Flickr doesn't seem to be working on my phone, so am at a loss at the moment for uploading photos, but am working on an alternate way to get photos on-line. My next entry will be about knitting -- I promise -- I've been doing a ton of that lately and have several completed projects. It's been a very long time since I've done an update on movies, so here's what I've watch lately and what I thought (sorry if the theater update is a little out of date):
In theaters:
Inglorious Basterds: I love Quentin Tarantino films and enjoyed this one enough to see it in the theater twice. Christoph Waltz plays a German "Jew hunter" and totally steals this film. Don't get me wrong, it was Brad Pitt that got me into the theater, but do not be surprised if you hear more about Waltz, especially since he's starring as the villain in the Green Hornet movie. Also, was it me? Or did the actress who played the female hero (French actress Melanie Laurent) remind anyone else of Uma Thurman?
Zombieland: This was a fun, fantastic zombie movie that kept me laughing and had one great surprise in it. Sylvain enjoyed this movie so much that every time we talk about going to the movies, his vote goes towards seeing this one again. I haven't taken him though because there are other films I'd like to see and I've been on the road a lot. This movie renewed my appreciation for Woody Harrelson; it also starred Jesse Eisenberg, who was in another movie I recently watched on DVD called Adventureland (this was a so-so coming of age film that also starred Kristen Stewart).
In case you haven't already, I'd definitely recommend seeing the above two films, either in the theater or put them in your movie queue. One film that I cannot recommend at all is The Fourth Kind. Let me say up-front, that I am a firm believer in alien abduction theory and that there is no way that we're alone here in the universe (and that we're the most intelligent beings here, for that matter, so of course any aliens visiting us would have far superior technology). This movie claimed to mix "real footage" with re-enactments based on notes of an Alaskan psychologist who uncovered nightly alien experimentation experienced by her patients while placing them under hypnosis therapy while trying to treat them for sleeping disorders. I'm sorry, and maybe I don't know a whole lot about psychiatry, but this woman (played by Milla Jovovich, whose English has come a very long way since her Fifth Element days) did not seem to be a competent therapist. Maybe those are few and far between in Nome. I also did not find the "real footage" that believable.
On DVD:
I already mentioned Adventureland and can only recommend it if you are on a Kristen Stewart kick. During my train trip to Denver last month, I had an Angelina Jolie movie mini-marathon and watched Playing by Heart and Girl, Interrupted. I like her and would recommend both movies, if you haven't seen either already since they've both been out for quite a while. "Heart" had a lot of other fabulous actors (like Sean Connery, Gillian Anderson, Jon Stewart) that I didn't realize at the time I put the movie in my queue, so was very pleasantly surprised. It was an entertaining ensemble movie where everyone's different plot lines come together at the end. I've seen parts of "Interrupted" here and there on TV, but never watched it start to finish and thought that no one plays a mental patient quite as convincing as Angelina (giving her a well-deserved Oscar). This movie was based on an autobiography about a fellow patient's brief stay in an institution in the mid-1960s and also starred Whoppi Goldberg and an almost-unrecognizable Brittany Murphy (or maybe I've gotten used to her as a little waif).
On that same train trip, I also watched Away we go with John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph as an expectant couple in their early-30s who go on a road trip in search of a good place to dig in roots and raise their new baby. I thought this was an adorable little film and made Chuck watch it again with me when I returned home. He protested because he doesn't particularly care for Maya, and fell asleep about half-way through the movie, but that's his loss. I also loved the soundtrack enough to download a few songs from ITunes; one of which was the Velvet Underground's "Oh, Sweet Nuthin'", which Melanie Lynskey's character (aka Rose from CBS' Two and a Half Men) dances to during a touching scene. I also enjoyed the original songs by Alexi Murdoch and hope to hear more from this singer/song-writer in the future. Other actors making brief appearances in this film include Jeff Daniels, Jim Gaffigan, and Maggie Gyllenhall (who was wonderful as a very liberal-minded college professor).
Sylvain picked up Observe and Report, which I didn't watch, though based on the full-frontal mall-flasher scene I walked in on, I can tell you this movie wouldn't be for me, so I can't give it a good review even if I were to sit through the whole thing.
On the train ride out, I watched The Brothers Bloom and A Scanner Darkly. I tend to like Rachel Weisz, Adrian Brody, and Mark Ruffalo, but this movie left me feeling "ehhh." It was entertaining to watch during the train ride, but I was left wondering if I would have finished watching it had I been at home with other things to do. This movie was about two con-artist brothers who are out to play their last swindle on an air-headed heiress played by Weisz. Robbie Coltrane was also in it as another bit-player in the Brother's cons and it was good to see him in a part where he can play is true size, rather than as a character that is computer enhanced to be overly huge -- his role as Hagrid in the Harry Potter films.
I may have already posted about Darkly before, so I apologize if I'm repeating myself, but I loved this movie the first time around and rented it again to enjoy it during the long, boring ride. This movie is shot in an animation style that isn't for everyone; and I highly recommend reading the book by Philip K. Dick before watching; you'll appreciate the movie that much more. This is a near-future sci-fi story about a deep-undercover cop trying to track back through a local supply chain for a highly-addictive drug called "Substance D". While reading the book and watching the movie, I couldn't help but think about how this closely parallels meth and have lingering questions about whether Donna (played by Winona Ryder) was also an agent or just an informant and whether the "New Path" treatment and recovery centers are also the drug suppliers. This movie stars Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, and Rory Cochrane, and all do an excellent job in their parts.
For the train ride home, I have The Life Before Her Eyes, a thriller with Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood that I haven't seen before. And, if that doesn't fulfill my movie needs, I'll probably watch Darkly again. Oh, and in case you're a Facebook friend or have been following my tweets -- I'm planning on seeing New Moon this weekend and (hopefully) forgo large crowds.
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