Nights in Rodanthe

Don't laugh, I am doing a lot of posts, I can't sleep tonight for some reason...

This movie was sad! I like Richard Gere, and he and Diane hit it off pretty good in this movie. I just couldn't get that into it for some reason. It was adapted from a book by Nicholas Sparks (he wrote The Notebook too). The beach house it was filmed in was gorgeous, and it had some good conversations in it, but in the end, I didn't like it that much.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Prince Caspian... where do I start. I didn't see a post on this movie. We watched it in January and I am still thinking about it. I loved it. It had quite a few war scenes, and I am not quite sure if I'd let my kids watch it yet. The message of the movie was quite powerful. A lot of good lessons to learn from it, about believing in yourself, and believing in those you love.

The soundtrack was beautiful, and the scenery was amazing. I need to go to New Zealand. I highly recommend this movie :)

I am Legend

I haven't posted to this forever, and I read your comments all of the time. So I had better contribute. Mark and I watched this movie last night. First of all, I didn't realize it was a zombie-esqe movie. It was scary! Well, I am easily scared, mostly because you don't know what is going to jump out at you around the corner...

A so-called cure for cancer is found, but it turns out to be a horrid disease that spreads all over the world, turning people into these crazed zombies that want to kill everything. Will Smith's character's blood is immune to any of this and he searches high and low for a cure. Most of the movie it shows him roaming around a shut down New York with his dog. It was scary, and in the end it left me wanting.

Deja Vu

This is one of those movies that totally keeps you guessing all the way to the end. Many twists and turns that you never would have thought of. I enjoyed the movie, but parts of it we had to watch twice to figure out what happened. I can't really explain much about the movie without giving the cool parts away though.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom on the Crystal Skull

This was a lot like your typical Indiana Jones movies (but maybe it was just that song they play that ties them all together). I have to admit that Shia LeBeouf didn't bug me like he does in every other show I've seen him in. I think it was while watching this show that I saw a connection to MacGyver.

Anyway, it was descent. There were a few parts I closed my eyes for, but I have to say the way things turned out at the end were a bit crazy, and so much not Indiana Jones. I liked the bantering between the good guys. Kept the show from being too intense.

Seven Pounds

This movie was nothing like what I thought it would be (all preconceptions were based on Will Smith's appearance on Leno), but it was amazing.

The exposition is really hard to follow at first: You aren't sure what is a flashback or what's present time or what. It seems really confusing, however, if you're patient, it all begins to make sense and I think it was really effective.

I am fairly sure every person in the theater was bawling by the end, especially this one girl I saw in the bathroom afterward just sobbing. I cried. My mom cried. I heard sniffles throughout.

It really makes you think...and it's not light-hearted at all, even though that's what Will made you think when he came on Leno and showed the only scene that was even a little comedic in the whole movie. :)

Anyway, I really liked it. A fantastic story about guilt, love and redemption.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Before I say anything, I have to say, I loved this movie. I didn't realize until we got there that it was going to be 3 hours long, but I thought it was great the entire time. I didn't realize until it was over that it was adapted from the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I'll have to read it.

If you've seen the previews, then I'm not giving anything away (especially since this is in theaters right now). The film is a love story, which by itself is pretty darn good. The twist, is that Benjamin Button ages backwards, or grows younger with time. That complicates things. This movie had so many thought provoking moments. The whole time I was thinking about how lucky I am to be able to grow old with the person I love. I guess that shows how into the movie I was.

The story, the emotion, the hint of magic, it was all spectacular to me, and I don't think there could have been better actors for the main roles–Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Wow.

That being said, I wouldn't recommend this for kids. Not only because it might be confusing to them, but also the inevitable shirtless Brad Pitt makes some appearances (no complaints). There's sexy scenes in this movie, but in my opinion they were in good taste. There's some creepy parts and a little violence too. Also, even though there was romance, I wouldn't leave your husband at home.

Fred Claus

This was a pretty cute show that was in theaters last year, and just came out on video. It tells the story of how Nicholas became a saint (when you become a saint you and your family stop aging--did you know that?). St. Nick's brother Fred doesn't like him, and thus hates Christmas. He gets in a bind and ends up working at the North Pole for a few days to earn money.

Anyway, it was pretty good. The kids seemed to like it. One of the characters that worked at the North Pole was way too scantily clad. Other than that, it was a pretty happy movie with a good ending.

Twilight

I really enjoyed the Twilight novel, and the movie was pretty good. My friend and I wondered if we'd like the movie if we hadn't read the book, and I don't think I would have. Having read it, we could understand certain things that weren't said in the show. Many details were left out, but I couldn't think of anything major that wasn't there. I would see it again.

Many of the special effects were lacking, and the effect of sunlight on a vampire just made said vampire look sweaty. One may have thought the movie was a comedy with all the laughing that was going on (in the theater). There wasn't much character development. I think Jacob had three or four lines, and Jasper had one (well, maybe two) and several funny facial expressions. Oh, the scene where Edward saves Bella from the guys in Port Angeles was pretty good, at least how the car was driven. Not sure that I loved Robert Pattinson as Edward. He seemed like he was going to cry through most of the show, and the way he was talking (at least in the beginning) made him sound slow. The makeup was a little distracting too--not so much the white faces, but the red lips. Edward's were darker than Bella's, and it was very obvious that it was lipstick.

I'm really not trying to rag on it though. Condensing the long book to a two hour movie would be a challenge, and overall they did a pretty good job with the story.

I'd love to hear what anyone else thought about it.

Ray

This was an interesting movie about the life of Ray Charles. I didn't know much of anything about him, aside from the fact that he was blind and sang "I Just Called to Say I Love You.) -I think he sang that. Did he?-
Anyway, halfway through the movie, Nate and I looked at each other and said "Boy, I'm not really liking Ray right now." He was a junkie and a womanizer, cheating on his wife and cheating on his mistress (although, if you're the mistress, how could you actually think he wouldn't cheat on you when he's already cheated on someone else to be with you?) Sorry. Tangent.
The part about his brother just broke my heart.
I was surprised at how many songs of his I recognized. I had no idea he sang "Hit the Road, Jack."
It was interesting to see all that he did with his music, and that he never let his blindness hold him back.
All-in-all, a good movie.

Top Gear

This isn't your typical movie post, but my husband got a few seasons of a show called Top Gear from a co-worker. I'd never heard of it, but we've been enjoying watching episodes together. It is a car show, and a lot of the time the three presenters are talking about or driving super cars (I think that means expensive and fast). That's not really my thing. But, they also have these crazy challenges, and they are hilarious. One challenge was making amphibious vehicles. One of the guys used a Toyota pickup, one used some type of van, and the other made a sailboat out of a convertible. It was so funny, especially watching the one with the huge sails trying to get to the lake. The van ended up sinking, and the truck ended up on it's roof. Another challenge was buying cars in Miami for under $1,000 and driving across two or three states. They had several challenges along the way. One challenge was in Africa. One was racing motor-homes--that was pretty funny. Oh, the one making stretch limos out of regular cars was pretty entertaining too.

Anyway, I don't think I'm doing it justice, but I think it'd be worth a few minutes to see some of the challenges on YouTube. I have no idea what seasons we've been watching, and I'll admit that some of the things said by the British are quite shocking. But, if you are bored, check it out.

The Aviator

Interesting movie. The first half of it Nate and I kept looking at each other like "What is going on? Is there a plot to this movie at all?" The second half got better, but I was really close to just leaving the room.
This movie is about the life of Howard Hughes (not to be mistaken for Hugh Hefner, which I always seem to do for some reason.)
Howard is a very interesting character. Very smart. From what I understood through the movie, he had a whole lot to do with the airline business as we know it today (OK, as we knew it before they all went bankrupt...) He was also mentally ill.
Would I recommend the movie? Eh...probably not. It was very long - like about 3 hours long - and like I said earlier, the first half of the movie was just weird. Plus, there was an overabundance of swearing. Not cool.

Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I couldn't find an image for this one. We were in a bit of a shock when the show started though. A new Red Box opened up not too far from our house (it's on the way home from work for Matt), and we heard it had Prince Caspian. We thought it was one of the new versions. Turns out it was a BBC version (from the 80's I think). The costumes were hilarious, and I laughed for quite awhile watching Aslan walk (you know, with the two guys wearing his costume).

Good reminder to make sure you have the version you want.

Be Kind Rewind

We found this on iTunes last week, and thought we'd give it a try even though we'd never heard of it (mostly because it has Jack Black). It was pretty dumb. A couple of friends find themselves in trouble when the one erases all of the VHS tapes in the video store the other is in charge of while the boss is away. Jack Black is the trouble maker. He became magnetically charged after a failed attempt to destroy a power plant (or some such place). They made their own versions of the movies to cover themselves, and these "sweded" versions became very popular and the store was doing much better business.

It was a pretty lame show. Just not much to it, and the ending was one of those where it ended and I though, that was it?

Baby Mama

My neighbor lent this to me last night. I had seen a few previews for it quite awhile back, and didn't think it looked great. But, having recently become a Tina Fey fan for her "political" work, I decided to give it a try.

The show is about a 37-year-old career woman who has never married. She has come to realize that she wants to be married and have a child, but the marriage prospect isn't looking promising. So, she looks into adoption, but that doesn't seem to be an option (at least not very soon), and she tries artificial insemination. When that doesn't work a doctor tells her she'd have a one in a million chance of getting pregnant. She looks in a surrogate mother, and decides to go that route. The agency she uses guarantees the surrogate will be thoroughly checked out for the small fee of $100,000.00. The surrogate she gets ends up being anything but the type of person she'd want, but they move forward with it.

Anyway, it was better than I thought it would be, and parts were even touching (I'll admit I cried a little). I asked Matt what he thought when it was over, and his response was, "eh".

Nim's Island

I had heard about this movie quite awhile ago, and saw that it was available at Red Box tonight. It is based on a book, and is about a young girl who lives on an island with her scientist father. He leaves on an expedition (I guess that might be the right word), and she (Nim) doesn't want to go with him for the two days because she's certain that her sea turtle's eggs are going to hatch. A huge storm comes up while he's away, and she's left alone to defend their island. She gets some courage from email correspondence from her hero, Alex Rover. He is the brave character of many of her favorite books. He is actually a fictitious character made up by author Alexandra Rover (who happens to not be brave or courageous--she's really agoraphobic).

Anyway, it was a cute story. Some parts were a little intense for my five-year-old, but she wanted to keep watching.

The Dance

This was in the (small) movie section at our library. I hadn't heard about it, but when I picked it up I noticed it was by the people who did The Best Two Years. I thought that was a great show, so I figured this one must also be very good.

Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. The cinematography was very good, but the story wasn't. The main guy in The Best Two Years is home from his mission and going to Harvard (I think that was the school). He's been home a few months, and is sort of struggling. One of his professors (who I'm pretty sure was his mission president in the last movie--but not sure if he's supposed to be the same guy) talks him into going to a single adult dance. He doesn't have a date, but finds an old girlfriend of his brother, and talks her into going. She's not a member, and wears a dress to the dance that isn't within the standards. The professor and his wife are the chaperons (or something--they're there), and apparently they've been married for years and just sort of ignore each other most of the time. There's another single guy there that has a divorcee come to the dance with him.

Anyway, I just didn't think there was much to the story.

Kung Fu Panda

We watch this last night for FHE. Zoie had a blast watching it, and I'll admit I enjoyed it too. Jack Black is hilarious. I love the opening part where he says, "There's no charge for awesomeness."

It had several good messages. After the show I asked Zoie what she learned, and she told me she learned that if there's a bad guy, you need to fight him. Hm, not exactly what I was hoping she'd get from it.

Get Smart

Matt's co-worker lent us this show. I had only heard about it, and didn't really know what to expect. I guess it's a remake of either an old TV show or old movie. It's a bunch of spies in Control (something other than the FBI or CIA). Steve Carell is an analyst or something, but really wants to be an agent. He gets his chance when all the other agents covers are known. He's a really unlikely, inexperience spy.

Overall it was pretty funny, even though a little predictable.

Jumper

I actually watched a movie that nobody here has reviewed yet!

I thought it looked stupid, but I ended up really liking it. Hayden Christensen plays a guy who has a genetic mutation that allows him to "jump" from one place to another, no matter how far away. So, he could be in his living room and decide he wanted to go on top of the Eiffel tower and be there instantaneously. He ends up finding another guy like himself, and learns there are lots of them out there, but there are people called the Palladins who hunt them and kill them.

Very interesting concept, and I was happy to see that Hayden C. is a much better actor than he ever showed as Darth Vader. There were a couple spots we forwarded through, but it looked like it didn't show much and happened really quickly.

Clue

Nothing like a movie from 1985.

I saw this at the store for $5, and decided to buy it. My family had watched it several times growing up, and I remembered it being really good. It was still funny, but I am bothered when movies make light of death and murder (which this definitely does).

The opening credits say that the movie is based on the board game. I can't think of any other movies based on games. That's quite creative.

I think my favorite part is the ending when Tim Curry is telling everyone "who done it".

Some of my favorite lines/parts:

"Is that what we ate?" followed by a "I'm going to puke" sound.

"I'm going to go home and sleep with my wife."

"But it is dark upstairs, and I am frightened of the dark. Will anyone go with me?" "I will." "I will." "No thank you."

When Tim Curry throws Mr. Green into the "toilet", and you see him come out a minute later drying his hands and a flushing sound in the background.

The actor who plays Mr. Body is named Lee Ving.

The Bucket List

We watched this last night (thanks to part of an iTunes gift certificate). I hadn't wanted to see it for some reason, but I think it might have been because I heard someone throws up. Anyway, the last show we iTuned was more my choice than Matt's, so it was his turn.

Anyway, it is a story about two unlikely hospital roommates that are both told they have six months to a year to live. One of them (Jack Nicholson) is extremely wealthy, and he talks Morgan Freeman into joining him to fulfill their bucket list (a list of things to do before they kick the bucket).

It ended up being a much better show than I thought. I cried (but that's not saying much). It does have a least one vomiting scene. I think if I remember correctly that the reason for the rating was some language. If you have TV Guardian or some other such thing, it'd be great.

Definitely, Maybe

This movie is a story told by a father to his daughter about how he and her mom met (the show opens with him being given divorce papers). He told her he had two serious girl friends, and that he's changing the names of people so she has to guess which one ends up being her mom.

The MPAA gave it the following rating: "PG-13 for sexual content, including some frank dialogue, language and smoking." I had no idea that a movie would be rated PG-13 for having smoking in it. Interesting.

There was definitely stuff I didn't like, but I'm not sure I really liked the story line either. It basically seemed to be about how this guy couldn't get a relationship to work out, over, and over, and over. I'm not even sure why he and his wife ended up calling it quits (since the majority of the movie is before he even got together with her).

Mamma Mia

I have to say, I went to this movie knowing nothing about it, other than they sang Abba songs. And since I love Abba songs, I was all for it.
This movie is cheesy. Totally cheesy. Funny, but cheesy. And Pierce Brosnan should not sing. Ever.
On the little rating thing it says that there are some sex-related comments. I'd say a little bit more than some. Lots of innuendo in this movie.
I felt like bursting out into song several times during the movie though. I love Abba, did I mention that? Meryl Streep is a good singer. Pierce Brosnan is not. (Did I say that already?)

The Dark Knight

I went to see this with Nate and his family (yes, an actual date, woo-hoo! Sorry, off-topic...) It was a pretty decent movie, but definitely one that kids should not see. Way too violent. Like Tarah, I was looking down/away for quite a bit of the movie. Even though they didn't actually show any gory stuff, it was still too violent for my tastes.
The Joker was a very disturbing character. I didn't even realize til half-way through the movie that he was played by Heath Ledger.
If you haven't seen the previous Batman movie (I don't remember what it's called, I haven't seen it yet) then some scenes will be a bit confusing to you.

High School Musical (1 & 2)

After learning that several friends/family members have also seen High School Musical, I decided not to be embarrassed, and to write a review. We borrowed HSM 1&2 from a neighbor, and I had very low expectations.

Anyway, the first one is about a really popular athlete that realizes he can sing when forced to do karaoke with a stranger at a New Year's Eve party. The stranger ends up being a new student in his school. When he and this new girl meet up again in one of their classes they talk about how great singing together was, even though neither of them ever did anything like that before. They end up auditioning for the high school musical, against all odds, because he's this athlete (and athletes don't sing and dance) and she's a brain (and brains don't sing and dance). The bad guys are the brother and sister that have been the leads in every school production.

Overall, cheesy, but I liked it. It was strange to me that they didn't actually do the musical though. Guess from the title I thought that would be part of the show.

HSM2 was definitely not as good as the first. Very cheesy, and had nothing to do with a school musical. I know I'm getting hung up on the name. It was all about school being out for the summer and having summer jobs. The whole gang gets jobs at this country club. There's a talent show. Actually reminded me a bit of Saved By the Bell (which I LOVED-I was a total Saved By the Bell junkie). Unfortunately, this wasn't as good. Seemed like the whole show was about Troy trying to kiss Gabriella (ok, that's an exaggeration).

Both shows had a good lesson, and Zoie really enjoyed them. She's been singing parts of some of the songs. I am really not the target audience for these shows. And, in spite of my not loving the 2nd one, I'm sure I'll see the 3rd at some point.

Iron Man

Jeff and I haven't been to see a movie in the theater for ages, so we decided to go yesterday for a date, and the decision was between "Iron Man" and "Indiana Jones." We decided on Iron Man... and we were so glad that we did. The movie was incredible. The special effects weren't over done (as they have been in other comic book movies). And the story was actually believeable--a little over the top, but still believeable. The acting was great, and the stuff he comes up with is pretty amazing. If you do go, there is one final scene after the credits that opens it up for #2...which Jeff was pretty excited about. Jeff loved the movie, and I really liked it too. So if you have the opportunity to go, go. It is definitely a great one to see on the big screen.

The Kite Runner

We watched this movie last night. I had heard the title, and knew that it was a book and a movie, but didn't know the details. It is the story of a Afghani boy who flees with his father to Pakistan during the Soviet invasion, and eventually to the US. Most of the story is of his childhood in Kabul. He is best friends with the son of a servant in his home, but he is bullied about this relationship. He turns on his friend prior to fleeing the country because of the attitudes of others. He returns as an adult.

I don't want to give away any important details to anyone who is planning on seeing the film, but I have to say that it was very disturbing. I actually wish I hadn't seen it. Matt seemed to appreciate it, but I have a very difficult time getting images (or just insinuated ideas) out of my head. I suppose it could have been extremely graphic with the war and terrible atrocities that took place by those in power, and I'm grateful that it wasn't. The insinuated ideas are with me though.

The film definitely made me think, but it was the kind of show that I couldn't just go straight to bed afterwards. I had to read something happy and upbeat to get my mind to clear enough for sleep.

Oceans 12

I have a new favorite movie. I borrowed a few DVDs from our next door neighbor to stave off some boredom last week, and since then I have watched Oceans 12 four times. I LOVE IT! It came out four years ago, or something like that, and I had never seen it. Part of the reason for not seeing it was remembering that both of my sisters didn't like it. The reason I remembered them saying was due to the "crazy camera angles". Well, the couple of shots that are sideways last for a few seconds and didn't bother me. I love the humor in this. It seems so every day. I love the funny looks of people's faces (ie Brad Pitt's when he realizes his cell phone is gone). I love how Matt Damon is so . . . um, what's the word? Young or unsure of himself? I love his reaction to finding out their first job is being done on a agoraphobic person.

Perhaps if you didn't like it when you saw it, you should watch it a second time--just to be sure. :)

I will say that I didn't care for the French guy's laser dance, and the Julia Roberts thing was a tad over the top. I mean, they could have done the same thing for most of the characters. Oh, and I suppose the whole situation is morally wrong--you know, being thieves and all. It's just so funny though.

Next

I had never heard of this movie before, so I was a little apprehensive about seeing it, but it was pretty good. The story line is that Nicholas Cage's character can see 2 minutes into his future, so he uses that to win at gambling and stuff like that. He catches the attention of an FBI agent (Julianne Moore) who needs his help to find a nuclear device that is somewhere in the LA area. The bad guys who have the nuclear device somehow know about him too, so they're trying to get him before the FBI does.