King Arthur

I thought Arthurian legend received fairly decent treatment in First Knight, and even in the TV series Merlin. I thought I would find it interesting to see how this movie measured up. I just hoped Keira Knightley's great big chin wouldn't annoy me all they way through.

OK, so after watching. Note #1: I've done it again. I've already seen this movie and didn't remember. As soon as one of Arthur's men uttered the word "Woads," (or is it Wodes?) I remembered I'd seen it.
Note #2: that is OK, because this is an excellent movie! How I can both forget that I've watched it AND that it was great is beyond me. But since I would put this up there with movies like Braveheart, I'm not complaining.

I never was one for enjoying medieval battle scenes, what with all the swords and battleaxes spattering blood and gore everywhere. So the fact that I can still give this movie two thumbs up is quite a tribute. And it really had nothing to do with Tattooed Blue Guinevere doing battle in her loincloth and various strategically placed straps (which I found quite odd, because I always thought of her as a ladylike girl who would have been hiding safely in the castle during all the battles).

Speaking of which, this movie seemed to turn everything I remember about Arthurian legend on its head. It wasn't until the very last scene that I realized it was in some ways a prequel. The end is when Arthur becomes king and Merlin becomes his guide and ally. It basically ignores Guinevere's betrayal with Lancelot, although they do trade a few lustful looks. There is no Lady of the Lake, and really no magic evident. And Tristan must have had his day with Isolde before this movie started, since he dies before it's over.

I spent an hour and a half of the movie trying to figure out where else I'd seen the actor who played Lancelot, before I remembered he was in the Fantastic Four. And Keira Knightley's chin probably gets its own trailer for all her movies. But all in all--good flick!

Made of Honor

Not much to say about this movie either (which doesn't surprise me). It's cute, sweet, funny at times, stupid at others. Nice mindless fluff. I snuck this one up to the top of the queue because I wasn't ready to dive right into the run of "movies I don't especially want to watch." I should have picked something a little more worthy, though. Nothing about this movie really makes it stand out from any other romantic comedy (although I did learn that Dr. McDreamy is a pretty awesome juggler. Those Hollywood actor types are just multi-talented, aren't they).

Several times (like during the two kissing scenes) I found that rather than being happy for Tom and Hannah, I was thinking, Oh, poor Colin. Although really, you know the saying about how if something sounds too good to be true, it is? I expected it to come out that Colin was some sort of monster. But it never did. He was just a good sweet (rich!) guy. Of course Tom was rich too so that made it all better, right? How did this chick end up with two millionaires fighting over her and why has that never happened to me? But I digress.

I found another song to download in this movie: "Stop crying your heart out" by Oasis. I just want to know why the heck I have to pay $1.29 for a song that's already 7 years old. I prefer discovering songs that are still obscure enough to cost only 99 cents. And I was proud to recognize "Stolen" by Dashboard Confessional towards the end. (Already have it, so I get to listen to that one for free). It rarely happens that I recognize movie music, unless we're talking a movie like Paul Blart Mall Cop which I heard used all 80s hits like "Eye of the Tiger"--I would recognize that one.

The Ghost and the Darkness

Call me crazy, but I just couldn't seem to care a squirt for watching this movie. I have now come to the part of my netflix queue where I had run out of movies I really, really wanted to see and started adding movies I'd heard were good but I really had no interest in watching. I just can't get excited about lion attacks. I wasn't even really looking forward to Val Kilmer. At least I retained some hope that I'd be pleasantly surprised.

Well, after watching, I determined that I was right. This is just not my kind of movie. I mean, I've definitely seen worse. It's not as if this movie was boring, or poorly done, or by any means laughable. It was interesting enough, and certainly a nail-biter at times, but I would never put it on my personal Best Movies Ever list. There's just something about the combination of guns, Africa, lions, and man vs. nature that sounds like just about the last thing I want to watch a movie about (just above war movies and westerns). At least I got it over with. I can mark it off my list and go on.

Personal reactions to the movie: Beaumont should have been mauled by a lion. I was afraid John Patterson wouldn't survive, since Samuel was narrating. Although I was glad Patterson did survive, I thought they stretched reality quite a bit at the end when he basically outran the lion. In reality in such a situation that lion would have been on top of him in three strides. I totally thought it was real when Patterson's wife got mauled (though I'm sure that's what I was supposed to think) and I hated the movie right then, but I was very relieved to find it was a dream.

At the end Samuel mentions that both The Ghost and The Darkness are stuffed and on display in the Chicago Field Museum. This movie was supposed to be based on a true story. I've been to the Field Museum. Are the lions really there? Was this really a true story? I fell for that before, when I read "The Bridges of Madison County" about 15 years ago (I thought it probably wasn't true, but I still checked several old National Geographics for photo credits naming Robert Kincaid)... not sure whether to let myself believe this one was true. Not sure I really care that much, either, although if I ever make it back to the Field Museum I'll be looking for those lions.

Coraline

Coraline is another Friday night movie we watched with the kids. I wasn't completely surprised to find that it's not your garden-variety sweet little children's movie, but it was more weird than I expected. It's a creepy movie, but to my surprise my kids liked it and weren't scared by it.

The story reminded me of a modern Alice In Wonderland that arises from a child's world and a child's fears rather than from an adult's drug-induced hallucinations. The film itself, with stop-action animation, is visually stunning. I was surprised that Tim Burton was not affiliated with it, because this is the look I associate with him (think Nightmare Before Christmas and The Corpse Bride).

I thought the soundtrack was somewhat odd, but fitting. It does well to create the eerie mood. Several of the songs sound like they're sung in French...? I'm not sure what went into that decision unless it was for ambiance without distraction by lyrics (except for people who understand French, I guess).

I didn't realize this movie started as a book. Now I'm interested in reading it to the kids, especially since they really liked the movie.

Crank

I was afraid I may have seen this movie before. I just couldn't remember. I knew Jason Statham played Chev Chelios who has been poisoned and must keep his adrenaline pumping until he can find the antidote (or something like that) but I couldn't remember if this knowledge came from a combination of seeing the previews and reading the netflix blurb, or if I'd actually watched the movie. One thing that made me think maybe I hadn't seen the movie is that his girlfriend is played by Amy Smart, who I really liked in Rat Race--I really wanted to see her in other movies, but previously I think the only other movie I'd seen her in was The Butterfly Effect. I felt like if I'd seen her in Crank I would have remembered it. But maybe not.

Well, after watching the movie tonight, would you believe I'm still not sure if I'd seen it before? I definitely had never sat down to watch the entire thing, but it's possible that Hud watched it while I puttered around the house. I seem to remember the ringtone on Chev's cell phone, which has got to be the most annoying one I've ever heard--at first I thought it was just distorted due to the effects of the poison, but it continued that way throughout the movie, so I assume it was just a weird ringtone that sounds like it's melting. But that's the only part of the movie that seemed familiar to me.

It was funny to see Pedro of "Vote for Pedro" fame in this movie, especially as he played a very flaming gay friend of Chelios. Certainly nothing like the Pedro I remember. And I recognized Laurent the vampire as the Haitian cabdriver.

Favorite exchange, as Chev's doctor is asking about his symptoms to try to determine what kind of poison he's been given:

Doctor: "Any pain in your chest?"
Chev: "Not really. Actually I'm feeling pretty good right now."
Doctor: "What are you doing?"
Chev (very matter-of-fact, even blasé): "Driving through a mall, cops chasing me."

By the time Chev was at the hospital, I was thinking he's pretty much a jerk (as was everyone around him) and wondering why I should care if he lives or dies. He wasn't even the "hit man with a heard of gold." His doctor tells him on the phone, "Hey Chevy you're a good dude," but I just wasn't seeing it. Then he gets out of the hospital all hopped up on epinephrine and I'm cracking up. He was just Forrest Gumpin' it all over the city. So I decided I could stand to keep watching.

I was disappointed with Amy Smart in this movie. She was nothing more than a blonde bimbo--the kind of role Goldie Hawn would have filled 20 years ago--think back to "Bird on a Wire" with all that stumbling around and shrieking. She's a cute girl, but in this movie she should have gone by Amy Stupid. The one thing I liked about her performance was her hiccups while Chev was trying to tell her the truth about his job. Those hiccups made the scene (or at least made it palatable enough that I could stand watching it). But overall, her character of Eve the Girlfriend didn't hold a candle to her sharp and tough (but slightly psychotic) helicopter pilot in Rat Race. And their public sex scene in Chinatown was just absolutely ridiculous. Although I must give kudos for the choice of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" as accompaniment.

I'm not interested in seeing the sequel. I definitely like Statham's Frank Martin better than his Chev Chelios. I think I'll stick with Transporter movies from now on and won't rush to see anything else Jason Statham is in. Speaking of sequel, anyway, it's just stretching reality way too far to have Chelios survive a chute-less fall from a helicopter, including bouncing off a car's roof and splattering on the pavement, and live to shoot a sequel. Even if he did blink after he hit the road.

Requiem for a Dream

I wish I could remember why I picked this movie to watch. I'm going to have to start making a note of that. When I received the movie and the netflix sleeve said it was "not for the squeamish," I worried that it might as well have added, "This means YOU, Kathy!!" So, when I noticed I was 45 minutes into the movie and nothing in it had shocked me yet, I was thinking, This isn't so bad. Well, the last 10 or 15 minutes made up for that. All four main characters (though to the least degree with Tyrone) simultaneously hit rock bottom in their various addictions, and we see the mom receiving electroshock therapy, the son losing his arm, the friend in jail and the girlfriend reduced to committing unspeakable acts in a sequence of cut-scenes that would have made my mom faint and then disown me when she regained consciousness.

On the surface this movie is Trainspotting with American characters instead of Scots. With further contemplation I see more differences. I do remember Trainspotting being quite funny at times. A dark humor, to be sure, but humor nonetheless. Requiem doesn't hold many laughs--in fact, I can't recall any--it just shows a group of losers whose lives briefly improve but then through their addictions all four lives fall completely apart. Maybe Trainspotting was more realistic in a way, because it shows different outcomes for the different characters (kicking the habit, dying of AIDs, absconding with the money) rather than showing everyone's life ruined. Both movies make a pretty compelling anti-drug statement, but perhaps Requiem tries to give the idea that drugs will ruin your life no matter what, whereas Trainspotting seems to communicate the idea that there are both pros and cons to such a life.

For some reason Trainspotting made much more of an impression on me. I remember that movie was on my mind for quite a while after I watched it. As gutwrenching as the last part of Requiem was, it didn't compare to various scenes throughout Trainspotting, the most disturbing of which was definitely the baby in the crib. I can still remember that as clear as day and it's been several years since I watched the movie. Seems like what made it even worse was how they threw stuff like that at you with no warning, and it received the same treatment as something like the soccer game they played. The baby on the ceiling also stuck with me, and the scene where Ewan McGregor is so badly in need of a fix that he fishes the pill out of the nasty toilet. That scene was definitely overdone and not realistic, but it really drove home his desperation due to his addiction.

Oh yeah, this is a post about Requiem for a Dream, not Trainspotting. Back on topic...

At the very beginning of the movie I noticed that the soundtrack was like an orchestra tuning up, and then the orchestra began to play as the movie went on. This fit nicely with the title and theme of the movie, which could just as well (though less poetically) have been called Death of a Dream. I didn't constantly notice the music throughout the movie, but as far as I remember, it was all orchestral score and no pop music.

Very interesting that this movie was based on a book whose author also wrote the screenplay. I assume this means the finished product very closely matched the author's original intent.

The netflix sleeve claimed I would either love or hate this movie. After watching it, I disagree. I'll probably not bother watching it again (which I might if I had loved it, or at least if it seemed like there was more to it that I might catch with another viewing), but I don't regret watching it (which I would if I hated it).

Adventureland

This is the kind of movie that makes me bored with this blog. I mean, it's not like it was a horrible brainless movie, but I'm just not sure I have much to say about it. It was funny, and it was nice that not every single funny part was in the preview; it wasn't just a straight comedy (I guess it would be classified as a romantic comedy) and it had a sweet little story. At least it didn't get all serious and dramatic and depressing like "White Men Can't Jump" (man, the previews for that one sure don't warn you about what a downer it ends up being).

I first saw Kristen Stewart as Bella in Twilight, and it was kind of odd to see she played the character of Em in the exact same way (albeit as a slightly alcoholic pot-smoking cussing young-twenty-something girl who sleeps with married men). Em is what Bella would be like if Edward dumped her and her life fell apart.

My favorite line: after James ridicules the misspelled graffiti that says "Satin Lives," Em says, "One of those textile-worshipping cults, no doubt."

Frailty

I enjoyed this thriller. At times it was somewhat predictable (we knew the man calling himself Fenton would end up killing the FBI agent) but there were parts I didn't guess right off the bat (like the fact that the man who came to see the FBI agent was not Fenton, but his brother Adam; and the great twist that those Adam and his father called "demons" really had committed grave sins).

Did Fenton really kill anyone at all? I do think that Fenton was the one who killed the boys' father, and though I believe it is possible that the events of his childhood affected his mind, causing him to have a homicidal bent similar to Adam's, I question the idea that the bodies in Fenton's basement were victims of Fenton rather than Adam. I think it's entirely possible that all the bodies in the basement and all the bodies in the rose garden were killed by Adam alone, and that Fenton was not involved in any of those murders, though he was framed for the murders by Adam to ensure that the true "Hand of God" would escape unscathed. Because the entire story was told by Adam, and he obviously lied to serve his purposes, who knows how much of his story was a lie? One thing I can't figure out: was the house that the FBI raided really Fenton's house? (This is the house with the bodies in the basement and the bulletin board with the list of names on it). If Fenton was not a part of the murders, I can't understand that being his house. Really, though, do we have any proof that there ever actually was a Fenton? Maybe Adam completely made him up...

I have to wonder what was wrong with the sherrif office dispatcher/Adam's girlfriend that she would go along with him and cover for him. And that sure must have been the spawn of Satan that they were incubating! I can just picture that Hand of God being handed down to the next generation once again. I also wonder what happened to the boys' mother... (could the father have murdered her too? Probably not, since he didn't have the "vision" from the angel until after she was long gone, and when he killed the sherrif he said it was the first time he had killed a person), and I wonder why they didn't show what evil deeds the third "demon" victim had committed. I suppose we can assume he was abusive towards his wife, judging by the way he yelled at her.

I have decided that the name of the movie refers to the psychological state of Adam's mind.

Monster House

I don't usually bother posting about the "family movie night" movies my kids watch on Friday nights, but this one was a little bit different. For one, it looked interesting enough that I actually watched most of it. Also, this movie was creepier than I expected an animated movie to be! If it had been live action with scarier music it could have been a serious horror movie. Funny thing was, it didn't seem to scare my kids at all. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that they don't wake up screaming in the night.

It was a good thing I kept watching it until the very end. When I thought it was over, my first question was, What happened to Bones and the policemen? But just a moment later I got to see them climbing unscathed out of the foundation of the house.

We should have saved this for a Movie Night closer to Halloween.

Something's Gotta Give

This was a nice little movie! A chick flick, certainly. I don't think I could have gotten Hud to sit through it with me. Not without some serious bribery, anyway. But I enjoyed it! And was pleasantly surprised. I honestly did not expect to like it.

I was definitely impressed by Jack Nicholson. I mean, not that I doubted his acting ability, but I just couldn't see him pulling off "charming older gentleman." All I could picture was "crusty old man" from "As Good As It Gets." So, props to the old guy.

OK, I must admit that I was a little bit grossed out seeing old people making out. There are some things that should just be left to the imagination. But at least they didn't put in so much detail that I wanted to cut out my eyes.

It was nice to see Keanu Reeves smiling and acting like a human rather than a block of wood. I didn't know he had it in him. He actually spoke as if he is fluent in English, rather than as if he were only half literate and trying to read directly from the script. I could almost believe he was smart enough to be a doctor.

I was especially glad they made it crystal clear that Harry and Marin never did sleep together (even if they did beat me over the head with that fact to make sure I noticed), because that would have been awfully squicky when he ended up with her mom. As it was, it was a little bit weird to think that he had once dated his future step-daughter (assuming Harry and Erica got married, which I guess they didn't specify, but still the ick factor is there).

The ending was a little bit too perfect (would the gorgeous young doctor really have bowed out so easily?) but let's face it, this is Hollywood we're talking about, not real life. The less realistic a movie is, the more fun it is. Um, in moderation.

Hot Fuzz

I wish I could remember what it was that made me pick this movie for my netflix queue. I'm sure it was probably a recommendation from netflix itself... perhaps even from when I watched Shaun of the Dead, although it seems like that was years ago... Anyway, whatever it was that caused me to choose this movie was somewhat ill-advised. I mean it definitely wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen, but it will never make my Best Movies Ever list. And the only way I'd ever watch it again is if my cinematic amnesia hits and I forget I've seen it. I hope this blog entry will keep that from happening.

Not that it wasn't a funny movie. But maybe I'm just too American for this British humor. I hate to admit that I'm probably not cultured enough to appreciate humor this dark and dry, but there it is. The only times I laughed out loud were at the two pratfalls, one of which was when Danny crashed through the fence rather than jumping over it, and the other of which I don't remember. I did crack a mental grin when the desk lady called Nicholas a fascist and he called her a hag (both answers to clues on her crossword puzzle) though when they called each other these same names during the gunfight at the end of the movie, all it got from me was a mental eye-roll.

Not only did I not sufficiently appreciate the dry, dark humor, but for me the movie quickly veered off into the ridiculous, treading dangerously close to the too-ridiculous-to-even-be-funny, starting with the revelation that there was not just one killer, but an entire secret sort-of-Satanic society behind the "accidents", and culminating in the village-wide firefight--just like high noon in a Western set in the English countryside with automatic weapons. (See what I mean? A little bit ridiculous). Then it became the Neverending Story. There were several points where the movie could have ended with a satisfying resolution, but no. This was the Energizer Bunny of ridiculous British humor.

I thought Hud said he didn't like this movie, and that surprised me because they blew a bunch of stuff up (ok, so maybe it was just one house and one police department, unless I'm forgetting something) and "busted lotsa caps" at the end. But I clarified with him and figured out that what he'd actually said was "It wasn't as good as Shaun of the Dead," and since I personally didn't think SotD was that great I assumed this meant Hud didn't like Hot Fuzz. Think of it this way: if I said that something was not as good as smashing my thumb in the car door, you would assume I didn't like that something, right?

I was surprised by how many people I recognized in this film, like Horace Slughorn from Harry Potter, Slartibartfast from The Hitchhiker's Guide (who will also be Rufus Scrimgeour in the last two Harry Potter movies!), and James Bond (though probably the worst one, after Roger Moore), and I even recognized the actress who played Eve Draper but I can't think from where.

By the way, this doesn't really apply here, but did you know Slartibartfast is much funnier when pronounced with an English accent? When I read The Hitchhiker's Guide, I read it as "Slartybartfast" but it was much better in the movie as "Slahtibahtfahst." Just try it yourself and you'll see.