{shades of pink}

Notes on a Scandal

We watched this movie a few nights ago and I have to say, it is one of the best movies we have seen in a really long time. I regret not seeing it in the theater. Both Dame Judi and Cate Blanchett gave extraordinary performances and note a moment of the movie was wasted. The pace just kept increasing, and the characters were so believable. I highly recommend this movie.

More Movies

We recently saw Babel and even thought it was nominated for several academy awards, I'd only give it a B+. It told a good story and the acting was wonderful, especially the 2 ladies that were nominated for best supporting actress. The problem is that is tells, in my opinion, a very similar story as Crash, but on a global level, but Crash was just a far superior movie. Both should be on everyone's list of must-see movies.

We also saw An Inconvenient Truth, the Al Gore documentary about global warming. It was very well done and worthy of the best documentary award it received this year. It was very sad to watch, as are most well done documentaries, I think. It's a shame that we, as human beings, can't take better care of our planet and resources.

So, since I've been speaking of movies that either won or were nominated for Academy Awards, I will admit that the awards show is a sort of big deal at our house. If you've been reading my blog long, you know that Cody and I are BIG movie watchers and for the past several years, we place bets on the awards show. We print out ballots and make our picks and even though out bet is small, only $5, it's fun to see who can picks the most winners. I usually luck out and win because I know a lot more of the smaller shorts and documentary films that get nominated, but this year was different. Cody won the bet by picking 17 of the 24 winners. I came up short with only 14 correct answers. Oh well, there's always next year. Oh, and yes, I did like having Ellen as host. I like Ellen anyway, but I thought she did a great job.

This week's movies

This week we watched two movies. The first was World Trade Center with Nicholas Cage. I was a little leary about this movie because it seemed a little too soon to make a movie about this, although it has been over 5 years since it happened. This movie took a different look at the events of 9-11. It focused on 2 Port Authority police men who were trapped in the rubble after the buildings collapsed. They were 2 of the 20 people that were rescued from the collapse. It told a nice story or survival and the pulling together of Americans in a time of need, but overall, I'd say it was at least 20 minutes too long. The beginning started strong and the ending was strong, but the middle was kind of slow. A good film overall, though.

The second film we watched this week was The Motel, an indie film directed by Michael Kang. Thirteen-year-old Ernest Chin lives and works at a sleazy hourly-rate motel on a strip of desolate suburban bi-way. Misunderstood by his family and blindly careening into puberty, Ernest befriends Sam Kim, a self-destructive yet charismatic Korean man who has checked in. Sam teaches the fatherless boy all the rites of manhood.

This film was very entertaining. It was along the line of Little Miss Sunshine, although not quite up to that level. The characters were identifiable and entertaining. This isn't a big-time blockbuster, but definitely a movie I'd recommend.

The Guardian

Who would have thought a movie about the Coast Guard would be so cool? A little Top Gunnish (is that a word??), but nevertheless, The Guardian is a really nice story with some pretty intense action. I find it just amazing that there are people out there that feel putting their life in jeopardy on a daily basis is their calling. I'm glad they are out there, I just don't understand it.

I'm not typically a Kevin Costner fan, but he did a really great job in this film, and although I had an issue with the inconsistencies regarding Ashton Kutcher's age, he did well also. There was nothing original about this film, except maybe that it glorified the Coast Guard, but it told a nice story about learning the tough lessons of love, loss and self-sacrifice.

I definitely recommend!

Lady in the Water

I will admit it, I am an M. Night Shyamalan fan. Every since The Sixth Sense, I was hooked on his storytelling. I think he gets a hard time from many critics, both professional and everyday, because he had such a smash hit for his first effort that his other work, albeit very good, just isn't as great as his first. It's hard to look beyond the comparison and view each film for their own merit sometimes, but regardless of what critics have to say, I like his work.

We just watched the Lady in the Water, a bedtime story Mr. Shyamalan conceived of for his children. He said in the interview that it started out simple, but over the course of many nights, it became more complex and finally occurred to him that he wanted to make it into a movie. The movie was carried by Paul Giamatti, whom I also adore. He plays an apartment building manager and the movie focuses around a water nymph he finds living in the complex's swimming pool. He finds out that water nymph's are told of in an ancient asian fairy tale, but when he hears the tale, he realizes it is true and it becomes his charge to help this young girl return to her world.

The supporting cast was great, and as in all of Mr. Shyamalan's movies, he plays a part, although a much more important and prevalent role than in previous films. Overall, I would recommend this movie. It was just a nice story that leaves you with a positive feeling toward community efforts and how each person's individual idiosyncrasies shouldn't be viewed as just weird, but as a strength to the greater community.

Pan's Labyrinth

This movie has been on our radar since the first time we saw the preview. Then, with all of the academy award nominations, 6 total, our anticipation was even higher. We finally saw it this past weekend, and we were not disappointed. It is a fabulous grown up fairy tale that is mixed with a story set in WWII Spain.

There were many parts that were a bit difficult to watch, but it was a really fascinating story. If you don't care to read subtitles, I would avoid this movie though because it is 2 hours of reading subtitles and the grit of war was not glossed over in the least bit.

The only thing I found disappointing was that I expected the fairly tale land to be really spectacular, but there just weren't that many parts. The few parts that included fairies and the satyr were extremely well done, but the primary story is about the Spanish refugees fighting against the main character's new step-father, a general in the Spanish army.

Overall, this was an extraordinary film, well worthy of all of the nominations it has received, and hopefully it will take home some statues come Feb. 25. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed.

Rocky Balboa

I wasn't expecting much from this movie. It seems that the Rocky series just needed to go away and stay away. So, as the credits roled, I was very pleased that I was able to walk out saying I was pleasantly surprised. This isn't an academy award winner by any means, but it's a nice, extertaining movie that doesn't push the limits too much. It had a really nice message and of course, made me want to go run up the stairs of Philly library and jump up and down. At least, I think that's the building. I think this is a good ending to the series and I can see how Sylvester Stallone still had this bit left to tell. Good for him for finishing it up and not turning it into an over-the-top parody of itself.

Children of Men

What an amazingly powerful movie. I will say from the start, this movie is not for the faint of heart. It is a dystopian story set in a future where man can no longer procreate and the youngest person in the world, just turned 18, has been murdered. The world is in chaos and has turned against itself.

Hope is provided as a young black woman is found pregnant, but she is a minority that has once again been turned against, so not only her safety, but that of her unborn child is in danger because of who they are. Uber-hottie Clive Owen stars, but the movie was stolen away by Michael Caine who plays an old hippie scientist and Owen's father.

I won't give away the story in case anyone is planning on seeing it, which I really think most should see, hard to take or not. It's just a very sad possibility of what this world could become. The ending was left very wide open, so I anticipate a suquel will follow, so long as the people with the money liked the first. We'll see.

Overall rating: A+, but not for everyone.

Documentaries

When I was young, I don't think I had any interest in documentaries. I remember putting documentaries right along with nonfiction books — they all got categorized as dry, boring history. Now that I'm a bit older and a little more educated, I love them. I try to watch as many as possible.

Our most recent documentary, which we watched last night, is Wordplay, which is about crossword puzzlers. It was such an entertaining look into the lives of the crossword pros. I was amazed at how fast some of these people could finish crossword puzzles. I love puzzles and always considered myself to be proficient, but after watching this, I realize I'm really not very good.

Anyway, this was just another great documentary. Other's we've enjoyed include the March of the Penguins, Barbeque: A Texas Love Story, The Fog of War, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Murderball, Grizzly Man, Super Size Me, Fahrenheit 9/11, The Hunting of the President, Who Killed the Electric Car?, Hands on a Hardbody and Spellbound. 

These are just some of the documentaries that we've enjoyed over the past few years. There is just some fantastic, interesting stuff being done. I hope this helps you to find a couple you might like also!

Night at the Museum

Even thought we don't have children, Cody and I enjoy many of the movies that are primarily made for kids. Night at the Museum is a perfect example. It is just an all-around fun movie.

Ben Stiller is the main character and he does a great job. Many times I think he over-plays his roles to be funny, but he was very subdued this time and it was wonderful. Supporting cast included Robin Williams, Owen Wilson and Ricky Gervais, all of whom did a wonderful job.

Definite A in my book. Very clever and fun!