Miscellaneous Movie Musings

[Gemini Cricket]

I gotta say A Goofy Movie is one of my favorite Disney animated features. It's truly inspired in a lot of places. I mean, for me, it's totally laugh out loud funny. Lester's Possum Park is comedy gold in a Disney parodying Disney sort of way. All that and then there's a really cool father/son plot throughout. Good stuff.

[Gemini Cricket]

Yikes! 5% for All About Steve.

Ty Burr from the Boston Globe:

Easily the worst movie of the week, month, year, and Bullock’s entire career. It is to comedy what leprosy once was to the island of Molokai: a plague best contemplated from many miles away.

Wow! Harsh!

[katiesue]

Maddie loved All About Steve - I luckily didn't have to watch it.

[Alex]

In a shocking turn of events, Gamer was not very good. Though more Michael C. Hall should have had more screen time. It was like Dexter gone bad (well, badder than he is).

[Betty]

Gran Torino. Decent flick. I do NOT like Clint Eastwood but I really liked him as a crotchety old man. get off my lawn!

Cried at the end. Worth the pay per view.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Saw Extract last night - didn't laugh much, not very funny or interesting. The only LOL was the fate of one character that was a surpise. Other than that it was very pedestrian.

[Gemini Cricket]

28 Weeks Later ~ I liked the first one and I liked the sequel just as much. The editing and sound was amazing in this film. I thought the cast as pretty danged good.

Sleuth (Jude Law version) ~ Mixed feelings about this one. I liked the original and liked parts of this one. I'd give it a meh but a hearty meh. I watched this one because one of the theatres here are doing the stage version and I'd love to be in it.

Land of the Dead ~ After the awesome Dawn of the Dead remake, this one was so bad that I stopped watching it after a half hour. Yikes.

Michael Clayton ~ I liked this one a lot. The more I see Clooney, the more I like him. I think Swinton was good in this but I didn't think her performance was that Oscar worthy.

Stuff I re-watched:

Dawn of the Dead ~ Remake. I like this one a lot. It was so intense. Loved it. The first fifteen minutes are damn good.

Cloverfield ~ You know, as stupid as some parts of this movie are, I like it. Yes, the handheld thing can make you nauseous but it is a really well put together film. I think the first half is better than the second half but all in all it's a cool flick.

[Morrigoon]

Just watched a Nova documentary called Absolute Zero. I think they only showed half of it though, because it stopped at the invention of air conditioning. Still, very VERY cool stuff about the history of the evolving science of temperature, and I finally kind of understand how refrigeration works, which is a concept I've been trying to wrap my brain around for ages (eg: I knew it involved "removing heat" but I didn't get how it was accomplished, and this explained it).

I know I'm a total dork, but you give me a show that explains how a particular machine works and I'm all ears. Throw in a little history on the evolution of the science and I'm yours forever, or an hour, however long the documentary lasts

[innerSpaceman]

Holy Hell, there are a lot of movies I want to see this Fall. Um, my average is paltry, so most of these would be Netflixed, but I'd like to see each of them in theaters:

9 - out just now, the post-apocalyptic animated tale that intrigues me with cool visuals.

The Informant - Matt Damon as a true-life corporate whistle-blower, but with a comical satiric twist.

A Serious Man - The Coen Brothers based this on their own dad.

Capitalism: A Love Story - Michael Moore takes on Wall Street.

Where the Wild Things Are - because I just must. It will either be an abject failure or a complete delight.

The Road - Viggo Mortensen as a post-apocalyptic dad. Reportedly very depressing. I'm interested.

Amelia - Hillary Swank as aviatrix Amelia Earhart.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox - Wes Anderson's take on the Roald Dahl tale.

Nine (not to be confused with 9) - the musical loosely based on Fellini's filming of 8-1/2, with Daniel Day Lewis as the Fellini-esque director, and the women in his life played by Marion Cottilard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Kate Hudson.

The Lovely Bones - Peter Jackson, who did so well with Heavenly Creatures, directs this tale of a 14-year-old girl who, from beyond the grave, watches the man who raped and killed her (Stanley Tucci).

Up in the Air - George Clooney as a corporate hit man who travels the world firing people.

Avatar - I think it looks really cool. Could stink. Could be great.

Pirate Radio - Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Bill Nighy as 60's offshore broadcasters, loosely based on truth.

The Vampire's Assistant - hahaha, the vampire is played by John C. Reily and the film is directed by the brother of the guy who directed the Twilight sequel coming out a week or so earlier (which is decidely not a movie I'm interested in seeing ... ever).

2012 - can't resist. Looks like fun.

and

A Christmas Carol - a really odd-looking take on the Dickens holiday classic with, ugh, Jim Carrey as Scrooge. But I pretty much see every version of A Christmas Carol.

[Alex]

Disney and Guillermo del Toro are teaming up on a new production label for scary animated films.

I predict shock the first time parents take kids to a movie because it has the Disney label only to find it has del Toro's vision.