I've stopped reading/listening to movie reviews until after I've seen the film so I view it on its own merits rather than someone else's. Still, since I watch about everything through Netflix, by the time the movie comes, I've heard about it. I heard only bad things about All About Steve and was expecting terrible.
This movie comes under the genre of Silly. But for a silly movie it was delightful and for the life of me, I can't figure out what the critics were bitching about. The movie allows us to look at people we would consider "peculiar" and empathize with them. Sandra Bullock plays a girl who is too smart for her own good, she is book intelligent but socially naive.
I'm thinking it was because Ms. Bullock played a different role than her usual fare such as in The Proposal or Two Weeks Notice. If you like the comedy/romance genre, you will probably enjoy Proposal. Betty White is especially funny in the movie.
Back to All About Steve, my significant other said he could see very well why the critics didn't like the movie: it was stupid. Of course, he says that about almost everything, so take that with a grain of salt.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Movie: Frailty
When I ordered this movie, it seemed like maybe I had seen it before. Turns out, I had, but I couldn't remember one single thing about it -- nothing stuck in my head including the ending. So, since I didn't know what was going to happen, I watched it again.
You know, that was a pretty good movie. It stared Matthew McConaughey back before he was a drop-dead gorgeous hunk, in this movie he's just a nice-looking hunk.
This movie is just the right amount of creepy. There is not a lot of blood in this movie, which proves my point blood and gore are gross and don't add to the fear intensity of a good thriller. There's violence and murder, but you don't see the stabbing and the blood spurting out and the guts all over the floor, and the movie is still intense.
As I recall, watching it the first time, it was kind of hard to understand. This time -- I'm no genius here -- I got it. Overall, however, it is not worth two viewings, but if you like tales of murder and woe, grab some popcorn and enjoy.
You know, that was a pretty good movie. It stared Matthew McConaughey back before he was a drop-dead gorgeous hunk, in this movie he's just a nice-looking hunk.
This movie is just the right amount of creepy. There is not a lot of blood in this movie, which proves my point blood and gore are gross and don't add to the fear intensity of a good thriller. There's violence and murder, but you don't see the stabbing and the blood spurting out and the guts all over the floor, and the movie is still intense.
As I recall, watching it the first time, it was kind of hard to understand. This time -- I'm no genius here -- I got it. Overall, however, it is not worth two viewings, but if you like tales of murder and woe, grab some popcorn and enjoy.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Movie: Inglourious Basterds
When trying to think of something to say about the movie Inglourious Basterds, the phrase: worst movie of the year comes to mind. Chapter 1, is quite good and lulls you into thinking the rest of the movie will only get better. Quite the deception. After watching the film for over an hour, I wondered when and if it would ever end, looked on the Netflix cover to find it was a two and half hour movie. In my opinion the movie was two hours and fifteen minutes too long.
One scene was so long and tedious I fast forwarded. Since most of the movie has sub-titles and I am a fast reader, I was able to fast forward until the end, then put it on regular speed and finished it off before midnight.
In the movie, Brad Pitt played himself as a doofus. Whenever I see Brad Pitt in a movie or on a tabloid, I always ask myself this question: How is this guy supposed to be God's gift to women and what does Angelina Jolie see in him? Okay, 2 questions. AJ was married to the multi-talented and handsome Billy Bob Thornton, and then she settles for a doofus. I do not get it. But then I don't go for pretty boys. I go for really, really smart guys. When I hear a guy talking about his 2 PhD's and work as a nuclear physicist, whew, I'm hot. I don't care if he has beady eyes and pop bottle glasses, umm, baby.
One scene was so long and tedious I fast forwarded. Since most of the movie has sub-titles and I am a fast reader, I was able to fast forward until the end, then put it on regular speed and finished it off before midnight.
In the movie, Brad Pitt played himself as a doofus. Whenever I see Brad Pitt in a movie or on a tabloid, I always ask myself this question: How is this guy supposed to be God's gift to women and what does Angelina Jolie see in him? Okay, 2 questions. AJ was married to the multi-talented and handsome Billy Bob Thornton, and then she settles for a doofus. I do not get it. But then I don't go for pretty boys. I go for really, really smart guys. When I hear a guy talking about his 2 PhD's and work as a nuclear physicist, whew, I'm hot. I don't care if he has beady eyes and pop bottle glasses, umm, baby.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Movie: Julie and Julia
How does one review a movie that was enjoyed, but not immensely? It's easier to review something you either passionately hate or passionately love, but most of the movies deliver neither. This movie was okay and you don't have to like cooking or even French food to watch it. Meryl Streep, as usual, gave a superb performance.
What the movie did not do was inspire me to buy either Julia Child's cookbook or to read Julie's blog. But then, I don't cook.
There's a reason for that.
Nobody eats what I cook. Oh, a lot of times it tastes okay, but there is always a missing ingredient to my recipes -- love. It's just not there. Cooking for me is a chore and apparently a chore for anyone who happens to eat what I prepared. Ask husband number 1 who took my hard cooked dinner and threw it on the floor screaming: You expect me to eat this shit! Ask husband number 2 who did the exact same thing. But I do learn from my mistakes. No more marriages and no more cooking.
My honey-bunny has to take us out to eat 2 times a day, or prepare food himself, which he refuses to do, so we eat out all the time. We should get some kind of award for eating out the more than anybody in the world. What's worse, we live in Huntsville, Alabama and the restaurant offerings are terrible here. Just terrible. They over-salt everything. We found a really good Indian restaurant and it went out of business because the food was spicy, delicious and authentic. Now we're stuck with the other Indian restaurant that serves on its all you can eat lunch buffet: fried okra. Their food is also bland and over-salted. There are 3 Thai restaurants in town and only one is worth patronizing. Unfortunately for us, they are on the other side of town and pricey, pricey, pricey. When I lived in the San Francisco Bay area, we could get great Pad Se Eu just down the street for $8.95. In Huntsville for the same dish, almost as tasty, we pay $12.95.
Oh, and one time I was asking my neighbor where to go for a salad bar, and she didn't know what a salad bar was, had to think a minute, and then suggested a couple of greasy spoon buffets -- both dirty, both with over-cooked vegetables and lots and lots of fried.
Even though we eat out all the time, we try and eat healthy -- which here in the deep south is an oxymoron; and sometimes I would actually like to learn to cook. Occasionally, I'll go to the Farmer's Market and load up on Amish veggies, which is wonderful -- but I have no clue what to do with them. There's no way I'm going to flour up anything and fry it. There just has to be a better way.
In the meantime, we have reservations at 7.
What the movie did not do was inspire me to buy either Julia Child's cookbook or to read Julie's blog. But then, I don't cook.
There's a reason for that.
Nobody eats what I cook. Oh, a lot of times it tastes okay, but there is always a missing ingredient to my recipes -- love. It's just not there. Cooking for me is a chore and apparently a chore for anyone who happens to eat what I prepared. Ask husband number 1 who took my hard cooked dinner and threw it on the floor screaming: You expect me to eat this shit! Ask husband number 2 who did the exact same thing. But I do learn from my mistakes. No more marriages and no more cooking.
My honey-bunny has to take us out to eat 2 times a day, or prepare food himself, which he refuses to do, so we eat out all the time. We should get some kind of award for eating out the more than anybody in the world. What's worse, we live in Huntsville, Alabama and the restaurant offerings are terrible here. Just terrible. They over-salt everything. We found a really good Indian restaurant and it went out of business because the food was spicy, delicious and authentic. Now we're stuck with the other Indian restaurant that serves on its all you can eat lunch buffet: fried okra. Their food is also bland and over-salted. There are 3 Thai restaurants in town and only one is worth patronizing. Unfortunately for us, they are on the other side of town and pricey, pricey, pricey. When I lived in the San Francisco Bay area, we could get great Pad Se Eu just down the street for $8.95. In Huntsville for the same dish, almost as tasty, we pay $12.95.
Oh, and one time I was asking my neighbor where to go for a salad bar, and she didn't know what a salad bar was, had to think a minute, and then suggested a couple of greasy spoon buffets -- both dirty, both with over-cooked vegetables and lots and lots of fried.
Even though we eat out all the time, we try and eat healthy -- which here in the deep south is an oxymoron; and sometimes I would actually like to learn to cook. Occasionally, I'll go to the Farmer's Market and load up on Amish veggies, which is wonderful -- but I have no clue what to do with them. There's no way I'm going to flour up anything and fry it. There just has to be a better way.
In the meantime, we have reservations at 7.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Television: Dexter
John Lithgow is one of my favorite actors and I follow him on Twitter. When I found out he was playing a bad guy in Dexter, I quick, put Dexter Season 1 on my Netflix queue and put the first CD all the way to the top.
I'm sort of anal, and I couldn't just start watching Season 4 of Dexter without seeing every single episode of every single season. A couple of days later Dexter arrived, and I was all excited because this is my genre. It turned out to be mind-numbing and terrible. There was too much blood and death, there's a lot of death in 24 but not so much blood. Yes, I know it's fake blood, but it is still icky. What's more, Dexter is just okay looking, but he's not very interesting to look at -- and he's a psychopath and has no emotion. Playing an emotionless person doesn't lend itself to a lot of drama. Yet, Data in Star Trek Next Generation was a android without emotion and he pulled it off. He became one of the most interesting characters in the show. Dexter is not an interesting character. Yet he's doing very interesting things and people around him are interesting...and I do want to see John Lithgow. Hmm.
So I'm in this anal-retentive quandary. Do I skip all the seasons and go ahead to Season 4 and just watch Lithgow; all the while intensely bothered about all the shows I missed? Or do I sit through and watch the gory details of each episode and hope like hell the show gets better? Any suggestions from anyone out there who on some slim chance is reading this blog because hell froze over?
I'm sort of anal, and I couldn't just start watching Season 4 of Dexter without seeing every single episode of every single season. A couple of days later Dexter arrived, and I was all excited because this is my genre. It turned out to be mind-numbing and terrible. There was too much blood and death, there's a lot of death in 24 but not so much blood. Yes, I know it's fake blood, but it is still icky. What's more, Dexter is just okay looking, but he's not very interesting to look at -- and he's a psychopath and has no emotion. Playing an emotionless person doesn't lend itself to a lot of drama. Yet, Data in Star Trek Next Generation was a android without emotion and he pulled it off. He became one of the most interesting characters in the show. Dexter is not an interesting character. Yet he's doing very interesting things and people around him are interesting...and I do want to see John Lithgow. Hmm.
So I'm in this anal-retentive quandary. Do I skip all the seasons and go ahead to Season 4 and just watch Lithgow; all the while intensely bothered about all the shows I missed? Or do I sit through and watch the gory details of each episode and hope like hell the show gets better? Any suggestions from anyone out there who on some slim chance is reading this blog because hell froze over?
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