Twilight, Happy Go Lucky, Rachel Gets Married

It was a big movie weekend.

Saw Twilight on Thursday night, Happy Go Lucky on Friday and Rachel Gets Married on Sunday. The movies got progressively better as the weekend went on.

TWILIGHT -- I don't get it, but if the audience was any indication I'm not really the demographic anyways.

HAPPY GO LUCKY -- Got off to a slow start but by the end I was hooked. Some interesting twists and find myself saying "in-rah-ha" everytime I look in my rearview mirror.

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED -- Out of the three, this was the best, Anne Hathaway is great as a recovering addict who comes home for her sisters wedding. The writing is sharp, funny, and sometimes uncomfortable. It was shot using a handheld, so it is rough and unpolished like any self-respecting drug addict movie should be. I cry a lot in movies, and this was no Young At Heart, but there were definitely tears and even sniffles on this one. AND to top it off, Rachel has this super cool, wish-I-was-that-cool, wedding that was really lovely to watch.

Changeling

Clint Eastwood is awesome. Angelina Jolie is beautiful. So you'd think their movie would be pretty good.

Guess what? It is.

Missing kid movies are always really hard for me to even watch, much less enjoy. Something about seeing other people's kids in trouble makes me want to just run home and snuggle close to my own kiddos. But I was engrossed in the story -- logging online immediately when I got home to find out if it was a true story (it is).

Some reviews that I've read said this movie drags on too long -- I actually thought the pacing was ok -- but I would like a quarter for every time Ms. Jolie said "MY son"

Overall, glad I went.

PS. The concessions at the Century Theater in downtown San Francisco are amazing. The best I've ever seen at a movie theater.

Religulous

It is sometimes hard to hate Bill Maher.

Sometimes.

Most of the time it's pretty easy.

I had heard so much about this movie before seeing it that I was almost let down by the lack of offensiveness. The uncomfortable parts of this movie weren't when Maher expressed his views about organized religion, but when you started to feel like Maher was just making fun of the people that he was interviewing. Sometimes good points were lost in his own self-righteousness.

The Band's Visit

I have to admit that when I put this on my netflix queue I was thinking "Band" like Rock Band. I should've read the part more carefully that said "Egyptian Brass Police Band". So the first 15 minutes I was trying to decide if I should keep watching. Turns out I'm really glad I did.

The word charming is so old fashioned, but this movie was charming. Egyptian Band goes to Israel to play a concert. They get lost and spend the night with some hospitable Israelis. Some touching moments combined with and interesting plot and good music. What more could you ask for?

Persepolis

One of my favorite movies ever. An animated story of a girl growing up in Iran during the late seventies/early eighties.

Marjane is super cute as a young girl and has some all too familiar characteristics as a teenager. The animation is BEAUTIFUL. I would hang stills from this movie as art on my walls. I watch a lot of movies and this is getting added to my top movies list.

Garden State

Really took me way too long to watch this one.

Zach Braff seems so goofy that it's hard to believe he wrote this. I love the music. Lots of Postal Service. If you haven't seen it -- get on the bandwagon -- it's really good.

Crank

This movie was about a guy who gets poisoned and the only way he can stay alive is by keeping his adrenaline up. So apparently he does all this crazy stuff to scare/excite himself to stay alive.

Truth is, I really can't tell you what most of those things he did are because it was so stupid I fell asleep after 15 minutes. I did wake up to see the guy bangin' his girlfriend in front of a group of asian tourists -- guess that will get your adrenaline going.

Once

How many times have I seen this movie? I've lost count.

So when I came home tonight and it was on Cinemax guess what? I watched it again.

I've seen in in the theatre(5X), dvd(I own two copies), ppv(just cause I was excited it was on), and now I'm watching it on Cinemax.

And I still love it.

When your mind's made up.

Starter For 10

11:10 -- The Cure and Yaz songs in the first 10 minutes? Hell yeah.
11:19 -- More Cure....
11:22 -- OK. I can't take it -- In Between Days? This movie is a sign -- I will buy my Cure tix tomorrow.
11:34 -- Pictures of You -- "Remembering you standing quiet in the rain as I ran to your heart to be near" -- heavenly. Technically not released until 1990 -- but it's such a great song I will forgive.
12:35 -- Love Song.

I really need to watch more movies that are set in 1985. Even if you don't like the Cure... this is a good one.

UPDATE: The Cure concert has been sold out for months, but miraculously they opened up some additional tix this morning so I got mine at face value. Fate?

Young@Heart -- round two

I took my sister to see this movie tonight. First -- she was thoroughly impressed that half the people at Regal Arbor know me -- although they probably had trouble recognizing me since I was actually with another person :) But I did have my movie socks which are a dead giveaway. At least one of you will understand the importance of the movie socks.

The first time I saw this movie I started crying about an hour into it -- this time within about 20 minutes I was losing it. Knowing what was coming up made some of the beginning parts harder to handle the second time around. I figure by the next time I see it I will just bawl from beginning to end.

I am watching Lars and the Real Girl on DVD right now -- it is off to a VERY slow start, I'll let y'all know how it ends up.

Helvetica

Yes it's a documentary about a font. It's actually a really great 80 minutes and proves that you can make a movie about anything.

"You will do what the typeface wants you to do."
"If you are not a good designer just use Helvetica Bold in one size. It looks good."
"All that hunting for the next typeface is so exhausting."
" Growing up in the netherlands, Helvetica is like our natural mother toungue, it is almost in our blood."
The "typeface of socialism", "the perfume of the city".
"How to choose a typeface use 'ABH' -- Anything but Helvetica."
"Reminded me of cleaning up my room."
"I was morally opposed to Helvetica."
"If you used Helvetica you were in favor of the Vietnam war." "Then what is the typeface of the Iraq war?" "Helvetica."
"It says: Do not read me because I will bore the shit out of you."

I love the section about grunge typography. David Carson printing what he felt litle was a really shitty article about Bryan Ferry in Raygun magazine in a font he felt suited the quality of the article -- Dingbat. Awesome.

Son of Rambow

Very cute. Two unlikely friends create their own sequel to Rambo -- First Blood. Lots of great 80s music and a funny, sweet story line. Go see it. It's not the best movie ever, but it will make you smile and laugh - what more could you want on a Saturday afternoon?

Candy

This movie does for heroin what Fast Food Nation does for ground beef. If you are even thinking about shooting up, watch this movie and you'll change your mind.

Heath Ledger (Dan) was a little too realistic as a greasy-haired junkie. Abby Cornish was really good as well as as Dan's girlfriend Candy. I was really hoping she would suck -- haven't forgiven her for breaking up Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe.

Couple of scenes I wish I'd known to fast forward through:

-- Candy laying on a matress going through withdrawls while she's six months pregnant.
-- Dan getting f'd up at his own wedding -- one of those uncomfortable scenes where you feel embarrassed for the character

High Fidelity

Top 5 Best Things About High Fidelity

5) "So you've got a list here of 5 things you'd do if qualifications and time and history and salary were no object."
4) Sonic Death Monkey
3) "I will now sell four copies of "The Three EPs" by The Beta Band."
2) John Cusak in general -- love him.
1) Jack Black

Space Balls -- The Quote Along at the Drafthouse

You know you're doing something right as a parent when you realize that your kids know 90% of the lines to Spaceballs. Hearing Noah screaming out "I'm surrounded by assholes" and "We ain't found shit" was priceless -- nearly brought tears to my eyes.

The Visitor

OK. In case you don't know this, I like almost every movie I see.

But this one was really good. Kind of started out slow, but once it got going I was hooked.

Walter is an uptight, guarded, connecticut-living guy. The premise is just far-fetched enough that it seems real without being silly. Basically he meets a few people that have a huge impact on his life. A syrian man and his mom and a sengalese woman bring him back to life through a series of moving, funny, and sad events.

I kind of stumbled on this movie and it kind of snuck up on me.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Really hilarious.

These guys are funny.

Exactly what I needed this weekend.

Go see it.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

Couple of rules that I wish I had followed:

Don't follow a really good movie (amelie) with Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Somehow it makes you forget all the cute happy parts that you liked about the first movie.

Don't watch a scary movie before bed. I tell my kids this -- should've followed it myself. I'm tired but wide awake. I didn't even make it through the whole thing. The girl hanging from the meathook with her feet cut off was where I called it a night.

Amelie

Yes, you were right. This movie was great. Thanks for the recommendation.

Fast Food Nation

I hate it when I think I'm going to be watching a funny, entertaining movie and I get sucked into something deep and political and informative. Don't watch this movie if you like to eat meat. Don't watch this movie if you're looking for a laugh. Don't watch this movie if you like other Greg Kinnear movies. When the movie was over I was ready to become a vegetarian and fight for the rights of illegal aliens across the country. Tonight I am watching Shaun of the Dead. Dammit.

De Nadie

I just saw Under the Same Moon and really enjoyed it, so De Nadie caught my attention. It's a documentary about illegal immigration. What made it interesting for me is that the movie focused on Central Americans trying to cross Mexico with the ultimate goal of making it to the US. Alarming. These people are raped, robbed, mutillated just trying to get to the Mexico/US border. The editing is rough and there are many typos in the subtitles, but there is something about this movie that makes you glad you watched it. I'm sitting here glaring at my Coach purse thinking of all of these people.

We are lucky.

Young @ Heart

Go see this movie. Now.

The movie follows the Young @ Heart Chorus as they prepare for their next concert. The chorus is made up of 70-90 year olds who sing songs by groups like ColdPlay, The Clash, Sonic Youth, James Brown, The Ramones and more...

This is one of my favorite movies ever. I laughed so hard, I cried. And then I just plain cried. You fall in love with these people. One hilarious segment was when Fred Knittle recounted their european tour: "We went from continent to continent until I became incontinent."

Several heart-breaking moments left me sobbing. I'm not sure I'll ever listen to ColdPlay's Fix You again without coming to tears.

I saw this movie at a special preview screening. I can't wait for this to be released (April 9th). I'm taking everyone I know.

Pan

I love the feeling when you are completely surprised by a movie.

I know that I probably should've seen Pan's Labrinth years ago. But I didn't. I thought it was some sci-fi, Lord of the Rings, dungeon's and dragons type movie with really good special effects. Not really my thing. But when a friend told me that it was one of the best movies he'd ever seen I thought I'd give it a shot.

I was blown away. The story, the characters, the sound and effects. Awesome.

I'll probably have to watch it a few more times to REALLY understand what it was about. I know there was so much I was missing as i kept thinking -- I can't believe THIS is what this movie is about.

It was such a great contrast from the Other Boleyn Girl where I knew the story and the movie really disapointed me. With this one, I thought I knew the story, but was pleasantly surprised to find out I was wrong.

The Other Boleyn Girl

I just finished reading the book and was really excited to see this movie. I didn't really expect more in terms of the story, but was interested more in the scenery, clothes, and characters. I liked the movie. It wasn't horrible -- just not great.

My biggest disapointments were that many of my favorite parts of the books were left out. The movie felt like a realy high level synopsis of the book. First, the book was narrated by Mary. I loved that. Second and along the same lines while the book seemed to be more about Mary's choices and experience, the movie seemed too focused on Ann.

I read a lot before going to see this about how the movie doesn't accurately depict history. Please. Read history books or watch documentaries if you only want factual information. The book and the movie are designed to entertain.

Caramel

Went and saw Caramel today. Loved it. Made me want to go buy some bright purple eye shadow, grow my hair out and get sugar waxed.