Bottle Shock

This is a fun little movie, especially if you like wine. Even if you think you don't like wine*, if you're someone who always roots for the underdog this could be the movie for you. It's the true story of a 1976 California vs. France wine competition.

Being my usual cynical self, I couldn't help but wonder how slanted this movie was. It showed all of the American characters as down-to-earth and likeable; perhaps flawed, but in a way that comes closer to making you want to hang out with them as opposed to judging and rejecting them. In contrast, the French are all portrayed as know-it-all snobs.

I'd say it's probably impossible to drink this movie without concurrently watching a bottle of wine.

* I believe there is a little wine-drinker in all of us. Some of you just don't know it yet. 

You Again

Two scoops of crazy and a side order of cuckoo cachoo.

I really didn't care anything about seeing this movie, but I don't pass up a chance at Girls' Night Out, as infrequently as it comes around when you have three kids and work every weekend. Especially when it begins with that margarita I earned and ends with a glass of wine and chocolate cake. Mmmmm. Allow me to reflect on the bliss a moment.

OK, back to the movie. It was actually pretty cute. I'd kind of thought I might end up falling asleep (these things happen when I sit still in the dark), but I managed to stay awake the entire time with no trouble. It made me laugh quite a bit too, but I have a theory about that. Movies are much more funny when you are surrounded by other people who are also laughing. I'm not sure how well it would hold up to my usual late-night movie-watching at home.

I'm not sure this movie is a must-see-in-the-theater movie, but it's worth watching just to see Betty White say, "Don't get up in my grill, sister." Especially if you can manage to get a few of the amenities my GNO experience came with.

Youth in Revolt

Hm. Quirky.

Terminator Salvation

We've had this DVD for months, and I just now got around to watching it. I wouldn't have even watched it tonight (after I got home from work, no less!) except that my husband fired it up, and how can I resist watching an un-watched movie?

I'd seen bits and pieces of the movie before, but never enough to get a good idea of what was happening. Speaking of which, this is not a good Ironing Movie. You really can't take your eyes off it very much. If you try this, you will Miss Things and your husband will become Very Annoyed. If I am not careful, one of these days he's going to break out the duct tape to seal my mouth shut during movie-watching time.

But that wasn't my point. What I meant to say was this: I pretty easily figured out the Big Thing. (Oh yeah, because there is a Big Thing to figure out in this movie). But I think this had more to do with the fact that I'd seen parts of it before than due to my super-excellent skills of observation and intuition. I don't think it was especially predictable. Anyway, it might have been kinda fun to be blown away by the Big Thing, but I wasn't. It was more of a Yeah, so? I already knew that Thing.

This probably is a Must-See Movie if you are a boy (there is much blowing up of large and flammable objects) or if you are a fan of the other Terminator movies. I would rank it as better than the first and third, but not as good as T2. There was one thing I didn't like much about it, though--it mostly takes place in a dirty, gritty dystopia (being the only one of the four movies that occurs mostly after Judgment Day). Dirt, grit and dystopia are three things which, especially when found in combination, can be somewhat depressing for me.

Bonus: Kyle Reese is played by Anton Yelchin, the same actor who was Charlie Bartlett. I KNEW I recognized him from somewhere!

OSS 117: Lost in Rio

This movie made me laugh. It's possible that the wine helped, but I think I would have laughed anyway. On the other hand, I'm sure it's not for everyone. Whenever I got to giggling, Hud would give me the "are you crazy?" look and ask what was so funny. The first few times I tried explaining it to him and his response was always something like, "I know. What's so funny about that?" Sigh.

It's pretty much a cross between a James Bond movie and Get Smart, except in French. The main character is a French super-spy who is, of course, quite  handsome and debonair (can you imagine any other kind of French super-spy?) but is also incredibly chauvinistic. He's the kind of person I might want to slap in real life (and he does get slapped), but I had no trouble laughing at him in a movie. Even so, the ladies love him (and, apparently, some of the men do too).

One thing that amazed me about this movie was how everything looked absolutely vintage--of course the clothes, cars, furniture and actors (no anachronistic Mark Ruffalos here), but even down to the colors and camera angles. When I ordered this from netflix I was sure it was a newer movie, but while watching I had to look it up to make sure it wasn't filmed in the 60s. (It wasn't. It's from 2009.)

This is actually a sequel to a 2006 movie called OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies. That one's on my list too.

The Joneses

Well, this is certainly not one of those movies they call a "romp." It's a rather bitter social satire which is actually somewhat depressing. I mean, nothing like a tear-jerker (not even for you softies out there), but the slight uptick in the last 30 seconds wasn't near enough to leave me with a happy fun feeling. In fact, the sudden turnaround to a "happy ending" was more annoying than anything else. I almost didn't want it to end happily. The depressing direction it had been headed just made more sense.

I think I figured out the premise within the first thirteen minutes, which was another slight disappointment; I could have lived with a bit more suspense. I was kind of looking for someone to flip out and go on a murderous rampage (not that I'm a fan of slasher movies, but that just seemed like an obvious conclusion). The movie did have a marked turning point at one hour in, which is when everything begins to fall apart for the Joneses and becomes almost American Beauty-esque, but no homicides in this one.

Now that I've spent the entire time bashing the movie, I must say it wasn't a total waste of time. I wouldn't put it on my "Must See Movies" list, but it's not a bad movie. And it has a decent soundtrack.

The Jacket

OK, so . . . I've seen this movie before. I didn't realize it until I was about 30 minutes into it, but yep, been there done that.

This time it's actually fine by me, though, because it's a pretty good movie. It's kind of like one part The Butterfly Effect and two parts The Time Traveler's Wife mixed in with, oh, I don't know, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and a faint whiff of The Fugitive. Not a bad combination.

Man, Adrien Brody has a big schnozz. It's almost as big as that of my ex-brother-in-law, which could quite possibly be used as an umbrella for Rhode Island. And once again Keira Knightley's huge chin got on my nerves. It's a good thing those two didn't have a baby, because it would have had a nutcracker for a face.

If for nothing else, watch this movie just to see the most recent James Bond play a very convincing crazy man. You will be amazed.