Lust, Caution

Here's another movie I picked out for my netflix queue months (years?) ago, and I have no recollection why. These tend to be the sorts of movies that prompt Hud to say, "You sure can pick 'em." Dripping with sarcasm, of course.

I started watching this movie last week and made it through the first 20 minutes before I decided I had better things to do (like get a good night's sleep) and I've been putting off watching the rest of it ever since then. The first bit really didn't grab me, so I wasn't looking forward to the remaining 2+ hours; and as it's in Chinese with English subtitles, it's another one I couldn't watch while TCB.

After dragging my feet all week, I finally got around to watching tonight, and it's actually an intriguing story. I thought it was a pretty good flick. Hud, on the other hand, summed it up by saying, "That was a couple of hours of my life I won't get back."

By the way, this movie earned its NC-17 rating. At one point Hud mentioned he thought he'd seen pornos with less sex in them.

RocknRolla

My husband said this movie was a lot like Snatch or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but not as good. (Not a surprising comparison, as Guy Ritchie directed all three). Having now watched it, I agree that the movies were similar, but I thought this flick was pretty decent and doesn't necessarily suffer in comparison to the other two (except in one small area: Jason Statham is not in this one).

Be forewarned that you have to pay attention to this movie in order for it to make sense, as much for the British (and other) accents as for the relatively complicated story line. I had to actually sit down and watch this, just as much as I would have had to with a subtitled foreign film, and as a result my house is still a mess and I can't go to bed yet even though I want to. And speaking of subtitles: when certain characters speak in Russian, either the subtitles are really hard to read, or my new glasses aren't working as well as they should be.

I don't think I noticed it until this movie, but I have come to the opinion that Guy Ritchie is a British Quentin Tarantino wannabe. (When I say this I have only Pulp Fiction in mind, because that's Tarantino's best movie. Although Reservoir Dogs was pretty good too). This movie is nowhere near as clever as Pulp Fiction, although it is also less shocking (which is a good thing in my book).

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

I assumed this would be a silly and stupid romantic comedy based on Dickens' A Christmas Carol. I figured the most I could hope for was a shot of Matthew McConaughey without his shirt.

Turns out I was right. In fact, I think I can sum this movie up in three words: cute, fun, forgettable.

The Book of Eli

This was our romantic Valentine's Day outing movie. Ha! Not my first choice, but it was the best common ground we could find. (I didn't even bother trying to convince Hud that he wanted to see the Percy Jackson movie or Valentine's Day.)

I knew beforehand the concept that Denzel Washington's character possessed the last Bible in the world, and I had worried that the movie would denigrate God and the Bible, so I was relieved to find out that wasn't true at all. In fact, I feel like Eli summed it up pretty well when he said he'd been so busy trying to protect the book that he forgot to live what he learned from it: Do for others more than you do for yourself.

What I didn't know beforehand is that this movie is post-apocalyptic in the vein of Mad Max, The Postman, or Waterworld (without the water). I guess if I had looked at the movie poster or watched a preview I would have been forewarned, but alas, I did not. I am really not a fan of this sort of movie. The scenery is invariably depressingly ugly, and the people are all so dirty, greasy, and grungy. Not only that, but I found the movie very gory, with severed heads and limbs flying everywhere. Eli really whoops up on some folks. Funny thing is, my husband didn't think it was gory at all, because all of that sort of action is mostly seen in silhouette. I still call it gory.

I asked my husband what else he thought about the movie and he kind of just shrugged and said it was entertainment (which is funny, because I thought it was fairly thought-provoking), and that he probably wouldn't buy it when it came out on DVD (and that I did agree with). But if you are trying to decide whether you want to see it in the theater or if you'll wait until you can rent it, I say wait. It's not a movie that just begs to be seen on the big screen. I think the story is more important than seeing it big and loud. I do think you'll want to watch it once, though.

One of my favorite things about the movie was the song we hear Eli playing on his iPod, which is "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?" by Al Green. It's a very pretty and old-fashioned song that really stands out in contrast with Eli's harsh reality.

My Best Friend's Girl

From reading the netflix description of this movie, I kind of got the idea that this would be a retelling of the classic story of Tristan and Isolde, remade into a stupid (not to mention "crude, lewd and rude") comedy. Fortunately, I didn't quite get it right. First of all, it was never part of the classic story that Tristan's greatest talent was acting like a perfect jerk (to put it mildly). Second of all, the movie turned out to be quite a bit more clever than I expected, which is never a bad thing.

Of course, the movie certainly had its rude moments. When I had to watch Tank eating a taco in full-on jerk mode, I'm pretty sure I cringed, probably blushed, and maybe even should have covered my eyes. And I would have been cringing and blushing quite frequently if I had watched this with my mom. I'm sure eventually I would have made her wear earplugs and a blindfold, or at least an eye patch. But since I didn't watch this with my mom (whew!) it was actually pretty funny and cute--and probably all the more so due to low expectations.

By the way, have you ever noticed that Dane Cook looks a bit like a troglodyte? Quite fitting, since his character acted like one.

Pierrot Le Fou

I want to know why the heck I keep watching movies by Jean-Luc Godard. I've reached the "whatever came over me?" part of my netflix queue. At some point, for some unknown reason, I added a bunch of Godard's films to my list, and now I'm having to intersperse them with movies I understand, just to keep me sane.

Godard's movies make me feel like an idiot. They don't make sense to me. I feel like I spend the entire movie saying to myself, Why? Why? Why? Here's an example from this movie, said by the title character (whose name is actually Ferdinand) to Marianne, his lover and partner in crime: "It's a good thing I don't like spinach . . . because if I did, I'd eat it . . . and I can't stand the stuff. It's the same with you . . . only just the opposite." Mmmm . . . OK. The entire movie is this way!

Here's something interesting I noticed: about 45 minutes into the movie, right where the female voice-over says "Chapter Seven," there is a shot of the sand on a beach. After a moment, a leg pokes up out of it, then two, then two more, and you realize Marianne and Pierrot have buried themselves in the sand. This reminded me of a similar scene in Sex and Lucia, where you think you're just looking at sand, and then someone rises up out of it. (It's been a while since I've seen that one, so I don't remember who it was, or even if it was more than one person). By the way, Sex and Lucia is a much better movie than this one. It's not an entirely straightforward movie, and you have to think to be able to follow it, but at least it makes sense.

So, go watch Sex and Lucia instead of Pierrot Le Fou. Meanwhile, remind me never to paint my face blue and wrap my head in dynamite.

All About Eve

All About Eve won an Oscar for Best Picture (among other categories) in 1950. Sixty years later this film still resonates. It could just have easily been set in the present century, which is part of what makes it a classic. The snappy dialogue doesn't hurt, either.

I was surprised when Marilyn Monroe popped up in this movie. I had no idea (or recollection, anyway) that she was part of the cast. In fact when I first saw her and mentioned it to my husband, he didn't think it was Monroe. He said her face wasn't fat enough. (Actually I think his term was "butter-faced" or something like that, and I assumed he meant fat). But I knew it was her from the weird and affected way she moved her lips when she talked, which I guess was meant to be sexy, though it has no effect on me.

I loved the twist at the end when Phoebe showed up in Eve's apartment. That made the movie for me.

17 again

This is my first Zac Efron experience (unless you count seeing him in one episode of NCIS). I was surprised to find that he's actually a pretty decent actor. I don't see what all the fuss is over his looks, though. I mean, he's no Brad Pitt. But could you imagine Pitt with Efron's acting skills? Nah, no one should be so blessed.

It annoyed me that Scarlett was the only one who readily recognized that "Mark Gold" looked JUST like Mike O'Donnell looked in high school. I mean, I think if I saw someone who looked just like my best friend in high school, that's the first thing I'd notice. Mark/Mike's high school basketball coach should have noticed (though that wouldn't have added anything to the story) and his best friend from high school should have recognized him right away (although then I would have missed out on the light saber battle). And what, his kids had never seen pictures of him from high school? I know what my parents looked like in high school. On the other hand, I can let it go when I realize that's not the least likely part of this movie.

So: cute, silly, fun movie. Instant classic? No.

Knocked Up

This movie was backwards compared to the usual romantic comedy. The girl and guy are supposed to hate each other until just before the end when they realize they love each other, and then they have a baby. At least this one was unique in that it mixes things up.

This movie was humorous enough, but the only time I laughed out loud (and I'm embarrassed to admit this) is when the gynecologist told Allison, "You do look like your sister!" . . . and he wasn't looking at her face. Although I did inwardly giggle when Pete told Ben, "You look like Babe Ruth's gay brother . . . Gabe Ruth." (You have to say it out loud for it to work.)

It's funny how many of these actors have done movies together before (see Adventureland, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The 40 Year Old Virgin). I must admit this one was much sweeter than I expected it to be, given the other movies this bunch has done together. Honestly, this movie was much better than I thought it would be, mainly because it wasn't near as raunchy or disgusting as I expected. On the other hand, I haven't watched the deleted scenes. I don't plan to. I have a feeling they would change my mind.

Paul Rudd does an awesome DeNiro impression and a terrible Doc Brown impression.

Finally, I just have to mention that I sincerely hope there are not kids out there who believe that a girl can't get pregnant if she's on top just because Jason said so!! You don't have to be Hitler to see that people who are stupid enough to believe things like that are too stupid to be procreating.