So I get to go home...
It's 3:00 pm in the afternoon and I'm actually packed and ready to go for once. I'm going home to Southern Cal for a friend's wedding on Saturday.
I'm happy to get to visit with my family a bit. My brother's picking me up at the airport and I get to see all the "Battlestar Galactica"s he taped for me. Then on Friday, I get to visit my Dad and little brother and sisters in Riverside county (and possibly my grandmother who is in the area). Then I fly back on Sunday night and get to get ready for another week of school. Woo hoo.
So I've caught up on a few movies over the last month, on the big screen:
The Wedding Crashers - I kept being surprised by the number of people who told me that this was a very funny movie and not dumb at all so I had to check it out. The movie previews for this did not do this movie any favors, because it is alot funnier and smarter than the previews would suggest. I thoroughly enjoyed it and think Rachel McAdams is certainly an actress to keep an eye on. I've liked her in "The Hot Chick" , "Mean Girls", "The Notebook" (<-enjoyable and sweet, but didn't amaze me, though I like Ryan Gosling as well) and I liked her very much in this as well. I must see I feel like she is much more striking as a brunette than a blond, and almost had the thought that I'd be okay if she gets cast to play "Wonder Woman" in the film that Joss Whedon is penning. I think she'd bring the right mix of intelligence and spirit to the character.
Serenity - okay so never in a million years did I intend to see this on opening night. I was never enamoured of the show though I liked some of the characters. A classmate who remembered I had loved "Buffy" and "Angel" called me up and I was looking for a reason to procrastinate from school work so I immediately agreed. I enjoyed it, was amused (especially by Kaylee's line about her nether regions) and could see I was satisfied (if not blown away) by my movie watching experience. It was odd because although I liked the movie I could never shake the feeling through it all that I just don't trust Joss anymore and couldn't really "relax" through it all. Somehow, when he killed off Wesley in "Angel" (as fitting as it might have been for the character) it was the last straw with me and I will always watch anything he does with a weary eye.
A History of Violence - the latest David Cronenberg movie which stars Viggo Mortensen as a small town diner owner who defends his diner and the people in it from two thugs out to cause mayhem and ends up with a whole lot of trouble for it. This one I'm still pondering, it was good, I just don't have any instant reaction to it either way. I was thinking that Maria Bello is quickly becoming an actress I quite respect for the fact that she picks roles that have some meat in them and are not at all about "look how cute I am!!!!" I guess I appreciate seeing what feels like real women on screen.
On the DVD front, I've seen:
"Bride and Prejudice" - This movie was cute, but not as awesome as I thought it would be. It features one of India's biggest female stars, the guy from "The Ring" as Mr. Darcy, Naveen Andrews (from "Lost" and the "English Patient") and Indira Varma (from "Kama Sutra" and currently "Rome"), but the movie just didn't draw me in. The Elizabeth Bennett character was just not feisty enough and the Darcy guy was very bland, a pleasant surprise was seeing Alexis Bledel ("Gilmore Girls") in the role of Darcy's younger sister. The director is the woman who made "Bend it Like Beckham", the movie is lovingly made, I just ended up being a little "ehh" about it.
"Monsieur Ibrahim" - a French movie that came out several years ago about the friendship between a lonely Jewish boy and the wise Muslim shopkeeper across the street that keeps an eye on him. Omar Sharif plays the kind shopkeeper who dispenses wisdom from behind the counter. This was very well-done. It's not a "rush out and see it now" kinda movie but it is worth your time at the very least for Omar Sharif's very fine performance.
"Dear Frankie" - okay I just had to see this movie because I'm oh so in love with Gerard Butler. Yes, yes, the Hottie Phantom of the Opera, paramour of Lara Croft (in the 2nd movie) and the ONLY redeeming thing about the laughable "Timeline" is in this movie. I shamelessly admit that's why I'd been dying to see it. I've always liked Emily Mortimer (ever since seeing her on "Friends" as she(the actress) always reminds me of my friend, SlayerIvy, who lives in Florida so I'm predisposed to liking her) and she totally did a fantastic job in her role in this film. It is about a single mom who has been writing to her son for years in the guise of his "sailor father" who finds herself in a fix when the boat, whose name she thought she had made up, ends up docking in town and the boy wants to meet his dad. It was a very well-constructed, well-acted movie which I highly recommend to everybody (even if you're not in lust with Gerard ;).
Yay, I posted an update!
-Del
I'm happy to get to visit with my family a bit. My brother's picking me up at the airport and I get to see all the "Battlestar Galactica"s he taped for me. Then on Friday, I get to visit my Dad and little brother and sisters in Riverside county (and possibly my grandmother who is in the area). Then I fly back on Sunday night and get to get ready for another week of school. Woo hoo.
So I've caught up on a few movies over the last month, on the big screen:
The Wedding Crashers - I kept being surprised by the number of people who told me that this was a very funny movie and not dumb at all so I had to check it out. The movie previews for this did not do this movie any favors, because it is alot funnier and smarter than the previews would suggest. I thoroughly enjoyed it and think Rachel McAdams is certainly an actress to keep an eye on. I've liked her in "The Hot Chick" , "Mean Girls", "The Notebook" (<-enjoyable and sweet, but didn't amaze me, though I like Ryan Gosling as well) and I liked her very much in this as well. I must see I feel like she is much more striking as a brunette than a blond, and almost had the thought that I'd be okay if she gets cast to play "Wonder Woman" in the film that Joss Whedon is penning. I think she'd bring the right mix of intelligence and spirit to the character.
Serenity - okay so never in a million years did I intend to see this on opening night. I was never enamoured of the show though I liked some of the characters. A classmate who remembered I had loved "Buffy" and "Angel" called me up and I was looking for a reason to procrastinate from school work so I immediately agreed. I enjoyed it, was amused (especially by Kaylee's line about her nether regions) and could see I was satisfied (if not blown away) by my movie watching experience. It was odd because although I liked the movie I could never shake the feeling through it all that I just don't trust Joss anymore and couldn't really "relax" through it all. Somehow, when he killed off Wesley in "Angel" (as fitting as it might have been for the character) it was the last straw with me and I will always watch anything he does with a weary eye.
A History of Violence - the latest David Cronenberg movie which stars Viggo Mortensen as a small town diner owner who defends his diner and the people in it from two thugs out to cause mayhem and ends up with a whole lot of trouble for it. This one I'm still pondering, it was good, I just don't have any instant reaction to it either way. I was thinking that Maria Bello is quickly becoming an actress I quite respect for the fact that she picks roles that have some meat in them and are not at all about "look how cute I am!!!!" I guess I appreciate seeing what feels like real women on screen.
On the DVD front, I've seen:
"Bride and Prejudice" - This movie was cute, but not as awesome as I thought it would be. It features one of India's biggest female stars, the guy from "The Ring" as Mr. Darcy, Naveen Andrews (from "Lost" and the "English Patient") and Indira Varma (from "Kama Sutra" and currently "Rome"), but the movie just didn't draw me in. The Elizabeth Bennett character was just not feisty enough and the Darcy guy was very bland, a pleasant surprise was seeing Alexis Bledel ("Gilmore Girls") in the role of Darcy's younger sister. The director is the woman who made "Bend it Like Beckham", the movie is lovingly made, I just ended up being a little "ehh" about it.
"Monsieur Ibrahim" - a French movie that came out several years ago about the friendship between a lonely Jewish boy and the wise Muslim shopkeeper across the street that keeps an eye on him. Omar Sharif plays the kind shopkeeper who dispenses wisdom from behind the counter. This was very well-done. It's not a "rush out and see it now" kinda movie but it is worth your time at the very least for Omar Sharif's very fine performance.
"Dear Frankie" - okay I just had to see this movie because I'm oh so in love with Gerard Butler. Yes, yes, the Hottie Phantom of the Opera, paramour of Lara Croft (in the 2nd movie) and the ONLY redeeming thing about the laughable "Timeline" is in this movie. I shamelessly admit that's why I'd been dying to see it. I've always liked Emily Mortimer (ever since seeing her on "Friends" as she(the actress) always reminds me of my friend, SlayerIvy, who lives in Florida so I'm predisposed to liking her) and she totally did a fantastic job in her role in this film. It is about a single mom who has been writing to her son for years in the guise of his "sailor father" who finds herself in a fix when the boat, whose name she thought she had made up, ends up docking in town and the boy wants to meet his dad. It was a very well-constructed, well-acted movie which I highly recommend to everybody (even if you're not in lust with Gerard ;).
Yay, I posted an update!
-Del