Darin and I spent a lovely Friday and Saturday camped out at home watching seven flicks we'd been wanting to see. We ventured out both days only briefly, and I must say it was marvelous to really couch potato it up this weekend. The weather was yucky, and we weren't feeling well, so it was a perfect way to waste away 2 days. As promised, here are my reviews.
This was an okay movie, cute for kids and has some redeeming qualities for us older kids. Tells the story of a band of NYC zoo animals who, through a series of events, find themselves stranded on the island of Madagascar. The plot was pretty thin, and the moments of conflict seemed scattered throughout the story. My favorite character was Melman the hypochondriac Giraffe, nicely played by David Schwimmer. A few good jokes thrown in for us adults (did you spot the American Beauty “steaks” and the HMO reference?), but I was really surprised by a couple of raunchy ones. The penguins, I must say, were this movie’s saving grace. LOVED those little guys!
I had high hopes for this movie, when about 30 minutes in I told Darin, “this is really interesting.” Lincoln Six-Echo (Ian McGregor) is introduced as a resident of a colony of survivors in a future world that has become “contaminated”. Every few days there is a lottery to pick a lucky survivor to be transported to “the Island,” the only remaining unspoiled spot on the planet.
Lincoln-Six soon discovers that the whole colony is a hoax, and is in fact a facility designed to create human clones to grow spare parts for their wealthy owners. Along with fellow clone sidekick Jordan Two-Delta (Scarlett Johansson), he escapes on a mission to find their owners and tell them the truth about what is going on in the facility (the owners are told that their clones are unconscious, unaware blobs of tissue).
Great stuff here! Interesting facility, people, and concept. However, this is where the movie goes from great to just another action-packed, shoot-em-up, how many things can explode waste of my time. Dialogue becomes stiff and the characters are just running from one bad guy to the next. Although the ending is happy, there are too many holes left in the plot. Good if you like the two movie genres acting as one type of flick. I was sorely disappointed.
I don’t even know why I wanted to watch this one. I hadn’t ever even seen the TV show! And let me tell you right now, don’t waste your money. Bad acting, dumb story, too much Jessica Simpson showing for anyone’s good, and frankly, I’m just not that into car chases. Definitely a boy movie.
I really like this one. Instead of just remaking the old show, this is a movie about the remaking of the old show. With Will Ferrel as Jack as Darrin, who casts an "unknown" although real witch Nicole Kidman as Izabel as Samantha. Ferrel always makes me laugh, and Kidman is cute as a button. Thin plot line, I know, but I'm always a sucker for a good romantic comedy.
Saw this one with my parents last summer and LOVED it. Have been eager to share it with Darin. I was a little nervous about the remake, having loved the original and the original book. But what a remake Burton has done! Fabulous cast (Johnny Depp plays an incredible creepy yet lovable Wonka, and the boy who plays Charlie couldn’t get any cuter), great costumes, amazing sets, stunning shots, fun lines, and a great story that stays closer to the book than the original film. This one is going in my must-own pile for sure.
Still not sure what to make of this one. The film unfolds through the eyes of Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise), an ordinary, no-account Jersey dockworker taking care of his children, Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and Rachel (Dakota Fanning), for the weekend while his ex-wife (Miranda Otto) visits her parents in Boston.
Although he has no idea what is happening, through sheer luck Ray escapes when the Martians destroy his neighborhood. His sole motivation thereafter is to protect his children.
This movie is DARK, folks. Spielberg never lets down, never lets us catch a break. I read this online and it captures the sentiment exactly: “Yet Spielberg, working from a script by Josh Friedman and David Koepp, brings a harsher, more disturbing interpretation to the material than even Welles imagined. This is clearly a post-9/11 "War of the World." Spielberg incorporates images of that terrible day – the photos and notes posted on walls and fences asking if anyone has seen a missing loved one, a 747 crashing into a building. Much of what happens during the first hour will bring back the dread felt watching CNN that horrible morning.” The reviewer goes on to say, “"War of the Worlds" may be the most efficiently built engine of escalating terror you will ever encounter. But Spielberg's technique serves no purpose this time except the visceral. "War of the Worlds" has a plot, but little story.”
A couple things that didn’t make much sense to me: what’s with they clearly crazy Tim Robbins and the yikes! fact that Tom Cruise feels the need to kill him. And yeah, right, like the son is really going to make it home alive after the bloodbath on the hill he runs off to. And, the movie ends WAY too abruptly. Like the director says I think you and I have both had enough so let’s just put a period on it and call it good.
An interesting one that sparks some good conversations, but I’m still reeling. GLAD I didn’t see it in the theater!
Another movie with great hopes in the first and second act, but really disappoints in the third. Foster plays a bereaved recent widow who, along with her 6-year-old daughter, is flying from Germany to New York with her dead husband's coffin tucked firmly into the cargo hold.
After she and her daughter drift off to sleep, Kyle (Foster) awakens to find her little moppet gone. But, heck, they're 30,000 feet above the ground in an airplane, so the kid couldn't have gone too far, right? Well, no. Apparently little Ms. Blondie is nowhere on the plane, which means that Kyle may not only be in serious mourning about her newly dead hubby -- she might also be stark raving bonkers.
Here’s the reviewer I found who matched my sentiments exactly, “Flightplan is an airborne thriller that has just enough catchy "set-up" to fill a solid 45 minutes (and one heck of an intriguing trailer), but "set-up" material can only be stretched so far before the filmmakers are required to commit to a definite course of action. And once that happens in "Flightplan," you're doomed to a third-act miasma of moronic plot twists, pointless red herrings, and more plot holes than a three-acre graveyard.” This one looked really exciting, and I was even wondering myself if she was crazy or not. Turns out it’s just a really good hijacker who’s got it all figured out. And after some lame dialogue and rough fights, the movie ends really quickly and with a large bang.
Lots of potential, but lost me at the end.
So, there you have it. The movie reviews from our potato weekend. Had a great time, although we can't do this one that often or our bums and bellies will start bulging out even further!
Would love to read any comments you have!
