Published February 14th, 2009 at 3:21 pm. Updated January 16th, 2012 at 5:57 pm.
- Thank You For Smoking – A little meh. Maybe because we watched a bunch of good ones in a row.
- Up In The Air – SO good.
- Despicable Me – Very cute. Liked it a lot, but since we watched the very next night after How To Train Your Dragon, it didn’t measure up.
- How To Train Your Dragon – Fantastic movie. I love love LOVED it.
- Wall-E – I love Pixar.
- Network – Good. As expected. Made us both cringe a little at our own soulless lives.
- Pirates of the Caribbean 3 – OhmygodBAD. I had no idea what was happening or why throughout most of the movie. And on top of that, it was LONG.
- Thor – Entertaining, but not particularly good. Thor (the actor – can’t think of his name) reminded me of Heath Ledger. And Brad Pitt. Made it worth watching.
- Tron: Legacy – So bad. The effects were fine, but the plot was AWFUL. There wasn’t one. And the CGI Jeff Bridges was creepy.
- The Young Victoria – So good.
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I – I can’t be objective about Harry Potter. Love it. I think Emma Watson was the best part of this one, though. Her scene at the very beginning was really good.
- Away We Go – I loved this movie. The main characters really like each other. They love each other and they don’t bicker and fight like movie couples always do. It was really nice, and real, and funny, and I really liked it.
- The Men Who Stare at Goats – Very weird. Funny, I think good, very strange. Even if very strange turns you off, watch it for Ewan MacGregor and George Clooney. Totally worth it for them (and for me, worth it for the story, too. I don’t want you to think I didn’t like it. I did.).
- The Power of One – Somehow I never saw this movie. Made me cry, made me hate Daniel Craig (a travesty), made me want to take the adorable little boy from the beginning home with me. Good movie.
- Hamlet 2 – SO weird and very funny. Painfully funny in the beginning, normally funny later. And I’m totally intimidated by/scared of Catherine Keener.
- Angels and Demons – Not good, not bad. Definitely a better movie than The Da Vinci Code.
- The Fountain – Terrible movie. It made no sense, was really slow to start, and never went anywhere. Honestly one of the worse movies I’ve ever seen.
- Public Enemies – Love Johnny Depp. Love Christian Bale. Wish there had more background, more character depth. Why are they the way they are? Of course, that would have made the movie 15 hours long instead of 8.
- Funny People – I’m not entirely sure how I felt about this movie. It was funny at times, sad at times, like watching a train wreck at times, but I’m happy to see Adam Sandler do something approximating real.
- Pirate Radio – Cool movie. Great music, lots of fun, lots of “hey, it’s THAT guy!”
- Annie – I love this movie. Fortunately, my niece does, too, so I got to see it while on vacation with a four-year-old.
- The Little Mermaid – I love this movie. Fortunately, my niece does, too, so I got to see it while on vacation with a four-year-old.
- Up – I love this movie. Fortunately, my niece does, too, so I got to see it while on vacation with a four-year-old.
- Knight and Day – Man, we’re watching a lot of stupid but fun movies lately. The first half of this movie was great. I don’t like Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, but in the first half of this movie, they were hilarious and off the wall and I really liked it. The second wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good.
- Get Him to the Greek – Again, stupid but fun. Russell Brand is hilarious. But all that funny stuff in the previews? Not in the movie! So, yeah, we’ll have to watch it on DVD. I need to see those extra scenes.
- Robin Hood – Stupid, but fun. I mean, Marion leading a charge of orphan kids on ponies against a French army? Really? And surviving? Right. But it was enjoyable and I didn’t hate Russell Crowe in it.
- Star Trek - I’ve only seen one other Star Trek movie (the one with the whales), and I’ve really tried any of the series, but I really liked this movie. And now I’d consider watching the show.
- Clue – This one I could watch again and again. Parts of it, anyway. I mean, come on, they made a movie out of a board game and put Tim Curry in it. What’s not to love?
- Annie – I love this movie, but I DVRed off a channel that cut parts out (like most of the “Easy Street” sequence and the whole beginning of “Let’s Go To The Movies”) and then added a ton of commercials. It’s just as well as I was only listening to it while I re-shelved books.
- L.A. Story – I had vague memories of this, but I didn’t really remember it. I actually haven’t finished it yet. I feel like I should like it more than I do. I’m a little indifferent. There are things about it I really like, but not enough to care about the plot.
- The Last Castle – Totally enjoyable, but not a GOOD movie. We liked it, but the whole time we were like, “That would never happen.” and “Why would he do that and not this?” and “Come ON!”. Cool, but totally unrealistic.
- Adaptation – What a weird movie. I almost suggested turning it off in the first half hour (I was bored and it didn’t seem to be going anywhere), but it got better. Not great, and still weird, but it was moving.
- Sense and Sensibility – I only saw the last half or so the other night, but I love this movie and I cried (happy tears) at the end. Emma Thompson is fantastic. Love her.
- Avatar – We saw it in 3D, and I found that more distracting than engrossing. I enjoyed the movie, but all I could think about was how directly it matched up with Ferngully: The Last Rainforest.
- Casino Royale – Daniel Craig is hot. So is Eva Green. John and I decided we need to look like them. And this was a really good movie. Daniel Craig is my favorite James Bond.
- Grace is Gone – Depressing movie. It stars John Cusack, and I love him, but this movie was made to make people cry. It worked, but I didn’t like it.
- Julie and Julia – Watched it twice in about two weeks. I didn’t really like the Julie plotline, but I could have watched hours more of Meryl Streep as Julia Child. That part was really good.
- Love Actually – Great movie.
- Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day – What a nice movie. It was funny, it was sweet, and I cried happy tears at the end. I love Frances McDormand. Amy Adams, too, but this movie was about Frances McDormand.
- The Philadelphia Story – I really liked it. I like Katherine Hepburn, and I think she looked fantastic here (she was 33!). I’m not as crazy about James Stewart and Cary Grant in these roles, though. I like them both very much, in other movies, and I just didn’t see the character development. I think Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra did it better in High Society. Am I not supposed to say that?
- The Women – Not so good. It wasn’t terrible, and if it were on TV again and I had nothing else to do, I might watch it again. I’d like to see the original.
- Get Smart – It was okay. Sorta funny. I want to like Anne Hathaway more than I did in the movie. Steve Carell was worth it, though.
- Babe – Adorable. I can’t believe it took me this long to see it. Just SO cute! (And not in the same way Kung Fu Panda was cute. Better.)
- Kung Fu Panda – Cute. I watched it while babysitting, so I probably missed some of the jokes, but what I saw was cute.
- Untraceable – Meh. Entertaining, but not nearly as suspenseful as it was gross. I like Diane Lane, but I don’t think she should be in a thriller. But I did like Colin Hanks in it. I think the movie might have been better if we’d spent more time, earlier in the movie, with the killer.
- Ghost Town – Not bad. I laughed out loud maybe twice, both times at something Greg Kinnear said about Billy Campbell. And I still like Tea Leoni. I’m not so sure I like her, but I like the way she looks.
- Marley & Me – Awful. Okay, not awful, but really not good. Train your dog!
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – I love Harry Potter.
- Mamma Mia! – So bad. It was kind of fun to watch the actors sing and dance, but mostly, it was just bad. I don’t know enough ABBA songs to make even that part entertaining.
- Burn After Reading – Funny. And weird. I think John liked it more than I did. I really enjoyed watching Brad Pitt (I could end the sentence there and it would still be true) act like an airhead.
- The Hangover – I laughed my ass off. End of story.
- 10 Things I Hate About You - Teen movie based on The Taming of the Shrew. I like it. Watched it while babysitting Colin.
- In America – Very sweet movie. The younger daughter is possibly the cutest little girl I have ever seen.
- The Devil Wears Prada – Love the clothes, hate the plot.
- The Jane Austen Book Club – I liked the movie better than the book, actually. It was cute. I remember feeling very meh about the book.
- Atonement – It was really good. It was. I’m not sure I liked it. And I feel the same way about the book. From what I remember, the movie was very true to the book.
- Enchanted – This one I really enjoyed. It’s funny, and I loved the big musical number, and James Marsden is hilarious. I’m making a list of Amy Adams movies so I can watch them all. Patrick Dempsey is nice to look at, but I don’t think he really added anything. I mean, his character was important, but it could have been anyone. And Susan Sarandon is a great evil witch. Even as a cartoon.
- Be Kind, Rewind – Much funnier than I was expecting. I like Jack Black most of the time, but I don’t always laugh. Match him with Mos Def (who I think I really like), and I laughed a lot. I knew the basic premise (movies get erased, so they shoot their own versions), but I didn’t know how the story really went. I really liked it.
- Girl, Interrupted – I feel like there was a lot missing from this movie. And since it’s based on a book, that’s probably true. I don’t care enough about the story or the characters to go read the book, though. And I’m not convinced Angelina Jolie deserved an Oscar for this, but what do I know?
- Watchmen – I can’t judge this movie fairly. Not because I feel strongly about it one way or another. I don’t. But I can’t tell if this movie made sense as a movie. I’ve read the graphic novel, so I can fill in any blanks, any holes there may have been if things were left out. I haven’t read the novel that recently, though, so I’m not even sure if there were any holes to fill. Anyway, I wasn’t crazy about the story when I read it. I think it makes a pretty good movie (I tend to like watching comic book movies much more than reading comic books), but again, since I can’t judge the movie on its own (without the book in my head), I’m not sure. I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it. And my goodness, it was gory.
- Body of Lies – Not so good. The ending pretty much sucks. Very disappointing. But the whole movie is a bit disjointed, and I see very little point in the Russell Crowe character. He didn’t really need to be in the movie at all. So I wouldn’t recommend it.
- Definitely, Maybe – I watched this by myself the other day. As far as I could tell, Ryan Reynolds had only done really stupid, really awful movies (like Van Wilder). To be fair, I hadn’t seen him in any movie until this one, but the previews always made those movies look terrible. But I like romantic comedies, and this one has Abigail Breslin (as his daughter) and Rachel Weisz, so I thought I’d give it a try. It was cute. Different than your standard romantic comedy, and while it was obvious who he was going to end up with, it wasn’t obvious how that was going to happen. The main point, for me anyway, is that I don’t hate the sight of Ryan Reynolds anymore. He was actually pretty good in this.
- Almost Famous – This is one of John’s favorite movies. I think there’s a lot of wish fulfillment in his choice.
I really like this movie, but I keep getting distracted by mundane questions. Like, how old are these groupies? Don’t they have parents or families? How can they afford to do what they’re doing?
- Say Anything – Great movie. I watched most of it the other day. I just get madder and madder at her dad! And, like I may have mentioned before, I love John Cusack. (I almost wrote “I love Lloyd Dobler.” Which is not untrue, actually.)
- The Remains of the Day – The more I think about it, the more I like this movie. It was quiet, a little slow, and we really weren’t sure where it was going, but I can watch Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins all day, and I loved them together. It was also really cool to see Christopher Reeve, post-Superman, pre-accident.
- Dirty Dancing – Well, it was on TV and I couldn’t resist. Dad told me once that it’s one of his favorite movies. Of course, that was years ago, so I don’t know if he still feels that way. I remember watching it at CORTRAMID with a bunch of other midshipman girls. I can’t watch the scene where Baby goes to Johnny’s cabin (right before she sleeps with him the first time) without hearing one of them squeal in jealousy, “Oh my god, she touched his butt!”
- Groundhog Day – I really can’t stand Andie MacDowell (I think it’s the way she talks. And she thinks she’s way hotter than she is.), but I LOVE this movie. If it’s on TV, I will watch it to the end, no matter what part was on when I found it.
- Waitress – I need to own this one. I was a little surprised by how much I liked it. I’m not sure what I was expecting, or why I was so surprised. I just really liked it. Quirky, funny, and it’s made me keep an eye out for other Keri Russell movies.
- Last Chance Harvey – You already know how I feel about Emma Thompson. She didn’t disappoint. And your heart just breaks for Dustin Hoffman early on. I really like this movie. Another quietly funny, quietly good movie.
- The Golden Compass – Don’t bother seeing the movie if you haven’t read the book. But do go read the book (and the other two in the trilogy). If you have read the books, it’s kind of neat to see some of the action on the big screen, but they had to cut so much out that the movie seems to miss the point.
- Twilight – Ugh. Don’t. Just don’t. But have you seen Kristen Stewart’s appearance on Letterman? She’s either stupid or she was high. Or both. It’s pretty entertaining. In a painful way.