Easy Rider

Well, gosh, I don't know what to say about this movie. Except maybe . . . what was the point of that? (And by "that," I mean the whole film). Not a lot happens in this movie. OK, maybe there are two or three major plot points, but I'm not going to tell you what they are, because there's nothing else in the movie (except a couple of crazy trips--and I'm not talking about the motorcycle variety). I will say that, between the pointlessness and the ending, this movie reminded me very much of Electra Glide in Blue. (I forewarn you that there is a major plot spoiler for both of these movies if you follow that link).

Other minor comments: I was cracking up watching Jack Nicholson wearing a football helmet on the back of Peter Fonda's motorcycle. The movie has a pretty awesome soundtrack (except for maybe that crazy "If You Want To Be A Bird" song). I felt strong dislike for the weird flash-between-now-and-later-a-couple-of-times transitions and was glad these weren't used between every scene. I used to work with a guy who looked a lot like hippie-haired, hairy-faced Dennis Hopper in this movie. Can you tell I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel for comments on this one?

I think the title should be changed to "Cheech & Chong Turn White, Ride Motorcycles, Try Their Hand At Drama, and Are Not Funny."

Russian Dolls

Yet another French movie. At least I know why this one ended up on my netflix queue--the actor in the lead role (Romain Duris) also played the main character in The Beat That My Heart Skipped, so I'm sure it popped up as "other movies you might like." Too bad this one is a sequel . . . now I have to watch the first one, L'auberge espagnole.

I spent most of the movie wondering if the title refers to those Russian nesting dolls (you know, those hollow little painted pear-shaped wooden dolls that pull apart at the middle to reveal successively smaller and smaller dolls inside). After I tried continually but unsuccessfully to figure out how this movie is like those dolls, Xavier comes right out and explains it in the last five minutes. He's talking about finding the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, and the way you have to go through a procession of people in your search. "You have to open them one by one, wondering, 'Is she the last?" While on the one hand I was glad to have my question answered, on the other hand I was slightly disappointed that getting the answer was so easy; all I had to do was wait for it.

Audrey Tautou is just the cutest little thing ever. I also liked looking at Kevin Bishop (in a different way!) and his hair, even though I usually don't care for long hair on boys. I wouldn't mind watching him in another movie, although a quick glance at his page on imdb.com reveals that he hasn't been in much else that I'm interested in seeing--except for the aforementioned "prequel." How convenient!

It's funny that, when Xavier was reading a bedtime story to Lucas, the English subtitle read "And they lived happily ever after," while the actual French words said something like "and they had lots of babies"!

The movie has a funky little soundtrack, but nothing I'm rushing to buy from iTunes.

Here's something I was thinking about today. I've watched innumerable movies in English (of course), several in French, and at least two in Spanish; how prolific are movies in various other languages? Have I not watched movies in other languages because there aren't very many of them, or because they aren't very well-known, or because netflix doesn't have them, or because they don't tend to have the necessary English subtitles?

Zombieland

My husband told me I had to watch this movie because it was really funny. But zombies? Pfft. I wasn't going to listen to him, but he kind of forced me to watch it tonight. I mean, he put the DVD on and I couldn't help but mostly watch it.

Let's see, what was good about this movie? Um, the soundtrack wasn't bad. I liked Wichita's voice. (She was played by Emma Stone, who has been in at least 2 other movies I've seen, but I don't remember her from either.) And I thought it was funny that the only 2 movies I've seen Jesse Eisenberg in are Zombieland and Adventureland.

I can't believe Hud bought this DVD. And, by the way, all of the parts that he thought were funny were actually just gross.

Inglourious Basterds

Brad Pitt + Quentin Tarantino = ??? I kind of felt compelled to find out. On the other hand, (don't shoot me but) war movies = thumbs down, spaghetti (or any other kind of) westerns = thumbs down, so I would think that war movie + spaghetti western (don't ask me--that was what netflix claimed) = theoretically two thumbs down. (After watching, I'm guessing the spaghetti western reference was based solely on the soundtrack.) Even though it took forEVER for netflix to sent me a copy of this disk (I sat through several months of Very long wait), I was not especially eager to sit down and watch it once it finally arrived.

Surprisingly enough, I've got to say I was completely engrossed by this movie. The level of tension reached in Chapter One was amazing, and it certainly never got boring after that. I'd only planned to watch about half of the movie tonight and maybe catch the rest tomorrow night, but I couldn't help staying up to see the entire thing in one night, even though by the end I was so tired that my eyes were just rolling around in my head. While this may not be the most, shall we say, historically accurate war movie I've ever seen, I find there may be something to be said for a fantasy regarding how things should have happened.

I'm sure I've made this point multiple times before, but ugh, Brad Pitt and his attempted accents! Can't he just keep his mouth shut and look pretty? The only thing worse than Pitt's southern accent is his stupid little mustache. Here again he was a caricature instead of a character.

This may be one of the only war movies I might recommend for someone to watch. Of course, there weren't many scenes of combat or strategy which, as I'm sure I've said before, are the parts of wars that bore me (integral though they may be). Only problem is, "basterds" is a pretty rude word no matter how you spell it. Maybe I won't recommend it to anyone out loud.

The Outsiders

Believe it or not, I'd never seen this movie before. I haven't even read the book yet. I really wanted to read it before watching the movie, but the disc showed up from netflix before I had a chance to find a copy of the book. I previously only had a vague idea about a gang of greasers, and I knew the phrase, "Stay gold, Ponyboy," but that was as far as my preconceived notions of the movie went.

This is a gripping story--almost good enough to make me forget the total cornball music. You know how they're remaking so many movies nowadays, as if they've run out of ideas and just started over again at the beginning? Well, I don't think they should remake this movie, but I do think it needs to be released with an updated soundtrack. I mean, the music is that bad. With better music this movie could be seriously awesome. Even though I get a weird feeling that the choreographed mayhem of the rumble reminds me of Braveheart.

I already knew the book was supposed to be really good, but now I have especially high hopes for it. I bet it might be excellent.

Sherlock Holmes

I was uncertain about this movie when I first saw the previews. Sherlock Holmes as an action hero? That's just not right. But of course I had to see for myself. So I uncharacteristically sat on the couch and drank wine straight from the bottle (I'd had that kind of night) and passed judgment on this movie.

I stacked up a pile of criticisms as I watched. Holmes as a bare-knuckles boxer seemed like a pure invention typical of Guy Ritchie, but I had a vague memory of the detective being a fighter, confirmed by wikipedia. Robert Downey, Jr's nose is impossibly small and cute to be the hooked beak of the great Holmes. And there's just something about Rachel McAdams that bothers me. It's like she's just too bright-eyed and perky. She would make a great beauty pageant contestant, or maybe a professional cheerleader. But as far as acting goes, I'm not so sure. I was disappointed that Holmes never actually played the violin and rather just plucked at it every now and then.

But the movie wasn't all bad. I actually appreciated Holmes' plan-ahead slo-mo previews of several of his fight scenes. Otherwise I would have had no clue what was going on. Honestly, in most movies (unless Jason Statham is kicking butt) I tend to tune out the fights and just try to notice who wins. So it was nice to be aware of the strategy behind Holmes' moves. I was also glad (yup, I guess this would be a spoiler) that all the seemingly supernatural occurrences had completely logical explanations. I spent most of the movie being annoyed at Lord Blackwood for being able to perform real magic (which so does not belong in a Sherlock Holmes story) and was very relieved when it turned out there was no magic at all. But then I quickly became just as annoyed again (if not more) for not seeing that coming. I mean, the Hound of the Baskervilles wasn't a devilish phantom; it was just a mean dog with phosphorescent paste smeared on its jowls. I should have known there would be a sensible explanation for everything from Blackwood's resurrection to his father's death.

All in all, this is not a purist's version of Sherlock Holmes, but it was entertaining enough for the masses (of which I admittedly am one). Care to take bets on plans for a sequel? They didn't make near enough of Professor Moriarty in this one, but I am sure he will be featured in the next.

Hairspray

This is the 2007 movie musical. I have never seen the 1988 movie version, nor have I had the opportunity to see a live performance.

There are very few movie musicals I could watch over and over again (Grease, Mama Mia! and I guess I can put Annie in this category even though I could probably only stand to watch it once per decade). There are even a couple that I thought were pretty good but haven't tried watching repeatedly (Chicago, Moulin Rouge and The Sound of Music--yeah, I know, how did that happen? But I'm not kidding. I'm pretty sure I haven't heard Maria sing since 1982.) Then there are some musicals that are painful to watch even once (Grease 2). Happily, Hairspray does not fall in the painful category. I would say it falls somewhere between Pretty Good and Re-Watchable. I probably won't re-watch it, but neither will I feel compelled to gouge out my eyes (or my ears) if I find myself in a conscripted re-watching in the future.

I did try to determine what it is about a musical that makes it re-watchable for me. I haven't quite decided, although I suspect it is equal parts knowing the songs and liking the songs, on top of all the usual what-makes-me-like-a-movie parts. And honestly I'm not sure why it really matters, because I don't generally try to decipher whether a non-musical movie is re-watchable, but I guess that is just my criteria for whether I like a musical movie.

So, a few notes on casting: John Travolta as Tracy's mom seems like an odd choice, but from what I can gather the role is traditionally played by a man, and knowing that, I can't think of any man who could have done it better. Loved Christopher Walken as Tracy's dad. Funny that Jerry Stiller got to be in both movie versions (though not playing the same character). And somewhat strange (in a creepy way) that I happened to watch two Amanda Bynes movies back-to-back. (And no, it is not due to netflix suggestion, because I picked up She's the Man at the library).

Apparently the 1988 movie version was not a musical. I'm really not especially interested in watching it just to see for myself how it compares. Especially since I can't imagine there is much left after you remove the pizzaz of the musical numbers. What I really want is for someone to tell me if the 1988 movie is way better than the version I watched. So, faithful readers (all two of you!), help me out. Do I need to watch the other Hairspray movie? Even if I already have nearly 200 other movies on my netflix queue?