James McAvoy marathon

 

I confess, after hearing Keira Knightley’s remark that James McAvoy is the best kisser among all her leading men, I was flabbergasted. What? Not Orlando Bloom? No! It can’t be. So then I watched the much talked about Atonement. But since my Blockbuster queue messed things up, I started with Becoming Jane with the ethereally beautiful Anne Hathaway. James plays the one that got away. The guy who supposedly inspired Jane Austen to write about love and romance. Now I am not the type who likes period drama and all those costumes makes me thank the heavens for the evolution of fashion. But this particular one, I liked. Love the flowing nightgowns. Love the prim and proper dialogues. All the propriety reminiscent or perhaps what inspired the chipmunks who speaks so politely: “shall we go?” “perhaps we should”. “after you” , “no, after you”. The actors were superb - Maggie Smith as the sinister Aunt, James Cromwell as Jane’s father, Julie Walters as Jane’s Mom.

Anyways, this is such a good movie. The thought that Jane had a love affair was very refreshing indeed. That she was so inlove but still let her mind rule over her heart was so heart wrenching and beautiful. And that was there, in that movie, that I fell inlove with James McAvoy.

Atonement was a highly acclaimed movie. A little dark and disturbing on some levels but it was the love story that mesmerized me. The acting was very good and once again, James stole my heart. The storyline was thought provoking and at the same time very heart wrenching. Keira Knightley is such a great actress and easy on the eyes too.

In the end, after watching both movies, I wholeheartedly agreed with Keira Knightley. Sorry, Orlando Bloom, it’s over between the two of us. It’s not you. It’s me.
 

Enchanted

 

I finally watched “Enchanted“! The DVD came out on Tuesday and while I had been waiting with bated breath (along with 27 Dresses which have yet to be released on DVD), I totally forgot. The boys being on Spring Break and TheFisherman having to cover for one of his co-workers, ergo a new work schedule, my schedule has been totally off track. It threw off my routine completely. Thank God it’s only for a week. I can not stand one more week of this madness!

Anyways, back to my McDreamy, who in this case plays the part of Robert, a divorce lawyer. Amy Adams is such a delight in this show. This role is tailor-cut for her and she really played the part of a Disney princess really well! Susan Sarandon is deliciously wicked as the evil stepmother. And the incorporation of real world and animation was fascinating! Such good, clean fun this movie. I even sat and watched through all the bonus features - bloopers, deleted scenes and the technical stuff. And at the risk of sounding like an old person, they don’t make this kind of movies anymore. Well, there’s High School Musical which had no sex, profanity nor toilet humor but that was for the tween group. Enchanted will be more of the adults-who-still-believe-in-happy-endings group, one where I belong.

image credits: www.justjared.com 

Movies Recently Rented and Viewed

Dirty Pretty Things - you wouldn’t know from the title that this is a good movie with social awakening. Starring Audrey Tautou (which TheFisherman has a crush on but vehemently denies it), this is a movie about immigrants and the things they had to go through to make it. Very good movie, some disturbing scenes but not a violent movie, or at least not that much.

 Lucky 7 - starring Patrick Dempsey and Kimberly Williams. Love both actors since the 80’s when he was the dorky dude with the moppy hair (Can’t Buy Me Love, With Honors, to name a few) and she the baby daughter that the father did not want to give away (Father of the Bride). A romantic comedy, this is definitely a chic flick.

Black Water- set in Australia, a group of 4 people venture out into the mangrove swamps to go fishing and gets tangled in the murky, dark waters. Long and boring, this was a slow-paced suspenseful movie. Good one if you’re one of those types of people who can stare at the screen for hours on end watching Discovery channel shows. There were moments when you feel scared but I don’t care much for these types of movies.

Into the Wild - much hyped about movie directed by Sean Penn and starring Emile Hirsch. I thought the character was pretty selfish. Maybe it’s the Mom in me but for this person to go out and venture out into the world after a comfortable life handed out to him by his generous parents and not tell them anything is being very very selfish indeed. I mean, I am all for the “finding oneself” and being a non-conformist but to let his parents and sister go through what they went through is totally unacceptable. The movie was long and could have been shorter and still had the point across. The scenery was breathtaking though and the acting was good.

Beowulf - We started to watch this with the kids as it said “not rated” in the Blockbuster sleeve. But about 5 minutes into the movie and the words “whore” and “fornication” were mentioned. We had to stop it there and then and told the kids not to watch it. The computer animation made everything look forced and stoic. Angelina Jolie plays a monster who masquerades as a beautiful woman out to seduce kings. It was an okay movie but definitely not for the kids. Too much gore, violence and foul language.

Movies

Some recently watched movies as we try our very best to survive the winter.

Paris, Je t’Aime - subtitled movies have been a pain for me. I want to focus on the actors’ faces and not trying to speed read while trying to see if the emotions matches the words. The Fisherman though hearts foreign films and if this is one of those things I have to put up with, then so be it. This movie was a collection of short stories with an all star cast - Natalie Portman, Gena Rowlands, Elijah Wood, Bob Hoskins to name a few. The stories were entitled from the cities they were set in. Stories ranged from heartwarming to weird to what-the-heck-was-that? It was pretty interesting and the French language has always been nice to hear.

Good Luck Chuck - the one and only reason why I watched this movie was because I love Jessica Alba since Dark Angel. I still watch marathons on the sci-fi channel and hope to one day score the DVD (preferably at a yard sale). So for the movie itself, all I can say is that this is the stupidest, lamest movie I’ve ever seen in my life! The premise is that the guy, Charles is a lucky charm in that whoever he dates and sleeps with will find the man of her dreams as the next guy she dates will turn out to be “the one”. Definitely a guy movie, that’s all I can say. I am wondering about Jessica Alba’s choice of movie roles lately. Let’s hope the next ones will do her justice as she deserves more.

Antonia’s Line - another subtitled movie, this time Dutch that The Fisherman picked. I just sat through the remaining half of the movie and it’s like “The Godfather” on viagra as women were popping babies in this one. Story about family, love, betrayal, you get the idea.

Zero Kelvin - yet another subtitled movie, Norwegian. “Set in very bleak conditions” according to the Blockbuster site, the backdrop is depressing indeed. Based on 1920’s poet who went to work on a Scandinavian island for reasons unknown. This movie got me even more depressed and cold!

The Brave One - any Jodie Foster movie, in my opinion is very good. To start with, she’s a very good actress and she has so far made very good choice material for her movies. Terrence Howard co-stars and he’s very good too. Their chemistry is awesome even though they weren’t a couple in this movie. The storyline is basic and old school - Girl and Guy are happy and successful in their careers+Guy dies = revenge. I did not like the violence and had to walk out or look away during such scenes (the many benefits of watching a movie at home). But this is a must-see movie. Just make sure to be prepared for violent scenes. (Of course we watched this without the kids.)

I am sooooo ready for Spring.

Recently Viewed Movies

Here are some movies we recently watched:

I AM LEGEND - this was one movie our whole family was waiting for as soon as we saw the preview. You gotta love Will Smith movies and my sons loved him in Independence Day, Men in Black and Hitch. So off we went on the first day it showed. It was okay and the kids liked it. But I got scared! During the movie, there was one scene too terrifying for me to watch that I turned to FH and told him I’ll wait for them at the shopping mall. To which he looked at me and said: “are you serious?”. I waited for a bit and decided I’d stay. 10 year old G got scared at one point too that he covered his face with his jacket. This movie is not for little kids. Hey, if I got scared, chances are the little kids will be too!

STARDUST - this was a Blockbuster rental and the whole family watched it for movie night. We loved it! The fantasy and the the effects was good enough and “not too babyish” as my sons put it. Loved seeing Robert DeNiro in drag! It was such a hoot and I highly recommend this movie.

CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR - FH and I watched this for our anniversary. Now I am not into war pictures at all. FH and the kids on the other hand, loves war and gore and violence. Ugh! But since Tom Hanks was in it, I said yes even though I would have chosen Atonement instead (curious to see how James MacAvoy was awarded by Keira Knightley to be the best kisser. what? Not Orlando Bloom?!). Julia Roberts was in a bikini, Tom Hanks showed his behind (or was that a body double?) and the story was likeable enough. FH loved the movie as it was history. Course we were the only ones below 50, judging from the other moviegoers. I suddenly felt old and dignified. But it was okay.

50 FIRST DATES - Saw this on TNT the other day and I heart Drew Barrymore. LOVE Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore movies. This was a good one too and I enjoy watching it every time. I think I watched this about 20 times by now and I had to buy the soundtrack too. This time around though, after watching it I thought - this does not make sense. How in the heck can you not get tired of making someone fall inlove with you every single day? No matter how cute Drew is, or how much you love the person, won’t there be a day that you get tired and say: okay, whatever, today I won’t do that whole fall-inlove-with-me-all-over-again routine. But, as my sons always puts it - it’s just a movie Mom!

THE NANNY DIARIES - I loved the book more than the movie. It was a good, easy, fun read. The movie was okay. Scarlett Johansson’s acting was okay and Laura Linney was hateable as Mrs. X. Harvard Hottie, now let me think. When I was reading the book I imagined him to be dark haired and different. But the actor did okay. Of course some things were changed and Paul Giamatti was weird and very much like a dirty-old-man in the film. Alicia Keys need to keep her day job though.

Movie Night - Arthur and the Invisibles

We borrowed Arthur and the Invisibles  from Blockbuster a long time ago and it sat for 5 days, unwatched by my kids until DH finally broke down and returned it. But since Friday night was movie night (a family tradition of ours. we watch a movie every Friday night) and we cannot find a new movie, we borrowed this. Now my kids are getting to the age where they don’t like babyish movies. And they thought this was one of them. Well it wasn’t that babyish. There was action, which they loved and there was animation which they also loved and the animation was cool not babyish at all. Except for that one character who eerily looked like a troll doll. You know, one of those dolls with humonguous eyes and spiky pink hair? That one.

The story pretty much started like one of those “once upon a time” movies. And I immediately noticed the farm. You see, I have this love for farmhouses with wrap around porches. I dream that one day when I retire that I will be able to afford one of those houses and afford to live on my pension. But anyways, back to the story…

It’s an adventure packed story and the kid who plays Arthur is that British kid in almost all the movies who plays well,  the kid. He’s a cute one too. While we didn’t understand why the kid had a British accent and all the others had American accent, we tried to look past that and concentrated on the storyline. Interesting actors who voiced the characters - Madonna, David Bowie, Snoop Dogg, to name a few.

This is a movie that kids will surely love.

image credits: http://movies.yahoo.com/movies

Movies we Recently Watched

Here are some movies we recently watched on DVD:

Catch and Release - I love Jennifer Garner. I think she’s perfect. Not too girly, is just like one of the boys and very beautiful. She’s a great actress too! I love her whether she’s kicking butt in Alias or being goofy in 13 Going on 30 and being the girl next door in romantic movies.
The movie was okay. Not too believable, the storyline. But it makes for good entertainment and that Timothy Olyphant is one eye candy too!

Bridge to Terabithia - Having been marketed as “just like Chronicles of Narnia” we were expecting something more magical to happen. Instead, one of the lead characters died and they lived in their own fantasy until the very end. Sure there were some resolutions but still, where was the real magic? The effects were okay and they could have explored it more. In the end, the audience feels cheated.

Miss Potter - Despite warnings in movie reviews stating that “Renee Zellweger looked like she’s sucking lemons” (her face and lips contort in such a way that you wonder if she really is), we watched the movie. It’s the story of the children’s book author Beatrix Potter. While her story is a good one - woman from well-to-do family becomes author and gets engaged to her editor, it is a common one. It is a peek into her untold life story. Ewan Macgregor was under utilized in the movie. I am so glad we just rented it and not watched it at the movie theatre. It’s not worth it.

Babe - I know, this is an old movie, if you call 1995 old. I love this movie and youngest son G loves pigs so much. I get a hoot watching the 3 tiny mice and mimic their teeny tiny voice. Best line in the movie: “that’ll do, pig, that’ll do”. My sons were surprised and they thought that Shrek came first with the line. I had to explain to them that this came first.

Astronaut Farmer - this is a feel good movie that we all watched as a family. It’s basically the believe-in-your-dreams-and-they-will-come-true kind of movie. Nonetheless we enjoyed it. Billy Bob Thornton is such a good actor once you get past the thought of him and Angelina Jolie once upon a time carrying each other’s blood on vials. It’s the story of a farmer who’s building a space rocket in his barn.

Can you tell that it’s summer?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

image credits

DH surprised us yesterday. He called me before he went home and told me that we were going to watch a movie. I didn’t know that Harry Potter was out yesterday so I thought we were going to watch Transformers instead. He told me not to tell the boys as it was going to be a surprise. So I played along. I told the boys to get dressed because we were going grocery shopping when Dad gets home. They complied. Then I secretly stashed my backpack with some chips, ginger ale and Gatorade. And then we got to the movie theatre. DH and I were telling them we were going to watch a love story. 10 (almost 11) year old: “Aaargh! I don’t want to watch a love story!” DH: “well, we have no choice, we couldn’t leave you at home”. So it went until we got inside the movie theater and DH was printing the tickets he paid for online. I looked at the billboard and saw, gasp! Harry Potter. “What? It’s Harry Potter! It’s showing!” But DH didn’t mind me. As we were walking to the cinema, I wanted to tell DH, can you exchange the tickets? let’s go to Harry instead of Transformers! Until I saw DH smug and collected. That’s when I knew - he tricked us! We were going to watch Harry Potter all along!

We went inside the theater, and found good seats. We went in at 4:30, show starts at 4:45. Why the last Harry Potter we went to, we had to elbow our way into finding 4 seats! Where was the crowd? Has the audience lost their interest in Harry? Well, I found out the answer soon after the movie. There was a long line outside for people trying to get in on the next showing, Turns out we came just right on time! Score for DH!

So did we like the movie? DH liked it, C gave it a 5 out of 5 stars and G said it was the best movie ever. It was alright for me. The effects were good and the actors were consistent. Harry delivered with typical teenage angst. I hated the Dolores Umbridge character, sympathized with Harry and loved the Hermione-Ron dynamic. Younger kids might not like it due to some dark, sinister plotlines but for adults and kids 9 and older, I think they’ll like it. The movie seemed shorter too. Turns out they did shorten it up due to some concerns of losing the audience’s interest. For me, as long as the kids liked it, I’m fine.

Note: we watched the movie on opening night but only got to write about it now. Weekend visitors, ’nuff said.

Ratatouille

We finally watched Ratatouille on Saturday. We were supposed to watch it on opening day but it coincided with camping. And then youngest son G got sick for a week. That’s why we had to stay home and do nothing for the 4th of July. All he and I did was watch “The Twilight Zone” reruns and it was a trip back to memory lane for me. He was finally in the clear by week’s end and so we were finally free to watch the movie on Saturday.

This is such a great movie! Highly recommended for kids of all ages. And with the popularity of cooking shows, even foodies would love to watch this. I, for one, was hungry after the movie. Oldest son C, who’s getting to be tweenish (read:harder to please) by every passing minute enjoyed it too. And youngest son G loved the action and the cute furry rats. For once, a movie with no violence and sex. And a moral lesson at the end of the story too. So heartwarming! I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone so I won’t divulge the details nor the ending. Suffice it to say, this is a must-see movie for all families.

The Painted Veil

Sometimes the greatest journey is the distance between two people

The Painted Veil

Watched this movie last night with DH. It was higly recommended by my friend D. I didn’t know it was a dramatic movie but DH watched it with me all throughout. It’s a movie set in 1920’s England and then China (DH said it was shot in Thailand due to the landscape). It’s a very poignant story about a husband and a wife who got married in a rush. The man is inlove with the woman but the woman just married him just so he can get away from her mother. What happened next, you’ll have to watch the movie as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.

What matters is that it is a movie of trying to find oneself - in life and in love. And when they finally found it, the end was bittersweet. The message is that even though sometimes we do the things we do and despite making mistakes in our lives, it is human nature and so if forgiving and starting anew. And loving again.

This movie wasn’t an overly dramatic movie but the message cut across and I enjoyed it. I don’t know about you but nowadays there are some movies that are too realistic that some graphic scenes makes me want to leave. And I do. Because we usually watch these kinds of movies in the confines of our home, I have the option to leave for violent or unpleasant scenes. This movie, thankfully had none of those. I sat through the whole movie and I think DH liked it too.