Movie Night

I have actually gone out to the theatre and seen a couple of movies lately as well as renting a bunch while in Turner Valley (TV with no tv) and I thought I would pass along my thoughts on them.

Alexander - quite possibly one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Oliver Stone has been all over the press lately talking about how gay people say his movie is not gay enough, and straight people say it is too gay. Well, I am saying, gay or not, that is not the reason thIS movie SUCKED. I was really excited to see it because I am a history freak and love the story of Alexander the Great. Not to mention the fact that there is all that gorgeousness - Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Jared Leto, Val Kilmer to add a little wierdness, so I was totally prepared to love this move. Holy crap, what a 3 hour pile of shit. Overlooking the fact that a whole bunch of his Greek/Macedonian troop has scottish/irish/english accents, the out of focus camera work, the war scenes that only showed swirling dust, the whole half-hour long bit where everything was pink, the dialogue was stupid, Rosario Dawson cannot do an accent to save her life, although her grunting was okay, the storyline was confusing with unnecessary flashbacks and a whole mother/son strange vibe that didn't really do anything, just one long, bad, waste of time.

The Aviator - really, really good movie. I loved it, although some of Howard Hughes OCD moments hit a little too close to home. I think Leonardo di Caprio deserves to be nominated for an oscar for this one. I loved Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn, which surprised me since I was prepared to hate her. At first she seems a little over the top, but she does a great job. Kate Beckinsale didn't suck either, which is always a surprise to me, since she is not one of my favorites. Alex Baldwin is very good, and John C Reilly is always terrific in his roles. I really enjoyed this movie.

Spanglish - another very good movie. I am not usually an Adam Sandler fan (unlike my sister) but he does a really good job in this movie. He has a couple of screamy moments that I thought he could have toned down, but he is still excellent. Tea Leoni is always good and funny - she does such a great job of playing a high-strung neurotic, and that woman is in some shape. It almost made me want to excerise more. But then I ate more popcorn. Paz Vega (I think that is her name) is excellent as well and very beautiful. Kind of like Penelope Cruz, but better. Cloris Leachman is very funny and the two girls who play the daughters are excellent. I would be an Adam Sandler fan if he made more movies like this.

The Terminal - a pretty good film. I was fully prepared to hate this movie and be bored, but it is surprisingly catchy. I don't like Catherine Zeta Jones, but she is pretty lowkey and good. I do like Tom Hanks, but hate actors doing accents, but he is always convincing. A fairly contrived story, but sucks you in a little bit.

Collateral - another movie that I liked a lot. I love Tom Cruise and I really like when he is being a little dark and not all SuperTom Cruise the movie star. Jamie Foxx is really good as well. I didn't really know this actor from any of his movies, but after hearing all his buzz for Ray, thought he must be pretty good. Jada Pinkett Smith was ggod as well in a small role that could have been played well by almost anyone.

Van Helsing - horrible, horrible. Don't waste your time. Kate Beckinsale doing some kind of stupid accent, in a leather outfit, and Hugh Jackman being all quippy and heroic. Dumb and boring.

king Arthur - pretty good, considering. Clive Owen is hot. Kiera Knightly is fairly inoffensive. Lots of fighting and arrow shooting. Worth renting, I think, although I am a sucker for historical movies.

Wimbledon - not great but not too horrible. I watched this on the plane because I finished my book. I like that they showed a lot of tennis. I like that they made Kirsten Dunst kind of skanky. It could have ended about a half hour before it did, and the plot held no surprises, and I don't really find Paul Bettany very attractive.

Those are my thoughts.