Movies - Halloween Edition, Name Meme
Happy Halloween and Blessed Samhein, everyone!
I took a day off Monday. I also finally watched *that* movie. The one that’s been sitting alternately on my bed and on my dresser, next to my bed, that I couldn’t bring myself to watch. Yes, I put 1408 in my DVD player at 11:15 last night. It was awesome, as I will explain below, but sleep? Ahahahahahahahahaha!
Thus, yesterday I was a basket case -- completely out of it.
Last night peach1250 treated me to a suitable Halloween movie for my birthday. The movie?
30 Days of Night
I thought this was pretty good for a vampire movie. It was gory, but most of the gory scenes were quick, so it wasn’t really a disgusting gross-out movie. And there was even some plot. Sure, there are no Great Moments In Cinema in it, but what do you expect? It’s a vampire movie, after all! I also thought Josh Hartnett was pretty good in his hero role, and that he’s a cutie. I did have some problems with the camera angles/effects and the vampires’ screechy noise. If there had been a little more of either, I think I would have too much of a headache to have enjoyed the movie. And the vampires look like they just came from a cocktail party that broke into a brawl and got their pretty party clothes all bloody. Also, the weather in Barrow, Alaska is a hell of a lot scarier than a pack of vampires. Between the weather and the isolation there is no sum of money that would induce me to actually live there. Visit, yes. Move there? Hell, no! Interestingly, one of my co-workers packed up his family and moved to Barrow last weekend. I thought of him the whole time I was watching 30 Days of Night. At any rate, it was fun and peach1250 and I had a great time.
The construction continues in our office. Currently, the electrical guys are working right by my desk. Hearing one of them say, "What does this do?" does not inspire confidence.
Weekend Movies:
What Lies Beneath
I thought this movie was a good, old fashioned thriller/ghost story. It is predictable enough, though for the first five minutes or so I thought that maybe Michelle Pfeiffer’s character was dead. Once I figured out who did it and who they did it to, though, it was enough to just sit back and watch the characters react to each other and the ghost’s revelations. The cast does a great job with a fairly mundane script and the setting is perfect for a ghost story. I enjoyed it, but I gather from the reviews that a lot of people didn’t. It seems to be folks who have seen the previews who most dislike this movie, as they apparently give away every single detail. Thus, if you haven’t seen it, try to stay away from trailers and such before doing so. And watch for the acting. The cast really is very good.
The Importance of Being Earnest
Doesn’t really seem to fit in with today’s theme, does it? Ah, but it does! Despite the lack of scariness, this cute movie starring Rupert Everett and Colin Firth does have mistaken identities and lost children and all kinds of fun little twists. I doubt it’s the best adaptation of GB Shaw’s play, but it’s good enough and hey, Colin Firth!! It’s a good, fun Sunday afternoon movie, especially if you like period costume comedies and/or Colin Firth and Rupert Everett. Reese Witherspoone’s even fairly decent in it.
Resident Evil
Yes, the first one. I am that far behind in my movie watching. And I loved this. I mean ... Zombies!!! Hell Hounds!!!!! It was just spooky enough and just comic-booky enough for me without being too gory (like, for instance, Kill Bill, which I utterly loathed). Plus I really like Mila Jovovich. And Eric Mabius. And James Purefoy, yay! And Michelle Rodriguez. I have the first sequel to watch this week but I’m guessing that Alice and Matt don’t hook up again. I want them to, so of course I’ve convinced myself they don’t. But please don’t spoil me either way! I loved the building’s “aliveness” and that it was as much a character in the movie as the actual people. There was plenty of suspense, the movie doesn’t rely on shock/gross-outs to be scary and the characters are all interesting. This one’s probably going on my favorites list.
The Forgotten
Eh. I had high hopes for this movie when I saw the trailer in the theater. It was just sort of okay, though. Honestly, I think the alien twist kind of wrecked it. The suspense was tighter when I thought some government entity had abducted the kids for some nefarious project. Once aliens became involved, I thought the film became rather mundane and predictable. After that the only question was whether or not Munce was trustworthy and in the end the answer turned out to be “sorta but not really.” The movie would have been much better if the Munce character had been either never revealed to be on either side so the audience was left wondering, or had been completely bad or completely good. That’s not Gary Sinise’s fault, though. He does a great job with a so-so character. I did think Julianne Moore did a pretty good job as the mother searching for her son. Alfre Woodard does a great job in a sadly limited, brief role. The rest of the cast is okay, but nothing special, as is the movie once you get to the halfway point. Thus, I was a little disappointed. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either.
And finally, last but very much not least,
1408
1408 was every bit as wonderful as I’ve heard and hoped. Okay, I admit I am hugely biased. How could I not love an hour and a half of John Cusack, John Cusack and more John Cusack. But even discounting my bias, it’s a wonderful, spooky movie. No gore, no human villain, a supernatural entity that uses it’s victim’s own fears to do its demonic work, enough sadness underlying cynicism to make the lead character truly empathetic, a fabulous set, and one of the best tried and true ghost story themes as a basis and yes, this is one great scary movie. It is probably the best to come out in the last 20 years or so. But then, you all know how I feel about all the recent non-horror “horror” films that are actually just bad gorefests, so I’ll spare you that rant for now.
The underwater scenes and watching Mike holding his daughter and sobbing wrecked me. So did the ledge scene. And the trapped, claustrophobic atmosphere that comes into play even before the room shuts him in is masterfully done. I also loved the scene where the room took over his computer and used him as bait to try to get his wife inside. I doubt I will ever forget that diabolical wink at the end of it. Gah! And then it let him think he was out, but he wasn’t ... the room and the movie both kept hitting just the right place over and over.
There was just the right amount of humor, and it fell in all the right places. I loved We’ve Only Just Begun playing on the radio. And the turn down service! Hee! The yelling-at-the-mini bar scene was fabulous.
I thought all of the acting was wonderful, not just Mr. Cusack’s. He is of course, utterly brilliant. Mr. Jackson is also excellent as the Hotel Manager and I’d never heard of Mary McCormack before, but I thought she was very good as Lily. Even the kid was pretty good, though Mr. Cusack seems to have a current career track of bringing out the best in children. The dad/single-dad character’s a running theme for him, and this week’s release of Martian Child is probably going to make me crazy with joy because he does that so well.
As for the effects, they’re good but not necessarily outstanding. Then again, they don’t need to be, as this movie isn’t all about the CGI. I prefer the character focus and I think it makes for a much better haunting/ghost movie.
1408 is supernatural, psychological horror at its absolute best.
That Name Meme Thing
1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
Tippy Sentra (Using my most recent car)
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
Mayan Chocolate Chocolate Chip (Yeah, that sounds really, really gangsta.)
3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
E Dav (Yuck!)
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Blue Butterfly (Cheated. Thought Blue D Kitty sounded stupid.)
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Ann Dallas
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Davel (yuck! Let's do the reverse so it's Elida!)
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, first tool that comes to mind, put "The" at the beginning)
The Teal Hammer
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Gus ... something. I don’t know my father’s father’s name. I mean, I do, and I know I’ve heard it at some point, but I can’t remember it. I never met my maternal grandfather at all, but I remember his name, I guess because my grandmother went by Mrs. Augustus J. Putman. I met my paternal grandfather once, when I was 2 and he was in the hospital at Emory in Atlanta. My dad *never* talked about him. It might be Roger. Does Gus Rogers sound NASCARish?
9. STRIPPER NAME : (favorite candy, the name of your favorite perfume/cologne)
Gummy Bear Dune
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )
Adele Roger
I took a day off Monday. I also finally watched *that* movie. The one that’s been sitting alternately on my bed and on my dresser, next to my bed, that I couldn’t bring myself to watch. Yes, I put 1408 in my DVD player at 11:15 last night. It was awesome, as I will explain below, but sleep? Ahahahahahahahahaha!
Thus, yesterday I was a basket case -- completely out of it.
Last night peach1250 treated me to a suitable Halloween movie for my birthday. The movie?
30 Days of Night
I thought this was pretty good for a vampire movie. It was gory, but most of the gory scenes were quick, so it wasn’t really a disgusting gross-out movie. And there was even some plot. Sure, there are no Great Moments In Cinema in it, but what do you expect? It’s a vampire movie, after all! I also thought Josh Hartnett was pretty good in his hero role, and that he’s a cutie. I did have some problems with the camera angles/effects and the vampires’ screechy noise. If there had been a little more of either, I think I would have too much of a headache to have enjoyed the movie. And the vampires look like they just came from a cocktail party that broke into a brawl and got their pretty party clothes all bloody. Also, the weather in Barrow, Alaska is a hell of a lot scarier than a pack of vampires. Between the weather and the isolation there is no sum of money that would induce me to actually live there. Visit, yes. Move there? Hell, no! Interestingly, one of my co-workers packed up his family and moved to Barrow last weekend. I thought of him the whole time I was watching 30 Days of Night. At any rate, it was fun and peach1250 and I had a great time.
The construction continues in our office. Currently, the electrical guys are working right by my desk. Hearing one of them say, "What does this do?" does not inspire confidence.
Weekend Movies:
What Lies Beneath
I thought this movie was a good, old fashioned thriller/ghost story. It is predictable enough, though for the first five minutes or so I thought that maybe Michelle Pfeiffer’s character was dead. Once I figured out who did it and who they did it to, though, it was enough to just sit back and watch the characters react to each other and the ghost’s revelations. The cast does a great job with a fairly mundane script and the setting is perfect for a ghost story. I enjoyed it, but I gather from the reviews that a lot of people didn’t. It seems to be folks who have seen the previews who most dislike this movie, as they apparently give away every single detail. Thus, if you haven’t seen it, try to stay away from trailers and such before doing so. And watch for the acting. The cast really is very good.
The Importance of Being Earnest
Doesn’t really seem to fit in with today’s theme, does it? Ah, but it does! Despite the lack of scariness, this cute movie starring Rupert Everett and Colin Firth does have mistaken identities and lost children and all kinds of fun little twists. I doubt it’s the best adaptation of GB Shaw’s play, but it’s good enough and hey, Colin Firth!! It’s a good, fun Sunday afternoon movie, especially if you like period costume comedies and/or Colin Firth and Rupert Everett. Reese Witherspoone’s even fairly decent in it.
Resident Evil
Yes, the first one. I am that far behind in my movie watching. And I loved this. I mean ... Zombies!!! Hell Hounds!!!!! It was just spooky enough and just comic-booky enough for me without being too gory (like, for instance, Kill Bill, which I utterly loathed). Plus I really like Mila Jovovich. And Eric Mabius. And James Purefoy, yay! And Michelle Rodriguez. I have the first sequel to watch this week but I’m guessing that Alice and Matt don’t hook up again. I want them to, so of course I’ve convinced myself they don’t. But please don’t spoil me either way! I loved the building’s “aliveness” and that it was as much a character in the movie as the actual people. There was plenty of suspense, the movie doesn’t rely on shock/gross-outs to be scary and the characters are all interesting. This one’s probably going on my favorites list.
The Forgotten
Eh. I had high hopes for this movie when I saw the trailer in the theater. It was just sort of okay, though. Honestly, I think the alien twist kind of wrecked it. The suspense was tighter when I thought some government entity had abducted the kids for some nefarious project. Once aliens became involved, I thought the film became rather mundane and predictable. After that the only question was whether or not Munce was trustworthy and in the end the answer turned out to be “sorta but not really.” The movie would have been much better if the Munce character had been either never revealed to be on either side so the audience was left wondering, or had been completely bad or completely good. That’s not Gary Sinise’s fault, though. He does a great job with a so-so character. I did think Julianne Moore did a pretty good job as the mother searching for her son. Alfre Woodard does a great job in a sadly limited, brief role. The rest of the cast is okay, but nothing special, as is the movie once you get to the halfway point. Thus, I was a little disappointed. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either.
And finally, last but very much not least,
1408
1408 was every bit as wonderful as I’ve heard and hoped. Okay, I admit I am hugely biased. How could I not love an hour and a half of John Cusack, John Cusack and more John Cusack. But even discounting my bias, it’s a wonderful, spooky movie. No gore, no human villain, a supernatural entity that uses it’s victim’s own fears to do its demonic work, enough sadness underlying cynicism to make the lead character truly empathetic, a fabulous set, and one of the best tried and true ghost story themes as a basis and yes, this is one great scary movie. It is probably the best to come out in the last 20 years or so. But then, you all know how I feel about all the recent non-horror “horror” films that are actually just bad gorefests, so I’ll spare you that rant for now.
The underwater scenes and watching Mike holding his daughter and sobbing wrecked me. So did the ledge scene. And the trapped, claustrophobic atmosphere that comes into play even before the room shuts him in is masterfully done. I also loved the scene where the room took over his computer and used him as bait to try to get his wife inside. I doubt I will ever forget that diabolical wink at the end of it. Gah! And then it let him think he was out, but he wasn’t ... the room and the movie both kept hitting just the right place over and over.
There was just the right amount of humor, and it fell in all the right places. I loved We’ve Only Just Begun playing on the radio. And the turn down service! Hee! The yelling-at-the-mini bar scene was fabulous.
I thought all of the acting was wonderful, not just Mr. Cusack’s. He is of course, utterly brilliant. Mr. Jackson is also excellent as the Hotel Manager and I’d never heard of Mary McCormack before, but I thought she was very good as Lily. Even the kid was pretty good, though Mr. Cusack seems to have a current career track of bringing out the best in children. The dad/single-dad character’s a running theme for him, and this week’s release of Martian Child is probably going to make me crazy with joy because he does that so well.
As for the effects, they’re good but not necessarily outstanding. Then again, they don’t need to be, as this movie isn’t all about the CGI. I prefer the character focus and I think it makes for a much better haunting/ghost movie.
1408 is supernatural, psychological horror at its absolute best.
That Name Meme Thing
1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
Tippy Sentra (Using my most recent car)
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
Mayan Chocolate Chocolate Chip (Yeah, that sounds really, really gangsta.)
3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
E Dav (Yuck!)
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Blue Butterfly (Cheated. Thought Blue D Kitty sounded stupid.)
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Ann Dallas
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Davel (yuck! Let's do the reverse so it's Elida!)
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, first tool that comes to mind, put "The" at the beginning)
The Teal Hammer
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Gus ... something. I don’t know my father’s father’s name. I mean, I do, and I know I’ve heard it at some point, but I can’t remember it. I never met my maternal grandfather at all, but I remember his name, I guess because my grandmother went by Mrs. Augustus J. Putman. I met my paternal grandfather once, when I was 2 and he was in the hospital at Emory in Atlanta. My dad *never* talked about him. It might be Roger. Does Gus Rogers sound NASCARish?
9. STRIPPER NAME : (favorite candy, the name of your favorite perfume/cologne)
Gummy Bear Dune
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )
Adele Roger