Miscellaneous Movie Musings

Alex · 07-28-2008, 09:33 AM

My weekend movie watching reviews:

The X-Files: I Want to Believe - Embarrassingly awful. Would have made for an ok made-for-TV reunion movie but only because the standards for made-for-TV reunion movies aren't even as high as for regular series episodes. Not even as high as "we're in the middle of a contract dispute so we're flexing our power with the stars by showing them how much they rely on us for quality by not giving them any quality" episodes.

Unbreakable - Holds up well. I still love what Shyamalan was trying to do with this movie and it really emphasizes how full of himself he has become since.

For Whom the Bell Tolls - I've never understood the appeal of Gary Cooper. The man has a face and acting style like Teflon. Minutes after seeing him I literally can't remember what he looks like and two days after watching this if I try to picture him my memory just has a talking gray blob in it. The themes of manliness, death, and sacrifice are not well defined - at least not in comparison with the book. However, it did spart an interesting conversation with Lani about why it is bad that Jennifer Jones played hapa in Love is a Many Splendored Thing but that it isn't much bothersome that Ingrid Bergman plays a Spaniard here.

Mamma Mia! - Painfully bad at several points and very fun at several others. Pierce Brosnan can't sing but that doesn't match much. Though I wouldn't mind future opportunities to watch Amanda Seyfried running around in a swimsuit.

The King Is Alive - Dogma 95 has produced some interesting movies. This really isn't one of them. The story of some tourists lost in a Namibian-desert ghost town produces a few interesting scenes but is mostly just a slog.

07-28-2008, 09:33 AM	#11
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	My weekend movie watching reviews: The X-Files: I Want to Believe - Embarrassingly awful. Would have made for an ok made-for-TV reunion movie but only because the standards for made-for-TV reunion movies aren't even as high as for regular series episodes. Not even as high as "we're in the middle of a contract dispute so we're flexing our power with the stars by showing them how much they rely on us for quality by not giving them any quality" episodes. Unbreakable - Holds up well. I still love what Shyamalan was trying to do with this movie and it really emphasizes how full of himself he has become since. For Whom the Bell Tolls - I've never understood the appeal of Gary Cooper. The man has a face and acting style like Teflon. Minutes after seeing him I literally can't remember what he looks like and two days after watching this if I try to picture him my memory just has a talking gray blob in it. The themes of manliness, death, and sacrifice are not well defined - at least not in comparison with the book. However, it did spart an interesting conversation with Lani about why it is bad that Jennifer Jones played hapa in Love is a Many Splendored Thing but that it isn't much bothersome that Ingrid Bergman plays a Spaniard here. Mamma Mia! - Painfully bad at several points and very fun at several others. Pierce Brosnan can't sing but that doesn't match much. Though I wouldn't mind future opportunities to watch Amanda Seyfried running around in a swimsuit. The King Is Alive - Dogma 95 has produced some interesting movies. This really isn't one of them. The story of some tourists lost in a Namibian-desert ghost town produces a few interesting scenes but is mostly just a slog.
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