Miscellaneous Movie Musings

[wendybeth]

In keeping with the royal turn of this thread, I finally saw 'The Queen' last night. Liked it, thought Helen Mirren was deserving of her Oscar, but the choice for Philip was odd. (Maybe he was chosen for his name- Cromwell...) I like James Cromwell, but I'm not sure he was right for the part. Charles comes across as odd and wimpy as I expect he is in real life, and the actor who played Blair did a decent job, although they laid on the 'everyman' a bit thick- I mean, does anyone believe Tony Blair does the dishes after dinner?

[Gemini Cricket]

I watched 'The Queen' last night too. And I'm not talking about zapppop.

I love Helen Mirren. Love love love. She's third only to Dame Judi and Dame Maggie.

I also have the hots for the guy playing Tony Blair.

[blueerica]

I like coincidences.

[CoasterMatt]

I like fresh maple bacon on vanilla ice cream...

[Babette]

I just saw The Invisible this afternoon. I really thought it was going to be more suspenseful, mysterious and clever. It was ok to good for the first 2/3 but then it just got lame. One thing that saved it was Justin Chatwin. He should be sold with popcorn at the snackbar - yum-mee!

The girl with the beenie, no beenie, beenie with hoodie, hoodie only, hair deal was totally lame.

I have to say all through the movie I was thinking "awesome music". 30 Seconds to Mars, Snow Patrol, Remy Zero, Deathcab for Cutie just to name a few artists. I want to get the soundtrack.

[Alex]

I expected to review The Invisible for MousePlanet but then they decided not to do press screenings. So I just assumed it would be crap. I like that they still put together the press publicity package though I'm not sure who will be using it without screenings.

Second time this year Disney has skipped on screenings.

We're in a lull at work so I skipped out for two long lunches this last week and saw:

Vacancy - Not particularly scary or suspenseful and really serving no purpose. But I did admire it for its simplicity and straightforwardness. It does not try to be bigger or more important than it is. Plus I love Frank Whaley for some reason. Luke Wilson looks like he's on some kind of steroid treatment that has put on 30 pounds of water weight. Getting very chubby in the face.

Next - I think Philip K. Dick is the teflon of book-to-movie adaptations. No matter what things are going to slide and a great movie is impossible. Sure there have been a couple decent ones (Blade Runner, Minority Report) but most suck outright. The idea of Nicolas Cage being able to see and respond to events 2 minutes in the future is intriguing but is inconsistently implemented and beyond a few sight gags and Groundhogs Day option examinations isn't really explored. Jessica Biel is pretty though. Sadly , Julianne Moore just completely fisfired on this one, completely overplaying her tough-as-nails FBI agent role.

Ad then it wraps up with the ultimate, rightfully, derided movie ending.

If you have any interest at all in either, wait for DVD.

[innerSpaceman]

One I wish I hadn't waited for DVD for was Notes on a Scandal. I finally saw it, and I loved it.

Judi Dench should stop playing agreeable, cheeky old dames and take on much more total evil bitch roles. She was fantastic!

The story moved right along at a perfect clip, the script was clever, and the music by Philip Glass was beautiful and haunting.


As I understand it, the piece was adapated from a novel told entirely in first person, as diary entries. As such, I think they did a great job adapting it to film and retaining a sense of that. Voice-over was the obvious choice, and they didn't overdo it. Mostly, though, they got that first-person feeling by keeping the camera on Judi Dench's character (whereas a lesser director might have thought the effect could be best achieved by sticking to her P.O.V.). And, well, since Dench was an absolute malevolent marvel to behold, the choice was excellent all round.

[wendybeth]

We saw Blades of Glory today, and I was surprised by how funny it was. It's been a long time since I've heard so much laughter in a theater audience, and it kept up pretty much all the way through the show. Maybe it's because we're a skating-obsessed town, but it really was hilarious. One of the actors, Craig T. Nelson, is from Spokane- he used to hang out with my former stepdad years ago.

[blueerica]

Who here thinks Hot Fuzz will make it (in theaters) until the end of May... I'm waiting to see it with the boy, at his suggestion. To be fair, the movie has done very well in the U.K.

Your opinion is vital.

[thecorndogwalker]

Originally Posted by blueerica

Who here thinks Hot Fuzz will make it (in theaters) until the end of May... I'm waiting to see it with the boy, at his suggestion. To be fair, the movie has done very well in the U.K.

Your opinion is vital.

I saw "Hot Fuzz" last week and I enjoyed it. It wasnt as good as Shawn of the Dead, but it was cute. Simon Pegg is a good actor and he and Nick Frost got that whole buddy thing down. It had some funny moments. If you ever been to a sleepy English town you will get some big chuckles.

During my experience seeing it, I only saw adults in the theater, I didnt see many kids or teens. So maybe its only attracting adults?