Friday, April 16, 2004


9 movies in 3 weeks...

...and they were all rentals. Dad was in San Fransisco on a business trip so Mom and I decided to rent some movies. Besides, we hadn't really checked out the Blockbuster too much since they moved from their tradition location in town.

Matchstick Men Mr. Cage got it DOWN! I've had times where I've had all those quirks do that to me. It was quite eerie really. Sad the girl wasn't really his, but I'm still glad he figured his life out. Still felt like a let-down ending and the twist was confusing a bit.

Under the Tuscan Sun A cheery movie. Great scenery, culture clashes, the usual stops me in my seat (sex, religious differences, gay stuff...) but still a cute film.

Mona Lisa Smile I'd heard it described as "Dead Poets Society for women". Only DPS was better. Partly because the ending is sad as few people really seem to take her advice and actually have it show at the end. Yeah they show their appreciation, but you're (ok I was) left with a feeling that it was "nice" rather than "meaningful".

About Schmidt A quiet film, almost no soundtrack. Reminded me of my depression cuz it's so quiet and because of that I could relate. The ongoing letter-writing sounded like a blog so that was cool. :-)

Lost In Translation Like About Schmidt, it was quiet and reminded me of my depression because of it. However, it is *because* it is so quiet and reminds me of my depression is what makes the film both brilliant and boring. Life is boring and I'm glad these 2 films showed that. But at the same time, when you've come to expect faster pacing in films, it can be a real let-down. The culture clashes are very real and if you don't already know a bit about Japanese culture (like how/why the mix their L's and R's) then some of the humor is lost on you. No, a lot of the humor is lost on you. If you've ever felt like a lone duck out of water far far away from home, then you'll "get" this movie. If you've ever met another lone duck out of water far far away from home at the exact same time and felt a weird sort of kinship in that, then you'll "get it" even more.

Runaway Jury It dumps you right into the action without ANY slow intro whatsoever. You miss one quarter second and you lose your place completely. It is confusing and I kind of wish I'd seen it more than once (like Matchstick Men) so I could watch the twist unfold. While I agree that gun companies are aware and should be held accountable, I do NOT agree with the idea of someone swaying the jury on subterfuge and revenge. The fact that they got away with the money bothered me. It's one of those "right reasons, wrong methods" and those bother me cuz there was no remorse. That's probably why I only saw it once. It was kinda funny that I rented and saw this after Schmidt and Translation. :-)

Something's Gotta Give Wow. :-) We were on a Jack Nicholson spree here and this was the Jack winner. The Jack Nicholson/Diane Keaton pairing was WONDERFUL and it is a cute story. Funny too. I just thought the ending was too short and a bit corny, especially after how long it took for the ending to get there. There was this whole "apart time" for the characters and just when they get back together, it ends. It was lacking....something.

Radio Based on a true (local as in SC) story and a great film! Cuba Gooding Jr did a FANTASTIC JOB and it was great that they had the real Coach and real Radio at the end too! :-) Very nice film- rent this one!

Anger Management This is only 1 of 3 films I have ever rented and never completed. I forgot that this film was Adam Sandler, I had hoped that there would be more Jack-ness but no. The other 2 films I never finished were Wayne's World and Being John Malkovich. I almost didn't wanna finish Shrek. It's rare we bomb. I hate it when films try to show "the innocent getting blamed" as being funny, altho if the guy really *were* being as abusive as everyone says and the quietness was a portrayal of how the guy felt from *his* point of view (which is how I was trying to take it) then that would make more sense. I also don't find penis size or the suggestion of incest to be a sorce of amusement either.

As you can tell, we watched these in 3's. :-) I also bought the Down With Love and Matrix Revolutions DVDs. The "revelations" in DWL and Matrix 3 are less annoying as the first time around, probably because I'd seen them before and there weren't any fanboys jeering the death scene. Tho they were still overblown. Still, DWL is a cute film, and I think that I'll stop the DVD when the humans prepare to make their last stand- the rest of the movie's pretty much dead for me from there and it's rare that I'd say I won't watch the ending. It actually killed the franchise for me for a long time, but now that I have that option, we'll see. I also agree more with the other fanboys (and girls)- the first Matrix was better and other than the Burly Brawl, there was no real "substance" to Reloaded other than the Architect scene and a lot of kick-ass fighting. Rewrite!
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