Wow. "Stardust". And comedy movies.
Holy cow, another really good movie. With "Once" being SO EXCELLENT and now "Stardust" being really good, that makes 3 good movies I've seen in the past 2 weeks (Bourne kicked much ass, too).
"Stardust" feels like the child of "The Princess Bride" and "Labyrinth", love and faerie tale and humor and evil princes and evil magical beings. Color me impressed. I'd read the book by Neil Gaiman, and enjoyed it (although not my favorite Gaiman novel). I didn't imagine it coming to life in quite this way, but they did a knock-up job on it.
Claire Danes reminded me a bit of Gwyneth Paltrow at times - which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but would occasionally make me pause. And I thought the lead was a little... generic (I should probably look up his name, but not right now). But other than that, aces all the way around. And Michelle Pfeiffer was tons of fun as the evil witch.
I can totally see this movie becoming as beloved as "The Princess Bride" a few years down the line...
On another note, I watched "The Brothers Solomon" with Will Forte and Will Arnett, which I totally didn't enjoy. The only thing that kept me from turning it off was the presence of the mighty Arnett. I think I laughed once, but for the life of me I don't remember what about.... I sometimes wonder if my humor bone is broken or something, as I watch comedies and don't really enjoy them.
(And I've been trying to be better about watching comedies, because they're not what I usually go for. Now, when I have a couple of extra free rentals, I'll pick one up and see how it fits. Because a couple of people on my staff tell me that all my movie choices are "humorless" and they're always what the customers are asking about. And most times I have to lie and say I didn't see it, anyway, because no one will listen when I tell them something sucked. Or, I know they'll enjoy it, even if I didn't. So, better just to say I haven't seen it.)
BUT, I love television shows like "The Office" (both the UK and US versions), "It's Always Sunny", "Arrested Development" and sometimes (okay, a lot of the time) "Reno 911". So, humor bone not broken?
Maybe it's just comedic movies? Comedy is better in small doses? Well, that's not true, either, because there are lots of comedies on TV that I haven't enjoyed (Raymond, King of Queens, Two and a Half Men, etc) and there have even been a few comedy films as of late I've liked (but generally, those are few and far between, too.).
"Hot Fuzz" made me howl like a loon. "40 Year Old Virgin", "Knocked Up" and "Superbad"... although I'd put "Knocked Up" at the bottom of that Apatow list, that didn't do as much for me as the other two. And "40 Year Old" I enjoyed the most of the three.
So, maybe it's an Apatow/Wright/Wes Anderson trifecta on the comedic-film-like as of the last few years?
Hmmm. But still, sometimes, when people bring back stuff like "License to Wed" or "Blades of Glory" and tell me it's the funniest damn thing ever, well, I still feel like my humor bone must be broken, you know?
Humor is subjective, I know, but isn't there supposed to be some kind of baseline "haha" factor? Aren't we all supposed to laugh at someone slipping on a banana peel or something like that?
I guess I should be off and go get some laundry done...
:::::::slips on banana peel::::::: Whoops.
>>>cue laughter<<<
"Stardust" feels like the child of "The Princess Bride" and "Labyrinth", love and faerie tale and humor and evil princes and evil magical beings. Color me impressed. I'd read the book by Neil Gaiman, and enjoyed it (although not my favorite Gaiman novel). I didn't imagine it coming to life in quite this way, but they did a knock-up job on it.
Claire Danes reminded me a bit of Gwyneth Paltrow at times - which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but would occasionally make me pause. And I thought the lead was a little... generic (I should probably look up his name, but not right now). But other than that, aces all the way around. And Michelle Pfeiffer was tons of fun as the evil witch.
I can totally see this movie becoming as beloved as "The Princess Bride" a few years down the line...
On another note, I watched "The Brothers Solomon" with Will Forte and Will Arnett, which I totally didn't enjoy. The only thing that kept me from turning it off was the presence of the mighty Arnett. I think I laughed once, but for the life of me I don't remember what about.... I sometimes wonder if my humor bone is broken or something, as I watch comedies and don't really enjoy them.
(And I've been trying to be better about watching comedies, because they're not what I usually go for. Now, when I have a couple of extra free rentals, I'll pick one up and see how it fits. Because a couple of people on my staff tell me that all my movie choices are "humorless" and they're always what the customers are asking about. And most times I have to lie and say I didn't see it, anyway, because no one will listen when I tell them something sucked. Or, I know they'll enjoy it, even if I didn't. So, better just to say I haven't seen it.)
BUT, I love television shows like "The Office" (both the UK and US versions), "It's Always Sunny", "Arrested Development" and sometimes (okay, a lot of the time) "Reno 911". So, humor bone not broken?
Maybe it's just comedic movies? Comedy is better in small doses? Well, that's not true, either, because there are lots of comedies on TV that I haven't enjoyed (Raymond, King of Queens, Two and a Half Men, etc) and there have even been a few comedy films as of late I've liked (but generally, those are few and far between, too.).
"Hot Fuzz" made me howl like a loon. "40 Year Old Virgin", "Knocked Up" and "Superbad"... although I'd put "Knocked Up" at the bottom of that Apatow list, that didn't do as much for me as the other two. And "40 Year Old" I enjoyed the most of the three.
So, maybe it's an Apatow/Wright/Wes Anderson trifecta on the comedic-film-like as of the last few years?
Hmmm. But still, sometimes, when people bring back stuff like "License to Wed" or "Blades of Glory" and tell me it's the funniest damn thing ever, well, I still feel like my humor bone must be broken, you know?
Humor is subjective, I know, but isn't there supposed to be some kind of baseline "haha" factor? Aren't we all supposed to laugh at someone slipping on a banana peel or something like that?
I guess I should be off and go get some laundry done...
:::::::slips on banana peel::::::: Whoops.
>>>cue laughter<<<