Now that I’ve seen Taking Woodstock, I’m really surprised by all the negative reviews I remember it receiving when it was first released in theaters. I enjoyed it very much. Ang Lee hit all the right notes in taking this huge event that was the Woodstock concert and bringing it down to the level of how it affected one small town family. Were people expecting a broad comedy because Demetri Martin is in it? Demetri Martin’s stand up can be subtle, so I think he’s a perfect fit here. In this movie, he reminded me a lot of Zach Braff in Garden State with his mannerisms, and they kind of look alike too. Somebody cast these two as brothers. I promise you at least one ticket sale.

Demetri Martin being in this movie was my main reason for wanting to watch it. His stand-up special, Demetri Martin: Person, and his TV series, Important Things, are both hilarious. Seriously, go watch them both.

When I saw Jonathan Groff’s name in the opening credits, I was excited. I’m a big fan of Spring Awakening. I then forgot he was in the movie until the end credits, when I was trying to find out who played Michael Lang and found out it was Jonathan Groff. Throughout Taking Woodstock, I kept thinking, “The guy playing Michael looks really familiar. Who is that?” I don’t know why my brain completely erased the fact that Groff was in the movie.

One of my favorite activities (or annoying habits depending on your point of view) is that I like to use the IMDB app on my iPhone to look up trivia about the movies I watch and then share said trivia with my friends. Okay, I can see how this is annoying, but I don’t do it during the movie unless it’s something we’ve all seen a hundred times, so it’s not that bad, right? Right?

In any case, IMDB has a great piece of trivia about Taking Woodstock that I had to share with you (Because I care. And because I can’t stop sharing IMDB trivia. I have a problem. I acknowledge it). The producers of Taking Woodstock had a hard time casting extras, because they wanted people that didn’t look like they went to the gym every day, and had pubic hair. I found that hilarious. I can picture the casting director saying “Okay, I like your lack of muscle tone, now let’s see that forest.”