I on the other hand LOVE movies. If I hear a hint or rumor of a movie being made, I'll spend time going to websites like "IMDB" (the internet movie data base), or Ain't It Cool News (among others) to get info about the movie (who's directing it, starring in it, etc.).
We go out to the movies occasionally. We usually go to the movies with my sister Bubba, my nephew SharkMan (formerly SharkBoy) and my niece (Frog); or our friends Butch and Sundance. Sometimes we'll go by ourselves. Or, more likely than not, I'll go by myself. But since it's so expensive to go see a movie nowadays, we usually wait to watch them on DVD.
Recently, we've gotten a lot of bad movies on rental ("Cold Souls", "In The Loop", "Amelia"). This is not about them. This is about the 10 movies I've seen recently (out of 30 movies) that are worth writing about. They are in no random order, so here we go:
1. $9.99
This is an Australian, claymation/stop motion ensemble movie. Don't mistake that to mean that it is a "kids" movie. It received an "R" rating (for nudity and language). It's about "the meaning of life"; and it follows the lives of 4 families who live in an apartment complex. A father (who has a real violent awakening--twice--and is voiced by Anthony LaPaglia) and his 2 grown sons (one who's unemployed but is a brilliant cook [he's the one that buys the book on the meaning of life for $9.99]; and one who's employed as a repo man who falls in love with a model (that has a strange fetish); a man and his girlfriend [he doesn't want to grow-up and she wants to get married]; another young son being taught a lesson about growing up and being able to save money by his father; and an elderly widower [who is lonely] who befriends an Angel (Geoffrey Rush in a role equal to "Casanova Frankenstein" from Mystery Men and/or "Captain Barbosa" from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies). I've always been a fan of claymation/stop-motion films, and this is one of the best I've seen. The story is well written and thought provoking. It's really worth a look.
2. A Serious Man
This is a Cohen Brothers movie (the guys who made Fargo, The Big Lebowski, etc.). I've read in many places that this movie is about the story of Job (from the bible/other holy books) and the Cohen Brothers father. It starts out with a short story about a man who may or may not be a "dybukk" (a demon who possess a recently departed body [played by Fyvish Finkle, always great to see him in anything (he was the attorney in Picket Fences back in the 90's)]). The movie proceeds to the late 1960's and this poor guy's (Larry Gopnick) existence. [His wife has betrayed him and took their money and house; his job and health are in question; his son is a pothead about to be bar mitzvahd; his daughter is stealing money from him; and his brother is just a mess (played perfectly by Richard Kind)]. Because its the Cohen's, this movie is a "black comedy". After watching it, I was going to give this movie a bad rating on Netflix; but after reading up on the story of Job (which I didn'y know -- poor guy was being tested by god to see if he would say anything bad about god), and getting some answers from other "talkback" sections on the internet [about the beginning clip, and what it had to do with the movie = nothing]; its not a bad movie to watch. Don't expect anything like Fargo or the Big Lebowski -- it's definitely not as good as them.
3. Everybody's Fine
This is a movie that got bad reviews from a lot of people. I liked it. Robert DeNiro is one of my favorite actors and in this movie he plays a widowed father trying to find out about his grown children and to somehow get them back in his life. Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckensall and Sam Rockwell play three of the four children; and they were all good. I thought the story was well written and the acting was good. Worth a look.
4. I Hate Valentine's Day
This was written and directed by Nia Vardalos ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding"). She also stars in it and has gotten John Corbett back for this movie. This is another movie that got a lot of bad reviews...and another one that I liked. [I am sensing a theme here.] Vardalos is the owner of a flower shop and the movie begins on Valentine's Day. She has a theory on how relationships should go, but when she meets John Corbett she starts to re-think it. This is a very simple story. But I like the pairing of Nia and John. They are a very cute on-screen couple. If you have a day that you want to just watch a cute movie, I'd recommend this movie.
5. Love Happens
Aaron Eckhart (another real cutey I love to watch--boy does that make me sound like a stalker or what) and Jennifer Aniston star in this movie about a man who gives advice to people to restart their lives and a woman who just got out of another bad relationship (talk about life imitating art, huh Jennifer). Yes it's formulaic, yes there are moments that don't make any sense, but Aaron Eckhart does a pretty good job in this movie. And there are two people I like who have supporting roles in it: Judy Greer and Dan Fogler (Judy plays another "best friend/assistant" role; and Dan plays Aaron's publicist/manager). If you happen to find it on cable (Encore, etc.), it's worth a look.
6. My One And Only
Rene Zellweger as a mother of two boys who has just left her cheating bandleader husband (Kevin Bacon). I'm not a real big Rene Zellwegger fan (I love Kevin Bacon), but she did pretty good in this movie. If you haven't read anything about this movie, I won't spoil it for you (only if you ask). I definitely recommend it.
7. Surrogates
Bruce Willis and James Cromwell. Furturistic movie that deals with people using robots (the "Surrogates") to live their lives. A lot of people didn't like this one either. I thought it was very entertaining (i.e.-it kept my interest). Bruce plays a cop investigating the murder of an unlicensed "Surrogate" and its user. Yet again, James Cromwell plays a creator type character. All-in-all, it's a good movie and worth a look.
8. Whip It
LovedLovedLoved this movie. I loved it so much, that I went out and bought this movie after I rented it. It has my favorite new actress (Ellen Page) and a favorite alltime actress (Marcia Gay Harden) in it. Drew Barrymore also stars in this movie, but more important is that she directed this movie and she did a really good job. It's about a small town Texas high schooler who wants more out of her life than the beauty pagents that she's doing for her mother. So she finds roller derby. Drew has done the impossible for me: she's made Jimmy Fallon and Kristen Wiig interesting. I do not like either of these actors. Jimmy is just obnoxious. Kristen can also be obnoxious, but I just don't like her. But in this movie they were (for Jimmy) entertaining; and (for Kristen) likeable and caring. If you haven't seen this one, definitely watch it.
9. Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark
This is from 1973 and it was a made for T.V. movie. It stars Kim Darby and Jim Hutton (Timothy's father). I remember it as being one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. Watching it now, not so much. But it's still entertaining to watch. Sorry to say, it is being given an update. Guillermo del Toro is producing (throwing money at it) the remake (he's also co-writing the script (which is one warning sign; why do you have to co-write something that was already made and was really a decent horror film?)). The other warning sign: its starring Mrs. Tom Cruise (Katie Holmes). After re-watching this movie today, it kind of makes sense to use Katie Holmes. Kim Darby (from my memory) was good in being the frightened person; but she was kind of wooden. So I guess Katie Holmes is the perfect choice (being the wooden actress that she is).
10. Valentine's Day
I saw this movie on Valentine's Day at the theatre. I went with Bubba, Frog and Frog's two friends (all three of which are teeney boppers). We loved it. It was a good ensemble movie, and it's plot and story kept flowing. (All the stories had beginnings, middles and ends). Since it's an ensemble movie, there really wasn't one stand-out performance. It's directed by Gary Marshall (he who directed Pretty Woman, Beaches, Overboard, The Flamingo Kid, both Princess Diaries, and more). He has an excellent brief cameo (ala Alfred Hitchcock), and he has a lot of "nudge, nudge, know what I mean" moments in this movie. I definitely recomend seeing this one (either in the theatres or when it comes out on DVD).
Well, I think I've taken up enough time about movies today...it's time to go make dinner and watch another movie (hahahasnortgiggle). Hopefully it'll be worth writing about.
More later. Booboo.
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