I haven't reviewed any movies in a long time, mainly because I haven't had time to watch movies what with college sucking my will to live and all that. But I have seen some really good movies recently that really do bear telling the universe about. And ending prepositions with.
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
I love Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman is tolerable and those were my opinions going in to see this movie. Leaving the movie I haven't changed my opinion of Natalie Portman, but I would totally have Dustin Hoffman's baby if he asked. What an amazingly wonderful, magical movie! It doesn't have to make sense in your brain when it touches on such magic and fantasy and delves into the deepest of emotions that we, as adults, sometimes forget we have. I cried (not a hard feat) and Kady cried (another not-so-hard feat), but Abby teared up (the girl who declared "Mom, for the love of Pete, please don't cry" when she handed me my Christmas present this year) so it touched even her icy cold eleven-year-old heart. Definitely one to buy and watch over and over and over again.
I Am Legend
This was the movie Paul and I went to see on our anniversary. I hadn't heard it, hadn't seen a trailer or anything before that day when my mom mentioned something about it. It sounded intriguing, so I spent a stupid amount of time on the movie website and pouted at Paul until he relented. Turns out, he hated it. But that's okay, he'd been a butt all evening so knowing that he sat through a movie he didn't like kind of made up for it.
Now, I am a bit goosey. Okay, I'm a lot goosey. At one point, my purse, which was sitting on my feet, ended up in my lap when I jumped three feet out of my seat. Paul is still nursing the scratch marks on his leg from where I dug in my claws in order to keep myself from just up and bolting from the theatre. One of the girls from work saw it and said, "No kidding.....there was one point where I literally thought I was going to (poop) myself!" I kind of felt the same way. There was no lead-up to the parts that made the theater collectively jump and it was truly heart-pounding in some spots. Seeing Will Smith glistening with sweat made up for any anxiety I felt during the suspenseful parts, though.
Ya know, it's got the typical doomsday theme and in some ways made me think of Stephen King's The Stand, but all in all it really was a good movie. Paul and I have discussed letting Abby watch it on DVD because she loves a good scare and is a budding sci-fi freak (like mother, like daughter) and I think she'd enjoy thinking through the whole thing. Or it will give her nightmares. Hard to say which way it'll go.
A few things in the movie didn't make sense to me and if you've seen it, I'd love to discuss a few things with you. Seriously. It's bugging me. Like, I think about it in the shower and in the middle of the night I'll wake up wondering about it. So email me and set my poor brain to rest.
Alvin and the Chipmunks
As an elementary school owner or my very own "Chipmunk Punk" cassette I was skeptical of this movie. I mean, how do you top 80's Chipmunk perfection? I was not convinced it was possible. Of course, my children spent months perfecting their own chipmunk voices and every time we drove by the theater they left drool marks on the windows, so I knew it was inevitable that we'd see it. Paul even went with us and his comment as we left the theater was, "Well, I sure liked it more than that stupid rabies movie we watched on our anniverary."
Considering it was two hours of mischief-by-rodent, it was really pretty good. I have every intention of downloading them singing "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter. The Chipmunk version totally surpasses the original.
Juno
I don't know if it has been adquately conveyed on this blog just how much I love the movie Napoleon Dynamite but just in case you're just now joining us or you have't picked it up, I LOVE NAPOLEON DYNAMITE. That movie can make me laugh when I am having the crappiest of crappy days. It doesn't have to make sense, it doesn't have to be of the highest quality, it just has to touch ya somewhere.
Juno touched me. There. In that place.
Again, I hadn't seen a trailer or heard anything about this movie, but Tater's incessant cries that she had to see the movie intrigued me. Paul and I went out with Tater and her friend, Justin (of "JT" at the cornfield fame) last Saturday for Justin's birthday. It was his choice where we ate for dinner and what movie we saw. He's such a fabulously cool dude that he picked Juno.
When the opening credits were playing Paul slumped down in his seat, pulled his ballcap low and sighed the sigh of a man condemed to watching a movie that would more than likely turn out to be a chick flick or worse. It was that opening song, though, that thoroughly convinced me that the movie would definitely not stink. Kimya Dawson rawx. (Links to things about her are here, here, and here.) Justin burned Tater and I both a copy of the soundtrack (perfectly legal, I'm sure) and it's all I listen to now. If someone gave me Kimya Dawson for my birthday I'd be ever so happy.
Oh, the movie. Right. The movie was incredible. Incredible in that indy, not so mainstream, incredibly quirky and so amazingly heartfelt way that makes you think about that movie constantly, much like I did with Napoleon Dynamite. If I could take Ellen Page and Michael Cera and put them on a shelf in my bedroom well, that'd be just cool.
Oh and the best part? Tater cried. Tater doesn't cry during movies. Well, except for Hope Floats, but if you don't cry during that movie then you obviously skin kittens for fun and stomp on puppies just to hear them cry. I, of course, bawled unashamedly, but that kind of goes without saying.
Oh and Paul? He hated the suspenseful, scary rabies-ridden mutant movie, but thought Juno was great. I *heart* him.
WARNING**WARNING**WARNING**
There be spoilers in the comments, mateys. Don't read 'em if you're not spoiled or in the mood to be spoiled.
5 comments:
I saw I am legend!!! discuss it with me.
I too saw I am Legend...there were a couple of confusing parts for me as well....floor open for discussion......
I also saw I Am Legend and have, in addition, read the book and seen the earlier version The Omega Man, but not the earliest version, The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price. Not that you need to know any of that, but I'm feeling all sharey (yeah, that's a word, look it up in the Neuroticon) today.
Ellen Page kicks so much ass its not even funny -- except, y'know, when being funny is part of what makes her kick ass. Have you seen Hard Candy? She was super-creepy in that one.
You might want to give Eagle vs. Shark a try, since it's kind of a New Zealend Napoleon Dynamite, but if you don't like it, we never had this conversation.
I saw Legend today, so I'll chime in on this discussion as well. I, too, have seen The Omega Man (as well as the Simpsons spoof The Ho-Mega Man) and read the book.
So Diva, slap a spoiler warning at the end of the post and let's get to it.
I discussed this with Cap'n Neurotic the other day, but I'll throw it out here, too. Chime in if you want.
Here's the part that was bugging the heck outta me:
The part of the movie where Will Smith's character was videoing himself, talking about how the male mutant risked sunlight to go after the female mutant....he very deliberately stated that all human behavior was gone then turned off the camera. That comment confused me because I interpreted the male's risk of sunlight as human in that he was going after one of his own, trying to save her or at least get her back.
However, Cap'n pointed out that the comment was more of a reflection that they had started reacting as a "pack" rather than as humans.
Any thoughts?
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