I thought I'd throw together some opinions about some movies I've seen lately.
I understand the whole "You can do anything you want if you really set your mind to it" myth that we tell children. I'm fine with that. But the physics, plot, and general science behind this movie was atrocious. It wasn't even that entertaining. Thumbs down.
I watched five minutes of this movie and then turned it off. Absolutely nothing about Harry Potter is interesting to me, with the possible exception of the mass mob psychology of the fans. I've seen two other Potter movies, and they both seemed loud, silly, and boring to me. I just don't "get it". I've never really liked the "fantasy" genre or any book or movie involving magic or excessive paranormal activity. A big muggle thumb down.
This was just as I expected. Good, happy comedy by two good comedy actors, with Sandler calling in some of his SNL buddies for small parts. Apparently Will & Grace didn't actually exhaust the entire spectrum of gay jokes. It made me wonder if homosexuality will ever be so commonplace and homophobia so eradicated to the point where gay jokes are no longer funny. I suspect not. Thumbs up.
I had never heard of this movie when I saw it. I can describe it in the simple phrase, "Hannibal Lecter meets John Grisham." This was the first movie I've seen where Anthony Hopkins was trying not to be British. He should stop that immediately. The leading role was played by Ryan Gosling (who looks a lot like David Arquette). Gosling is awesome! He's got a great career ahead of him. Very good movie. Thumbs up.
Exactly what I expected. If you like the television show, you'll love the movie. It's nothing fantastically new. The seemingly oxymoronic phrase "clever slapstick" came to mind. Thumbs up.
Who knew that Ace Ventura was such a fantastic actor!? Jim Carrey is very impressive in this movie. I've always thought that psychological horror was way better than screaming ax-murderer ghost horror. Apt Pupil is the scariest thing Stephen King has written, in my opinion. Plus, I loved the simple arithmetic numerology that the movie is based on. The plot is based on the lead character going insane because he sees the number 23 everywhere. He was born on February 3rd, he got married on the fabulous date of October 13th (10 + 13), etc. While I'm completely aware that the same game can be played with any number (just ask the 9-11 conspiracy freaks), I couldn't resist some 23 play as I lay in bed after watching this movie. I was 23 when I abandoned my homeland and emigrated to England, shortly after 9-11. Of course 9-11-2001 is 9 + 11 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 1 = 23. :-) See how I specifically chose to break up the digits of 2001 but not 11? That's how you play the game. It's a good movie, but there's a bigger risk of resulting insanity than any movie I've seen, so be careful. There's nothing special about the 9th prime number, composed of two digits from the Fibonacci sequence. Thumbs up.
I've been "watching" this movie while I've been writing this blog entry. It's exactly the kind of "screaming ax-murderer ghost horror" that I don't have time for. The only positive thing I can say about this movie is that the little girl from Panic Room has grown into a very pretty teenager. I'm gonna turn it off now. Thumbs down.