On Christmas Day '08, two big movies opened starring the famous pretty people Jen Aniston and Brad Pitt. A year later, are either of them worth watching on the small screen over your Christmas Break? I will tell you, starting with my review of the Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Loved:
The story Cate Blanchette’s character tells to her daughter to introduce Benjamin Button’s life (about the clockmaker). I was moved.
Liked:
• The concept for the movie: a man growing backwards.
• One of the themes of the movie: young boys going to war and wishing we could turn back the clock to gain back what they lost (their lives, their innocence, etc).
• The acting. You can’t deny good acting when you see it.
Did Not Like/Understand:
• The hurricane (Katrina?) reference. I just don’t get it. Someone explain it to me!
• A 16 year old who looks like a really, really old man getting drunk and losing his virginity to a hooker. Call me a prude, but ick.
• The movie as a whole. I refrained from judgment throughout the whole thing, not sure if I liked it or if I was bored or what. After the closing credits came on, I sat in silence for a few minutes digesting the movie, then I had to say aloud, “I’m sorry. I didn’t like that movie.” It was supposed to have an epic feel to it, but fell short and didn't make sense to me as an emotional viewing experience.
Conclusion: SKIP IT.
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Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Christmas Movie Quote Quiz, Vol. II
Hello new blog! I've been thinking for a few days as to what my writing debut should be, and decided that instead of writing a review of some kind I would instead have this blog host my second annual Christmas Movie Quote Quiz. Some of them are old favorites, if you haven't seen them I would highly recommend adding them to your queue.
1. "Wow, you're fast. I'm glad I caught up to you. I waited 5 hours for you. Why is your coat so big? So, good news- I saw a dog today. Have you seen a dog? You probably have. How was school? Was it fun? Did you get a lot of homework? Huh? Do you have any friends? Do you have a best friend? Does he have a big coat too?...
2. "We're booked for the holidays."
"Vermont, huh?"
"Oh, Vermont should be beautiful this time of year, all that snow."
"Yeah, you know something, Vermont should be beautiful this time of year, all that snow."
"Thats what I said."
"I seem to be getting mixed up."
"Maybe its the music."
"Maybe it isn't only the music."
3. "I'm up here you big horse's ass!"
4. "What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary."
"I'll take it. Then what?"
"Well, you can swallow it, and it'll dissolve, see... and the moonbeams would shoot out of your fingers and your toes and the ends of your hair... am I talking too much?"
5. "Dear Santa, how have you been? Did you have a nice Summer? How is your wife? I have been extra good this year so I have a long list of presents that I want."
"Oh brother."
"Please note the size and color of each item, and send as many as possible. If it seems too complicated make it easy on yourself: just send money. How about tens and twenties?"
6. "Do you know what I wish would happen? When your bell rings at 8:00 and you open your door, instead of Popkin, I come in."
"Please don't make this more difficult for me."
"I'd say, 'Klara, darling...'"
"No, you mustn't."
"My dearest, sweetheart Klara, I can't stand it any longer. Take your key and open post office box 237 and take me out of my envelope and kiss me."
7. "I have since heard of people under extreme duress speaking in strange tongues. I became conscious that a steady torrent of obscenities and swearing of all kinds was pouring out of me as I screamed."
8. "Hey kids, I heard on the news that an airline pilot spotted Santa's sleigh on its way in from New York City."
"Are you serious, Clark?"
9. (English) "It's my favorite time of day, driving you."
(Portuguese) "It's the saddest part of my day, leaving you."
10. "It's what you give to other's, your sisters and your brothers, and most of all to those you've never met. Yes Christmas, Christmas, Christmas time, a giving, giving, giving, time. So lets all give a cheer for..."
"Money!"
Answers: 1. Elf 2. White Christmas 3. Home Alone 4. It's a Wonderful Life 5. A Charlie Brown Christmas 6. The Shop Around the Corner 7. A Christmas Story 8. Christmas Vacation 9. Love Actually 10. A Chipmunk Christmas
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
New Moon the movie
I’m not an obsessed Twilight fan. I thought the books were entertaining, but I’m not emotionally attached to the characters. However, I do enjoy getting caught up in something that’s FUN. I like catchy fan quotes like “My heart belongs to my husband; my neck belongs to Edward.” I like imagining myself wearing a T-shirt that says, “LA PUSH DIVING TEAM.” Like I said on my personal blog, I’m a sucker for a themed party. And seeing a Twilight movie is one big, vampirey party.
I’m also a sucker for an adaptation. It’s exciting to see the tweaks a director inserts into a story that’s already beloved by so many, while hopefully creating a fresh, new work along the way. Here’s what I discovered during my viewing of New Moon.
What I liked:
-Jacob. I’ll admit that before I saw the movie, I would cringe at the sight of Taylor Lautner in the previews. I really, really didn’t think I’d like him. I didn’t think he was attractive at all, but actually funny looking. I was wrong. His acting was top-notch. I’ve heard people say that he was “a breath of fresh air” from the seriousness of Bella and Edward’s relationship, which is true. When you see him when he cut off his hair for the first time, it was a breath of fresh air.
-Like I’ve said before, Edward is a Drama Queen. (It’s okay to love a character but still have some things annoy you). Of course he has to be a drama queen in order for there to be enough drama in the story, so we can forgive him.
-The wolves weren’t as hokey as they could’ve been. They looked good.
-I like Charlie. In the books he bothers me because Bella babies him and he doesn’t know how to cook a pot of spaghetti. But he’s charming and very dad-like and loveable in the movies.
-Dakota Fanning’s young and therefore very vampire-like face was refreshing. She was a perfect vampire because she’s only 15. A part of me thinks all the vampires should be people who are under 18. I think it would be a cool effect to have them all look so young.
-Any scenes with Victoria. I think she’s beautiful and her red hair was visually striking.
-Scenes with the classical score (the music).
-Did you notice the faint outline around Aro’s lips…blood red! Like that was his drink of choice for the past few hundred years, go figure.
-Carlisle’s accent of an America gone by.
What we can make fun of:
-All the people who kept saying this actor or that actor was changed under the new director. I heard many times that Alice was different or Rosalie was different or whatever. They were all the same!
-Edward appearing to Bella. I shook my head as I watched this. I thought that’s how it was in the books and kept thinking, “Why didn’t they change it so it was just his voice? It looks so cheesy!” Then I found out that it was just his voice in the books. It would’ve been okay to have him appear once or twice, but more dramatic to have just heard his voice. I can see why they did what they did, though. It is a movie; you’re supposed to see things.
-The acting was lackluster for me, mostly in Edward, Alice, and the rest of the Cullens, as sparsely as they were seen. Excluding Jacob.
-Edward. He didn’t bother me in Twilight the movie, and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was here that did. My friend nailed it when she said that he has a smirk on his face and looks down to the side. Do you know what I’m taking about? He has a nice face, but the smirk-like expression made me crazy (not in a good way). Or it just dawned on me that maybe it’s because I hate it when men in movies make the decision to leave because they think it’s for the greater good. It’s egotistical.
-I think we can fairly make fun of the decrepit, old looking Volturi sitting in one of the chairs in the back. Aren’t they supposed to look young?
-The choice of music was terrible. I loved the music in Twilight, but in New Moon it was random and forced, instead of enhancing the scene like it’s supposed to. The exceptions were the classical score, which was beautiful, and the song during the scene where Victoria was running through the woods and Charlie’s friend had a heart attack. I don’t remember what the song sounded like but it was well-placed.
-Is it wrong to make fun of the name “The Twilight Saga” itself?
All in all, I’d say I don’t know how I feel about this movie. I feel like I’m lying when I say “I liked it,” but I didn’t dislike it, either. Maybe time will tell.
This review is a fun start for this blog. I like examining the little details that make a movie work or not work, that do the job of engrossing us the viewer. There will be many more to come.
I’m also a sucker for an adaptation. It’s exciting to see the tweaks a director inserts into a story that’s already beloved by so many, while hopefully creating a fresh, new work along the way. Here’s what I discovered during my viewing of New Moon.
What I liked:
-Jacob. I’ll admit that before I saw the movie, I would cringe at the sight of Taylor Lautner in the previews. I really, really didn’t think I’d like him. I didn’t think he was attractive at all, but actually funny looking. I was wrong. His acting was top-notch. I’ve heard people say that he was “a breath of fresh air” from the seriousness of Bella and Edward’s relationship, which is true. When you see him when he cut off his hair for the first time, it was a breath of fresh air.
-Like I’ve said before, Edward is a Drama Queen. (It’s okay to love a character but still have some things annoy you). Of course he has to be a drama queen in order for there to be enough drama in the story, so we can forgive him.
-The wolves weren’t as hokey as they could’ve been. They looked good.
-I like Charlie. In the books he bothers me because Bella babies him and he doesn’t know how to cook a pot of spaghetti. But he’s charming and very dad-like and loveable in the movies.
-Dakota Fanning’s young and therefore very vampire-like face was refreshing. She was a perfect vampire because she’s only 15. A part of me thinks all the vampires should be people who are under 18. I think it would be a cool effect to have them all look so young.
-Any scenes with Victoria. I think she’s beautiful and her red hair was visually striking.
-Scenes with the classical score (the music).
-Did you notice the faint outline around Aro’s lips…blood red! Like that was his drink of choice for the past few hundred years, go figure.
-Carlisle’s accent of an America gone by.
What we can make fun of:
-All the people who kept saying this actor or that actor was changed under the new director. I heard many times that Alice was different or Rosalie was different or whatever. They were all the same!
-Edward appearing to Bella. I shook my head as I watched this. I thought that’s how it was in the books and kept thinking, “Why didn’t they change it so it was just his voice? It looks so cheesy!” Then I found out that it was just his voice in the books. It would’ve been okay to have him appear once or twice, but more dramatic to have just heard his voice. I can see why they did what they did, though. It is a movie; you’re supposed to see things.
-The acting was lackluster for me, mostly in Edward, Alice, and the rest of the Cullens, as sparsely as they were seen. Excluding Jacob.
-Edward. He didn’t bother me in Twilight the movie, and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was here that did. My friend nailed it when she said that he has a smirk on his face and looks down to the side. Do you know what I’m taking about? He has a nice face, but the smirk-like expression made me crazy (not in a good way). Or it just dawned on me that maybe it’s because I hate it when men in movies make the decision to leave because they think it’s for the greater good. It’s egotistical.
-I think we can fairly make fun of the decrepit, old looking Volturi sitting in one of the chairs in the back. Aren’t they supposed to look young?
-The choice of music was terrible. I loved the music in Twilight, but in New Moon it was random and forced, instead of enhancing the scene like it’s supposed to. The exceptions were the classical score, which was beautiful, and the song during the scene where Victoria was running through the woods and Charlie’s friend had a heart attack. I don’t remember what the song sounded like but it was well-placed.
-Is it wrong to make fun of the name “The Twilight Saga” itself?
All in all, I’d say I don’t know how I feel about this movie. I feel like I’m lying when I say “I liked it,” but I didn’t dislike it, either. Maybe time will tell.
This review is a fun start for this blog. I like examining the little details that make a movie work or not work, that do the job of engrossing us the viewer. There will be many more to come.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Jumping In
This is a project I've wanted to start for quite some time.
You see, I have thoughts. I possess the English-major-curse, which is whenever I read or watch something, analytical thoughts run through my head. This doesn't stop me from enjoying what I'm watching or reading- quite the contrary. It makes me excited, makes my experience richer. It makes me want to write it all down.
This blog will not only consist of movie reviews (and sometimes books or TV shows), but also thoughts on subjects to do with film in general. It's fun for me, and may or may not be fun for you to read.
My sister is a contributor because she has thoughts, too. And they're usually good ones.
You see, I have thoughts. I possess the English-major-curse, which is whenever I read or watch something, analytical thoughts run through my head. This doesn't stop me from enjoying what I'm watching or reading- quite the contrary. It makes me excited, makes my experience richer. It makes me want to write it all down.
This blog will not only consist of movie reviews (and sometimes books or TV shows), but also thoughts on subjects to do with film in general. It's fun for me, and may or may not be fun for you to read.
My sister is a contributor because she has thoughts, too. And they're usually good ones.
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