Tuesday, March 29, 2005
MOVIE UPDATE, PART II
The latest on our Netflix progress:
Never Been Kissed, 1999: Good, funny movie right up until the end, when it gets all morally and mushy on us. Morals+mush=bad! And Drew Barrymore's mouth is weird ... a little too weird.
Get Over It, 2001: Embarrassingly bad. The only funny thing in this movie is the musical version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that the kids put on. Skip the rest, I say.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, 2003: I fell asleep.
What to Do in Case of Fire, 2002: Oh, me and my German movie rentals ... why do I do it? This one was pretty good, but we watched it too soon after watching "Good Bye, Lenin!" so the material (post-reunification Berlin) felt a little worn out.
The Bourne Supremacy, 2004: We had friends over who talked through the whole thing, so I really can't say. I wish I had fallen asleep.
Muddy Waters Can't Be Satisfied, 2003: ... but I can be satisfied with this movie! Very good documentary. Muddy follows the typical musician's plotline — can't keep his hands off the women, but is a genius — with style. Interviews with contemporaries help set the scene and provide interesting historical context.
Before Sunrise, 1995: Face it, this movie is really good. My favorite line comes at the beginning: "Europeans, they're not very customer service-oriented."
Before Sunset, 2004: Ah, it is so tragic to have once been young and beautiful, and now be older and sorta wrinkly ... Actually, I really like this movie, too. My favorite line in this one is something like: "When you're young, you think there will be all kinds of people that you meet and connect with during your life. But as you get older, you realize that it's really only a handful."
Stalag 17, 1953: They don't call it a classic for no reason! Rent it now, I tell you!
Antonia's Line, 1995: Really dull Dutch movie about a family that consists of one woman per generation (the men, except for one, are summarily dismissed once the girl child is begat), none of whom look remotely alike. It's one of those movies that goes on and on without you feeling very involved in the people, like a bad biopic. But it's not even a biopic, so what's the excuse here?
Zus & Zo, 2002: Another Dutch movie, rented in preparation for our trip to Amsterdam. But it didn't provide us with much insight or positive feelings about Holland. In fact, we both fell asleep. Before that happened, I saw enough of this movie to think "people aren't really like that, are they? Barf!" But now that I've seen "Closer," these people don't seem so bad.
Operation Amsterdam, 1959: Mediocre WW2 flick about getting the diamonds out of Amsterdam as the Germans close in. I slept through about a third of this.
Ray, 2004: Hey! This movie is really good. It suffers just a little from the biopic genre's weaknesses, but ultimately is very affecting. Shoulda got the best picture oscar. I haven't seen it, but that boxing movie that won looks lame.
Garden State, 2004: Also really good. I actually really liked Natalie Portman in this, which is the first time I can really say that's happened. "If they had a retarded Oscar, you should win it!" Chris didn't like her, though. He liked the boy, Zach Braff, better. I invite him to comment.
The latest on our Netflix progress:
Never Been Kissed, 1999: Good, funny movie right up until the end, when it gets all morally and mushy on us. Morals+mush=bad! And Drew Barrymore's mouth is weird ... a little too weird.
Get Over It, 2001: Embarrassingly bad. The only funny thing in this movie is the musical version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that the kids put on. Skip the rest, I say.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, 2003: I fell asleep.
What to Do in Case of Fire, 2002: Oh, me and my German movie rentals ... why do I do it? This one was pretty good, but we watched it too soon after watching "Good Bye, Lenin!" so the material (post-reunification Berlin) felt a little worn out.
The Bourne Supremacy, 2004: We had friends over who talked through the whole thing, so I really can't say. I wish I had fallen asleep.
Muddy Waters Can't Be Satisfied, 2003: ... but I can be satisfied with this movie! Very good documentary. Muddy follows the typical musician's plotline — can't keep his hands off the women, but is a genius — with style. Interviews with contemporaries help set the scene and provide interesting historical context.
Before Sunrise, 1995: Face it, this movie is really good. My favorite line comes at the beginning: "Europeans, they're not very customer service-oriented."
Before Sunset, 2004: Ah, it is so tragic to have once been young and beautiful, and now be older and sorta wrinkly ... Actually, I really like this movie, too. My favorite line in this one is something like: "When you're young, you think there will be all kinds of people that you meet and connect with during your life. But as you get older, you realize that it's really only a handful."
Stalag 17, 1953: They don't call it a classic for no reason! Rent it now, I tell you!
Antonia's Line, 1995: Really dull Dutch movie about a family that consists of one woman per generation (the men, except for one, are summarily dismissed once the girl child is begat), none of whom look remotely alike. It's one of those movies that goes on and on without you feeling very involved in the people, like a bad biopic. But it's not even a biopic, so what's the excuse here?
Zus & Zo, 2002: Another Dutch movie, rented in preparation for our trip to Amsterdam. But it didn't provide us with much insight or positive feelings about Holland. In fact, we both fell asleep. Before that happened, I saw enough of this movie to think "people aren't really like that, are they? Barf!" But now that I've seen "Closer," these people don't seem so bad.
Operation Amsterdam, 1959: Mediocre WW2 flick about getting the diamonds out of Amsterdam as the Germans close in. I slept through about a third of this.
Ray, 2004: Hey! This movie is really good. It suffers just a little from the biopic genre's weaknesses, but ultimately is very affecting. Shoulda got the best picture oscar. I haven't seen it, but that boxing movie that won looks lame.
Garden State, 2004: Also really good. I actually really liked Natalie Portman in this, which is the first time I can really say that's happened. "If they had a retarded Oscar, you should win it!" Chris didn't like her, though. He liked the boy, Zach Braff, better. I invite him to comment.
Labels: movie review
¶ 11:08 AM
Comments:
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First of all, Margaret, your summaries are brilliant and I'd never remember a thing about any of these if it weren't for this.
I agree with pretty much all of your reviews here, with the following exceptions or additions:
Never Been Kissed: yeah right! Just kidding. Um...I guess it was pretty entertaining.
Bourne Supremacy: this movie sucked and I did sleep through a good portion of it. The other bourne movie was much better.
Before Sunrise and Sunset: I didn't like these as much as Margaret did. OR, maybe I liked them, but I liked them because the main characters were so annoying they were funny.
Garden State: I thought it was funny that Natalie Portman's character thought the guy was retarded, but, in actuality, she was the retarded one. Also, I'm sick of movies that make fun of L.A. in that insider way then conclude with the main character realizing that the boring place he's from is better. Now we're all supposed to go "yeah...things are so simple and good back home and the girls are really happy, good, and quirky". blah. It wasn't a BAD movie, it's just that it had elements that were very very predictable and cliche.
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I agree with pretty much all of your reviews here, with the following exceptions or additions:
Never Been Kissed: yeah right! Just kidding. Um...I guess it was pretty entertaining.
Bourne Supremacy: this movie sucked and I did sleep through a good portion of it. The other bourne movie was much better.
Before Sunrise and Sunset: I didn't like these as much as Margaret did. OR, maybe I liked them, but I liked them because the main characters were so annoying they were funny.
Garden State: I thought it was funny that Natalie Portman's character thought the guy was retarded, but, in actuality, she was the retarded one. Also, I'm sick of movies that make fun of L.A. in that insider way then conclude with the main character realizing that the boring place he's from is better. Now we're all supposed to go "yeah...things are so simple and good back home and the girls are really happy, good, and quirky". blah. It wasn't a BAD movie, it's just that it had elements that were very very predictable and cliche.
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