Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Christmas Day Movie Marathon

Christmas has come and gone - thank goodness! I think I've started an internal clock as to when to take down the tree. I would have done it today but nooo - I had to watch these movies and eat all...day...long.

So here we go with what was seen.

The Way We Were
Amazingly enough, I had never seen this Redford/Streisand classic about a couple's love story. I knew the story, but had not sat through a viewing of the film. Recently, I saw an episode of Sex and The City where the girls are talking about the movie and it piqued my interest to actually make the effort to watch it. Thank the lords for Netflix and their Watch Instantly program. I liked the movie a lot and I'm short of saying that I loved it.

Stranger Than Fiction
What an entertaining movie this is. Will Farrell plays Harold Crick, an IRS auditor, who starts hearing a voice in his head narrating his actions. The voice, as it turns out, is Emma Thompson who is writing a book about Farrell's character. Things get kicked into high gear when Harold hears the author say that his death is imminent and starts trying to figure out who the author is to try to prevent his doom. The movie is really good and is cute when it comes to the love story between Harold and the baker. I was surprised with the talent on this cast (Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, and Maggie Gyllenhaal) and the witty writing. Highly recommended.

Notes On A Scandal
First of all, the acting of the two leading ladies in this film is superb. The story moves along rather well and gives enough suspense to make you nervous for the characters of the film. Its amazing how some movies can pick up on the nuances of human behavior. I swear, Dame Judi Dench has really really scared me. And that scene where she's trying to force Cate Blanchett's character to choose between her and Cate's family was just amazing. They both do a good job of conveying their sides of the friendship and you feel sorry for Dench's character but you also know better since you know she's pulling all these puppet strings.

Amazingly enough, I got three good movies in! Now I have to hit the theaters and catch up on some flicks on the big screen.

Things to see:
National Treasure 2 - yes, I know, I heard it sucked but I hate to admit I really liked the first one so I have to see this one.
Juno - Seems like its the Miss Little Sunshine of this year.
Charlie Wilson's War - I'm such a sucker for Aaron Sorkin's writing.
Walk Hard - Its John C. Reilly for goodness sake!
The Savages - looks good, its all I got.
P.S. I Love You - I know it doesn't look good, but I can't help it! I should just read the book instead.

2 comments:

Ellen said...

Although many of my friends were disappointed with Stranger Than Fiction, I, like you, was pleasantly surprised with the movie. I thought that the premise of the movie was extremely interesting. Because the movie plotline is pretty unbelieveable, the movie could have easily been a disaster. But the oustanding acting by Will Ferrel, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Emma Thompson, among others, saved the day and made the movie quite enjoyeable and endearing.

Melissa is... said...

My mom liked it a lot as well but my dad, not so much. Apparently there weren't enough car chases and explosions worked into the storyline for him.