About my mama, about how much she loved me, how sad she'd be to see my life turned out like this. About Earl and how he changed after we married, became someone I feared. About how lonely it is to be a woman so poor and so afraid. And then I was addicted, baby. I was addicted to saying things and having them matter to someone."
Meanwhile, Jenna's life takes an interesting turn when she meets her new doctor, Doctor Pomatter (Nathan Fillion):
Dr. Pomatter: Oh, wow, you brought me a pie. How nice. You know what? I've only been here a few weeks, but already I am genuinely impressed with the hospitality of this place.
Jenna: You're not my doctor. Lily Mueller is my doctor. This pie is for her. It's Marshmallow Mermaid, her favorite.
Jenna: But Dr. Mueller delivered me. I mean, she's been my doctor forever. I really liked and trusted her.
Dr. Pomatter: Maybe you could really like and trust me, too?
Jenna: I've never even seen you before.
Dr. Pomatter: Yeah, I just got hired. Long story, making it short, this is still Dr. Mueller's practice, I'm the junior doctor on staff. Um, just moved here from Connecticut two weeks ago. Dr. Mueller had a class over the summer and I was a student of hers, and is this story boring you?
Jenna: No...yes.
Dr. Pomatter: Sorry, anyway, it's nice to meet you.
Jenna: What's your name again?
Dr. Pomatter: I'm Dr. Jim Pomatter.
Jenna: Okay.
Dr. Pomatter: And you are?
Jenna: Jenna Hunterson.
Dr. Pomatter: It is nice to meet you. So...What seems to be the problem?
Jenna: Well, I seem to be pregnant.
Dr. Pomatter: Good. Good for you. Congratulations.
Jenna: Thanks, but I don't want this baby.
Dr. Pomatter: Oh, well, we don't perform...uh...
Jenna: No, I'm keeping it, I'm just telling you I'm not so happy about it, like everybody else might be. So maybe you can be sensitive and not congratulate me and make a big deal every time you see me. I'm having the baby, and that's that. It's not a party, though.
Dr. Pomatter: Got it, okay, not a party.
At first their relationship is purely doctor-patient platonic. Both of them are married, and she is pregnant. But when Jenna has some spotting, he has her come in to the office early, only to tell her that spotting is normal without even needing to examine her:
Jenna: Why'd you have me come all the way in here if spotting's a perfectly normal symptom in early pregnancy? I mean, I had to get up early, take a bus, walk five blocks, just to hear that spotting is a perfectly normal symptom?
Dr. Pomatter: I have no response to that.
Jenna: And what time does this office normally open, Doctor, 8:30?
Dr. Pomatter: 9:00.
Jenna: 9:00? So-So you came in here two hours early just to tell me that spotting is a perfectly normal symptom?
Dr. Pomatter: Well, it would seem that way, yes.
Jenna: Good-bye, Dr. Pomatter.
Dr. Pomatter: Good-bye, Jenna.
Jenna: I think you're strange. I'm not sure I want you to be my doctor anymore. You make me uncomfortable.
Dr. Pomatter: I'm sorry, Jenna. I'm really sorry. Whatever it is I do, I will not do it anymore. You should not be uncomfortable at this time.
Jenna: You're doing it again.
Dr. Pomatter: How? What did I?
Jenna: I don't know, you know, that nice-guy-talky thing you do. You just...Oh, forget it. [Leaves his office] Damn! My purse!
Dr. Pomatter: You forgot your pur-
As Doctor Pomatter walks out to return her purse, she grabs him and begins kissing him passionately, and he reciprocates. He wants to see her again, away from the office, but she initially refuses:
Dr. Pomatter: I want to talk to you, somewhere outside of here. Maybe we can have a coffee or something?
Jenna: I can't have coffee, it's on the bad food list you gave to me. What kind of doctor are you?
They don't see each other again until she shows up for her next regular appointment. She doesn't mention the kiss, and acts distant towards him at first:
Dr. Pomatter: So I guess we are officially forgetting about that nonsense that happened last month?
Jenna: Yes, we officially are.
Dr. Pomatter: I want to apologize for it. I almost called you just to apologize. I mean, I was so stressed out at the time, taking on all those new patients. I hadn't been sleeping well. My judgment was not what it normally is. I want you to know that'll never happen again. From now on our relationship will be strictly a medical and professional one.
Without further ado, Jenna begins kissing him again. Later in his office, they finally stop fighting the chemistry between them, and agree to start seeing each other:
Dr. Pomatter: Don't do that again.
Jenna: Okay, what? Okay, I won't. Kiss you, you mean?
Dr. Pomatter: No, not that. I didn't mean that. I mean don't go away for a full month and not call...
Jenna: This is craziness, Dr. Pomatter.
Dr. Pomatter: Please, call me Jim.
Jenna: No, I won't.
Dr. Pomatter: Okay, don't. Just Dr. Pomatter's fine.
Jenna: Dr. Pomatter, this is so...
Dr. Pomatter: I don't want to have another conversation about how crazy this is or how sorry I am, or how bad my judgment is, or how I'll never touch you again. Not only would I be lying, but every time I start saying those things, all that happens is you attack me.
Jenna: You're right.
Dr. Pomatter: Have you been taking your prenatal vitamins every day?
Jenna: Faithfully.
Dr. Pomatter: Any bad morning sickness?
Jenna: Not too bad, no.
Dr. Pomatter: No more spotting?
Jenna: No more spotting.
Dr. Pomatter: Good, I'm going to want to see you again on Friday for another appointment. Do you have time in the afternoon? Do you get a lunch break?
Jenna: Yeah, but I'll have to ask Becky to drive me.
Dr. Pomatter: Ask Becky to drive you. Noon. Tell the nurse at the desk on your way out that you want to be fit in. I have to go to St. Mary's now and deliver a baby. Because that's what I do.
Jenna: Okay.
Dr. Pomatter: Are we on the same page now?
Jenna: We're on the same page. Dr. Pomatter: Good, then. I wish it were Friday.
He makes his exit looking so funny with his oh-so-serious expression (Nathan Fillion is so great), and Jenna has a stunned expression on her face, like she can't believe what's just happened. She walks out of the office and to the bus stop with this same look of bewilderment. Then, as she waits for the bus, she begins to smile an enormous, gleeful smile, which stays on her face all the way to work and into her shift at the restaurant. Old Joe, the crabby, gruff old owner of the restaurant (who only Jenna is willing to wait on) notices her face, and her smudged makeup, and makes the connection, though she denies it. She has a soft spot for Joe, and he for her.
Jenna and Dr. Pommater continue to meet frequently at the office for their rendezvous. At one point she shows up to find him out of town, and her former doctor, Dr. Mueller, is filling in. Jenna had brought a pie, and Dr. Mueller asks if it's for her. Jenna answers with a guilty pout, "Kind of. It's just something I invented. "Naughty Pumpkin Pie," and hands the pie over reluctantly. She eventually tries to break off the relationship, feeling guilty that they are both having affairs, but is very unhappy without him. Things are as bad as ever at home, her dreams of the pie contest are long since crushed, and the birth of her baby is looming. One day when she is at home alone, Dr. Pomatter shows up at her door, finding her very depressed:
Jenna: What are you doing here?Dr. Pomatter: I took the whole day off. I don't know. I wanted to see you. You look awful.
Jenna: Thanks.
Dr. Pomatter: I mean, you look sad. You look really sad.
Jenna: It's taken you a long time to notice this, but, uh, I'm not a happy woman, Dr. Pomatter. And I don't want you to save me.
Dr. Pomatter: I don't want to save you.
Jenna: Don't want to be saved.
And he takes her in is arms and holds her. In a letter she is writing to her unborn baby, Jenna says, "Dear Baby, I hope someday somebody wants to hold you for 20 minutes straight and that's all they do. They don't pull away. They don't look at your face. They don't try to kiss you. All they do is wrap you up in their arms and hold on tight, without an ounce of selfishness to it." They spend the day together, her teaching him to make a pie, the two of them talking. Dr. Pommater tells her, "You make me feel calm. You make me feel peaceful. I don't feel that much. I tend to be neurotic. And you're so beautiful...And I could find the whole meaning of life in those sad eyes." Jenna simply responds, "Wow," overwhelmed by his words. Jenna writes in the letter, "Somewhere in the space between the pie baking and Earl eating it later that night, began the most intimate conversation of my life. About my mama, about how much she loved me, how sad she'd be to see my life turned out like this. About Earl and how he changed after we married, became someone I feared. About how lonely it is to be a woman so poor and so afraid. And then I was addicted, baby. I was addicted to saying things and having them matter to someone."
2007 Waitress Part 1
2007 Waitress"Baby don't you cry, gonna make a pie, gonna make a pie with a heart in the middle. Baby don't be blue, gonna make for you, gonna make a pie with a heart in the middle. Gonna make a pie from heaven above, gonna be filled with strawberry love. Baby don't you cry, gonna make a pie, and hold you forever in the middle of my heart."
Waitress is another one of my favorite movies. It is unique, quirky, poignant, winsome, hilarious, sad, and charming all at once. It's an example, for me, of a flawlessly executed movie. An original script, terrific acting -Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion were amazing. Nathan Fillion is always loveable, and he is so funny in this, and Keri Russell captures the sorrow of her trapped, beleaguered character so well that it makes me want to cry at times, and cheer when that sorrow turns to joy. The music is perfect, the filming techniques interesting. The types of pies she invents are so creative, and it's fun to watch her bake. I love practically everything about it. Fair warning: I will be quoting A LOT of dialogue. The movie begins with Jenna (Keri Russell) peacefully baking pies in the kitchen of a restaurant -everything is quiet, the music is soothing. Then she is confronted by her two friends/co-workers, Dawn and Becky, which abruptly puts an end to the serene moment:
 |
| "You know what." |
Becky: Hon, you've put it off long enough.
Jenna: What?
Becky & Dawn: You know what.
The next scene shows the three women in the restroom of the restaurant, waiting on the results of a pregnancy test Jenna has taken:
Becky: Negative. Negative. Come on, negative. Come on!
Dawn: Dear Lord, please protect our Jenna from the hell of unwanted pregnancy.
Jenna: I don't need no baby. I don't want no trouble. I just want to make pies. That's all I want to do, make pies.
Becky: I thought you weren't sleeping with your husband no more.
Dawn: He got her drunk one night.
Jenna: I should never drink. I do stupid things when I drink, like sleep with my husband. Oh, no! Looks like a pink line is forming. Shit.
Becky: One line or two lines? One line or two lines?
Jenna: Two lines! The control line and the other line, the bad line, the "yes" line.
Becky: Let me see that now. Two lines, two definite lines. There's no mistaking them.
It quickly becomes obvious why Jenna would not want to have a baby with her husband. Earl is the biggest jackass of a husband imaginable. Not only is he controlling and abusive, he actually seems to be pretty unhinged. What else can possibly explain his terrifyingly intimidating attitude towards Jenna while he professes to love her? Not to mention his rude repeated honking of his car horn when he picks her up from work? We are first introduced to Earl when he picks Jenna up in this manner, with the maddening repetitious horn honking, which continues until Jenna gets in the car:
Earl: You don't look happy to see me. Are you happy to see me?
Jenna: Yeah, I'm happy to see you. Even brought you a piece of today's special, "Kick In The Pants Pie." Cinnamon spice custard.
Earl: You don't give me a kiss. Well, give me one. There. That's more like it. Where's that money you made today?
Jenna: Right here in my pocket.
Earl: Well, now, hand it over. Not much here, is there?
Jenna: Slow day, you know.
Earl: Yeah, you been having more and more of those. I'm really not sure it's worth you working there anymore. I think I might rather have you be at home making me pies all day long. You didn't ask me how my day was.
Jenna: How was your day?
Earl: Ask me like you care about it.
Jenna: How was your day, Earl?
Earl: Well, you know, Johnson's on my case again, about the mortgages and everything. But I don't make the bank policy, and I told him that, but he doesn't listen.
Jenna [Thinking]: "I Hate My Husband Pie." You take bittersweet chocolate and don't sweeten it. You make it into a pudding and drown it in caramel.
Earl: You're not listening to me.
Jenna: Yeah, I am.
Earl: What I say?
Jenna: You were bitching about Mr. Johnson.
Earl: What were the exact words I said?
Jenna: Well, I mean, I can't repeat them verbatim...
Earl: You don't listen to me! Hurts my feelings. Please just say you're sorry so I can let you out this car so you can make my dinner.
Jenna: I'm sorry, Earl, for not being able to repeat your words verbatim, something I should be able to do.
Earl: Whenever I need it.
Jenna: Whenever you need it.
Earl: All right, then.
 |
| Becky, Dawn and Jenna. |
Jenna has a plan to escape from her marriage. She has been hiding away some of her money in bits and pieces, storing it in odd places throughout her house, and she plans to enter a pie baking contest so that she can use the prize money to leave Earl:
Becky: Speaking of more meat, does Earl have any clue at all that you're pregnant?
Jenna: No, he don't notice, and I'm never going to tell him. I'm just going to run away.
Dawn: Wow. How much money you got saved?
Jenna: Not much, $1,200, and I can save another couple hundred before the Jonesville Bake-Off.
Dawn: How much is that prize money?
Jenna: $25,000, hon.
She is not pleased to be pregnant, as the baby is another hindrance to her escaping, as she can't afford to care for a baby without Earl's help:
Jenna: I was thinking. Have you ever heard about those people who sell their babies for lots of money through, like, lawyers and stuff?
Dawn: Jenna, you can't sell your baby. That's a horrible thought.
Jenna: I was just thinking, if I did, I might make enough money to finally get away from Earl. I mean, at this point, the baby is the only real financial asset I have if I don't win that pie contest...Not everybody wants to be a mama, Dawn. That don't make me a bad person...I respect this baby's right to thrive. I do nothing harmful to it. I don't drink, I watch my diet, but no. I feel nothing like affection. Maybe that man smothered all the affection out of me. I don't know.
 |
| Earl catches Jenna trying to go the contest. |
But Earl thwarts her plan to go to Jonesville, and forbids her from entering the contest, physically restraining her from attending, and becoming abusive. Out of fear, she finally reveals her pregnancy to Earl. Earl is not pleased at first: "Here's the thing, wife. What if you decide to love the baby more than you love me? Women do it all the time. They have a baby and then it's to hell with the man...And I know how women get. And I'm just not sure I want that happening. I'd tell you to get rid of it, but I want you in the same place as me in the hereafter, if you know what I mean. Maybe if you promise me that you wouldn't love the baby more than you love me. You know? That you'd make a real effort to love me more. If I need something, you'd keep taking care of it. You'd hold on to me more. I come first, not any baby. Well, can you make Early that promise?...Say "I promise I will not love the baby more than I love you, Early.""
Okay, so this review has been split into 4 parts, because blogspot will not publish it in one piece for some reason...
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