Movies!
It’s been a long winter, and we’re not even to the end of the shortest month. LOTS of movies here at our house, with much fun because the boys are now 8 and 10, and able to watch and understand lots more.
School of Rock: kids were slow to like, but came around by end.
Place Beyond the Pines: surprised me multiple times. Good performances.
Coming to America: funny!
Back to the Future II with the kids. I’d never seen it. Nice interweaving of past and present.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit. with the kids. scene of dipping the squeaky shoe? Haunts me.
Beverly Hills Cop. Funny!
The Italian Job (NB: 1969 with Michael Caine) and with the kids. Stylish and fun.
Sound of Music with the kids. Nazi’s! Singing! They were reluctant, but came around, a common dynamic with films we pick.
Emma, with Paltrow. Jeremy Northam is not Knightley enough. Unimpressed.
Bubba Ho-Tep. Could see what they were going for, but didn’t quite make it. Kind of boring, actually.
John Carter of Mars with the kids. They loved it. 8yo went into TV watching pose, stretched out, hands on fists to see it better.
World War Z. Good zombie movie. Scared me. Peter Capaldi, the new Doctor Who, as a WHO doctor!
Cold Comfort Farm. Timeout said it was a failure, but I enjoyed it though not perhaps as much as the book. Kate Beckinsale before she became a plastic-surgery barbie doll. Rufus Sewell is hilarious. Strangely, Stephen Fry didn’t quite work for me as Mybug.
A Serious Man. by the Coen Brothers. The only movie of theirs I’ve disliked. Just didn’t get it.
ET with the kids. They loved it, and watching their delight was a joy. However, I still don’t like it, and am bothered by Spielberg’s cheap emotional button pushing, and the blatant Christian images.
Possession. Such a pale shadow of the book, but still, perhaps worth watching. Aaron Eckhardt is painfully miscast as Roland. Ben Whishaw would’ve been ideal.
Shrek with the kids. They loved it, I merely liked it and was annoyed with the pseudo hip soundtrack and can we never hear All Star by that band that was ubiqutous in the 90’s?
All the President’s Men. I love 70’s movies and this one was awesome.
National Velvet with the kids. Thought I’d seen it, but hadn’t. They were doubtful, but came around.
Red Balloon with the kids. Never seen it. Lovely. Funny.
Parallax View. Good, good, good, till it wasn’t.
The Conversation. Did I mention, I love 70’s movies? And Gene Hackman? And young Harrison Ford? And Cindy Williams in a dramatic role?
Fellowship of the Ring with the kids. I gave up halfway through. Forgot how much I disliked these Peter Jackson movies, with the paternalistic Gandalf, the bumbling hobbits, and the ridiculous female characters. Ugh. Not for me. The boys watched the entire too-long trilogy with my husband and they enjoyed it.
Blow Out by De Palma with Travolta. Entertaining, but over the top.
Blowup by Anonioni. sometimes dull and pretentious, but with arresting images and style.
Red. With my husband. More his thing than mine.
Friday Night Lights. Good, but not as good as the series.
Pacific Rim. Terribly clicheed story with impressive del Toro monsters. Gave up on the last half hour, and don’t regret it.
Hamlet, 1947 Olivier. Didn’t care for his precious, mannered performance. Fell asleep both nights. Oedipal Gertrude who was younger than Olivier. C’mon, people.
Hamlet at Elsinore, 1964, Christopher Plummer. Didn’t love his manic interpretation of the prince, but still liked more than Olivier, and really liked Michael Caine as Horatio. No oedipal Gertrude. Hamlet question: are productions either or gay Hamlet/Horatio vs. Oedipal Gertrude?
Shaun of the Dead. Funny. Gory.
Hot Fuzz. Funny. But overlong at the end.