“127 Hours”

I saw an ad for this movie today — and I want to see it.  It’s about the guy —Aron Ralston — who had to cut part of his own arm off to survive.  Here’s a link to the trailer.  It’s directed by Danny Boyle, the same guy who did Shallow Grave and Trainspotting.

It will be in Houston on November 19th.

 

Advertisement

Sorry Denzel, Gary

but I just can’t buy the premise.

I was listening to some Janet person on the radio just before going to sleep and remembered a review I read of the movie, “The Book of Eli.”  The whole idea is that there is just one Bible left in this post apocalyptic story.

Janet the radio host was talking to someone who is working on translating the Bible into 1900 languages.  The Book has been published and translated and left in hotel and motel rooms for so long now that it is a bit of a stretch to think that all but one of them could have been destroyed.

Suspension of disbelief is one thing — delusion is quite another.  This movie was heavily advertised on the wingnut station I listen to.  I guess that makes sense in some way.

I love Denzel as an actor.  I don’t care about his personal life.  This is one of his movies I will skip.  Same goes for Gary.  Perhaps because I am in the middle of teaching “I Am Legend” and have recently seen “The Road,”  this little film strikes me as just that . . . little.

Hope you guys made some money for your effort.

Mysteries Solved

wrt The Lovely Bones.  The song I heard that I couldn’t place was by Tim Buckley — Song to the Siren.  It is a perfect match.

The main actress is not related to the actor that played Faramis in Lord of the Rings.]

So I was off-based in both of my guesses.  I’d still like to see the film again.  It is beautiful.

The Lovely Bones

I met up with an old friend today.  We had brunch at a French place in the Village — authentic French Onion Soup (delicious) and a sandwich on a baguette — and then saw The Lovely Bones.  I read the book not long after it came out.  I need to read the book again and see the film again.

At one point I was certain that Saoirse Ronan was someone who she turns out not to be and I can’t seem to find if one particular song is what I think it is.

I like the film.  I want to see it again.  The part about Lidnsey was better than I expected.  The visuals were beautiful.  I particularly liked the smashed bottles on the beach.

The First Day of the New Year

It was pretty awesome.  First though, while there were and still are a few idiots setting off fireworks, none were close to the house as in years past, and the pups didn’t get especially exercised about the ones that were set off nearby.  I even took Murphy and Tammy out front during the heaviest part of it, and they were more excited about all the new yard surface I had created earlier in the afternoon by spreading the wood chips from the cut-down crepes.  It was the best New Year’s here yet.

I woke up late this morning, knowing that I had plenty of time to meet up at 1:00 for the movie.  My mom, via her demand of my nieces, insisted that I eat at least ten black eyed peas today.  To pull this all together, I went to a movie today with friends and one of them kindly made sure that I had my black eyed peas — they were delicious (!) and I ate more than I was promised to — this will hopefully lead to good luck for my mom.

With that out of the way — the movie: Sherlock Holmes!

It was everything I had hoped and more.  I’ve long been a fan of Robert Downey, Jr. (though I skipped Iron Man — it’s going on my Netflix list and moved to the top).

The movie worked for me because of two things — the humor in it and the physicality of Downey — which I have admired since Chaplin.  I knew after the first few minutes that it was a movie I will buy when it comes out on DVD.  Jude Law made a great Watson.  In other words, this combination — Downey and Law, adds to the long list of actors that I have loved in these roles.  And there were several nice touches in both the dialog and scenery that I loved.

After the movie and circling around the parking garage for a while, we went to a place called Autie Pasto’s on Bellaire — it was perfect.  I had a fettuccine dish with shrimp.  I brought some home for lunch tomorrow.

It was a great start to the New Year.  Tomorrow is work in the yard and Sunday is helping mom with her drapes and setting up the desktop I gave my sister.

The future is bright!

Movies

I will probably watch Avatar through Netflixs at some point.  Two movies that I want to see are The Road and The Lovely Bones.

The Road is a very personal experience.  I know Roberto wants to see it — in a way.  And one of our friends has mixed feelings about it, too.  For both books, I remember reading them through in a day.  Both were — let’s just say — life changing.

I suggested that the three of us see The Road together and not ask if we separate during the film and sit in different areas of the theater.

I haven’t asked Roberto about The Lovely Bones, but I think he would be game.  It’s got my favorite in it:  Mark Wahlberg.

Add onto that, Sherlock Holmes, with another of my favs, Robert Downey, Jr. and it looks like I will spend a bit of time at the movies this holiday.

I went to a movie this weekend

I saw a man take three little girls into the men’s restroom.  He did it twice.  There are urinals in there.  I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Michael Berry, but I could be wrong.

Michael Berry went to the movies with two of his nieces.  He noticed that mostly non-white teenagers were there and that most of them dropped f-bombs around him.  What he doesn’t know is that all of those teenagers did that on purpose, just to make him look silly.

That is just about as credible as Berry’s supposed story that led him to spread rumors about a certain person who happens to be famous.  Berry cannot put down the celebrity pipe.  He wants to be one so badly it hurts.  He thought he might have reached it when he “lost” his SUV, but that didn’t stick.  (I thought it was a good story.)

So it’s the same old story.  Blackity black black black with a good dollup of whiney white man mixed in.  It’s probably why he didn’t yap about the party crashers.

Valkyrie was better than I expected

While other movies were on my list to see (I usually don’t get around to doing so though), Valkyrie wasn’t, but I was persuaded.  I don’t care for tom Cruise as an actor — I don’t even get into the other nonsense.

First off, it was a beautifully shot movie with lots of nice touches — though some of the tricks were overdone (I’m thinking the close shots of Cruise’s lack of fingers).  And yet the point when Cruise’s character uses his right arm to salute was powerful.

Second, even though it is another of those films that you know how it ends, the suspense was built very well.  I jumped when the bomb went off, knowing that it would and agonized over the decisions made afterward.

Third, I appreciated how the SS and the Nazi Party were refered to as seperate from the general population.  Just like in the former Soviet Union, not everyone was a member of the Communist party.  It’s a point that is lost on most Americans on both sides of the aisle.

Lastly, it was good to see Terance Stamp and Kenneth Branagh again and to see new and interesting British actors to follow.  Jamie Parker  is one I will follow, along with Thomas Kretschmann.

The Road

I had hoped there wouldn’t be a movie of this, but with the success of “No Country for Old Men” I half expected it.

Anyone who has read all of Cormac McCarthy must feel the same way.  “The Road” is brutal.  It takes the reality of “Blood Meridian” and applies it to our current situation.

Yes, I’ll go see it.  Viggo’s face on the paperback in the supermarket today sold me.

WALL-E!

I went with friends to see WALL-E yesterday afternoon, and I really enjoyed it.  Technologically and artistically, it is a beautifully film.  I’ve read some blogs that complain about bits of it not adhering to the law of physics, but who cares!  I don’t want to be a spoiler, so I’ll stick to general impressions.

First, it was chock-full of nice little touches — I’m afraid there were so many I may have missed some.   Unlike I normally do, I didn’t stay until the very end of the credits. I now know that there was something special there that I definitely missed.  I’ll take care of both when I buy the DVD.  This is one of those films that needs a few viewings to find all of the neat ‘easter eggs’ in it.   It’s also sure to be packed with extra features, of which I became a real fan when I got the boxed sets of LOTR.

One thing noticeably absent yesterday was bratty kids or obnoxious parents.  Up until yesterday, I had always had the bad luck of either going to a movie and having kids kick the back of my seat, their parents repeatedly stand up in front of me and deal with food issues, or — the really inconsiderate one — have a parent sneak a very young kid into an adult only viewing of an R rated film (that being Frida and the mother telling her son ‘don’t look’ during the sex scenes).  For whatever reason, it just didn’t happen yesterday.

I have a few thoughts about the ending — it made me think about movies that have different endings based on audience sampling — notably Brazil — one of my all time favorites.  I think that’s perhaps obscure enough not to be a spoiler — I hope.