movies movies movies

Movies I've watched recently...

The Beautician and the Beast- put this DVD in a few nights back (yeeeah, I own it on DVD) because I was trying to resist popping in yet another period drama/romance literary adaptation type movie...I get carried away with those. I think I've watched my DVDs of Northanger Abbey & Persuasion (the 2007 BBC productions) at least a dozen times each. Anyways, I was trying to ween myself off of that type fare but still wanted a romance. So I went with this. It is just as vapid as you're supposing, but it's an enjoyable enough way to wile away 102 minutes. It's The Nanny comes to Eastern Europe. Better than The Nanny, really, as there's not that wretched theme song, and Timothy Dalton is far more attractive than that Maxwell Sheffield fellah. Is it an indication of how thoroughly warped I am, that I find Fran Drescher charming? If I could vote for NY state senators, she'd SOO have my vote.

The Wedding Date-- this was on TNT the other night and I watched it even having missed the beginning, which is a big thing for me. This is a formulaic bit of the usual rom-com fluff, but enjoyable pretty much due to both the leads being quite likable. I do think that the relationship was a bit underdeveloped...and the movie has a very short run time so they really could've afforded to tack on a few extra scenes and flesh the story out a smidge. However, my primary response to this flick...what I think every time I watch it really, (I have the DVD) is...DAAAMN that Dermot Mulroney is a FINE looking specimen!!! (I can't help how superficial I am...oh, perhaps I can try...maybe that'll be a resolution for '09??)

Mamma Mia!-- A very frothy good time, as any production founded on the canon of ABBA should be. But oh!!--one bit that was certainly NOT a good time for me--listening to Pierce Brosnan sing. I would not have held it against the director if she had opted to have someone else sing his songs and dub them in. I know that's generally considered a cheap, Milli Vanilliesque move or whatev, but I think an exception should definitely definitely be made in Pierce Brosnan's case. Oy. It's a good thing he's pretty.

Last night, I stopped at Hollywood Video, a place I have managed to avoid for months and months and months now. I shun it because I never wind up renting there, I am too enticed by their pre-viewed DVD sales. I thought I was strong enough to go in there, pick up some used PS2 games for my bro-in-law (his birthday's this Monday) and leave with just those PS2 games. But my spending willpower is always very feeble so near to payday. The siren song of the pre-viewed DVDs overtook me yet AGAIN. So I bought: The Fall Nim's Island Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day & There Will Be Blood
I've only watched 2 of these so far...

Last night, I was in the mood for lighter fare, so I watched Nim's. Jodie Foster was actually quite likable in this whereas I usually find her inexplicably offputting. And I would think...it seems to me , anyhow...that just the proximity to Gerard Butler would switch her back into hetero mode. And she was not just working with him, they had, like, 3/4 of a scene where they mimed romantic bliss. So, I don't see how it could be avoided, in that case.

Tonight I watched There Will Be Blood. I really liked it. It was, overall, a dark movie, but I found myself laughing quite a bit throughout the flick. Not just laughing, but talking to the screen too. If you can't just shut up and watch, you have to emit a gasp or an appalled "You bastard!" --that's the mark of quality cinema right there. It was odd...this main character progresses from rather crooked to balls-to-the-wall EVIL (as well as totally loco)..and still I found myself "rooting" for him. Well, for the most of the movie anyways . When he gets in the argument with the adult HW...well that was what finally turned me , made me at last judge the character unredeemable. I probably was predisposed to root for Plainview because he was portrayed by Daniel Day Lewis...whom I adore. He's just an AMAZING actor. I'm inclined to think the Academy Award he got for this (his second, I believe) was totally merited (I can't say that 100% not having seen the performances he was up against...but I'm like 99.9% sure he was the rightful victor) Oh, and I think it a major oversight that Paul Dano wasn't nominated for Best Supporting Actor for this flick. It woulda been easy to be overshadowed by Lewis, but Dano really impressed me.