Inception

I went to see the movie Inception because I thought it would be interesting and visually compelling, but it turned out to be one of the most boring movies I have ever seen.

I feel like I was duped. Swayed by the hype. I was led to believe that this movie would be something special, but it's just another action flick with LOTS of explosions, shooting guns, and chase scenes.

I was so bored I wished I was at home doing laundry.

What a waste of movie making technology. I couldn't even appreciate the special effects because I wasn't drawn into the story and didn't care about the characters. The premise was too far-fetched and implausible for me to be able to "suspend" my disbelief.

The Kids Are All Right

I was really looking forward to seeing The Kids Are All Right, the movie about the children of lesbian moms who meet their biological father. But maybe I was looking forward to it a little too much. It's been so highly praised that maybe my expectations were a tad too high.



Not that I didn't like it, I did. It just that I can't help being bugged that in this mainstream, potentially Oscar quality movie about a lesbian couple, one of them ends up having a sex with a man. I completely buy that this is what happens, I completely understand it, and I get that it's vital to the plot, but it still bugs me.

I am also perplexed by the fact that the lesbian couple in the movie gets off on gay male porn. WTF?!%$! That doesn't make any sense AT ALL.

In spite of this & a few other little quibbles I have, it's a pretty good film and and I heartily recommend it. It's funny, touching, and the performances are great. Annette Bening plays a lesbian to perfection, and I appreciate that the lesbian characters aren't caricatures.

Winter's Bone

It was so hot yesterday we didn't even want to go to the pool! We went to a nice, cool movie theater instead and saw the Sundance Festival award winning movie, Winter's Bone.

Winter's Bone is the story of a 17 year old girl, Ree, who needs to find her meth cooking father or lose the family homestead, which he's put up as bond. As she goes looking for help among her kin the mystery of her father's disappearance unfolds.



This film is certainly deserving of awards and accolades, and it's certainly engrossing, but I can't say it's enjoyable to watch. Its depiction of poverty and violence in the Ozarks is stunningly realistic. The authenticity of the cast, the sets, and the dialogue is amazing.

Even though this movie took me to a place I didn't enjoy being, I was fascinated by the strong, smart, resourcefull character of Ree. She has your heart from the beginning and she's certainly someone to root for.

Babies

We went to see the movie Babies yesterday. This is a documentary that follows the first year of four babies from four different places on Earth: Mongolia, Namibia, San Francisco and Tokyo. (Though I don't think San Francisco is actually too very different from Tokyo.)

The babies, of-course, are incredibly cute, and I appreciate that this documentary was done without narration. The story is essentially told from the infants' point of view as they come to discover and navigate their disparate worlds.

But what's especially fascinating about this movie is the way it takes you into a Mongolian yurt and a Namibian hut. It's fascinating to see that even though a baby might have nothing to play with but rocks, no running water, and spend her time crawling around in the dirt with goats, she makes the same developmental strides and thrives just as well as her more pampered peers.

I was so engrossed I was sorry to see this movie end, though BB said she'd seen just enough. I liked it so much I'd see it again. It's charming, funny, beautifully shot, and the music is good, too.

The Holiday Season

I'm not a person who generally enjoys "the holiday season". The holidays are something I approach with dread and try my best to get through. Though some years, of-course, are better than others. Some years are okay. Some have even been fun and happy. This year Santa brought a mixed bag.

But one good thing about every holiday season is the release of a slew of new movies. I always look forward to that, and this year is no exception. Except, I'm not at all interested in the alien world of Avatar. Or Sherlock Holmes, which has been described as having "intensely exaggerated fight scenes, played out in graphic slow-motion or at hyperspeed."

So far this season I've seen two new movies, The Blind Side, and Up In The Air, both of which I can recommend. Especially Up In The Air. It's not quite as great as its hype, but definitely worth seeing. The story goes places you don't expect, the characters are complex, the visual are a treat, the two supporting actresses are very good, and George Clooney is as charming as usual.

You ve Got Mail

I watched You've Got Mail on TV last night, and even though it was probably the 5th or 6th time I've seen it, it was completely enjoyable to see again.

It's true that I'd like you to think I have pretty high taste when it comes to films; that I prefer my movies to have done well at Sundance or Cannes. But the fact is, I'm a sucker for a really good romantic comedy - though the good ones are so rare.



In spite of the fact that the plot of this movie is convoluted and unbelievable, every moment rings true for me. And it doesn't hurt that I'm in love with the stars, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Plus it has a great supporting cast: Dabney Coleman, Parker Posey, Greg Kinnear, Jean Stapleton, and Dave Chappel. What fun. Not to mention, it's set in New York City, AND it features music by Harry Nilsson! What's not to like?

You've Got Mail only got a B- on Yahoo Movies, and 68% on Rotten Tomatoes, but I think it's destined to be a classic. I'm sure I'll watch it again and again.

When this movie was released in 1998 I'd just recently seen the old 1940s movie it's based on, which made it all the more fun. If you haven't see The Shop Around The Corner with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan I highly recommend it, especially if you like You've Got Mail.

And the Oscar goes to....

I enjoyed watching the Oscars last night & correctly predicted 11 out of 13 categories! But I can't brag about that too much since it was a pretty predictable contest. I'm not sure why it is that I continue to be such a fan of the Oscars, especially since I've been disappointed with so many recent winners (No Country For Old Men, The Departed, Crash.) There's just something about the Academy Awards show that I continue to love, though I'm not sure if it's the fairy tale quality of it all - the stars, the gowns, the glamour & excitement - or just waiting to see what outrageous thing will happen & what will go wrong.

I thought Ben Stiller's impression of Joaquin Phoenix was in bad taste. Funny, yes, but is it fair to make fun of the mentally ill? I liked Hugh Jackman's opening number, but could have done without the "Salute to Musicals" - what was the point of that? I also didn't like Queen latifah singing (a romantic song) over the montage of those who've died. That just didn't seem right. But in general I thought it was a pretty good show - my favorite moment being when Kate Winslet asked her dad to whistle.

The Visitor

It's cold and snowing again, several inches expected, but I don't mind since there's so much inside to keep me occupied. I watched the movie "The Visitor" last night and really enjoyed it. Richard Jenkins (the actor who played the father on Six Feet Under) plays an isolated college professor who's life is changed when he discovers a pair of illegal immigrants living in his seldom used NYC apartment. His performance is brilliant and the story is fascinating - I was completely engrossed and sorry when the movie was over. It's a movie with something to say, but doesn't hit you over the head with its message. I highly recommend it.

Frost/Nixon

I went to see the movie Frost/Nixon yesterday and liked it a lot more than I'd expected. I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes details of how this unusual and significant television interview came to be, the character study of these two very different men, and the drama of the interview itself, which plays out like a prize fight. I also enjoyed all the period elements, and of-course the great acting. I totally believed Frank Langella was Nixon.

So, I've now seen all five movies nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, but I can't say which one I like best. I'll be rooting for Milk, but I'm sure the winner will be Slumdog Millionaire, which was a little too contrived for my taste, or Benjamin Button, which I thought was a tad too full of itself, and too long.

Revolutionary Road

I've been on a bit of a movie kick lately. If I get to see Frost/Nixon sometime soon I will have seen all five Oscar nominees for best picture - something I don't think I've ever done before.

This afternoon I went to see Revolutionary Road and it wasn't quite what I'd expected. It was certainly engrossing - I loved the look of it & the acting was terrific, but the story was disappointing. It bugged me that I didn't know enough about the main female character to really understand her, she wasn't very well-rounded. And while I understood that she felt stifled by her 1950s suburban life, the movie could have done a better job of demonstrating what was SO stifling about it. As it's depicted her life doesn't seem so bad & she comes off as completely selfish, self-involved & neurotic. Much more so than her husband. It's hard to have much sympathy for this character. And I really hated the end, with Leonardo DiCaprio saying "She did this to herself!" And then a little coda of a scene with a woman - the real estate agent played by Kathy Bates - blathering on and on while her husband turns down his hearing aid. That's how this movie ends - with a man completely tuning his wife out! What was the point of that?? There are some very good supporting players in this movie, and the costumes and art direction are great, but on the whole I didn't like it much & I think it's offensive to women.

The Reader

We stopped to watch these deer about a block from our house tonight on our way home from the movies.

We went to see "The Reader" and it was excellent. Definitely one of the best movies of the year. It's a fascinating, thought-provoking story, the acting is great, and it's thoroughly engrossing all the way through. I rank it much higher than either Slumdog Millionaire or Benjamin Button, both of which were good, but flawed.

My favorite movies of the current awards season (so far) are:
#1 The Reader
#2 Doubt
#3 Milk
#4 Rachel Getting Married
#5 Vicky Christina Barcelona

Gran Torino

Our snowy weekend turned out to be as snowy as predicted, but we only played one game of scrabble (which I won) because BB discovered, and quickly became obsessed with, an online Texas Hold'em game. It's played on Facebook and it's just for fun (no money) but once she started playing, she couldn't quit.

We didn't leave the house until late on Sunday afternoon when we went to a movie. We went to see "Gran Torino," which was TERRIBLE. We picked this movie because it was filmed in Detroit, and also because it's currently one of the most popular movies in the country (it made 29 million dollars in 3 days.)

We went because we were interested in seeing familiar Detroit settings on the big screen, and because we figured it had to be a fairly decent movie with so many people going to see it, but we were wrong.

Gran Torino is badly written, cliche', contrived and predictable. All the characters are one dimensional, with bad actors portraying them. Clint Eastwood does his Dirty Harry grimmace, and the rest of the actors are on par with what you'd see in a high-school play. There is also a lot of spitting.

It just kills me that droves of people are going to see this, and that it's making millions of dollars. How can this be???? Is the taste of the average American really THAT bad?!

Doubt

We went to the movies last night and saw Doubt, which was excellent. One the best movies I've seen in a while. Wonderful writing, incredible acting. I remember being in NYC when it was playing on Broadway. We were seeing some shows but I completly ignored Doubt in spite of the fact that it had won a Pulitzer Prize, because who'd want to sit through two hours of nuns, priests, and child abuse? Not me. I felt the same way about the movie at first too, but with Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and all the buzz, how could I miss it?

In addition to the great writing and acting, the details were amazing and really took me back. I went to grade school in a building exactly like the one in the movie. In that exact time period. And the film was much, much less of a downer than I thought it would be.

Other good movies I've seen lately include Milk and Rachel Getting Married. Movies that were also good, but slightly disappointing, are Slumdog Millionaire and Benjamin Button. I also enjoyed Bolt.