Wednesday, October 12, 2016

"A Cinderella Story" (2004)--revisited

It's not the first time I've watched this movie, but it has been awhile.  In fact, I was only going to re-watch the first 20 minutes and ended up re-watching the whole thing.  This is what a good movie is to me.  Lots of happy endings and "sweet justice" but appreciated only after seeing the rocky times and heartbreaking moments.  And I'm a sucker for a well-done Cinderella story.

It had been long enough since I'd seen this movie that I didn't recall most of what was going to happen (setting aside the Cinderella story points, of course).  I did remember there would be a "light bulb" moment involving a wall, and scrubbing floors, and that had liked the movie the first time.  I liked the movie the second time, too.  I also realized that the actress playing the stepmother plays the manicurist in Legally Blonde--kind of fun to notice.

It was a good re-watch, and I'd do it again.

Friday, October 7, 2016

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" (2016)

For not being totally hooked by the book (different story), I was pretty pleased with this adaptation.  There was enough "yeah, that's the same" to feel it did credit to the book, and enough "yeah, that's different" to know they were aware of how a best to translate to screen a 352 page book.  The version of the movie I saw was the 3D one.  I'm assuming the switch of lead character peculiarities was to help streamline the adaptation.  Even if you disagree with the switch, it worked.  Based on the previews I saw, I wasn't sure I was going to be sold on it, but based on having watched the whole movie now, I felt it worked and was fine.

Watching this movie in 3D was fun.

As I alluded to above, the book had some things that bothered me--so I don't feel it fair to fault the movie for the same things.  So, I'm going to skip past those points.  I will say I think I enjoyed the fight scenes better in the movie, not so much for the medium change as the medium change.  I am not one who enjoys suspense, but you can't have a very good story without it.  The use of fun colors and "silly" skeletons in the movie's fight sequences helped off-set the "scariness" of the suspense--an effort I very much appreciate--and a bit more fun than an attack in a dark and smelly place.  (Although a dark and smelly place helps make the scariness and danger all the more "real".)  So, it really depends on what you're striving for--and I like movies and stories I can just enjoy.

I thought the movie did a great job with that house!  And I was glad they pretty much kept all the characters in in one way or another.

Favorite parts?  The first meal Jake has at Miss Peregrine's house, Miss Peregrine's costume, the skeleton fight scene, and when the boat emerged "topside".  None of the scenes are in a "re-watch over and over" sort of way, but the ones I enjoyed most in the movie.

Monday, May 2, 2016

"1000 to 1: The Cory Weissman Story" (2014)

At the beginning of this, I thought, "I'll just watch a little bit."  Then it became a little bit more, until I found I'd watched the whole thing.  This movie is based on a real story.  There are some pretty classy people out there.

I thought this movie was well done.  It took what could've been a cliche approach to "another sports movie" or "another recovery story" and made the whole thing both adequately active, but also quite human.

There are some pretty classy people out there.




If you don't want to know how the movie ends, then stop reading here.


Just when I thought the movie had ended, there was another ending.  Then another ending.  And the photo shots of the real people were not done during the end credits, but before the end credits--as another ending.  I loved this three-part way of wrapping things up.  Worked very nicely.

Okay, four endings.  (I liked the ending so much, I had to watch it again.  I forgot about the basketballs.)

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" (2014)

Tricky business to make a long feature length film based around a battle and still make that battle interesting to watch.  I think this film does that well.  I'm also fairly satisfied with the adaptation to this concluding film to the Hobbit trilogy.

Well done.

(My first viewing was of the extended/director's cut version.)

(Pardon my shortness of this review.  It's no reflection of the movie.  I'm just a bit under the weather.)

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

"Secondhand Lions" (2003)

A friend talked me into giving this movie a try.  I read the back cover--maybe yes, maybe no.  So, I conceedingly watched it.

So glad I did.  This movie I highly recommend.

Turns out, this is a movie where the back cover write-up doesn't do it any justice.  And if you managed to do a write-up that does do it justice, it would sound trite and cliche--which this movie is definitely not.  This movie also doesn't neatly fit into any particular genre.  It has touching parts.  It has amusing parts.  And it has lots of interesting parts.  I liked this movie a lot.  It has a nice blend of things, and it had a good ending.

Well-done!


Tuesday, January 5, 2016

"Shrek the Third" (2007)

It was enjoyable.  (So hard to find movies with my sense of humor.)  I did find amusing the music humor where Snow White is singing to the trees and then attacks them--maybe because I'm a music person, maybe because music humor is under-done, maybe some of both.

It was worth the watch.  It was fine.  I liked seeing "how are these characters doing now."

Monday, January 4, 2016

"WALL-E" (2008)

I've unfortunately become a pretty hard sell for what makes an enjoyable movie, but I did enjoy watching this movie.  This movie had a nice blend of "I know this story line" and "I dunno.  What's going to happen next?"  And the transition in the end credits was well-done.  It answered my typical "and then what?" questions.  I was surprised that I'd get emotional over a robot, but not when I thought about it further.

The devil likes to say that we're all worthless "junk" infested with sin.  We so desperately want to know that we're worth something, just as we are, that I can see why seeing Wall-E fixed with junk, and it working, would be a touching moment.  It's what we all want inside--to know that "junky" us is worth something to somebody just as we are.  The Good News is that God Does love us for who we are because He created us.  We didn't evolve.  He knit us together and KNEW us before we were even born.  You can't see a "love us for who we are" any better than that.  And THAT'S why Wall-E's "fix" at the end is so satisfying.  We'd like to think that there is hope for all of us.  There is.

Of course, the line in the movie "I don't want to survive, I want to live" must be understood in the context of the movie.  It certainly is a completely different piece of the movie to reflect on.  And I'm not sure that it's a line that's going to get completely unpacked here--at least not today.

It is also intriguing that "art" (in the form of a musical number from Hello, Dolly) is part of the definition of "living"--at least for Wall-E.  He looks to that video/art as his inspiration for "how am I suppose to 'live' my days?"

Two completely incongruent messages that yet fit together within this movie and in further dialogue with each other.  That dialogue is worth spending some time on.  And the movie was an enjoyable one to watch.

Sunday, January 3, 2016

"No Time for Sergeants" (1958)

Humor from a time gone by--the "fool" who makes fools of everybody else but himself.  It was interesting enough to watch (as usual, not my type of humor); however, I did laugh at the very, very end, right as the credits rolled.

I remember seeing scene where the toilets pop up from a loooong time ago when I was a kid; so, it must have been on the TV once back then.

Starring Andy Griffith.  One scene had Don Knotts in it.