Reviews: Amazing Race, Cold Mountain, Catch Me If You Can and 50 First Dates
TAR
I am officially weary of the feud between Beauty Queen 1 (Kandice, I think, but I'm not sure) and Karlyn. It's a silly waste of energy on both their parts. I will give BQ1 this, though, she's a happy, effective racer when she's away from the feud. Karlyn, on the other hand, has been big blob of negativity since the first leg. I like Lyn. If I could have kept Sarah in the race and paired her up with Lyn, I'd have a team that made me happy. But Karlyn can't be gone soon enough for me. She has no higher moral ground to stand on. She's simply being and angry, hypocritical sourpuss.
Except I want David and Mary gone sooner. It's not that I don't like them. They seem like very sweet people and they're getting a lot out of their trip. But this is not The Amazing Laid Back Vacation Around the World. They would have been out last week, if not for the Chos. They were saved by non-elimination, again. That's 3 weeks in a row they should have been gone, and Mary's ankle is never going to be strong enough to hold up to the rest of the race.
It's also time for the alliance to end. Even the *lyns have figured that out.
Okay, moving on to the rest of the craziness at the airport. Kuwait - London - Mauritius does not surprise me, but then I'm a former travel agent and I know BA hubs most of their flights through London, just as Lufthansa hubs their flights through Frankfurt and Air France hubs their flights through Paris. In the long run it's cheaper for them to do so. But I wouldn't expect someone who's never been employed in the travel industry or been a frequent traveler to know that. Teams have been badly screwed over by ticket agents not knowing what they were doing, or not caring, so I don't blame Kandice and Dustin in the least for questioning what the agent was telling them. They could have been a bit more polite about it, yes, but the questioning made sense to me.
I thought it was interesting that Tyler and James were the only ones who properly pronounced Mauritius. It made me wonder if perhaps they'd been on a photo shoots there, because IIRC it is often used for fashion shoots. (I think it is a combination of a relatively stable government, lush, exotic scenery, and low costs that make it attractive in that regard.)
No roadblock or did they just not show it? I thought they usually put a tag on the ep that said portions taped but not aired not affecting the outcome blah blah blah in those cases? Or maybe there really wasn't a roadblock.
The trap on the island with the sails was hilarious. Someone could have broken an ankle, though, so I have mixed feelings about it.
I can't think of anything to say about Rob and Kimberly.
I can't think of anything to say about the Chos, other than they should figure out it's time to abandon the alliance. The *lyns will stab them in the back, and Mary and David are very nice dead weight they are hauling around.
Reading the TWoP forum after this segment almost made me pull my hair out. There's a whole heck of a lot of very juvenile pretty-girl hate going on over there. I really hate pretty-girl hate. grrrrrr
Cold Mountain
Flat. Out. Wonderful. Wonderful enough to make me buy the book.
Actually, I almost enjoyed it too much to be able to describe in detail why I enjoyed it. It worked for me, in every way. The acting, even in most of the small and walk-on parts, was excellent. (I read a review before watching it that panned the man playing Teague's blond sidekick, and I agree that's the one case in which the acting was a little clunky. He got better at the end, though.) I haven't read the book, but the story flowed perfectly for me. Here's a better way to indicate how well made this movie is -- it made me cry at the end, and I'm not the least bit angry at it for doing so. That never happens. On a technical level, the sound-editing and score were darned near perfect, the art direction, sets, and costumes fit the story and period exactly, IMO. The film is gritty and authentic, without ever being gratuitous. The balance is just right.
D enjoyed the piano music, and the gunshots did not bother him. He also seemed to enjoy looking at the scenes of the countryside. He actually watched about a third of the movie.
D and I give it 5 paws, and a tail wag.
Catch Me If You Can
I think this was supposed to be suspenseful?
The costumes and sets were superb. They brought back wonderful memories of the 1960s. The music was okay. But the story was treated with boredom and contempt by the screenwriter, and with the exception of Christopher Walken, the acting wasn't up to anyone's usual standard. Tom Hanks' work in this was ponderous. He's been accused of calling in his acting work and I usually disagree with that, but this time? Yeah. Leonardo di Caprio was given a role he could have sparkled in and thudded. And I liked him so much in Celebrity.
The big "question" of the movie: How'd you do it?, especially with regard to how Avagnale "cheated" on the Lousiana Bar Exam, was given away in the first few minutes of the film. The rest was just filling in the blanks. Ho hum.
I liked this better on Saturday when I first saw it. The more I think about it, though, the less I like it.
D slept through the entire thing.
Two paws, one for the art direction and one for Christopher Walken.
50 First Dates
I'm not crazy about Adam Sandler, but this was pretty cute and fun. It certainly wasn't great film making, but it was a decent enough way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It's not that I dislike Adam Sandler, it's more that he never plays a character, ever. He's Adam Sandler in every single one of his movies. This was true of 50 First Dates. In addition to Adam Sandler playing himself, and a lot of gross-out humor (which I really dislike), the assistant aquarium lady, friend and the girl's brother being offensive caricatures. However, on the plus side the story itself was interesting, the screenplay was decent enough (again, except for the gross-out humor) and Drew Barrymore and the man who played her did a fine job portraying their characters, and the setting was spectacular. How can you argue with Hawaiian sunsets? There was also funny trained aquatic wildlife. The penguin and walrus were especially fun.
D wasn't particularly interested, even in the wildlife.
Together D and I give this movie 2 1/2 paws.