Ebjournal Revisited.

Monsieur’s Madcap Movie Madness Montage…

So it’s break, and being a self-respecting teacher, I took this time to catch up on movies I hadn’t had a chance to see. Here is my quick, (ha!), shortwinded (HA!), and funny (HA! HA!) movie review:

Movies I Saw During Winter Break 2005 (currently in progress)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

True, I saw this movie before break came, but what you may NOT know, gentle readers, is that I went and saw it again, with my sibs, whilst my mom was off cavorting ( cavort, cavort! Anyone?) in Africa. It was still good. You can read more about it here.
Grade: A- because it’s geared more for kids, and I’d seen it once. But dang if Lucy Pevensie ain’t the cutest thing I done ever seen.

The Family Stone:
Okay, this movie is not what the commercials advertise. You’re supposed to believe that it’s a light-hearted romantic comedy about meeting the family at Christmas time. Guess what? It’s not. It certainly has its light moments, but it’s a lot more of a drama about a family and sounding crazy cliche-like, finding yourself. It was good, especially the performances by Diane Keaton, whichever Wilson brother was in there, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Rachel McAdams, (just for being hot). I recommend you rent it.

Grade: B+ for false adverstising, but saving itself by being good. (And Rachel McAdams)

Serenity: If you’re familiar with the Joss Whedon/Buffyverse, you’ll know that this movie would be witty, fast-paced, and skip and blend genres like nobody’s business. Having never seen Firefly, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to follow the plot or be as invested as those who are die-hard Whedonites.
Friends, this was an entertaining space western. Good points for sci-fi/western blend, using good and evil forces, and leaving it wide open for a sequel. It’s rapidly becoming a cult-classic for those who follow Whedon’s work, but it was really pretty good for all. Even the Zigzag’s enjoyed it.

Grade: B+ (It would be better, I think, if I had watched the show. Kind of like the Harry Potter books, or the Star Trek movies… much better if you are vested in the characters.

Murderball:
Oooh! A documentary! And it won the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival! It must be good. And it was.
Good. But only that. It was produced by MTV, who, though the brought us Napoleon Dynamite, and the MOJO! of Friday Night Lights, they tried a little too hard to be edgy. Murderball follows the story of the US Paralympic Rugby team, all wheelchair parapalegics of various degrees. It was a terrific story that gave great backgrounds of the athletes, and the scenes with one of the athletes talking with kids on what it is like to be paralyzed, and the ending montage were terrific. People rave about this movie, and it was very good. My opinion: I think it would have been better if they didn’t do so much with rock song transitions, and kept the focus on the players involved.

Grade: B+ for being a good documentary that tried a little too hard to be MTV.

And finally (for now…)

The Producers:
The Mel Brooks Musical comes to life! (or fades to screen?) starring the Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. It was a little surreal to watch this movie, because you have to go into it thinking it’s a musical, and enjoy it as a musical, but remember not to clap at the end of every number. Very tricksy, watching the musical in the theater. Though the theater wasn’t crowded, people laughed pretty much throughout the entire thing, myself and TLEMK included. It was funny, and you really had to pay attention to make sure you didn’t miss anything. Let me try this again. It was funny because it was a musical where you could actually see the attention paid to detail, instead of my usual musical seats, 2nd balconey, stage right. Just go see it. Will Ferrell, funny. Lane and Broderick, funny. Cameos, funny. Here is my only spoiler: if you don’t stay ALL THE WAY to the very, very, VERY end (after the credits) you will miss more funny stuff. And you know you hate missing stuff. I’m back to giggling about Will Ferrell. (at Borders! and Barnes and Noble!, and Amazon.com!)

Grade: A. It would get an A+, but you might think me stranger than usual, unless of course, you’ve seen it, and then you would completely understand. Oh, and Uma/Oola! She did a great job too— it’s hard to sing while using a fake Svedish accent.

You’d think I’d be done, and I am. (FOR NOW!!! HAHAHAHA!!!)
But I’ll have more before break is over.

Now, if I could only get SOMEone to go watch King Kong with me. Any takers?

RSS Trackback URL 29. December 2005 (22:45)
Filed under: General, Music and Movies