Push

This movie was about as good as I expected it to be, based on the previews. It was a mildly entertaining action flick, a mishmash reminiscent of Bladerunner and The Matrix while not coming even close to their quality.

I was a little disappointed (but not surprised) to find that they don't sell a soundtrack for this movie. I really liked the sound of several songs throughout it. I was able to find some of the songs for sale individually, and bought four that I like.

Not that I didn't have fun watching this movie, but the only other things I can think of to say about it are negative. Some plot holes, but none serious enough to make the movie incoherent. The rainbow-colored force-field special effects were pretty corny. And I hated that there wasn't a real ending. Almost everything was left unresolved, as if it were an episode of a TV show. I think they thought this movie was going to do well enough to make a sequel. We'll have to see whether I can manage to avoid wasting my time on that. #2 is rarely better than #1, and if #1 is only mediocre, I can only imagine how bad #2 will be.

Four Christmases

I liked The Proposal better. This movie tried harder to be funny but overdid it a little bit, to the extent that most of it was unrealistic. OK, yeah, movies in general are not realistic, but this one pushed the envelope a little much in order to get laughs. Of course, realistic or not, I still laughed when Reese Witherspoon started kicking butt in the jump castle.

Being a chick myself, I liked the sweetness factor of The Proposal that Four Christmases lacked. And I have to say that either Reese Witherspoon is freakishly short or Vince Vaughn is freakishly tall (or both). But even though I criticize it, this was still a treat to relax in front of with a glass of wine after the kids went to bed.

The Proposal

This was a really cute movie. Total chick flick/rom com all the way, but it made me giggle. Of course, other than that, I don't have much to say about it, except that I wish the INS agent had surfaced next to the boat wearing scuba gear.

I think I giggled the most when the multitalented Ramon was stripping for the bride-to-be, and Gammie was yelling, "Smack his @$$, Margaret!" The giggling was mainly due to the fact that I just could not believe Carole's mom loves this movie. Did she love that part??

Volver

This was a quirky little movie, and definitely unique. I appreciated being forced to sit and just watch a movie for once (subtitles will do that to you).

Penelope Cruz is some pretty hot stuff. It's funny to see her in a movie role where she's speaking Spanish, although this shouldn't be funny, since it's her native language. But her speech is so rapid and harsh-sounding and very natural. Again, shouldn't be surprising, but I'm just used to hearing her halting and accented English.

The plot was somewhat predictable. I guessed who Paula's father was as soon as Raimunda said, "He's dead," and I figured out that Irene wasn't actually a ghost before Raimunda ever even saw her, though apparently Sole and Paula never did figure that out themselves. I also figured out that it was Agustina's mother who died in the fire, not Sole and Raimunda's. But predictability didn't ruin it for me. It was still fun and interesting to watch.

I don't think I could call this a comedy, though. I guess there was situational irony, and a sort of lighthearted attitude in the face of serious subjects, enough so that it certainly wasn't a drama. But none of it was (for me) laugh-out-loud funny, let alone groan-out-loud funny. Also, I did find it a little bit difficult to believe that gorgeous Raimunda was a sister to homely Sole, although at least this made sense with their father's attraction (ugh!) to one sister but not the other.

It is interesting to note (well, interesting to this non-Spanish-speaker, at least) that the title of the movie means "to return." Of course this applies not only to the return of Irene, but also to Sole and Raimunda's return home.

Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist

I thought they didn't make good high school movies anymore (and never would again, since John Hughes has passed). Granted, this is nowhere near as funny as The Breakfast Club or Sixteen Candles, but it was cute and sweet and not raunchy like I thought all high school movies were these days (like American Pie).

I must admit I'm a little disbelieving that anyone could find Michael Cera attractive. I mean, it was incredible enough that he got laid in Juno, and that was just the result of boredom. But he had two beautiful chicks after him in this movie. I don't care what kind of music he likes. I'm just not seeing it.

How To Be

This movie is crap.

Avatar

If I hadn't heard so many people talking about how great this movie was, I probably never would have been interested in seeing it. It sounded like the kind of thing my husband might like, and of course I would have gone to see it with him if he insisted, but as it turns out, I decided that so many intelligent people couldn't be wrong. I was the one who insisted on going.

It was a really good movie. Great, fast-paced story, visually stunning, and more than once it was so intense that every muscle in my body was rigid and I was riveted to the screen. On the other hand, I must admit that after more than 2 hours I did glance at my watch and wonder how much longer until the end.

I also think perhaps my expectations were a bit high, based on rave reviews from friends. Sorry, Gary, I did not find it a "transformative experience." No, Anne, I can't agree that this was "hands down the best movie ever," although this is not because I can rattle off a list of movies that were far better. I could probably say it was among the better movies I've seen, but by degrees rather than indisputably. Oddly enough, the one friend of mine who did the best job describing Avatar was the one who likened this movie to Fern Gully.

I was definitely impressed by the special effects. I will admit that it had the best graphics of any film I've ever seen--possibly even the best of any film yet made. It was a rare moment during the movie that I was reminded that what I was seeing wasn't real. This is certainly a movie that begs to be seen on the big screen. I saw it in 3D, although I'm not convinced that this added to the experience other than to show off what a great job they did with the effects.

Bottom line: enjoyable movie experience, glad I saw it, it was fun and all, but my favorite James Cameron movie is still Titanic. I guess that proves I'm just a girly girl and always will be.