Plate o' Shrimp

Next in the series of my favorite movies, which I happened to catch on TV the other night: Repo Man. Very 80s, and looking a bit dated these days, but still pretty funny in its odd way. I always got a kick out of Miller's rants, e.g.

A lot o' people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch o' unconnected incidents 'n things. They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice o' coincidence that lays on top o' everything. Give you an example, show you what I mean: suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, "plate," or "shrimp," or "plate o' shrimp" out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness.

I'm not quite sure how that applies to my life currently, as it seems like the giant cosmic plate o' shrimp has been dumped all over our heads. But maybe we're just working our way through the lattice of coincidence and will soon come out into the daylight...

Slumdog Millionaire

This was the first movie that Candice and I saw together since Juliet was born, over five years ago. We've both been to movies separately, but for some reason not together since then....wow.

It was entertaining and engaging, but not a masterpiece. Candice said it gave her a headache because it was too loud and frenetic. I liked it, but I don't think it will get (or deserves) the Oscar for best picture, though it was nominated.

The Big Lebowski

For no particular reason, I was thinking about this movie. It is one of my favorites, from the Cohen brothers, who have made LOTS of great movies. But this one is just so quirky and funny. The Dude Abides, indeed.

I guess I just sometimes wish I were The Dude, takin 'er easy for all of us sinners, as the man said. Well, I'm not, and I have a real life with responsibilities (some of whom I love more than life itself!) but I can drink White Russians, and relax in other Duderific ways and laugh at this crazy Chandleresque burlesque....

Wall-E

Fun family movie. My 4 1/2 year old daughter liked it, though a lot of it was over her head. Nothing too scary for her, though. A robot love story wrapped in a cautionary tale about over-consumption and eco-catastrophe. With a happy ending of course.

Hellboy II

Went to see this one on opening night, at our local theater. Good fun from Guillermo del Toro, who directed the first Hellboy movie, as well as Pan's Labyrinth. Really good special effects, and good performances from Ron Perlman, et. al. All in all, a fun summer flick.

I Am Legend

When I was younger, I loved "The Omega Man" and even Vincent Price in "The Last Man On Earth." I mean, come on, Vincent Price as the last human fighting against vampires...what's not to love? But they are all film versions of Richard Matheson's novel, "I Am Legend." The Will Smith movie is pretty good, basically an updated Omega Man, with few aspects of the novel or the first film.

Night of the Living Dead, 28 Weeks, et. al. all owe to this story. Will Smith is very good, and the special effects are good. Everything is CG, which is fairly obvious and makes it a bit less realistic. But still scary enough.

Gladiator

Happened to catch the Ridley Scott film again the other day.  Really a well-made film, despite its historical inaccuracies.  I'm realizing that he has made some excellent films, including Alien, Blade Runner, Black Hawk Down, The Duelists, and so on.  Just a very well-made film, with good acting from Russel Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix.

Horton Hears a Who

Very entertaining 3D animated kids movie, based on the Dr. Seuss classic. Well voiced by Steve Carrel and Jim Carrey. Fun for the whole family, as they say...Juliet loved it and so did Candice and I.

Beowulf

The Robert Zemeckis film, based on one of the oldest stories in English literature.   Screenplay, I noticed, credited Neil Gaiman of Sandman fame.

I found the whole motion-capture computer animation thing to be a bit disconcerting.  Like it wasn't real, even the mundane parts with no special effects.

The dragon was good, I have to admit...and Angelina Jolie was very good as Grendel's mother.  But overall not much better than the somewhat more low-budget "Beowulf and Grendel".