long-winded movie reviews: playing severe catch-up

movies i have seen recently that i have a few cents about...


king's speech

before you write this off cause it's rated R, the "family friendly" PG-13 version should be available if it isn't already.  though, i don't know that it is all that necessary as long as you are adults- there is a scene of swearing, and it is vital to the story... outside of that, sheer brilliance.  i get now why this one all of those oscars - not to mention - best picture! Colin Firth plays the king and he captures the role and the history so well. Helena Bonham Carter shows very well as his wife too.  I know- you are trying to picture her in a semi-normal character role... well, she is- and it is tasty.

in my humble, yet correct, opinion: 5/5 - at least rent it... i might even need to own it...
















social network

fascinating to watch.  i knew this one would win awards for screenplay- that is definitely what shines in this one- the way it evolves is too fun that you almost miss some really great acting jobs in there... i think that half the fun of watching the film though is just knowing how much this one kid has influenced the world as we know it now- what would we do if we didn't have a place to spatter all of the meaningless details of our lives to each other just so we have something to do at 2am?  {i will answer: i would go crazy- now that i am up 2-3 times a night for at least 20 minutes without anywhere to go, it is my saving grace.}

in my humble, yet correct opinion: 4.5/5 - also a renter...



unstoppable

classic case of denzel the hero just doing what he does in all of his movies.... but it isn't any less entertaining i guess cause they keep making em.  again the fun is that this story is based on true events.  i thought it got kind of slow in the middle... it does sort of feel like you are mindlessly watching the news after a while. but it was a decently entertaining action film. not one you need to own though.

in my humble, yet correct opinion: 2.5/5 - rent it.



















unknown

we went to see this one in the theater a few weeks ago just before we had the baby... like a babymoon- since we know we won't get to see current movies for a long while. thank heaven for netflix i guess.  so this is another fun action one that actually surprised me.  usually i guess the plot in the first little bit and tick of my husband by doing so... but this one turned and i liked the surprise factor.  the characters don't gel perfectly for me, but the story is fun and drove me crazy not to know what was going on the whole time! liam puts out a great performance, and that one chick has a pretty decent accent, but other than that- i would call it an average man flick.

in my humble, yet correct opinion: 3/5 - can't really watch it more than once.















RED

for the all-star cast that was in this movie, i am sad to say that it was not the sheer entertainment that i thought it would be.  it has moments, and it helps that all of the actors are great- but the story itself seems patchy.  it has an over-the-top/borderline campy action vibe to it that is fun as long as you know to expect it, but to have such an expensive cast, i would have paid my writers and editors to figure out how to keep some more depth to the characters.... you will enjoy it though- light-hearted man flick. sensing a pattern in movie choices lately?

in my humble, yet correct opinion:  3.5/5





life as we know it

 look at the cover. yep - that's exactly how it goes. there are few surprises here, but its not that you need many in romantic comedies... its charming though, and we enjoyed watching all of the baby humor now that it is so close to home. even when it was over, i couldn't tell if i thought the casting choices would have been my top picks for this one- but it works enough. cute chick movie- girls' night kind.

in my humble, yet correct opinion: 4/5
{ps- i try to rate chick flix as compared only to other chick flix...}

i hope you are watching good movies too!!

soul suckers... in movie adaptation form

i have been in the need of a good,
escape from stress and "educationy" literature...

and i found this book on one of my employees' desk.

a roommate had read this and i always wanted too,
but just never "had time"

so i made a pouty face, and she let me take it home.

i love to read good writing again.
it almost makes me sad.
like i should have done more in life so far.
like tried to learn to write, or even just travel more.
i have never made it out of the country,
despite my love of food and travelling thus far.

i am not done reading,
so i may yet comment again, but here...

"I walk up the stairs to my fourth-floor apartment, all alone. I let myself into my tiny little studio, all alone. I shut the door behind me. Another solitary bedtime in Rome. Another long night's sleep ahead of me, with nobody and nothing in my bed except a pile of Italian phrasebooks and dictionaries.

I am alone, I am all alone, I am completely alone.

Grasping this reality, I let go of my bag, drop to my knees and press my forehead against the floor. There, I offer up to the universe a fervent prayer of thanks.

First in English.

Then in Italian.

And then—just to get the point across—in Sanskrit."

-elizabeth gilbert (eat pray love)

italy would thrill me completely.
some day, i will allow that beautiful land
to consummate my passport's life.

i just hope i am able to stay long enough
to rent a scooter and ride everywhere i wanna go with cc
in that city of love and carbs

and i think i will take my mother to see this on her birthday:
(julia roberts? not sure yet, but could be fantastic)




and, thanks to netflix,
we just watched this movie:



cc enjoyed it,
i wept through it.
happy tears, mostly sad ones.

fabulous flick with some stunning performances.
that young dakota is really quite fun to watch emote.
admittedly, you must come prepared/be in the mood,
but when you are, it is worth it.

oh, and the movie was formerly this novel here:


one i may attempt to read again soon.
but the movie left a sweet taste,
maybe we'll just keep it at that.

so,
what do i read next??

[and no, it doesn't necessarily have to become/have a movie that goes with it]

long-winded movie review #5 - The Proposal

deciding what movie to watch for date night:

cc: oh, well lets watch the trailors to decide.
me: yeah ok, this one looked funny...

[started to watch this trailor...]

cc: [stopping mid-movie and standing up] ok. lets go.

mm: you mean, i just won?!

it's essentially
meet the parents meets how to lose a guy in ten days

consider yourself briefed.

a comedy-romance.
not a romantic comedy.
all i mean by that is that you are going to laugh,
and men will laugh.

it is that almost painful situational humor stuff that is just so fun.

in my humble, yet correct opinion: 4.5/5

own it or rent it: own it

time out for movies [slash] biggest loser!

ok, amid all of the wedding nonsense,

i have seen a few flicks & things that need mention.

i will give you the brief, yet thorough, ratings as usual,

and hold the long-windedness for now.
you got lucky today.

GhostTown

we saw this one weeks ago
in an attempt to sneak away and not think about
our homelessness and not-marriedness

notes:
kristen wigg is still genius
love that ricky gervais and greg kinnear.
cute plot
fun dialog
moments you have to watch twice.

in my humble, yet correct, opinion: 4.5/5
need to own it? probably.

Bride Wars

on the plane to hawaii,
the day after we wed,
we cuddled up with our ear phones for the in-flight flick
that i am happy to say was this one:

i will admit,
i wanted to see it before, but cc always seemed to be busy...

maybe it was just fresh material,
but we laughed quite audibly.
the acting isn't brilliant or anything,
the story isn't surprising in the slightest,
but it sure was fun to watch.
again, might be the whole, married-the-day-before thing though.

in my humble, yet correct, opinion: 3/5
own it/rent it? rent it.
or don't. no one will care.

He's Just Not That Into You

lets talk about this rockstar cast:
all of the names are some serious fun people to watch,
Justin Long, Ginnifer Goodwin... fresh faces that make you smile

notes:
bradley cooper, you had me at alias.
i loved the book, made for great single conversations.
the dialogue is fun,
the 5 plot lines are fun to follow...

in my humble, yet correct, opinion: 3.5/5
rent it? own it? maybe just rent it...


Gone in 60 Seconds

i know i know,
this movie is like 32 years old,
but i picked it,
(which made my boyfriend love me more)
so we watched it.


i see why guys like this stuff...
the fast cars, blonde angelina,
stealing fast cars....
hot.
totally hot.

goes too quick almost.
oh- and i love the lighting.
is that cheesy?
the coloring in this flick is fantastic.

in my humble, yet correct, opinion: 4/5
own it or rent it? might want to own it....
that's all i will say about that...


The Damn Button Film

we have affectionately called this one the damn button movie
cause it just so freakin long!

who wants to waste 3 hours for a movie that all you hear of is
"it was.... weird...."

well, we got sunburnt on our honeymoon.
burnt real good.
so we needed that 3 hours of nothin but confusion on the tele.

worth the pay per view, i will give you that.
both brad pitt and cate blanchett were fabulous.
great performaces that they truly owned.
the make-up and effects are why you keep your eyes open though.

i know how hard the make-up is, and watching that kid get younger is fascinating.
you have to know how they do it!
the plot is weak.
thus why it didn't win an Oscar for the screen play or nothin
but at the end you still sit in awe wondering who writes this stuff?
and why do they get payed millions!

in my humble, yet correct, opinion: 4/5
own it or rent it: rent it.
you don't have a time in your life for a repeat.


BOLT

now, we can talk about great movie-making...

you remember this review i hope,
well this is why rob bought me this for my birthday,
because pigeons even know where the film industry is headed:
aliens!!
i know the "arena" well...
the setting, the characters... so familiar. yet in animation.
the dialog is great.
the "action" is way too fun.
i was skeptical, but loved every second!


in my humble, yet correct, opinion: 4/5
rent it or own it? i own it, so you should.


NOW...

do lets talk:

FREAKIN HELEN!!!

i will admit that i came home early from work

the day before my wedding so that i could get things done...

one of those things was to watch the BL finale that i had not yet seen.

i zoomed through the crap between weigh-ins and got jittery for Gerry...

lets be real,

gerry is awesome and who wasn't excited for him!

i really was so glad that helen did so well.

i know i know,

you think she is too skinny,

but she did it. and she's old.

and i just like that.

she was the underdog, not self-absorbed,

and literally worked her ace off to get it done!

again, i was inspired.

can't wait till the fall to do it all over again...

i plan to see another new movie or two this weekend

so i can tell you all about it.

heard that UP movie is a Nemo rival.

we shall see.

{TGIF!!}

long-winded movie review #4 — waitress

waitress

ok, so i saw this one a while ago whist in the district, but nevertheless, it must be mentioned...

i have always held a special place in my heart for my fellow mesa stars dancing former LDSer keri russell. i love her innocent curls and porcelin doll-ness... and she has really grown as an actor in the last few years. kudos. oh- and it has a bit part by andy griffith that is charming as all get out too...

the style of this one is what is so fun and yes, charming. very independent, aka cheaply filmed was the key here and a great gimmick of sorts. the gimmick being the pies. the story revolves around this woman (russell) who bakes pies of all kinds. they serve a new one a day that she makes up and they all have random names like "pregnant, miserable, self-pity, and loser" pie. it just makes you smile all the way through as you root jenna on to her happy life.

ya know what else i love? i love the way it ends. won't tell you, cause i want you to rent it and see for yourself, but i just adore it. it is empowering, even for a suberbanite like me with far fewer trials than the waitress...

in my humble, yet correct, opinion: 4.5/5
owner/renter: yes. definitely. own it, that is.
great pick me up/chick flick/comedy/dramas are always good to have around in a funk.
in fact, i could go for some waitress right about now...

don't forget to vote over there. looks like it is getting heated.
hope one side can pull out all the phone call rallies he's got to win it...