Saturday Night Fever

IMDB: Saturday Night Fever
Source: Netflix
Date viewed: August 28, 2007

Wow. This was much darker than I imagined it would be. Was life really like that in the '70s? If so, my teenage years in the early eighties seem awfully tame. Travolta definitely deserved the "Best Actor" nomination. (I have not yet seen "Goodbye Girl," but Dreyfuss better have given one hell of a performance.) Except for the scenes on the bridge, which I didn't particularly care for, and which seemed a little obvious/forced, I really loved the whole thing. It explains so much. One small thing that I got out of it was this - in an episode of "The Simpsons," Mel Gibson has John Travolta fly him somewhere in Travolta's personal plane (a somewhat recent thing for J.T.), but when they have Travolta speak, the accent is directly from this movie, not anything subsequent, like Pulp Fiction. OK, it's a small thing, but it straightened that out for me. To sum up - good movie. - T

Flashing lights, tight pink polyester pants, defrocked priests, bridges looming in the night, people spinning and twirling, an insistent, pulsing beat - what's going on? I think it might be a Saturday night fever. - A

La Doublure (The Valet)

IMDB: La Doublure (The Valet)
Source: cinema
Date viewed: August 27, 2007

From the director of The Closet, another funny movie. The basis for the plot was a little crazy, but it was well handled. A sub-plot with a doctor, played to perfection by Michel Aumont, was worth seeing all on its own. - A

I expected it to be humorous when I heard it starred Daniel Auteuil, but his role wasn't really all that funny. Still, it was hilarious. I loved Alice Taglioni (which wasn't all that hard to do, really), and, as Amy said, Michel Aumont. - T

The Bourne Ultimatum

IMDB: The Bourne Ultimatum
Source: cinema
Date viewed: August 25, 2007

A very enjoyable thriller. Julia Stiles is looking good. And so, more age appropriately, perhaps, is Joan Allen. - T

WARNING: SPOILER
Mis-titled (or so it seems based on the ending), but pretty good in its way. Some clever twists and some over-the-top car chases. A little melodramatic as concerns Bourne's origins, but nothing that couldn't be borne. - A

Touching the Void

IMDB: Touching the Void
Source: Netflix
Date viewed: August 24, 2007

Oh. My. God. - T

Excruciating. - A

Becoming Jane

IMDB: Becoming Jane
Source: Cinema
Date viewed: August 21, 2007

I hated this movie from the very beginning, right up until the point we walked out, about 35 minutes later. - T

Based on what I had heard about this movie in advance, there was little chance I would like it. After the first 5 minutes, little turned to none. This movie's portrayal of Jane Austen is wrong, and worse yet, sickening. To be fair, I must confess that I didn't watch the entire movie. We left after 40 minutes. I tried, I really did, but I didn't want that movie in my head. - A

The Good German

IMDB: The Good German
Source: Netflix
Date viewed: August 17, 2007

Some might argue that good and bad are relative terms. I might argue that this is a relatively bad movie. Any arguments? - A

Yeah, this was poor. Really very little payoff for a long, boring movie. Wait, wait, you tell me there's a moral? That some German civilians were actually complicit in the Nazi war crimes?!?! Wow. I think I hear Mr. Pulitzer knocking... - T

The Ten

IMDB: The Ten
Source: Cinema
Date viewed: August 14, 2007

It would be a sin for me to recommend this movie. There were a few things that made me laugh out loud (just like in the real Ten Commandments), but overall, it did not conform to my "good movie" imperatives. - T

Marie Antoinette

IMDB: Marie Antoinette
Source: Netflix
Date viewed: August 5, 2007

I didn't like this film. - T

I thought I should see this movie because I have a thing for the French royal family, so I did. I found it visually appealing, but in all other respects, unappealing. Kirsten Dunst looked good in the many costumes the film called for, but neither her voice nor manner seemed to fit the role. Jason Schwartzman conveyed the awkwardness of Louis XVI pretty well, but that didn't make for entertaining viewing. As far as I was concerned, the French peasants couldn't storm the Bastille soon enough. - A

The Simpsons Movie

IMDB: The Simpsons Movie
Source: Cinema
Date viewed: July 30, 2007

Well, what can I say... it was good. It was like a good new episode. They did well to work in a character for Albert Brooks, who is in many of my favorite episodes, and I will laugh out loud every time I see, or think about, Ralph yelling in the beginning. Somehow, though, I came away feeling a little bit let down. Not that it wasn't good, but I guess I expected everything, and only got something... but how can you possibly fit all that the Simpsons is into one little movie. It's impossible. - T

I liked it, but I have to agree with my colleague across the aisle, it wasn't fabulous. They did squeeze in bits featuring some of my favorite characters, including a nice Bumble Bee Man moment, and Maggie has a great part, but I guess I expected it to be as good as the best episodes, only longer, but that may be unpossible. - A