Is 3D Around To Stay This Time?

I went to my third 3D movie last night; well, I guess they call it RealD now. It is so much better than the old 3D with the red and blue cardboard glasses. Everything is in 3D all the time; it isn't just random objects coming at you. I wonder if it is around to stay this time. I know that they are even coming out with 3D TVs...although I don't really get that. So is 3D more than just a passing fad like it was back in the 80's? I'm giving it a 60% chance of sticking around.

My BFF and I watched Despicable Me in 3D. While the movie was really good, I was disappointed in the quality of the movie; it was really out of focus. I'm sure that the theater didn't have the projector in focus, and it was really distracting. I would have got up to complain, but I didn't want to miss anything, plus it wasn't the theater I'm used to. I might have said something at "my" theater; I know they wouldn't mind.

 

So tell me what you think about the whole 3D/RealD fad. Is it here to stay?

Eclipse...Better Than a Root Canal!

I finally went to see Eclipse with one of my besties, Jess, on Saturday night. We feel we have to go see the movies because we loved the books so much, but we spend a lot of time griping about the movies: bad acting, poor adaptation of the novels, Robert Pattinson...

I spent a whole post griping about how Robert Pattinson is NOT Edward Cullen (and all my other issues with the movies), but I really must say that bad acting aside, he is probably my main gripe about the movies.  His profile alone is enough to make me cringe. 


We love going and listening to the crowd during the movie. You can tell exactly who hasn't read the books by their reactions to the movie (a HUGE mistake IMHO).  Eclipse is the best of the three so far (although that's about like saying you'd rather go to the dentist than the proctologist...). The acting is getting better. Kristen Stewart doesn't seem to be using heaving breathing as a way of showing emotion as much as she used to, and the connection between Bella and Edward is a little more believable now.  Sheriff Swan lends some comic relief to the movie with some great one-liners. In the end, I was left looking forward to seeing the last of the four movies, Breaking Dawn.  


If you've seen any of the movies, let me know your thoughts.

My Review Rating System

I rate movies and books on a 5 star system.

1 star – I hated it! I wish it didn't exist.

2 stars – I did not like it.

3 stars – it was okay, I sorta liked it, but won’t watch/read it again.

4 stars – I really liked this movie/book, I will probably watch/read it again, but may not purchase it.

5 stars – I loved it! This will be something I watch/read over and over again and will probably purchase it.

An American Carol Review

From David Zucker, the director of Airplane! and Naked Gun, An American Carol is a comedy based off the classic, A Christmas Carol and stars Kevin Farley as Michael Malone. The character Michael Malone is a spoof on the documentary film maker, Michael Moore who is known for documentary films that reflect his ridiculous extreme liberal ideas.

When Michael Malone sets out to organize a Ban on the 4th of July, he is visited by four ghosts (including Kennedy, Patton, and Washington) that try to convince Malone that America is not the horrible place he makes it out to be, and that a ban on all war would create an America that no one would want. Patton introduces Malone to an America where Lincoln chose not to fight the Civil War and Malone is now the largest slave owner in the south. Many of his slaves are famous African Americans. It is through the travels he makes with the ghosts (especially General Patton) that Malone is convinced to make a change in his life and his opinions about America.

Another major premise of the movies revolves around Michael being hired by terrorists to film a movie that promotes jihad and terrorism. However, Michael does not believe in terrorism and is easily duped into allowing 3 terrorists access to Madison Square Garden, which they, of course, plan on blowing up.

As a person who loves America, I really enjoyed this film. It is not often that a film comes out that is pro-America. An American Carol is full of top notch actors (including Kelsie Grammer, Leslie Nielsen, James Woods and Dennis Hopper) and cameos of patriotic Americans (including one of my favorite people…Bill O’Reilly).

As a side note: I have seen Michael Moore in all of his glory, blaming K-Mart for the shootings at Columbine (because they sold the bullets) in his documentary Bowling for Columbine, and thus enjoyed him being knocked down a peg or two.

I give An American Carol 4 stars for being a great film and an additional ½ star for pure cheek!

4 ½ stars

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I don’t go to the theater very often and see new movies; I have Netflix and watch most movies for the first time when they go to DVD. However, I did go to the movies with a friend on New Year’s Eve to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I give it 4 and a half out of 5 stars.

Spoiler Alert! Be aware, there are movie spoilers if you read further.


Although the trailer for this movie really intrigued me, I was cautiously optimistic about the movie itself. So many times movies that have ‘Oscar Buzz’ are not all they are cracked up to be. Don’t get me started on how the Academy has changed about its idea of what it takes to make a good movie. I believe they focus more on new and controversial than what movies are actually good and would be enjoyed by the common person. I always try to Netflix Oscar winners and some nominees and I was really disappointed in several of last year’s including There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men (waste of time and a Netflix rental), so as I say…I was cautiously optimistic.

I really enjoyed this movie. It was beautifully filmed and edited. Both Pitt and Blanchett gave a great performance. They did a good job showing the chemistry between Benjamin and Daisy; it was something that the viewers could believe in. Blanchett’s performance as the old and dying Daisy, was truly remarkable and very realistic. I enjoyed the little added element of Hurricane Katrina coming on shore as Daisy’s life was coming to an end. It actually took me awhile to realize that the hurricane was actually supposed to be Katrina. I should have known, considering that the movie is set in New Orleans. I also enjoyed Julia Ormond’s performance as Daisy and Benjamin’s daughter Caroline, and the set up of the love story between Benjamin and Daisy through Benjamin’s journal that Daisy has Caroline read to her. Both women were learning about Benjamin’s journey through life through his own thoughts and experiences.

My one problem with the movie was the inevitable end to Benjamin’s life. I knew that he was going to continue to grow younger, but my problem was with exactly how this came about. They actually had him “grow” into a baby and then die. Now my friend couldn’t understand why this bothered me as we knew Benjamin was getting younger. My problem was with the fact that he was born as a baby (in size if not in age) and then grew in height while growing backward in age. I expected the same (well the reverse) at the end of his life… that he would have the stature of a man, but would grow into infancy in his mind, however, he began to shrink and take on the height of whatever age he was. This was the part that I could not believe, although I am sure it is not as disturbing to look at than something more like what I expected. It just did not help my ability to reach the state of “a willing suspension of disbelief”.

As a red-blooded women, I really enjoyed watching Brad Pitt getting younger and younger. As he got younger, he got hotter. By the end of Pitt's role as Benjamin, he was looking much like he did during Thelma and Louise.

All in all, it was a great movie and I would recommend you go see it if you at all like love stories or movies with a more ‘independent movie’ feel to them. If all you care about is action flicks…then this is not the movie for you.

As a side note… I have never watched a movie before with so many old people in the theater. It was kind of funny; almost like watching a movie with my dad or grandparents. I heard one guy snore. The lady in front of me took out her husband sometime during the middle of the movie and he never came back, but I saw him in the car when they were leaving. He had probably slept out in the car for the rest of the movie. Then the couple behind us kept discussing the plot as if they couldn’t quite keep up. The two old ladies in front of us didn’t figure out that Mr. Button was Benjamin’s father until he said so in the movie. It was that sort of stuff all the way through the movie.