This is by far the best movie I have seen this year. I can't think of anything I didn't like about it. It was everything a feel good summer movie should be. And above all else it was fun. And yes I did catch myself singing along to a few of the songs.
The casting was perfect. It has only been in the last few years that I have become a fan of Meryl Streep and while I have come to enjoy her in the dramatic fair that she is so known for I most enjoy her in these kinds fun let loose roles. Even before I came to like her I always did enjoy her performance in Death Becomes Her. This performance was so great. I don't know if there will be any Oscar love for it but, I definitely anticipate a Golden Globe nomination and quite possibly a win.
I have enjoyed Amanda Seyfried in various projects over the last few years. And she has always taken steps forward in the differnet projects. This was most definitely her coming out party. And what a party it is.
All the rest of the cast was just fantastic. The best part was that they took it seriously. Not too seriously but, just enough to keep anything from coming off campy and dumb. Christine Baranski and Julie Walters were great as "The Dynamos" in other words Meryl's backup singers. Them doing the opening part of Dancing Queen was freaking great.
In all my years of loving Pierce Brosnan I never would have dreamed of him doing a role like this. He proved himself to be even more versitale than I thought he was. It doesn't get any better.
I saw this at a matinee (as I do most things these days) and it was worth so much more than that. No problem what-so-ever with paying full price for this. And I am hoping to see it again in theaters.
If you do see if be sure to stick around for the whole sequence between the end of the movie and the credits. It is well worth it.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
And the Oscar...I mean Emmy goes too
Again this year the Emmy nominations are not my favorite but, then again I wasn't expecting much. When it comes to the actor categories I wasn't surprised by my overall disappointment. The bright spot being that at least James Spader got nominated again. He truly is a breath of fresh air among the boring male characters currently taking up space on television.
Of course the categories I watch closet are the actress categories especially Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series. I actually pegged 4 of the 5 nominees in that category. The only one I wasn't sure on was Sally Field and that's the only one of the 5 I don't watch. But, good for her. I find it very amusing that 3 of the 5 nominees are Oscar winning actresses. I do think there are good roles for them in film but, that they get a much greater chance to shine on television.
I think this will be the hardest one to handicap however, currently I think Glen Close has the edge. Her character was one you don't often see given to a women. She was a true villian and she just didn't care who got hurt in the end. At the sametime she played a villian out to help the little guy so it's a very interesting line there.
I just have to get a dig in at ABC here. I was very mad at them for canceling Women's Murder Club. I was even more ticked off about it when it turned out that it had a higher average viewership than the two male dominated shows that ABC renewed for next season. I told my friend that was a very stupid move because 3 of the highest rated and most talked about shows on cable were female driven cop dramas. (This was just after the premiere of In Plain Sight.) And then look what happens 3 of the 5 nominees for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series play cops. So I will officially say the people that run ABC are the biggest idiots in television.
I am very happy that 5 strong actresses that play 5 strong characters were nominated this year. And the fact that one of them is a villian only makes it better. This is the category I think everyone will be watching this year.
I must say though that I was disappointed that yet again a Lifetime original series was overlooked. When it comes to movies Lifetime usually gets some love but, they just can't get any for their series' and that is a shame. Army Wives really deserved some attention. I guess there are just too many great women on television at the moment and not enough room at the awards table for them all.
Of course the categories I watch closet are the actress categories especially Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series. I actually pegged 4 of the 5 nominees in that category. The only one I wasn't sure on was Sally Field and that's the only one of the 5 I don't watch. But, good for her. I find it very amusing that 3 of the 5 nominees are Oscar winning actresses. I do think there are good roles for them in film but, that they get a much greater chance to shine on television.
I think this will be the hardest one to handicap however, currently I think Glen Close has the edge. Her character was one you don't often see given to a women. She was a true villian and she just didn't care who got hurt in the end. At the sametime she played a villian out to help the little guy so it's a very interesting line there.
I just have to get a dig in at ABC here. I was very mad at them for canceling Women's Murder Club. I was even more ticked off about it when it turned out that it had a higher average viewership than the two male dominated shows that ABC renewed for next season. I told my friend that was a very stupid move because 3 of the highest rated and most talked about shows on cable were female driven cop dramas. (This was just after the premiere of In Plain Sight.) And then look what happens 3 of the 5 nominees for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series play cops. So I will officially say the people that run ABC are the biggest idiots in television.
I am very happy that 5 strong actresses that play 5 strong characters were nominated this year. And the fact that one of them is a villian only makes it better. This is the category I think everyone will be watching this year.
I must say though that I was disappointed that yet again a Lifetime original series was overlooked. When it comes to movies Lifetime usually gets some love but, they just can't get any for their series' and that is a shame. Army Wives really deserved some attention. I guess there are just too many great women on television at the moment and not enough room at the awards table for them all.
Indiana Jones and the Kindgom of the Crystal Skull
I was really not impressed with this movie at all. I enjoyed the previous Indy movies but, this one was really lacking. The story was rather boring and kind of lame and the action sequences left a lot to be desired. Most of the time I just kept thinking how obvious it was that Harrison Ford was to old to be doing another one. I think everything was constructed to what he could physically do. I also felt it wasn't as funny as the others. It had it's comedic moments but, it just didn't seem to be as much as before.
With the exception of Harrison Ford I thought the acting was quite good. Honestly I felt like he was phoning it in a lot. I felt bad at times for Shia LeBeouf because it seemed like he wasn't allowed to be as good as he could be. It was like he was instructed to not do anything that might show up Harrison. At least he got that great sword fighting sequence with Cate Blanchet. That was probably my favorite part of the whole movie. Cate was great as the villian.
I was very disappointed with the fact that there weren't as many sequences with booby traps or other things to escape from.
Went to a matinee and that was a little much to have spent on this movie.
With the exception of Harrison Ford I thought the acting was quite good. Honestly I felt like he was phoning it in a lot. I felt bad at times for Shia LeBeouf because it seemed like he wasn't allowed to be as good as he could be. It was like he was instructed to not do anything that might show up Harrison. At least he got that great sword fighting sequence with Cate Blanchet. That was probably my favorite part of the whole movie. Cate was great as the villian.
I was very disappointed with the fact that there weren't as many sequences with booby traps or other things to escape from.
Went to a matinee and that was a little much to have spent on this movie.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Sex and the City
I wasn't really sure if it was a good idea to make a movie of such a great show. I was concerned that it wouldn't translate well to a long format. And in some respects I was right. There were times when it flowed very well. It felt very much like the show and those parts were very good. However, it was connecting those parts that caused the movie to slip and faulter at times. They didn't do a good job with the stories outside of the group scenes and Carrie's storyline. And it was a bit long.
The show was always at its strongest when the storylines for each character were strong and close to equal. I really felt the movie focused too much on Carrie. Yes the other ladies had a good amount of screen time but, they weren't given enough of their own storyline which is what made the show work so well. I wish they could have found more ways to have all of them together.
At least none of them tried to change their characters for the big screen. They were very much how they were on the small screen and that was very important. I also like that they didn't go over the top with crazy guest appearances. I'm sure they could have had just about anyone pop up in the movie either as themselves, or playing small characters. That would have been a big distraction so it's good that they didn't do that.
I really enjoyed the character of Louise, Carrie's assistant. Jennifer Hudson was fantastic in that role.
I thought the opening of the movie was very well executed. It was very smart of them to put together something that would quickly aquaint people with the characters. For someone less familiar with the show it gave them a reference for each character's personality.
I think the one thing I didn't like about the movie was them having Samantha in Los Angeles. They still managed to keep her quite active in the story but, I just didn't care for that story point.
Do to unforeseen circumstances I ended up seeing it at the discount theater. I would have gladly paid full price for it thought.
The show was always at its strongest when the storylines for each character were strong and close to equal. I really felt the movie focused too much on Carrie. Yes the other ladies had a good amount of screen time but, they weren't given enough of their own storyline which is what made the show work so well. I wish they could have found more ways to have all of them together.
At least none of them tried to change their characters for the big screen. They were very much how they were on the small screen and that was very important. I also like that they didn't go over the top with crazy guest appearances. I'm sure they could have had just about anyone pop up in the movie either as themselves, or playing small characters. That would have been a big distraction so it's good that they didn't do that.
I really enjoyed the character of Louise, Carrie's assistant. Jennifer Hudson was fantastic in that role.
I thought the opening of the movie was very well executed. It was very smart of them to put together something that would quickly aquaint people with the characters. For someone less familiar with the show it gave them a reference for each character's personality.
I think the one thing I didn't like about the movie was them having Samantha in Los Angeles. They still managed to keep her quite active in the story but, I just didn't care for that story point.
Do to unforeseen circumstances I ended up seeing it at the discount theater. I would have gladly paid full price for it thought.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Wanted
For an action film this movie wasn't bad but, it wasn't all that great either. The action sequences themselves were pretty well executed even if some of them were a little too obsurd. There was potential for a good story however, that good story never came through. They really screwed it up in a couple places.
At least the acting wasn't a total disaster. That did manage to stay in check which is good. When the story of an action film faulters the way it did it can easily lead to over the top acting.
Spoiler Alert:
In theory the ideal behind the fraternity of assassins made since. If you could stop someone now from committing all kinds of horrible acts down the road, would you? However, the story lost all appeal when it turned out that they were getting the names of the people from reading a binary code in fabric coming off a loom in a secret room. It wasn't hard to figure out that Morgan Freeman's character was picking his own targets. Not just because the loom thing seemed so stupid but, because the story was too transparent.
The story line with the main character trying to kill the man he thought killed his father was not developed very well. It would have been much better had they spent more time playing a cat and mouse game. Clearly the writer couldn't figure out how to make that work with the twist of the story. That was a shame because that is what would have really made the movie work.
Overall it was a decent movie. I wouldn't recommend seeing it for more than matinee price.
At least the acting wasn't a total disaster. That did manage to stay in check which is good. When the story of an action film faulters the way it did it can easily lead to over the top acting.
Spoiler Alert:
In theory the ideal behind the fraternity of assassins made since. If you could stop someone now from committing all kinds of horrible acts down the road, would you? However, the story lost all appeal when it turned out that they were getting the names of the people from reading a binary code in fabric coming off a loom in a secret room. It wasn't hard to figure out that Morgan Freeman's character was picking his own targets. Not just because the loom thing seemed so stupid but, because the story was too transparent.
The story line with the main character trying to kill the man he thought killed his father was not developed very well. It would have been much better had they spent more time playing a cat and mouse game. Clearly the writer couldn't figure out how to make that work with the twist of the story. That was a shame because that is what would have really made the movie work.
Overall it was a decent movie. I wouldn't recommend seeing it for more than matinee price.
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