I usually do my best to review a movie, give my opinions and still keep the important surprises for you to discover on your own should you decide to see the movie.

I started a blog for Gone Baby Gone a few weeks ago but stopped because I realized that I didn’t really want to do a review about it.  I didn’t want to tell you bits and pieces to intrigue you to see it.  I wanted to have a commentary on it, and when I read this article today about a severely neglected and abused child, I knew that was what I had to do.  The article may be long, but I IMPLORE you to read it.

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Popularity: 2% [?]

Here it is, people.  The one for which you’ve all been waiting. Quite honestly, I was at a loss for how to start this one.  I loved the movie.  It was fabulous.  I can’t wait to see the next installment, but even I’m getting tired of hearing myself sing the praises of practically every movie I review.  I feel like I purposely need to start watching movies that I hate so that I can build some credibility, you know?  Or at least to stop exhausting my thesaurus in search for new synonyms for words like spectacular and tremendous and mesmerizing and enchanting, etc.

I’d like to say that The Dark Knight picks up where Batman Begins left off, mainly because it just sounds cool, but I don’t really remember a lot of Batman Begins.  I enjoyed it, but I only saw it once, and it wasn’t one that I felt like I needed to add to my collection.  So for artistic sake, we’ll just say that it picks up where it left off, k? K.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

I had originally planned to spend my Wednesday evening at a screening of Death Race at Northpark. I knew it wasn’t going to be a movie that I would rave about later to friends, but it was free, and I figured it would diversify my blogging.

Then I got an invite to a free screening of Brideshead Revisited at the Magnolia. Much more my style AND the email boasted a brief Q&A afterward with the film’s star, Matthew Goode. People, the universe has granted me an early birthday present. It’s no secret that I have quite a few celebrity crushes, and he’s been one since I saw Chasing Liberty in 2004. My inner twelve year old was screaming with glee. I was going to be sharing the same air space with a very cute, very British, very tall boy.

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Popularity: 11% [?]

Friday night. Just finished watching The Bucket List. I was expecting this to be one of those films that gets my wheels spinning. You know the kind. The ones that make you want to reevaluate your life and find more meaning in every waking moment and makes you kiss the bathroom floor out of gratefulness for the new day. That kind of stuff.

I give it a C. Yes, I had the self-evaluating thoughts. Yes, I’m sitting here writing about it now. But no, I was not moved to tears. And I was NOT challenged to live a more meaningful life. I love the actors. Maybe it was the execution. I’m not a director, so I don’t know what punch it lacked.

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Popularity: 11% [?]

When I went to see The Counterfeiters at Magnolia a few months ago, I saw the poster for The Fall.  It caught my eye as I was headed to the ladies room before the movie started.  I stood transfixed by the poster.  I’m not really sure why; I just stared at it a few moments, and then I saw the starring line, and great googly moogly, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Lee Pace was the star?!  Then I got to see a trailer for it before The Counterfeiters, and I was speechless.  I HAD to see this movie!

Ok, so at this point, you’re probably thinking, “Who the heck is Lee Pace?”  Well, he’s only the cutest thing to ever hit the silver screen.  If it’s possible, I’m more enamored with him than Daniel Day Lewis and Hugh Jackman put together.  Yeah, I know; it’s probably hard to believe, but I think it’s got a lot to do with the character he was playing the first time I ever saw him: Ned, the Piemaker, from Pushing Daisies.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

So this blog was supposed to be about Mama Mia.  Faithful Angelika had come through with a free screening pass to Mama Mia, and I invited my old college roommate, who lives in Bedford, to make the trek to Dallas on a Thursday night to see it with me.  We were going to make a night of it: dinner and a beer at Trinity Hall and then laughing and singing our way through the movie version of the HIGHLY acclaimed musical.

That’s when we got in line and found out that they had filled the theater in record time.  Oh well, all was not lost.  If we hadn’t spent a few extra minutes chatting at Trinity, we might have gotten in, and then we would have missed out on Then She Found Me.

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Popularity: 13% [?]

I love M. Night Shyamalan’s films.  The man makes me speechless.  The storylines in Sixth Sense, Signs and The Village will always be amongst my favorites, especially The Village.  There was just something haunting about it and the character that Joaquin Phoenix played.  Lady in the Water was different from what the first trailers made me expect, but I still enjoyed it.  I even liked Unbreakable, although I don’t remember a lot about it.

So I was really looking forward to seeing The Happening.  Even though it was being marketed as an actual horror film, of which I’ve never been too fond, I knew that Shyamalan would put his own spin on it that would not include a half-naked, screaming blond.  He did not disappoint me in that respect; however, the movie fell flat.  
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Popularity: 17% [?]

Music is a very important and evident aspect of film.

Musical cues in films help the audience to feel a certain way, whether it is happy or sad with sappy violins or pianos, alerts of upcoming danger with sharp and eerie notes, or signals the end of a film by playing upbeat Top 40 songs.

I just finished watching Jurassic Park, and the musical cues in this film are very evident. The main theme for the film plays throughout the film and becomes very familiar and very comforting. The composer for the film created wonderful scores; most that made me feel for the characters, but more importantly, the dinosaurs. The music within the film is definitely one of a kind and still to this day, is easily recognized, much among the ranks of the music from Jaws.
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Popularity: 20% [?]

Just like Rene Zellweger tells Tom Cruise that he “had her at hello” in Jerry Maguire, the Counterfeiters had me at Nazi and Concentration Camp when I read the synopsis.  I’ve always been fascinated by the European part of World War II, especially the Holocaust.  I didn’t even read past those buzz words, so I was surprised to find that it was based on a true story about concentration camp prisoners who are given preferential treatment due to their special abilities which will help the Reich counterfeit the British pound and the American dollar.

The winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2008 tells the story of these prisoners who succeeded in counterfeiting £132 million in £5, £10 and £20 notes.  Their delay in counterfeiting the dollar was pivotal.  Had they not delayed, the Nazis might have been able to flood the American economy; thereby, possibly causing a very different outcome to WWII in Europe.
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Popularity: 15% [?]

After spending most of my weekend watching “chick flicks’, I began to think about the pros and cons of the genre as a whole. Now I love a good girly movie, as they usually involve good looking men, some of my favorite female actresses and a fairy tale ending so what’s not to love. However as a single woman, it is possible that the common romantic comedy is indeed the bane of my existence.

On one hand the story presented on screen in such a way that women might have a “maybe this could happen to me” moment, so one might argue romantic comedies are hopeful and inspirational to singles everywhere. You might find yourself trying the personals or online dating sites because it worked in “You’ve Got Mail” and “Must love dogs” or maybe you start planning a vacation, because women in the movies always meet the love of their life on vacation, right? Continue Reading

Popularity: 11% [?]

If you are like me, then you recognize the title of this article from The Sandlot and if not, you just think I’m an idiot. A friend pointed out that I use quite a bit of “movie speak” in everyday conversations, mostly because she had no idea why I felt the need to say “Alright, alright, alright” when apparently, to her, one “Alright” would have sufficed. Anyone who has ever seen Mr. McConaughey in his pink pants knows what I’m talking about. After some deliberation I realized how often I use movie quotes, and I am hoping I’m not alone. So this is part blog/part poll to see who shares my apparent love of “movie speak”. I give you my Top 5 most often quoted movies:

Not only can I quote the entire movie, but I have been known to throw out “You gotta keep livin’ man, L-I-V-I-N” just because I can. I also find that “It's what everybody in this car needs is some good ol' worthwhile visceral experience” comes in handy as a road trip begins. Dazed is a cult classic, and for good reason, so please tell me I’m not the only one adores this cinematic gem.  

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Popularity: 13% [?]