Some Thoughts On Movies
‘Tis the season for movie viewing. Last year’s summer movie choices kind of…well, they sucked. I think this year is far better. Here’s a list of what I’ve seen so far.
In the theater:
-National Treasure II - I have an almost unnatural love for the National Treasure movies. Scary, I know. I think it’s the mix of action and one-liners from Nicholas Cage. Also love the D.C. scenes. They remind me of what I miss about living there. And could Helen Mirren look better? I think not.
-Indiana Jones IV (Crystal Skull) - While I adore Harrison Ford, I didn’t love this. It just seemed like a mish mash of scenes and stunts from other action movies. I can’t even talk about the lameness of the dialogue. Wow.
-Sex and the City - I didn’t expect to love this but did. Still not sure I think the end was the right one for Carrie, but the fact I’m still thinking about the movie is a testament to it.
-Get Smart - Silly fun. I expected goofiness and it was that.
Rentals and on the Movie Channels:
-Juno - I know I’m, like, a year late on this. I chalk it up to what I call the Aaron Sorkin Complex. He’s the guy who wrote The West Wing and about a billion other things. Sorkin is a brilliant guy. In my view, he can also be a bit too clever. In Sorkin’s world, everyone is politically aware, smart and quick with a retort. It’s just too much. Well, I feared Juno would suffer from the same problem and, I would argue, it did for the first 10-15 minutes. Once the movie stopped trying to be cool, it was really good.
-Die Hard #37 - Okay, that’s not the title. I actually can’t remember the real title and I’m way too lazy to check it out. I like Bruce Willis. Like Justin Long. This worked for me on a sit-back-and-watch-and-don’t-dissect-it level.
-Transformers & Disturbia - Yeah, we had a little Shia LaBeouf festival. He’s charming. His movies hold my attention even though he does keep playing the same character over and over.
-The Orphanage - Hands down the best ghost story/suspense movie I’ve seen. It’s a foreign language film. I know subtitles can be annoying. Still, this was so well done. The acting and plot are superb. The ending is incredible because it doesn’y rely on silliness or CGI or anything else to explain what really happened. Rent this.
-Breach - I lived in the D.C. area when this spy case unraveled. We lived a few blocks from the private school Hanssen’s kids attended and saw the media circus. The movie was okay but failed to capture the confusion and outrage that ripped through town.
-Maxed Out - This is a documentary on the credit industry. I seriously considered cutting my American Express card in half after seeing this.
-Hard Times At Douglass High - This is an HBO special. I do not know how you could see this and not be affected. What passes for education in inner city Baltimore and what these students, teachers and administrators go through is just plain scary.
-Recount - This is the documentary about the Gore/Bush presidential battle and what happened in Florida. No matter how you feel about the election or which political party you belong to, you’ll see this and have to admit that James Baker is brilliant. You may hate him, but you can’t deny his brilliance in getting the outcome he wanted.
That’s it so far…
July 1st, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on those movies. The only one on your list that I’ve seen is ‘Transformers’. I really enjoyed it, but kept going back to when I used to watch the cartoon when I was a kid and I’m sure that was part of the reason I liked the movie. Not to mention the fact that Shia Labeouf was nice to watch. lol
I haven’t seen National Treasure II yet, but I plan to. I have a love affair with ciphers and whatnot and love the way Nicolas Cage deciphers them.
July 1st, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I’m a huge National Treasure fan too and love both the first and second. I really hope they make a third one since they left it open for it. I loved SATC and really want to go see it again. I finally saw Juno a couple of weeks ago. I enjoyed it, but really didn’t understand why everyone was making such a big deal about it(I was the same with Little Miss Sunshine too).
Thanks for the info on the other movies. I haven’t seen anything new since SATC and probably won’t until I take my nieces to see the American girl movie about Kit.
July 1st, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Some excellent choices you have made. I totally agree that Get Smart was silly fun. I always take that into account when I go to a flick. Is it trying to be an Oscar winner or just a fun popcorn-type movie? If the former and you get the latter, then there’s a problem somewhere. It was one of those “check your brain at the door and just have fun” movies and it delivered. I have loved Steve Carrell since I fell in love with him as the adorable 40-Year Old Virgin, the most risqué but sweet hearted movie ever! Sex and the City was a wonderful series for women in particular, but I hear a lot of men (gay AND straight were fans). I, as a single women, can totally identify with Carrie and Mr. Big although I don’t quite have her figure nor her fashion sense. The movie was fitting to continue the series, although I was disappointed that Samantha went back to her promiscuous ways, but admittedly it was probably truer to the character than a fairy tale get married and happily ever after finale. I have to disagree slightly on the Indiana Jones movie. Yeah, Harrison’s getting a bit long in the tooth now, but even a bad Indy movie is better than some of the dreck that comes out in summer. There was lots of action and that’s what that kind of movie is all about. Now, may I suggest Wall-E? I saw it on the weekend and simply was enchanted by it. I was one of the older folks there WITHOUT a child in tow but I was astounded at how attentive the roomful of children were! There was virtually NO dialogue for the first third or so of the movie yet, there were hardly any repeated bathroom breaks, chatty children with questions just to pass the time and no restless chair kickers around us. That is worth 10 thumbs up from the critics! It was charming and Pixar does it again with a sweet love story and even a little message attached to the story. The kiddies might have been too young to get the message but a little older child might just get it (adults will like it, too, for the story and amazing animation). I live for summer movie season and so far, this one isn’t too bad…superior methinks to last year…the year of the “three-quel”. DVD is fine but give me the theatre experience for the blockbusters anytime! See you at “Journey to the Centre of the Earth” in 3D (3D at my theatre, I hope but I suspect I shall be disappointed in that my theatres probably don’t have the 3D capabilities….sigh….c’est la vie!) Happy viewing!
July 1st, 2008 at 8:16 pm
I’m really disappointed that so few people seem impressed by the new Indiana Jones flick. It doesn’t surprise me, but it’s disappointing. You’d think if you waited that long to make a sequel, you’d make a damn good one, wouldn’t you?
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:37 am
See, I loved National Treasure 2, but one of my friends hated it. I hated the new Indiana Jones movie (worst movie I’ve seen in forever), but she didn’t think it was as bad a NT2. (She’s wrong! LOL) I really enjoyed SATC as well even though I wasn’t a regular watcher of the show. And the Die Hard movies are always fun, no matter how unbelievable. I had a jollly good time watching it.
I’ve seen some movies too, and would recommend House of Flying Daggers (rental) and Wanted. I can’t wait to see Wall-E and Hancock.
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:43 am
I haven’t seen the National Treasures movie yet, and I’m not sure if I will. That is not my type of movie.
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:58 am
Love these blogs with movie recs. I don’t see the films in the theater but I find so many titles to rent from Netflix. I enjoy reading what others think of the various films, both good and bad and I find that the viewer reviewers are more honest and true to life than the film critics. Some of the films I’ve seen but most I haven’t until they are released to DVD, but they are on the list.
I’ve been busy watching West Wing because for some odd reason, I didn’t watch these programs when it was on network TV. Same for NCIS. I highly recommend both to everyone. Same for Weeds (I don’t have Showtime) and Mad Men (an original AMC production).