11/14/09
Eragon
(DVD)
Yeah, so I was minding my own business doing some work on the old laptop, when lovely hubby popped this movie in the DVD player and suddenly I found myself distracted enough that I was soon more engaged in the movie than in my online tasks. I'm unfamiliar with the book that this movie was adapted from, so I can't rant or rave about that, but standing alone, I thought this was a pretty enjoyable film. I'm not a sci-fi/fantasy kind of gal, but while this was on, I began to care about the characters and what was going on. Lovely hubby and I had a running joke through the entire movie about the formula that it was following, and all the parallels to a different sci-fi/fantasy world that is always present in our house through our Force-loving son. Even with our laughter at the similarities, I still found this to be a worthwhile flick, and I'm glad that hubby didn't turn it off at my initial misgivings.
10/10/09
Bridge to Terabithia
(DVD)
How in the world did I live for almost 34 years and not be familiar with this story?? JAM read the book a few years back, and I remember a colleague asking me if I knew what happened in the book, surprised that I was letting him read it. Now I know why she asked, as I sit among my drenched tissues with a tear-streaked face. As JAM said at the end of our viewing, "That was a good movie except for the dying." This was a beautiful movie and a heart-filled story. Now I think I'll have to find the book on his shelves and give it a read!
10/03/09
Hoot
(DVD)
JAM and I read this book last year or so, but I honestly couldn't stand it. It really annoyed me, quite honestly. Even though I liked the story itself, the lack of a sane or competent adult bugged me, and there were a few curse words that surprised me while we were reading aloud. Now, I don't know if I've ever said this before, but I actually really liked this movie after not enjoying the book at all. It just seemed to work much better as a film, and the main characters were more likable on the screen than on the pages. JAM and I both enjoyed it much more than our reading experience!
8/15/09
The Time Traveler's Wife
(theater)
I never get tired of talking about this story, but rather than repeat myself, I'm going to direct you to the post.
8/14/09
The Producers
(DVD)
Lovely hubby popped this one in the DVD player tonight after borrowing it from the library (for free, but always costing us at least one day's late fee), and I unwillingly watched it, distracted from my blogging intentions by this very, very, very silly movie. Funny dialogue, obviously a piece made for the stage, this flick was quite amusing. Nathan Lane is pure brilliance, and the entire cast was simply... um... no better way to say than gay, in both senses of the word.
8/5/09
Funny People
(theater)
Yes, it's a Judd Apatow movie, so the language is off-color and the penis jokes abound, but holy smokes, I didn't expect a movie with the word funny in the title to be so serious. There were painful awkward scenes that were tender and thoughtful and very well-acted. I didn't expect it to be so darkly uncomfortable, which sounds like a negative assessment, but that's not what I intend, as I actually found it touching and compelling. I was drawn in, that's for sure. My friend and I were talking about it on the way home, and an interesting component of the movie is it's potential blurring with reality-- how much of Adam Sandler's character is actually consistent with his real-life experiences is a question we pondered. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of this movie from the easily-shrugged-off-as-a-crude-filmmaker Apatow.
7/22/09
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
(theater)
Here's my dilemma. I can't watch a movie of a book that I really loved, respected, celebrated, without spending the entire time asking myself if what I'm seeing on the screen is what I read in the book. (Remember-- I have a TERRIBLE memory.) This is the first HP movie that I've watched in the theater, and actually the first I've watched start to finish, after only seeing bits and pieces of the first two when JAM has watched them at home. I really, really tried to take this movie as its own entity separate from the book, but I still found myself at the end questioning some of the differences. It's less about the events that change for me, as much as the relationships or the character development differences. Didn't this book bring to a peak Harry's frustration with Dumbledore- his distance and his never telling Harry the full story. Didn't Harry spend a lot of the time angry and sullen with Dumbledore? Didn't this book flesh out the back story for Snape, you know, the whole other half of this movie's title? Wasn't this book more about informing us of the inner essences of Snape and Harry, than about horny teenagers snogging in the hallways? (Seriously, what happened to them always getting yelled at for hanging around the hallways? Now there are kids in every corner and crevice making out??)
Okay, okay. Enough with the differences. If I take this just as a movie, a separate entity remember, then I'd say it was "BRILLIANT!" (A word I really have to work into casual conversation more often.) It was visually stunning, some characters were beyond incredible (Helena Bonham Carter-- I've had a crush on you for years and years and years, and you literally terrified me in this one!) Draco looked like he aged 30 years throughout the movie, and I was glad to see his struggle portrayed as it was. Overall, entertaining movie, had me laughing out loud at times and gasping with fear at others, and I'm more than a little ashamed to say that I was looking at Harry Potter as quite the little cutie. (Sorry Ron, you've just not turned into an attractive teenager...) Will I see the next two movies in the theater? Um... sorta seems like I have to now, doesn't it?
7/19/09
The Hangover
(theater)
I was told that this was a hilariously funny movie, and that was an accurate description, but not in the ha ha ha way so much as in the OH MY- I didn't expect that! way. Other than the parts that involved a baby being put in harms way, this movie made me howl with laughter, but in a way that suspended reality as only Vegas can do, so I hear. If you're looking for a movie to shock you into laughing, and you don't mind getting sucker punched with scenes that you don't see coming, this is the perfect cure.
7/11/09
Bruno
(theater)
Yeah, I'm really at a loss for words. No that's not ture-- lots of words come to mind. Hilarious. Terrifying. Outrageous. Over-the-top. Again, Sacha Baron Cohen has turned things crazy and made sociologists heads explode by exposing humanity in a way so infrequently put on display. The dude interviewed a terrorist acting like an extremely stereotypical gay man. How he wasn't lynched in Arkansas among the enraged and beer-fueled mob is beyond me. SBC makes films that make me laugh in simultaneous horror and humor. Not for the faint of heart-- I'm actually kinda surprised this passed with just an R rating.
5/27/09 & 6/21/09
Away We Go
(theater)
I was thrilled to get to see an advanced screening of this film thanks to Jessica, and I think it's one of the best movies I've seen, especially from a wife/mother perspective. It had superbly written dialogue, hysterically funny characters, and extremely poignant moments. (I can't wait to see it again so I can write down what had to be the best ever description of what it means to become a parent.) It was a quiet movie in that it resembled real-life-- regular moments, with the occasional bizarre thrown in to keep things colorful. I can't recommend it enough! (So much so that I went to see it again-- and dragged a couple friends and hubby with me. Good times!)
5/24/09
The Soloist
(theater)
I'm such a stickler when it comes to movie adaptations of books, and it's true again. Only this time, it's not a fictional narrative that's being messed with, it's a true-life story. So, I just didn't see the need for the changes they made. (And, if I was Steve Lopez's wife and daughter, I'd be ticked-- why did they feel the need to make him divorced??) The dramatic effect that the changes had weren't worth it, in my opinion, because the true story is amazing enough. The film made the story of Nathaniel Anthony Ayers much more linear than Lopez's book account portrayed. The emotions seemed simplified, and somehow the compassion that I read in Lopez's book didn't quite translate in the same way to the big screen version. Overall, if you're interested in the real story, skip the film and take the time to do some reading-- go for the fantastic book, or the original columns at the very least.
4/17/09
Babel
(DVD)
Talk about a powerful film. My stomach was in knots throughout the entire movie. I don't do well with emotionally intense themes, so it's no surprise that this movie is having a deep effect. The longing for connections that are a part of human nature run through all of the segments of this movie, but we're also reminded of our habitual lack of recognition of the actual links we have to all of mankind. This was a hugely thoughtful and well-executed film, and I'm thankful that hubby decided to pop this one in tonight!
2/28/09
War, Inc.
(DVD)
I don't know whether to laugh, cry or hang my head in eternal shame in reaction to this movie. Laugh at satire in fantastic form, cry for the potential likeness this may have in common with reality, or feel the shame that is inevitable from living in a time when the full truth of what our country's former leaders did in other places all over the world may never see the light of the day. I can't claim to fully understand the full spectrum of issues that this movie satirizes, but let me say that this is one hell of a watch.
2/22/09
The Dark Knight
(DVD)
Rather than watch the Oscars tonight, we opted to watch a movie that was due back to the library tomorrow, and as I type these words, I don't know if the powers that be have awarded a posthumous statuette to Heath Ledger for his performance. Before I saw this movie, I would have thought that it was mostly the whole died-WAY-too-soon kind of nomination, but after just having pressed the stop button on my DVD player, I have to amend that initial assessment. I never really read anything in the media about this movie, but I'm sure that too much has already been put out into cyberspace about Ledger's unbelievably incredible performance- the voice, the posture, the lip-licking, the whole package- and I'm also positive that it has already been said more eloquently than I ever could. The movie itself was an experience in indigestion and high blood pressure for me. I'm not good with action flicks, and I cared what happened in this, so that made the intensity even worse on my physiology. The whole two-sides of a coin theme was awesome... for each action, there's an equal and opposite reaction... whatever phrase fits, put it here. This was deeper than a superhero movie, by far.
2/12/09
Confessions of a Shopaholic
(theater)
Thank GOD I paid no money for this movie, because I think it was quite possibly the worst one I've ever seen. In my life. Forget multiple nonsensical plot points, inexplicable chains of events and an overriding theme of reckless spending that even a Wall Street exec would scoff at these days. This movie has the pride of being able to claim what simply has to be the worst movie quote of all time: "When I shop, the world gets better. And then it's not, and I need to do it again." All you need to know about this movie can be summed up in a series of one word sentences: Absurd. Ridiculous. Predictable. Just-might-make-you-throw-up-in-your-mouth-a-little-bit.
1/24/09
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
(DVD)
Going into this movie, all I knew was the very shell of the story and that it was going to be very bloody. I heard that it was pretty-obvious-fake-bloody, so I wasn't concerned so much about that point, but I soon found out that I totally did not know the details of the story. This was a pretty terrible story, and lovely hubby and I wondered how the hell someone came up with this plot! I guess I can say that I enjoyed the music and the clever lyrics, and I can say that Tim Burton certainly knows how to frame a shot, but all in all, this was not a story that I enjoyed.
1/8/09
Milk
(theater)
First off, I feel like a naive fool for not being aware of the history of the gay rights movement-- this movie chronicles Harvey Milk's foray into local politics in San Francisco in the 70's, ultimately meeting his early demise at the hands of a murderous former colleague. Throughout the entire movie, I was overwhelmed by the parallels of the horrendous Anita Bryant campaigns with those undertaken by groups thirty years later in relation to CA's Prop 8. I'm very curious to watch the documentary that was a big source for the filmmakers now. I am still adamant that the gay rights movement is simply a human and civil rights movement, regardless of the supposedly moral spin groups would like to pin on it.
With popcorn buttered fingers,
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