So last night I ended up watching Thin. On some level I guess I wanted to see some of the motivation for someone punishing their body like this. There are so many extremes in the US as you have the overweight population that cannot grasp the anorexic folks – and then these people that binge and purge and have a terrible self body image. The troubling one to me in all this was the young 30yo divorced mother with two young kids. She talks a great game but inside there are far deeper issues at play. The one twin, to me, had HUGE twin issues beyond just body image. Her parents split and there is obvious animosity growing there with Mom in Utah. In the end, I did not learn a great deal here, but echoed the twins sentiment that she should just ‘get over it’ and on with her life. Food should NOT be the defining moment in any day, three times a day. It’s fuel to let you do other things. And the little 15yo who just wants to die – well why not just take your own life rather than starving yourself to death – with everyone watching? Can we say Attention Whore?! Not much sympathy from me as you can tell. As a movie, I can’t recommend it.
June 26th, 2007
I rented The Last King of Scotland this weekend and The Good German. Ex-wife wanted to see German. I have not seen it yet as I watched Last King instead. I enjoyed the movie. It had some fun moments, but was also a scary look inside an oppressive regime. You wonder when the people of Africa are even going to get the kind of leadership that they really need, rather than maniacs who take power by force, steal from the people and then get overthrown. It’s a vicious cycle. I had not realized that Amin was British trained and supported. Much like Hussein was trained and backed by the US. It must be hard however dealing with someone so powerful and yet so volatile. You are constantly walking on eggshells wondering when he would blow up – or just decide to put a bullet in your head. The good doctor was lured in by the power (and the car) and overlooked some of the scarier aspects of the personality. I thought that Whitakker did a great job. It was good to see Gillian Anderson in movie again, that didn’t revolve around aliens. She was good too. And the young doctor should probably try to not let his little head make decisions that he cannot back up. What a foolish thing to do with one of Amin’s wives, even if she is out of favour. I did enjoy the bedroom scene with the gas and releasing of gas. Unlike some commentary I did not feel sympathetic to Amin. I guess he was always surrounded by sharks, but that’s the life that you choose when you take over power by force. A thumb’s up for me. I was impressed by the performance and feel it was justified for the Oscar. He’s a better actor than what he did on ER to be sure.
I had noted Anderson’s name in the credits and wondered when I would see her. It didn’t take long as she was right at the beginning when he arrives (that would be after he bangs the girl from the bus of course). Anyway, I had hoped that she would have a larger part, but she did not. She had done a few things outside X-files, notably the period piece House of Mirth which was pretty dark itself. Anyway I enjoyed the film.
June 5th, 2007
Finally, I am not sure whether I told you that I saw Invincible or not. It was okay. More down-in-the-dumps guys getting a chance to live their life in pro sports (like the Rookie, or Rocky or other stories like this). It’s filled with clichés and standard storylines with nothing really to add to it. The female lead is the ‘dirty girl’ from 40 YO Virgin who worked at the bookstore and had fun in the bathtub. Not much else to say about it. I have re-visited DaVinci Code again this month and I like it more upon viewing it a second time. Yes, Tom Hanks is not right for the role, and I would have liked a prettier Sofie, but I do like the scenes of Paris, and the shots in the Louvre as well as Westminster Abbey. As I was there a year ago, it brought back fond memories. I do like the story, and wonder about all this making Jesus a God stuff, rather than just a man with great ideas. There’s no denying the oppression of women and the desire of the church to maintain full control. But does Sofie have to be the last in the line? I don’t know. I did watch Cars again, and do not like Owen Wilson at all. I had only hoped that they would put an elongated crooked nose on the car to make it more lifelike. And I did catch the early part of Something About Mary the other night and laughed my ass off again. I love that movie. The scene at Mary’s house with the baseball and the zipper is priceless. Matt Dillon is great too….
May 28th, 2007
Friday I took the kids to see Shrek 3. I had considered Pirates Of The Caribbean 3, but with a 2:45 running time I didn’t want them home at midnight. Shrek was okay, but nothing to write home about or rush to go see. Like most trilogies it loses its steam for creative new ideas. Instead of fresh and interesting, you have familiar and rehashing. The Pinocchio bit which has been a commercial was very good. Where was the Fairy Godmother?! In many ways I see the actors milking it and not putting in their best effort. It’s a story that is looking for a direction, and a tone. In what could have been a more touching moment of loss, instead there are jokes (or apparent jokes) made that had my audience laughing when they could have been sad. Too bad really. I am also not a Justin Timberlake fan, and see no reason to have him as a potential ruler of the kingdom. I kept looking for the tie in with the story of Arthur (as I know it) and it was not a good tie in. Is there Excalibur there? I dunno.
“You should start a blog”….
Update January 30th, 2019:
I have added a Search Window on the Sidebar (=========> ) to allow for previous Reviews to be found. It took a while to figure out how to add this feature which to me is necessary for anyone looking to see what any thoughts have been for something that they wish to watch. You will note that there are multiple entries for many movies.
I hope this makes the reviews more accessible and available for those visiting. Happy movie watching!
Original Posting:
Thanks for joining me! For many years I have been sharing movie reviews with my good friend Alison. What started out as Monday water cooler discussions on what films we saw (we seemed to see movies often) then turned into emails. She moved from her job. I moved from mine, but we still kept in contact.
The reviews have been been shared with others over time, but the beginnings remain the same. When I review, the email was addressed to Alison, and then others were added.
So here I am. After much thought, the idea of sharing the movie reviews over time has finally taken shape.
I must early on make a shout out to the late, great, Pulitzer prize winning reviewer Roger Ebert, from the Chicago Sun Times. I depended on Roger and his reviews, and his TV show At The Movies with Gene Siskel. Now I didn’t always agree with Roger and his reviews, but I would read and enjoy how he viewed these films. It is not unusual for me to refer to him, or wonder what he would think about a particular film.
I am adding present reviews as some historical reviews as I find them. You will also see some more lengthy discussions about films as well (like discussions about Alien Covenant or Star Wars The Last Jedi).
These of course are all one man’s opinion. Nothing more, and nothing less. If it can save you from spending $13.99 on the latest film in the theatre, by avoiding a bad film (in my opinion) then great! If it opens up a level of discourse on a film and a debate – I have always enjoyed debating films (and other things).
Maggie Gyllenhaal at TIFF premiere of The Kindergarten Teacher
Mondays With Robbie 