Clash of the Titans (1981)

We watched this movie in school during our 6th-grade session on mythology, but all these years later I couldn't remember much about it (other than the fact that I agreed to be in a Goddess Beauty Pageant before I realized that my mother did not own any plain white sheets. Of course I lost.) Seeing previews for the current remake made me curious enough to re-watch the original.

Need I even mention the sad state of the special effects in this movie? On the one hand, for having been produced nearly 30 years ago, I suppose allowances can be made for their laughable portrayal of a winged horse or a snake-headed woman. On the other hand, Star Wars came out four years before Clash. I guess it's easier to animate robots and other futuristic characters, but the makers of Clash obviously didn't have George Lucas on their team.

Hopelessly fake-looking special effects aside, those ancient Greeks were some pretty awesome story-tellers. I'm thinking with the current technology and these good old stories, the new Clash of the Titans movie just might be excellent. Even this old version can't be called eminently unwatchable.

Casanova

This was a fun little movie that reminded me of a Shakespearean comedy crossed with a Jane Austen book, although--would you believe it? it's basically a true story. I guess I previously didn't really know that Giacomo Casanova was an actual historical figure. Now I want to read his memoirs, which are oh-so-originally entitled "The Story of My Life."

Great costumes, bittersweet to watch the late Heath Ledger, and all in all a nice way to spend a couple of hours on the way home from our road trip. (Don't worry, I wasn't the one driving.)

Stardust

Here's a movie I'd never heard of before, which is somewhat surprising, as it has several big stars in it (no pun intended, of course), like Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert DeNiro. It was recommended to me by my friend Mandy. (Hi, Mandy!) Mandy and I tend to enjoy the same sorts of books, but this is the first of several movies she's suggested I watch, so I approached it with a bit of skepticism. I had the intention of formulating my opinion of Mandy's film recommendations based on this one.

I can officially assure you that Mandy has good taste in movies. This one was weirdness like Gormenghast wrapped up in a fairy tale like The Princess Bride (although I can't say it was quite as good as the latter, maybe only because--though it did have its moments of humor--it lacked what I insist on calling the comic genius of S. Morganstern). But it did have a great story and was fun to watch. I'm pretty sure my favorite character was Arthur Weasley as Billy the goat, although he was closely followed by Captain Shakespeare the Prissy Pirate.

As long as you can stand a bit of predictability (the ride is still fun even if you know what's coming) and a small number of ridiculously fortuitous events, you need to watch this movie. Just be glad you don't have to hear me or my husband shouting out our (annoyingly accurate) guesses as to what will happen next. And be glad you don't have to watch it with my cousin Lori who would make fun of you for using the word fortuitous.

The Constant Gardener

I knew nothing about this movie before watching it, though I'm sure I'd heard of it somehow, but from its name I assumed it was going to be a girly movie with, I don't know, a lot of gardening in it? So it sort of took me by surprise when I pulled the disk out of the netflix sleeve and saw Ralph Fiennes holding a gun. (Only one gun, though, so it really didn't pass muster with Hud).

However, even the picture on the disk did not give me the right idea. Although we briefly see Fiennes handle a gun in a scene or two, he's certainly no James Bond, and I don't recall ever seeing him pointing the gun at anyone or anything the way he is in that photo. I think Hud was a little disappointed that Justin Quayle wasn't anything like James Bond. In fact, the movie prompted him to ask me, "Why do these movies always have to be about something?" I think you would be correct in assuming this is not my husband's kind of movie.

Really, this is not my usual movie, either. I wouldn't be surprised if the novel it was adapted from was absolutely excellent (though, that I recall, I have never read anything by John le Carré, so I can't be sure if he writes excellent books), but I don't generally watch movies featuring political activism or healthcare policy in Africa. Not so much because I am heartless and cruel (though I am), but because I prefer movies as entertainment and books as thought-provokers.

But this was an excellent movie! If I had known what it was about, I probably never would have watched it, so it's good that I went into it blindly, because that way I experienced what I would otherwise have blocked myself from. This movie was engrossing, and thought-provoking, and eye-opening, and overall quite well-done. Don't choose this movie for a fun, lighthearted evening, but do watch it when you have the chance. And not just because Ralph Fiennes is pretty hot when he's not playing Voldemort.

Y Tu Mamá También

Well. This movie is not for the faint of heart. What it amounts to is a porno with a little less sex and a little more plot. The literal translation of the title is "And your mama too," but this movie is not for your mama (unless she's a really different mama from mine). Wow, it's kind of funny to think this same director did one of the Harry Potter movies.

Hud says Tenoch and Julio are like a Mexican Beavis & Butthead. I didn't think they were quite so bad until the scene where they were each lying on a diving board at a deserted pool and simultaneously jacking off. I had flashbacks to Beavis doing his "monkey boy."

They sure gave a lot of odd extraneous information in this movie. I thought they might tie together all the loose threads in the end, making them suddenly relevant, but . . . they didn't.

In a nutshell: this was another one of those movies that made Hud say, "You sure can pick 'em."

The Women

Oh. My. Gosh. This movie is just so silly. And not silly in a lovely, wonderful Princess Bride kind of way. Silly in the sort of way that, instead of being titled The Women, should have been named The Rich, Vain, Self-Absorbed Women and Their Petty Problems. It's an understatement to say that this movie was chick lit on film.

I have to wonder if, had I been prepared for the silliness that is this movie, or if I'd been in different company, would I have liked it or found it more funny? I just have the feeling that, given the caliber of the actresses in this movie, it must have been better than I thought it was.

Favorite part of the movie: Parade of shoes montage at the beginning. It's sad when the best part of the movie is in the first five minutes.

I am SO LUCKY I didn't try to force Hud to watch this movie with me. I could never have repaid that debt.

The Secret Life of Bees

This movie was recommended to me by either my mom or my friend Carole (can't remember which). It really doesn't matter, because neither could make me very excited about watching a movie. I love 'em both, but our tastes vary so much that sometimes I wonder how I can stand to be around them. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I actually enjoyed this movie. It's a good story, but it's one of those movies where it seems like so much is left unsaid. Of course I knew going into it that it was first a novel (which I haven't read), so who's to say I would have noticed this if I hadn't already known that, but I felt like I could tell we were skimming over the depths that are found in the book.

I'm sure this is going to make me sound like I am soulless and dead inside, but sometimes I hate movies that make me feel. Books, yeah, any day. But with movies I'm in it for the escapism. For just that reason, I think I would have liked the book better than the movie. No surprise there, since that's the way it always seems to work anyway. Even so, this was a good movie . . . except maybe for the part where Dakota Fanning has to tell the bees, "I love you, I love you, I love you." She looked nearly as embarrassed as I felt for her having to say that. Even Queen Latifah's response seemed to be oohhhhhhkay . . . like she wanted to add, "whatevuh you gotta do, sistah," with a politely surreptitious eye roll.

If you are watching the movie and trying to figure it out--that really is Paul Bettany as T. Ray. I thought it was just someone who looked a lot like him. I guess I couldn't believe he could look so much like a white-trash Southerner. Isn't he British? I suppose that's a testament to his talent as an actor.