The End of the Year

So I can't believe that 2010 is almost over. I always have a few movies that I enjoy ending the year with. For some reason besides Hugh Grant, I really like to watch Love Actually. I like the different dynamics of the group and how the people's lives intertwine. My Favorite is probably the Dorky Best Friend Artist that is in love with his friend's wife and Colin Firth's character. While yes, I fully admit that John and Judy being pretty much porn stand ins was just unnecessary I do like them if you just pretend they have some sort of clothing. Plus we all know I love Hugh Grant, my favorite part does involve him dancing. Its a fun little movie, just don't watch it with the kids.
Next up, My New Years Eve Movie. I Love When Harry Met Sally! It isn't technically a holiday movie but It does wrap up on New Years, so i call it a win. I really love the social interaction of Harry and Sally and how their characters develop together over time. I will agree that the deli scene with the sandwich is very over played, but there are so many great scenes. I think my favorite parts involve them talking on the phone at night when they are depressed over break ups. Thats what friendship is. I'm sure i've mentioned this before but this is one of my favorite movies. It even ranks up there with Cary Grant and you can't get better than Cary Grant.
On a side note, there will probably in the semi near future be a discussion of the Narnia movies. I've been getting in touch with my childhood and watching the Narnia movies from the 80's again. So consider yourself warned

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (aka. Super Fail)

As everyone knows it has been a long journey from the beginning to now the close of our hero's journey. Like many books that are turned into movies in the beginning the movies stay close to the books, but as the series continues the movies fall more and more away from the books, see Lord of the Rings. Overall people Deathly Hallows was a let down. Even though i was expecting them to leave out things, it was still disappointing and left many things unanswered that were answered in the book.
I remember going to the Order of the Phoenix midnight release and being throw down mad for days for all the things left out from the movie while they still added worthless crap that never happened in the books. Deathly Hallows by far is the worst movie at this. Admittedly Half Blood Prince didn't help line up for the new movie. At the start of the Deathly Hallows Movie none of the memories have been shown that help explain Voldemort's decisions and the keys to defeat him.


** Now for the Spoiler Alert! Don't Read any farther unless you have seen the new movie and or don't care if I ruin the movie**
I'm going to just list all the reason's why Deathly Hallows was a huge disappointment.
1. The great battle in the end of the half blood prince was absent in the last movie. So the whole reason why Bill Weasley's face was slashed up only made for a short mention.
2. The Dursley's pack up and leave.. yeah thats all that happens we never heard the letter to the Aunt and the reason why she took Harry in. Also I felt this was important Dudley never protest leaving Harry. He acknowledged Harry saving his life and was concerned about what would happen to Harry.
3. So battle to get Harry to safety, wow disappointing! Harry got out of there right away and we never saw the others getting attacked. I had big problems with the reason the death eaters knew which one was harry because his stupid Owl tried to protect him. Um no actually harry was set apart from the others because he refused to try to kill people under curse to attack him, yeah thats right he went around stunning people.
4. Harry is being searched for by everyone and they take him to the Weasley house right off the bat and he is never disguised. No people that would be stupid, which is why in the book they took precautions to disguise Harry. This is also the case when he goes out traveling through the entire movie, he's famous anyone could have recognized him
5. Never in the movie did they explain why death eaters were able to find the kids when they escaped from the wedding. Or How the death eaters got to the Lovegood house so quickly. Um yeah thats because of the trace on you know who's name to get anyone that would use his name.
6. Kreacher! They completely left out everything about him. This is when we are supose to find out that he's not completely horrible and neither was Sirius's brother.
7. Getting into the Ministry after it has fallen. In the book this took planning and they saved alot of 'mudbloods' escaping. Yeah none of this happened either it was done all spur of the moment.
8. Very Important for the next book, Harry disarms Draco and they also take Bellatrix's wand. Not in the movie he just kind of snatches the wand, not really much of a battle at all. Makes me wonder how death eaters ever get anywhere they look really easy to defeat.
9. Ron leaving and coming back. When he left Hermione cried all the time in the book. She seemed fine in the movie. Coming back, there was also some creepy vision of a nude harry and hermione going at at it. Totally un needed, oh and eww.
10. they left out the twins radio station, shell cottage, Tonks parents, Ron and Hermione's careful planning to protect their families, Lupin offering to leave his wife to protect Harry, also why did Mundungus look like a pimp? and why was his part in the previous books left out?

I could go on but I hope by now you get the point. I will give credit where credit is due, Nagini coming out of ms Bagshot was Awesome! It went right along with the book and looked really well done. With that said though, Read the book people it is so much better than the movie and the character development is so much better.

Manhattan Melodrama

To continue on my recent Myrna Loy/William Powell kick i rented Manhattan Melodrama. This film has another classic player in films Clark Gable. I do have to warn people that while this film does have some of the normal chemistry I have come to expect with any Loy/Powell combo, it is horribly sad. We are talking Disney level sad. Without giving too much away it starts with two young boys and several tragedies that happen to them. As adults Jim Wade (Powell) is on the fast track to being a great lawyer and political figure. He is everything you want in office, Honest and principled. While his boyhood friend Blackie (Gable) has taken a different path. Blackie is more of the charismatic, gambling, gangster, possible murder. Difficult situations arise and in the end it comes down to the choice of ethics or friendship.
It is a really well done film. I recommend it with a box of tissues. Though if your one of those people that don't like films because they are in black and white, well just give up reading this blog now, your beyond help.

Paranormal Activity

After being told by my good friend Shy not to watch this movie because I don't handle scary movies well anymore, he said he would watch it with me. Lets face it i'm terrible at saying no to a movie.
Anyways I was rather disappointed with this. I've seen much creepier haunting movies in the past. I didn't feel invested in either of the characters and lets face it the boyfriend, Micah serious jerk. This movie didn't make me suspend belief at all. In fact I often made fun of the ridiculous scenes that would not happen in real life. Some examples of this would be when they hear noises downstairs and go to investigate and call out "is anyone there". Unlike most people, these people did not turn on any lights but they did pick up a big freaking camera to walk with them. Actually in their defense they never turned on lights, because don't all girls when they are scared curl up in the dark, cry a bit and then go right to sleep? Yes I did find the ending creepy and I don't like loud noises.
Over all I'm not planing to see the sequel, i barely stayed awake for the first one. If you have nothing else to watch and want something creepy, keep your expectations super low and you'll be fine.

Just a side note on this. Shy and I started the movie with just the two of us in the house. In the first 10 mins of the movie while they are talking about creepy noises happening in the house. there was a sudden thuding noise on my basement stairs ( 4 thuds ). It was just the perfect time for a random box to fall off the shelf and fall a few steps.

Death Defying Acts

Death Defying Acts was a movie loosely based off the life of Harry Houdini. By loosely I of course mean if your high and squint at it you might see the connection. I didn't find the acting all that great and it annoyed me the changes and character they tried to make. Death Defying Acts is a bit of a miss name since he only does escapes maybe twice in the whole movie. It is mostly romantic dribble. It was heavy on the spiritualism angle finally leaving the audience at the end to believe is mediums. It completely failed to show that Houdini went out of his way to show the public the truth behind mediums and to expose them.
I did watch a bit of the 'behind the scene' videos where Guy Pierce (actor that played Houdini) talked about all the research he did into Houdini to get a feel for his character but in the end decided he liked what they decided to go with in the script so he threw out all his research. Seriously he actually said he liked the made up crap better than sticking to anything in history. Why didn't they just make a movie about an escape artist with a made off name instead of trying to pass him off as Houdini.
I don't recommend this movie, it was crap and mostly bad romance. If your looking for illusions or magic go with The Prestige or the Illusionist. They are atleast interesting, well written and starring a great cast. (sorry Catherine Zeta Jones, you stank in this one)

I Love You, Again

While flipping through my new Entertainment Weekly magazine this weekend I heard some extremely sad news. Warner Bros is remaking The Thin Man movies... Starring Johnny Depp. Now don't get me wrong folks, I do enjoy Johnny Depp in some roles, like Pirates of the Caribbean, Alice in Wonderland, Public Enemies. But Why are they remaking a classic. Don't touch the classics, go remake something that the original was crap. 3:10 to Yuma for example, the original was short, boring and lacking in everything. The Remake was witty with a plot and Christian Bale. For those of you that might not know anything about the Thin man movies, I recommend clearing a day and renting them. The Thin man stars a detective Nick Charles played by William Powell and his rich socialite wife Nora played by Myrna Loy. These movies have everything murder mystery, witty banter, amazing chemistry and great supporting casts. I highly recommend this series of six stand alone movies to everyone. In honor of my favorite couple, I rented another one of their movies for this weekend. I Love You Again.
I Love You, Again is not something I would rank as high as the thin man but its a fun little comedy about name Larry that has an accident while returning home on a boat from a cruise. After a blow to the head he remembers his name as George. George's last memory was getting a blow to the head on a train 9 years previous, George is also a con man. George decides to go to the sleepy little town Larry has been living and rob people blind. It is rather amusing watching him try to bluff the whole town so they don't know he has no clue who he is. You can imagine his surprise to find Larry has a beautiful wife that is trying to divorce him.
I say this movie has a fun little story and worth watching. Of course with me anything involving William Powell or Myrna Loy is worth checking out.

MIA

I am very sorry for the extreme lack of posts. It is very sad to say that i've not been watching as many movies lately as I am accustom to. Never fear though, winter is fastly approaching and I tend to try to never leave the house. So my large collection of movies and Netflix will have to keep me company.

He's Just Not That Into You

I know this have been out for a while, but I watched it again last night and thought, eh i'm behind in my blogging i'll just drop a few lines about it.
I think overall for a chick flick, I like this movie. It does amuse me. I really like Justin Long in most movies and I loved Ben Afflecks character in this as well. I did find several of the characters to drive me absolutely nuts. Like the married couple. The wife Janie was freaking insane. She can just get over her husband cheating and make excuses for him, but the minutes she finds out he has been lying about smoking she's done. Seriously lady you might have to rethink your priorities. Her husband Ben has serious jerk issues and his girlfriend Anna was distracting by her bitchy ways and her wardrobe made her often look disproportionate.
My other problem was with painfully awkward scenes . The narrator and main girl of the story is Gigi. I like Gigi. I don't like several scenes that are just too painful to watch. For example when she is stalking some guy to the supper club, she talking to much to a stranger that ends up being the guy's friend. Or she decides some guy is in love with her even though everyone can see that he's just not that into her, its painful to watch. I have to admit I also had this same problem with Meet the Parents which i have only been able to get through once because there were too many awkward, no one is that stupid scenes.
All that said, it is a fun movie to watch, just don't expect to get alot out of it. But the phrase 'he's just not that into you' is always a good one so say it and use it often

Northanger Abbey

Ok so it has been brought to my attention that i've been too busy lately to do any of my normal movie watching in bulk. Therefore I have not been updating as often as i would like. So this will be a quick note for those Jane Austen fans out there.
Northanger Abbey (it is very late and i hope that i'm spelling this right but i'm too lazy to check) is probably the weakest Jane Austen book. I remember just not caring for the book at all, but part of this could stem from the fact that i just couldn't visualize large chucks of what was going on. I thought the main character flighty and not all that bright.
That said, I thought well this is a PBS mini series for the book, it probably won't be bad and maybe it will help me visualize the story better. It did not. I thought the acting was just terrible. i didn't really care for any character at all. not even 1! I got the movie from Netflicks and it stopped in 2 places where the disc wouldn't play a little section. My first thoughts were 'oh well it cant be important anyways'. Its pretty bad when i dont' care if I miss some of the dialogue.
Next time your in the mood for a movie addition of Jane Austen (recommended only after you have read the books, books are always better) I would recommend Emma, or Mansfield Park, they are not as well known but i found both of those movies enjoyable

Shining Through

Today was a fun day because I got a new movie from Amazon. Shining Through. It came out in 1992 and has Michael Douglas, Melanie Griffith and Liam Neeson. I love this movie! It is set in World War II which is one of those time periods that has always interested me. Melanie Griffith is just a girl from queens that is pulled into the war like many girls by falling in love. The reason she is so endeared to me is that she like i am a movie-aholic. She relates everything to some movie that she has seen. Its great. Its not just a bit of a love story though, it also has spy's. Over all fun movie and i recommend it.

Inception.. again

I have now gone to see Inception for the second time. i found it just as enjoyable as the first time. I took my dad this time and he felt it was one of the best movies that came out this year. Of course Harry Potter won't be out till November, I feel it will be able to hold its own atleast with me.
I did have some reserves to going to see Inception. First off the Trailer. While it perked my interest i can honestly say that I had no idea whatsoever on what the movie was about. I did find a few things online about the movie. My interest was still peaked, but my next reserve was I had a strong fear of this being a new 'matrix'. I put that all on the back burner, decided not to dwell on the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio was the main character and decided to look forward to the movie.
The movie was really good. The plot had lots of twists and kept me interested and guessing. I liked all the actors. I find my two favorite characters were supporting roles, Josepf Gordon-Levitt who played Arthur and Tom Hardy who played Eames. They had great lines and interaction.
This isn't much of a spoiler because people have been talking about this like crazy since Inception came out but I like that the ending leaves you guessing. Which leads me into my huge ***Spoiler alert*** Read further at your own risk
I think that Cobb is still in a dream at the end. First off there was no more 'kicks' to wake him or Saito up. Also the Children. Cobb had been gone for while and kids grow like freaking weeds there is no way that those children are wearing the exact same clothes that he last saw them in.
I have a few other complaints with some of the plot but nothing that can't be over looked.

I repeat, See this movie

Inception

So i cant say much without spoiler alerts all over here and I want to watch the movie again to collect my thoughts. In the mean time I highly recommend going to see this movie. Than you can leave me messages about what you thought, while i'm still gathering my thoughts

Dear John

Most of us have a rocky relationship with Nicolas Sparks movies. They mostly all end the same, very sad with someone dead. Its like a kiddy coaster ride, its up, its down, does a little shake and then over all leaves you disappointed.
The story line is like all his other movies, there is this great and wonderful romance, there is a fight, then they make up and then someone dies.. roll credits. The bright side to Dear John I suppose is that the person you expect to die isn't the one to die.
I did find the interactions with John and other people to be interesting especially the relationship between him and his father. I also tend to like the actress Amanda Seyfried (ever since Mama Mia, its fun go see it). I didn't like the relationship between John and sevannah (Amanda Seyfried). I thought it was weak and forced in the beginning and then I just started getting bored and checking the time. My overall recommendation is rent something else, or take a nap your time will be better spent.

Rebecca

I just finished reading the book Rebecca last week. So in honor of this accomplishment I decided to rent the 1940's Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca.
Brief summary of the storyline. A young woman is traveling as a companion in Monte Carlo where she meets a rich, slightly older man and falls in love. His name is Mr. De Winter. He's a little rough around the edges temperament wise and his first wife Rebecca died a year ago in a boating accident. Our young lady and Mr De Winter marry and go back to his estate were the new Mrs. De Winter has to struggle with the feeling of being second best and always being compared to Rebecca. There's is a little something for everyone, romance, death, little mystery, murder and a scary housekeeper.
I felt the movie did a great job. It stayed fairly true to the book, the slight changes that were made i felt did not hurt the story line. The book had Rebecca being shot, and the movie had it more of an accident being hit with some hard tackle.
I do feel it important to say that Laurence Olivier was amazing as Max De Winter. I don't think I've ever really stopped and took notice of Olivier before this. I read one article comparing Laurence Oliver to Cary Grant and I can see why. Both boys are English, with great sexy little accents (i'm just sayin), they are also very suave and charming.
Defiantly a M stamp of approval. Why waste time with some of this new crap they are making, watch a classic, it will be a delightful change of pace.

Letters to Juliet

So to start off, I want it clear that I dislike Romeo and Juliet. Greatest love story of all time, my butt. No one ever pays attention to the fact that Romeo was going to the party where he met juliet to get over the last 'greatest love' of his young crappy life. She was sheltered and he had raging hormones. I'm not even going to go into the killing themselves, how emo.
All my Shakespeare issues aside I do tend to like a good corny love story. The base of the story was sweet and simple. I really enjoyed the characters as well. I believe my favorite character was the grandmother Claire that wrote the letter 50 years ago that gets the whole story going. I did find her grandson Charlie randomly distracting when he walked. This has nothing to do with the movie itself but his feet stuck out funny when he walked and it often became my focus on the scene.
I did have one problem with the storyline that bugged me. The theory was that True Love is true no matter the age or time frame. So Claire's true love from 50 years ago, is still her true love. I felt this was sad because Claire did move on the have a husband and a family. It was like saying she settled and all those happy years and her family were less then they were. Charlie even said at one point something along the lines of "my grandfather was her soul mate don't try to put down my entire existence". The story was like this for Claire and her 'Romeo' and I found it really sad.
Overall, a fun little movie. If you watch it, keep an eye out for the balcony at the end, it gave me a giggle

Toy Story 3

I have to say, sequels, prequels, number 622 of movies are usually a let down. Its grasping at straws and trying to force something that isn't there. The characters usually change too and its disappointing and the story line is a stretch.
This is mind.. i really enjoyed Toy Story 3. I enjoyed the characters and the plot. I think part of the charm for Toy Story is that as a younger kid, I always imagined that my toys came alive at night. Part of this stems from a book I had, where the little girl had to get a new bed because she had to have all of her toys sleep with her because she didn't want to offend any of them. Before the bed solution, her parents even tried giving toys away, but the toys came back at night.
As for Toy Story.. It had sadness and joy. In the beginning you feel bad for the toys that are no longer used and have no purpose anymore. I was really saddened that Bo Peep was no longer around, she went away in the passage of time. My aliens are still there though.
I like the villians, they made me smile. there is an attack called Death by Monkeys that made me laugh as well. Some of the complaints that I heard before seeing the movie didn't bother me. I heard people complaining that there is a long dancing scene with spanish Buzz. This isn't long and it is funny. The interaction with Ken and Barbie is hilarious, and fits very much with my barbie stereo type.
I will warn that the movie gets a little emotional towards the end. i even cried some, which of course means my sister sobbed. I saw several high school boys that were misty.
I give this movie the M Stamp of approval. Bam Said the Lady, go and see it

SunShine Cleaning

Sunshine cleaning is the story about two sisters that lost their mother early in life. One is Rose, responsible mom with a unique boy. The other sister Norah,is irresponsible and a little flakey. Rose is having an affair with a married cop (her high school sweetheart). Which is how the girls end up jumping into cleaning crime scenes for money.
I have to say Sunshine cleaning didn't overly thrill me. I had seen the trailer and was interested. But I don't feel they didn't develop it where they could have. The Affair with Rose and the cop was just not really needed. There was other ways for her to get information and it didn't add anything into the story. While some of the cleaning scenes were really funny that seemed to be all the movie had going for it. I mostly found myself feeling really bad for the characters and didn't feel the ending fixed anything.
Overall I would say don't bother watching it, but if you do try to figure out where the other sister is going at the end and what she is going to do for money, because I want to know

Dead Like me

So tonight's movie got delayed. So Shy and I finished watching Dead like Me season 2, followed by the Life After Death (Dead Like Me movie).
For starters I felt season 2 was a let down. it wasn't as good as the first one and they changed some things about the characters. That said it was wayyy better than the movie. Where they changed a lot of things and it was dumb. The characters seriously drove me nuts. We even talked about turning the movie off. I can honestly say i will never watch it again. It was much like the Serenity movie, i would prefer it didn't happen.

**spoilers**
1. the team's division has changed since season 1
2. Trying to kill off the old boss took a long time, nor did it explain why he took over and why people were ok with him messing up everything.
3. What was it with the post-its falling from the sky at the end, it was dumb
4. 'Millie' seemed to be in charge of a lot and always make it through the work week. it didn't fit George's personality

You've Got Mail

Just a quick note on this classic chic flick of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. First off, I love it. Its great fun and tom hanks is very sweet in it. I also really like the dialog between the two of them via email. Here is the one thing that bugs me, the very end. Yes its great that they get together. My favorite line is when he is telling her something like "do you ever wonder what would have happened if I wasn't the big bad book store and you weren't the shop around the corner? I would have asked for your number and I wouldn't have been able to wait 24 hours before i called you up for lunch or dinner or a movie.. for as long as we both shall live" Its sweet. Problem, Meg Ryan's character would have met him in the park and been pissed that he knew who she was almost the whole time and never said anything. Come on people this is the woman that was beyond mad about him being in the shop with the kids while hiding his identity. Tom hanks even asks how she can forgive Ny152 for standing her up but not forgive him for putting her out of business. In the end yes she would have forgiven him, but first i'm just saying she would be pissed.

A new begining

I have always been a movie-aholic. When we were little it was a special treat to go to the movies. We would sit in awe of the big screen, surround sound and the smell of popcorn. On the way home we would always discuss the movie as a family. We would talk about the meaning of the movie, original movie comparisons, books movies were based off of and of course favorite parts.
There is this great and wonderful feeling for movies. First is the build up and anticipation for a new movie. Then the excitement starts to build with more a more previews, waiting for the big day, Opening day. Finally, the big day comes. All day there is something to look forward to, getting tickets. There's nothing greater than getting that tiny white stub, the perfect memento.
I decided to start this blog as a way for me to talk about all the movies I see, love or hate. Basically whatever strikes my fancy. I will also try to remember to warn anyone that might read my rambling if I'm going to bust out with a spoiler.