Is Remember Me worth remembering? Definitely…and then some

Well first of all I want to warn the possible three people who actually come and read my blogs, that if you haven’t seen Remember Me and plan on it (which I would highly recommend) you may or may not want to continue reading.  I am going to write about the “taboo” ending that everyone is freaking out about and weigh in on that but not until later.  I just want to say that there are some of you that have not seen the film and quite possibly some asshole on-line has either ruined it for you in the form of either posting the ending of the script on a forum without warning you (Perez) or you read a half assed critique from someone who’s wheaties had obviously been pissed in that morning.  Whatever you do, feel free to stick around because even though you know some of what is going to happen, I have to tell you the truth, it didn’t ruin the film for me the way I thought it would.  The movie was good enough to keep me involved enough to forget about the ending that someone shoved in my face before I even set foot in the theater.

So first off, it is no secret that Robert Pattinson starred in this movie and I HATE typing these words and even mentioning Twilight because on a whole, Twilight is shit and Rob Pattinson is so much better than the character Edward Cullen, that to bring it up makes me sound like every other idiot that I have seen interview him.  They either bring up Twilight/Edward or the unholiest of things connected to Robert (like a fucking ball and chain), which shall remain unnamed for my sanity’s sake.

you can’t tell me this was a “pleasant” or good experience with your fans. I would have smacked these little bitches up one side of the head and down the other…but that’s just me.

The film was shot in New York City over the summer and I was completely shocked when I read they made it for less than 20 million dollars.  That’s like pocket change by Hollywood’s standards and for them to put together such a great ensemble cast for so little and get such quality work is amazing.  Anyone who knows anything about Robert knows it was ridiculous at best filming in NY but he was gracious and maintains to this day he has never had a bad fan encounter.  Pictures say 1000 words though sweetheart, So being politically correct isn’t warranted in this case just say it…you had a shitty fan experience.

So now let’s talk a little about this movie or let’s talk about the bullshit that

Rob Pattinson as Tyler Hawkins in Remember Me

Summit entertainment tried to sell this movie as by the trailer and most of the little clips that kept getting leaked on the internet before the movie.  You know who ever is in charge over at Summit must have their head shoved so far up their ass it will take the Jaws of Life to get it out because it was all bullshit.  I mean the trailer did have bits and pieces of stuff but it kind of gave you the impression that everything BUT the romance was trivial.  Without those “trivial” little tid bits the love story wouldn’t even have had a place in the movie at all.   Had I not realized what I was going in to see, I would have been pissed because they marketed this more like a love story and not the amazing drama that it really was and they barely mentioned any other cast which in their own right should have had top billing.  No offense to Rob but we have an Oscar winning actor (Chris Cooper) and an Oscar nominated actress (Lena Olin) that were rarely

Robert and Emilie appearing at THEIR movie premier together only to anger “fans” and say he was cheating on Kristen Stewart

mentioned by name once, if ever, in any TV clips I saw.  I think I might have gotten a look at Pierce Brosnan in a few of those clips, who has had a great career as well.  Something tells me this was not about Rob’s ego and he would have been just as happy being billed wherever his name got put as long as the film did well, but to call it “Remember Me” starring Robert Pattinson would surely lure in all the Twi-Tards, right?

Guess what?  You had a major fail because (god I didn’t want to mention this) the Twi-Tards are also Krisbians and Robstenites.  They had a grass-roots movement to keep people from seeing the movie for various reasons, ie: Rob cheating on Bella, I mean Kristen with Emilie.  Rob’s “fans” turned out to only be fans of either Edward and Bella/Robert and Kristen as a whole and nothing else.  If they are not together or aren’t starring in another movie together, such as this, it’s not acceptable to show support to Rob because somehow in their

Rob and Em in a photoshoot pretending to be on a date, fans spewed hate over this one even though they were just doing their job

warped little minds it is taking support away from Kristen’s career.  How, I don’t know but it is.  He showed up to his premier for the movie with his co-star (usually how it is done) but without Kristen by his side and it was a slap in the face to her, so they post all over the web…DON’T GO,  Rob and Emilie had a promotional photoshoot where they were supposed to be on a date, fans went crazy accusing him of cheating or using bad taste for allowing the shoot to

I can’t tell you HOW many comments I read against Rob for hurting and disrespecting Kristen this way and we should all boycott all of his movies and cancel any pre-orders of DVD’s we already have. Yeah Summit, that means NEW MOON

upset Kristen, he modeled along side nude women in Details magazine which was hurtful to Kristen, so once again….DON’T GO.  You can’t imagine what your precious Twi-Tard Krisbian fans were doing to make sure Rob failed because he did not show his undying love to Kristen in the appropriate manner or at least to their standards, so yeah Summit, you failed in the worst way. You should have just said “hey fuck you guys, you’re gonna see the Twi -movies anyway because you are obsessed with Kristen, so we’ll market this the way it should be marketed”. END OF STORY.

I am completely convinced that had Summit marketed this more like a real

family drama (as shown in the clip above) that would make you think and appreciate life, instead of make it out to be just a love story, not only would people who aren’t that invested in Twilight have come but also a much larger and diverse group of people including men would have turned out.    There are definitely moments in the movie that men can identify with as shown in the clip below:

It is my understanding from reading comment after comment on some of the forums discussing the movie that a lot of men liked the movie and went out of there respecting Rob, when they had felt he was a major joke before due to the Edward Cullen persona. It also might have helped if the movie had opened up in a few more theaters but that’s just my personal opinion.      

So let’s get to the meat of this blog, the movie.  I went into this after doing everything I could not to have the ending spoiled for me but unfortunately that did happen for me.  I still wanted to see it because friends of mine that are not lunatics told me I should see the film and I really love Rob’s acting and everything that he’s been in (yes, even the Twilight Saga to some extent).

I couldn’t go see the movie until Tuesday which kind of upset me but ended up working out better for me in the long run, NO SCREAMING FAN GIRLS.  There was hardly anyone there but then again it was only 1:30 pm on a Tuesday, so who knows.  I sat pretty close to the front because I am blind as a bat and let’s face it; you can never be too close to Rob on that big screen especially in those love scenes. Ummmm, yeah…did I talk about those  love scenes yet??   

Oh yeah right. Anyone who said that there was no chemistry between Rob and Emilie *cough* Krisbians *cough* must be smoking too much crack or they got dropped on their heads too many times as babies because these two were smoking hot on the screen and made me say Edward and Bella who?? Completely believable which is something that some people are getting upset about, just another reason they were steering people away from the film ~ Rob “cheated” on Kristen while doing his job…you know they call it acting, a job, kind of like he does with Kristen on a regular basis.

So I am watching this film and it pulled at my heartstrings from the opening until the very last moment of the movie.  I can honestly say there are few movies that can do that.  I am not saying this is the one and only movie that has and ever will do that, I am not that obsessed with our dear Robert, but I have to say this tiny little film touched me in so many ways.

**HERE’S WHERE THE SPOILER STARTS**   

So I guess we get to talk about the ending now and why everyone is freaking out so bad.  I of course will give my opinion because well it is what I do and somebody sane has to do it.  The movie ended on 9/11 and there are quite a few people upset about it.  The critics are saying it was a cheap shot way to end a movie, why the fuck they say that, I don’t know.  It’s not like it didn’t fit perfectly with the entire theme of the movie.  Some movie goers are saying it is just too soon.  Can someone please tell me when it won’t be too soon?  I hate to sound like an uncaring bitch but it is NEVER going to be the right time.  We can’t undo what has been done to us and it has been the better part of ten years.   I think there are going to be some people involved in something like that who won’t truly get passed it in ten years or in a lifetime.

out of respect for the few people I know from the New York area I will NOT show graphic images from that day

The thing is I have read comments from people who actually had people who were lost in the twin towers that appreciated the movie being made, one girl said her sister was in tower 5 and they didn’t know she had lived for a few days and she was glad the movie was made but yet there are people who have NO IDEA what these people have gone through that are making a stink about this and I personally don’t think they have a right to.  The people who actually lost loved ones or experienced it first hand, that day and are having a problem with this movie after actually seeing it, then it is definitely your right to be upset, but if you go into it with the right perception instead of some contrived opinion that the critics have planted in your head before you even watch it, then you might understand what the filmmaker was trying to do.

I can only tell you how I felt about the day and how this movie plays a part in it and here goes:   

On the morning of 9/11 my husband called me and told me to wake up and turn the TV on and I was like “shut up I want to go back to bed” and he said “somebody just flew into the world trade center”.  I was shocked and horrified and looked up at my TV to see the images. Of course as with everyone else I felt sickened and sadness for the loss of so many lives but I could never cry or truly get emotional, I didn’t know any of these people.  I know it makes me sound like an a horrible person but I’m not.  I just couldn’t cry or get emotional which is weird because I cry at anything even hallmark commercials.  I never did cry even though I felt empathy for all of them, I could never possibly know what they were feeling and maybe that is why I could never muster up a tear because it was real, they were real and how can I show true emotion for something I don’t even know and am not a part of?

When I watched the movie, something in me changed.  I KNOW that this was not a real family but I was able to get invested in their lives as though they were real.  The cast and movie was so well acted that they made me feel they were real for a brief moment in time and so when everything happened the way that it did and I saw the date written on the blackboard, the air was just sucked out of me and after all these years I just started crying.  Crying for this family that didn’t exist but could have been any one of the hundreds of families that lost a loved one that day, so I guess this finally gave me something I hadn’t had before, the ability to somehow feel and show the emotion that I felt  for all those people who perished.  People can say this is dumb or whatever but this movie was actually cathartic to me in a way and I think people can take whatever they want away from it because it has that kind of depth to it.    Even Roger Ebert said in his review of Remember Me “The fact is, Remember Me  is a well-made movie. I cared about the characters. I felt for them.”, so I guess I am not alone.

Anyone that reads my blogs or knows me also knows how much shit I have been through in the last few years (actually my whole life)  and although my loss is not the same as The Hawkins family’s (and certainly nothing close to anyone connected to 9/11) I was still able to identify with a lot of things Rob portrayed as Tyler.  I had two people taken from me when they were far too young and  I know the sadness, helplessness and anger Tyler felt.  I know the difficulties of having uncaring parents or ones that seem like they don’t care. I know that love can save you whether that is love of a little sister, boyfriend/girlfriend or just true love of your close friends.  I know about being protective and how angry he got at the girls in the classroom, I have been there in one way or another.

I have gone to the defense of someone I didn’t know because it was the right thing to do (I didn’t completely lose it like he did before getting beaten up though). I’ve been lost like Tyler, hell I am STILL lost like Tyler and I think we have all had an Aiden at some point in our lives that was a complete asshole but we loved them as a friend and could never imagine them not being in our life.  Rob portrayed that role of a best friend to Aiden perfectly.

To say this movie was horrible on a whole because of one thing that you may or may not agree with is not fair to the movie or the actors that worked so hard on the film.  This is not the first nor will it be the last movie to use a tragedy and /or historic event to tell a story and I am not sure why this isn’t acceptable but somehow it is acceptable to use other horrific events in films as entertainment, number one being Nazi Germany.  Now yes, I know that it has been many many years but some would say that the wounds still run deep.  I’m using this as an example because I don’t think there is ever a good time to talk about some subjects and I don’t think that pain will ever go away for some people who were involved in either of these events.

Take for instance “The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas” a movie about a child in the concentration camps and the impact he had on a Nazi boy’s life.  Then there is “Schindler’s List”.  Are these movies about such a horrendous subject alright to portray because they were made by more acclaimed directors, writers and producers or what, I would like to know.  What makes what the Jews had to suffer through for a prolonged time any easier than what happened on 9/11 and why should someone telling an important and beautiful story about loss, life, love and ultimate tragedy be punished and ridiculed for trying to tell that story?

Just the thought of this scene makes my heart break all over again, this movie had such a profound impact on me. Just go see it, there’s nothing more to say

So here is what I suggest.  You just throw everything you have heard from everyone, including me (no, not me…I’m the only sane one around) and get your ass to the theater and make the judgment call for yourself, but whatever you do, please go in with your eyes and your heart open because that is the only way you will be able to get anything from this movie.  If you go in with the preconceived idea that it will suck, well, it will suck because you want it to but if you go in wanting to give it a chance you will see that this little film is beautiful, remarkable, touching, shocking and poignant but worth every second of the two hours and the ten bucks you pay to see it.  In my opinion, if you leave the theater without being touched by this movie in one way or the other than you have a shriveled up little piece of black coal for a heart….or you have been hanging around The Awful Truth forums with the Robstenites and Krisbians for too long and they have managed to suck your entire soul and IQ out.

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