el Orfanato (The Orphanage)

Creepy a** movie.

The makings of a great classic ghost story: a couple moves into an old orphanage with their small child, who, soon enough, starts playing with imaginary friends. Creepiness ensues, with a mysterious old lady at the door, playground equipment that moves of its own volition, doors slamming, and a score that, rather than making you jump and spill your popcorn, gives you a sense of uneasiness that sticks for the entire movie.

The Spanish subtitles were hardly noticeable, I was so engrossed. Only qualm was that the film reminded me a bit of Orson Scott Card's Lost Boys. But it worked, so I was ok with it.

Netflix On Demand: Chalk

I've discovered that the ability to watch any movie I want, right this second, is both a blessing and a curse. This is especially true when I'm not feeling well, which is when I'm most likely to utilize the instant feature and watch movies by myself.

After a few false starts with indecisiveness, I discovered Chalk, by director Mike Akel, a fictional documentary about a group of 1st-3rd year high school teachers. The style reminded me a bit of Spellbound or Best in Show, but had me in tears laughing. The combination of character development and proximity to home in regards to the trials of teaching made this a fantastic movie. A great mix of hilarity and seriousness combined with Office-like writing that just makes you uncomfortable for the characters, made me forget that this wasn't actually a true film.

Favorite bit: the Spelling Hornet, where teachers spell slang words that the students quiz them on.

An effective case study of the early years in a teacher's career.

Stardust - On Second Watching

How many miles to Babylon?
Three score miles and ten.
Can I get there by candlelight?
There, and back again.

Stardust is a charming story of fantasy, adventure, and finding one's Heart's Desire. Neil Gaiman has a tendency to produce some trippy films. Neverwhere was trippy and put me to sleep. Mirrormask was trippy, put me to sleep, and when I woke up made me ask "WTF?"

Stardust was no different in the fantastical weirdness, or in the fact that I was out cold in the first 10 minutes, only to awaken halfway through the movie. Gaiman is getting better, however, at making movies that are enjoyable to watch.

Not in any way a direct representation of the book, Stardust is fully watchable by anyone not having read the book (Mike seemed to enjoy it). Many events are left out that are integral to the book, but the film is seamlessly coordinated, resulting in a brand new adventure that immerses star-cross'd movie goers in a world of fantasy and love and a battle for a star.

A nice movie to digest on a Saturday afternoon on your own, or as a date movie that satisfies all tastes (as long as your date doesn't fall asleep).

Movie Night: The Holiday

After Krista cooked me dinner tonight, she finally talked me into sharing her favorite chick flick with her. I generally resist typical chick flicks on the big screen, but have no reason to refuse from the comfort of a La Z Boy. I think I'm going to change my habits.

Nice movie. Not too formulaic, and seemed to end well. A good amount of romance, without a lot of sappiness and cheesiness. The plot and the writing even made me think a bit, and I came away with a new Facebook quote. Memorable to say the least. No, my problem isn't with the movie itself. Rather, I run into the same discomfort as with The Breakup; that is, I relate simply too well with the characters and the plots. Perhaps this shows good writing, or good psychology in knowing what the female audience wants. For me, however, it just bums me out.

No more romance flicks. Simpsons, anyone?

The Break Up - A Review

I've been meaning to see this one for awhile, but since I so infrequently watch movies at all since Movie Club ended, there's usually something more meaningful or worthy of my time standing in the way. Tonight, though, my friend and I just needed something that didn't require too much thinking, and that would keep me awake (Children of Men and Pursuit of Happyness were the runners up, for those keeping score). We chose relationship humor over anything more serious.

All I'd like to say is this: 1. I don't like when movies make girls look dumb, and this movie did a few times. Jennifer Aniston redeemed herself eventually, though, I think. 2. For a comedy, it was a little too thought provoking for my liking. A few parts where I found myself nodding off. 3. I really liked the ending.

I Found It!

I've been looking for the last disc of my 24 Season 5 set for awhile now. It finally occurred to me to look for it in my computer bag. Of course. Isn't that the most logical place that YOU would look?

6 episodes left in the season, and my questions is: what's with the cheesy music all of a sudden? Or did I just not notice it all along? Also, I think I counted about 5 "Da**it" utterances in this viewing, and one that should have been there, in the case of the little girl in the hotel room.

The Descent

Movie Night tonight was flipping terrifying. Oh my goodness gracious, I will have nightmares. I'm delaying going to bed for just that reason. Wow.

But on the plus side, Humana came through and didn't stick me with the original $300 bill for my CT scan last month. All I pay for modern technology to tell me there's nothing wrong with my head is a $13.26 balance. Not as scary as I had feared.


Good night, everyone. Sweet dreams.

Eragon - 30 seconds of your time, to save you 2 hours of your time

Sigh. I went into this movie with fairly low expectations, based on the trailer I saw, and the fact that I'm always disappointed by book adaptations. Yet I was still disappointed.

I'm willing to accept that the film version will not always be an exact replica. It took me quite some time to accept Harry Potter - Prisoner of Azkaban as a really good movie, simply because I was annoyed that it wasn't always true to the book. I don't entirely know who was fully responsible for the disaster, but I would have been able to forgive the poor screenplay, if the acting, directing, and/ or photography had been decent. But the acting was overdone and lacked any subtlety or emotion. The scenes were choppy and hacked together. Worst of all, the photography was bland. An epic dragon movie has a world of potential for great visual effects. Saphira the dragon could have been beautiful. Fly over shots could have been breathtaking. Battle scenes could have left the audience on the edge of their seats. None of this happened.

I've been trying to determine who would enjoy this movie. It seems like the mother of two small children in front of us liked it. No one else in the theater seemed to. Perhaps the simple minded who fall for the cute little dragon and the unnecessary romance between Eragon and Aria. Sigh.