well, some of you already know i am on a summer movie marathon. it is all a little wacky and so out of character because i am seriously a person who does not have extra time to be watching movies! if i hadn’t said i’d do it, i probably would have only watched 2 movies by now. plus, we have a friend living in our basement & she is a movie-lover like me so she keeps me on task, hahaha. there really is something so great about intentionally escaping now and then. anyway, i slowed down a bit after my two weeks out of the chute on memorial day but i am trying to find time here and there to chill for a couple of hours & soak in some good ones. i thought i’d catch you up on what i’ve been watching; i always say that the carnival is sometimes like drinking water from a firehose, just a little too intense all the time! (i am not so good at little posts here and there) so here’s to a little refreshment break. this is what i have watched since the last time i posted, kind of a funky mix:
becoming jane– it took me a while but then it really grew on me. i was so mad at the end, though. i won’t give it away but i couldn’t believe what a dumb move that was…
27 dresses – just good sweet fun. a romantic comedy now and then is always worth it.
the sentinel – i like political thrillers and the twists & turns. plus, kiefer sutherland is always good.
the guardian – we all really liked it! jose was able to pull off that one & we all got into it. a little on the perfect storm & abyss side of things. it is fun because right after we saw it we found out the son of an old friend just joined the navy to be an air rescue swimmer.
mad money – we all thought this was so funny, the kids could watch it too & it was just sweet and funny. our favorite line was from katie holmes husband in the movie, a kind but not so smart guy: “i want a lawyer–L-A-Y-E-R.” for some dumb reason we all think that is so funny.
firewall – just another good suspenseful rental. harrison ford’s always good.
the namesake – everyone got mad at me on my choice for this one. they tried to hang with it but i had to agree, it just didn’t cut it. it was a bummer because the previews looked so good & i read the book and love indian culture. it wasn’t quite sure of what it should be–artsy or mainstream–and so it missed the mark. my older two kids watched it and they kept joking that his name was “google” and the sister’s name was “yahoo.”
grace is gone – sad and simple and it really lingers. i love john cusack and he is in a totally different role here. sundance film festival something or other. i liked it but don’t look for happy or neat & tidy.
the savages – my movie partners get a little annoyed with me, all my downer movies (i get teased all the time about this!) but i really like realistic & this one hit it in terms of awkward & tricky family dynamics. laura linney and phillip seymour hoffman were great as brother & sister and all of the issues surrounding taking care of their sick father. painful to watch but well done.
charlie wilson’s war – i am glad i saw it but it was so painful to see the back story of how these things go down politically, and we kept saying “yep, this really happens.” the washington insider sex stuff bugged me, too. ick.
waitress – i had seen this in the theater way back when it first came out & loved it. so simple & sweet & powerful. i watched it with julia, she’s 14. there are a few things of course that aren’t for kids theme-wise but she is wise enough to handle it and the redemption is so there. the fun part was afterward she looked up the pie recipes online and made us the “falling in love chocolate mousse pie” for after our house of refuge. it was amazing, like really really good!
the italian job – i’ve seen this a few times before but we watched it again. such a great heist movie, so well done. i am a mark wahlberg fan for sure.
charlie bartlett – oh i liked this one. we saw the preview when we saw “once” and it made me want to see it. sort of like an updated ferris bueller’s day off. the prescription drug scene with the kids, of course not to be made glamorous by any means, but that so wasn’t the big idea. just another reminder that everyone needs someone to talk to & listen to them.
michael – probably funnier 12 years ago when it first came out but there is something so charming about the messed up smoking angel…
definitely, maybe – well i could have done without this romantic comedy. it was okay, not terrible or anything but just didn’t go anywhere. i liked isla fisher, though.
made of honor – julia and i went with our basement roommate to our $2.00 theater to see this. we laughed, just your basic romantic comedy with some funny moments. the glow-in-the-dark-thunder-beads on grandma really was the highlight.
the final season – good sappy family baseball movie based on a true story of an iowa high school baseball team. i love samwise gamgee from lord of the rings (sean astin) and he was the lead in a simple, not stellar movie that made us all cry at the end. we watched it together on july 5th, the day after the kiddos watched the sandlot (our fav!), and i am glad we stuck with (at first we were like, is this going to be dumb, but it wasn’t). remember, we have 4 boys in our house who fight over the sports page every morning (well, make that 5 with jose) so we like these kinds of stories. jose was able to catch this one with us, too, so that always makes me happy.
rendition – good drama, and i always like it when someone takes it for the team to make an injustice right. it had some good twists & turns and had me on the edge of my seat going “i wonder how this is going to really go down?”
hancock – i went with a few friends & julia to see this in the theater july 4th weekend. love will smith & of course a horribly flawed superhero is my favorite. there were some things that i was like “why did it have to be like that?” but i am glad we saw it. we laughed and escaped and that’s why i go to the movies!
whew, that is a lot (kind of embarrassing?) 29 movies since memorial day. this week i have a lot going on so it’ll be a light week, maybe just 1 or 2. i have city of God & gandhi (but that one is 3 hours & of course no one wants to watch it with me!). and the visitor & get smart are my next theater ones. well, thanks for all the recommendations last time, too. my “to see” list is long! thanks for sharing in the fun…