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Irrelevant note: My latest intensifier-of-the-moment is "super." Things that I used to say were "way lame" or "way exciting" are now "super-lame" and "super-exciting." Not to worry, though; "way" still has a special place in my lexicon.
Anyway, in lieu of the epic War and Peace-length essay on "Why I Don't Enjoy Writing Any More" that I've been composing for about three days now, here are quick capsule reviews of the movies I watched with my mom over New Year's.
Men In Black II -- cute, but not as good the second time around. The funny bits are still funny, but the lame bits are lamer. Super-lame, you might say. ;) My mom, who hadn't seen it before, thought it was better than the first one. I say she's on crack.
XXX -- almost as much fun the second time around. The plot, such as it is, seems to move faster once you know what's going to happen, and the cool stuff is still super-cool. I still can't get over how hot Vin Diesel is. And I still can't get over how much I hate Marton Csokas. I thought I hated him way back when he was Borias on "Xena," but man, I hate him way more now! I know I'm supposed to hate him, since he always plays baddies, but some baddies you enjoy hating, and him I just hate hating. You know? Blech.
Insomnia -- Hey, that Hilary Swank chick can act. Al Pacino too, but that's not a surprise. ;) This movie had one plot twist fairly near the beginning that surprised me quite a bit. As a "figure out who committed the crime" movie, which is what I expected, it disappoints; but that's because that's really not the movie it is. It's more of a "watch a decent guy try to get out of a bad situation" movie. I was pretty tense throughout pretty much the entire second half, and the ending kind of freaked me out. I'd recommend it, but only if you enjoy being depressed and like movies that don't take a clear stance either way on the issues they raise.
Gosford Park -- A somewhat bewildering ensemble piece with some of the best British actors, plus Ryan Philippe. ;) It took us a considerable fraction of the movie just to get all the characters straight and remember who was whom, but once we did, it moved along pretty well. I figured out the Ryan Philippe character's secret pretty early on. None of the other plot twists were particularly shocking either, but the movie wasn't trying to shock you with surprise twists, it was just trying to tell you a story. The resolution, such as it was, really reminded me of The House of Mirth, only without all the Gillian Anderson goodness. ;) The message in both cases is, "women in the 1920s/30s got screwed over by society's expectations of them." The DVD had a lot of deleted scenes, all of which were interesting but we agreed that we could see why they got cut. I'd recommend the movie if you're into that style of "watch a bunch of rich people in period dress run around having little melodramas" movie, and if you like the social-commentary aspect too (since it also shows the servants' melodramas and the below-stairs perspective on things). But if you like a movie where the plot moves along quickly and comprehensibly, pick something else. ;)
Anyway, in lieu of the epic War and Peace-length essay on "Why I Don't Enjoy Writing Any More" that I've been composing for about three days now, here are quick capsule reviews of the movies I watched with my mom over New Year's.
Men In Black II -- cute, but not as good the second time around. The funny bits are still funny, but the lame bits are lamer. Super-lame, you might say. ;) My mom, who hadn't seen it before, thought it was better than the first one. I say she's on crack.
XXX -- almost as much fun the second time around. The plot, such as it is, seems to move faster once you know what's going to happen, and the cool stuff is still super-cool. I still can't get over how hot Vin Diesel is. And I still can't get over how much I hate Marton Csokas. I thought I hated him way back when he was Borias on "Xena," but man, I hate him way more now! I know I'm supposed to hate him, since he always plays baddies, but some baddies you enjoy hating, and him I just hate hating. You know? Blech.
Insomnia -- Hey, that Hilary Swank chick can act. Al Pacino too, but that's not a surprise. ;) This movie had one plot twist fairly near the beginning that surprised me quite a bit. As a "figure out who committed the crime" movie, which is what I expected, it disappoints; but that's because that's really not the movie it is. It's more of a "watch a decent guy try to get out of a bad situation" movie. I was pretty tense throughout pretty much the entire second half, and the ending kind of freaked me out. I'd recommend it, but only if you enjoy being depressed and like movies that don't take a clear stance either way on the issues they raise.
Gosford Park -- A somewhat bewildering ensemble piece with some of the best British actors, plus Ryan Philippe. ;) It took us a considerable fraction of the movie just to get all the characters straight and remember who was whom, but once we did, it moved along pretty well. I figured out the Ryan Philippe character's secret pretty early on. None of the other plot twists were particularly shocking either, but the movie wasn't trying to shock you with surprise twists, it was just trying to tell you a story. The resolution, such as it was, really reminded me of The House of Mirth, only without all the Gillian Anderson goodness. ;) The message in both cases is, "women in the 1920s/30s got screwed over by society's expectations of them." The DVD had a lot of deleted scenes, all of which were interesting but we agreed that we could see why they got cut. I'd recommend the movie if you're into that style of "watch a bunch of rich people in period dress run around having little melodramas" movie, and if you like the social-commentary aspect too (since it also shows the servants' melodramas and the below-stairs perspective on things). But if you like a movie where the plot moves along quickly and comprehensibly, pick something else. ;)
