Thursday, December 27, 2007

No Country for Old Men

IMDB: No Country for Old Men
Source: Cinema
Date viewed: December 26, 2007

Without having read the book or heard much of anything about the movie, this was just about how I expected it would be. That's not to say that it was predictable or boring. It was riveting and beautiful. - T

Quite the movie. It is very well executed, if you'll pardon my choice of words, and also very disturbing. It's not the most violent movie, and it's not the scariest movie - in the usual sense. What makes it so disturbing? “It’s the tide. It’s the dismal tide. It’s not the one thing.” - A

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Immortal Beloved

IMDB: Immortal Beloved
Source: Netflix
Date viewed: December 25, 2007

Beethoven was a genius beyond compare. The details of his life are unimportant and irrelevant compared to the contribution he made to the output of human beings on this planet. Still, it is somewhat interesting to see what one person thinks his life might have been like. I enjoyed the movie. The soundtrack was good, too. - T

The movie, which presents Beethoven as a difficult character, begs an interesting question: how much wackiness and temper is necessary to, or forgivable in a genius? The movie doesn't really tackle the question, but the soundtrack may answer it. - A

The Golden Compass

IMDB: The Golden Compass
Source: Cinema
Date viewed: December 11, 2007

Except for the beautiful Dakota Blue Richards, this movie was unpleasant. Nicole Kidman is awful, the story is flawed, and the movie lacks an ending. - T

Somewhat entertaining. People I know are strong proponents of the book the movie is based on, so I am now reading it. So far, an accumulation of small errors and inconsistencies is annoying me, but the big picture is somewhat interesting. I hope the sequels will include more screen time for Daniel Craig. - A

Monday, December 10, 2007

Enchanted

IMDB: Enchanted
Source: Cinema
Date viewed: December 9, 2007

Maybe *this* is the feel-good movie of the year. :) "Enchanted" does for fairy tales what Galaxy Quest did for science fiction, but it's not quite as good. The first half of the movie is perfect, especially the apartment clean up and the scene in Central Park, but the end gets a little out of control. It's not grim, but it's not snow white, either. - A

I went into this with very low expectations and I was very, very surprised. The first half of this was just about perfect! Hilarious and clever. It lost its way in the end, but I can still recommend it. Lots of nice references to old Disney movies. The leads were all quite good. - T

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

A Shot in the Dark

IMDB: A Shot in the Dark
Source: Netflix
Date viewed: November 30, 2007

Sellers is hilarious, but the movie falls flat a little bit at the end. Not the best Pink Panther movie, but not bad. - T

Sellers makes a poor movie worth watching. - A

Into the Wild

IMDB: Into the Wild
Source: Cinema
Date viewed: November 26, 2007

Christopher McCandless lived the American Dream, as far as I'm concerned. To take off, unfettered... to live day to day... it's a shame things went wrong in the end, but I believe him when he says he was happy. - T

Pretty faithful to the book, with maybe a little editorializing by director, Sean Penn, but I suppose that's his prerogative. The movie grew on me as it went on, but I didn't love it, or Christopher. I don't think I'm cut out to get into the wild. I'm a social creature. And living without running water is not my bag, baby. - A