Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay

Harold and Kumar 2. I loved the first one, so did my dearest Mugs. Wed has become date night(no more trivia) so we went to the rustic Capitol Theater in Arlington to see the latest installment. Found a good parking spot, bought some popcorn and Sierra Mist, giddy up.

As we watched the previews, the only other people in the theater were three teenagers, who talked loudly and seemed to be texting each other from adjacent seats. As the movie began, a few more groups of 20 somethings stomped(literally) in, and Margo and I got the impression we were the only ones there who weren't high(or on something).

HK2 picks up mere days(possibly hours) after HK1, their plan to go to Amsterdam now ready to go. Kal Penn is his usual irresponsible genius self, these two kind of remind me of Vince Vaughn and John Favreau. Though I guess a lot of 'buddy films' have a similar dynamic. Lots and lots of stupid humor here, which I liked.

Drug jokes, kneeing in the balls, and tons of gratuitous nudity. Neil Patrick Harris again helps out our dynamic duo, and we're treated to the over-the-top comic stylings of Rob Corddry(and a short but funny cameo from Ed Helms). One thing neither of us liked was the prolonged scene with 'George Bush'. Not necessary and not very funny to be honest, though there was one memorably funny line that I can't really repeat here.

If you like Kal Penn, or John Cho, or Harold and Kumar, or drug movies, go see it. Very funny. Margo wasn't crazy about it, if she can put together her counterpoint I'll put it up. Also, please note the slight format change on the left. Thank you :)

--
Here's Margo's short response
--

*************
I agree with Cris on many of the points especially the parody of
"George Bush." The whole "our president is stupid," just isn't working
for us anymore as a country. It didn't work during the first or second
election so move on. No one cares enough to do anything about it and
the joke is old anyway.

The actual counterpoint I have to Cris's review is the lame jokes about
Guantanamo Bay. Over the top scenarios, something maybe Sacha Baron
Cohen could cook up, I can see really enjoying. But HK2 falls short of
that by so much that the scenes in the beginning at the jail looked
like they belonged in "Ernest Goes to Guantanamo Bay."

~m

The Forbidden Kingdom

The Forbidden Kingdom. A new martial arts tale for American audiences, starring Jet Li and Jackie Chan! Together on screen for the first time ever! This alone should bring plenty of folks out to see it. On this Sunday matinee, it brought three of my friends(well, two really) and myself out to see it on the big screen.

First let me apologize to that third friend. They thought we were seeing another movie, due to a miscommunication. During the opening credits it dawned on me that they just realized we were seeing Forbidden Kingdom, and I was greatly amused but a bit contrite. There are three main elements to this movie : Jet Li, Jackie Chan, everything else. I'll address them separately.

First, Jet Li. As many of you know, I'm a huge Jet Li fanboy. I love love love him. He was great. Both as the Monkey King, and the seeker(Silent) monk. He projects his power well, and his Kung Fu is very strong, very strong indeed. I like how he talks, how he doesn't talk, and I love how he fights. If you're a Jet Li fan, you'll enjoy his performance.

Jackie Chan made me trepiditious about this movie. He hasn't been anything good in a long time. Longer then I can remember. He's so into making crappy comedy these days all of the elements of his work suffer. In the beginning of the movie when he's playing the old shopkeeper he was this old self. Bad Lines, bad delivery. He started to lose me. But, when we're in the 'other times', when Jackie reprises probably his most beloved role as the Drunken Master, all is well. He is genuinely funny, completely in character, and totally kick ass. Really good stuff.

The rest of the movie. Well, the story is fairly formulaic quest-movie stuff. While Sparrow is pretty, I don't know if any of the other characters in the movie will move you. The fact that the modern part is set in Boston is extremely laughable. Unbelievable even. It's almost not even comical it's so ridiculous. There is beautiful scenery throughout, and even though they're on the same side, and it's not the main showdown, we get a good dose of Li/Chan fighting. Enough to satisfy for sure. It felt like when we finally got to see Yoda fight, but in a longer scene.

If you're a fan of Martial Arts, or Jackie Chan, or Jet Li, see this movie. It's a lot of fun, and pretty cool. And if you know Jet Li, get me his email address. Thanks.

Blue Harvest

Family Guy Presents : Blue Harvest. I thought this was an actual movie for a while, not just an extended episode of the show that aired on TV. I waited for a long time to see it, and I finally got a copy of it on DVD so I watched it, and I'm reviewing it like it's a normal movie(a 42 minute movie). I'm also going to call it FGSW(Family Guy Star Wars) because I don't want to type out the whole name every time. I'm sure you won't hold it against me.

Let me preface(I guess the second paragraph of a review can't really be a preface, but deal with it) with this : I am a very large fan of Star Wars, Family Guy, and remakes. So my opinion of the movie will obviously be slightly skewed, but at least I recognize this.

FGSW is a terrific parody. Both honoring Star Wars, and slightly mocking it, Seth MacFarlane is obviously a fan of the originals. Incorporating every character from Family Guy, FGSW keeps the laugh up throughout. One of my favorite momentary cameos is when they walk into the Cantina in Mos Eisley, there's Coach McGirk in the background. Love it! (even one of the Spaceballs characters has a small speaking part - parody of a parody)

We basically follow a modified script of episodes IV-VI, crunched into 42 minutes or so. If you're a fan of Star Wars, Family Guy, cartoons, or quirky comedy, please watch this. Totally worth it IMO, then lend me the DVD cause I'd love to see the DVD extras.

The Bank Job

I'm back! Where was I you might ask? A little reading, a lot of TV. Some pool, and a lot more sleep. And who suffers? You, my faithful readers. I'd like to apologize for my prolonged absence. Well, I have made my triumphant return, I promise I'll review more consistently again.

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The Bank Job. British caper film starring Jason Statham. What's not to like? Set in the 70's, we're chock full of retro cars and outfits, peppered with base cockney.

Boy was I wrong. A few short minutes into the film, we are given the weak, poorly set up, and not very original premise(I don't even think it's worth explaining). Not a good start. Extremely strange chemistry between the mains, and overacting by all aren't even close to being saved by lots of gratuitous nudity(or the lovely Saffron Burrows).

The director seems to think that suspense can be created by merely sound effects. In a scene lacking emotion or drama of any kind, we are treated to the 'bum-bum bum bum' of a heartbeat. Like our heart should be racing. Really? How about well written lines. How about actors reacting to situations appropriately. Terrible, just terrible.

If I had had anything at all to do with this movie I'd be too embarrassed to tell anyone. I can't believe it was released for public consumption, even given people's penchant for terrible and stupid movies. I just don't get it.

Zebraman.

Zebraman. This is a film by Takashi Miike, who specializes in drawn out horrory films. He brought us such gems as One Missed Call(the original), Audition, Ichi the Killer(which is uber-violent and worth seeing) and the Dead or Alive series(no not like the video games).

Zebraman was Miike's trip into the nonsensical. I think he was sick of making films that were too serious, and this is how he blew off some steam. The buildup of the movie features typical Japanese craziness, useless characters and heaps of slow moving social awkwardness.

Our hero is a terribly strange school teacher who dreams of being a character from an old, cancelled TV show called Zebraman. After trials and tribulations, he is called to fight an alien menace threatening his town, Japan, and ultimately the earth. Will he succeed where the TV character could not? Watch and see.

Zabraman is like the definition of Campy, if you were reading the Japanese wikipedia. Cheesy wardrobe and hokey story serve to endear the film more than anything else. It's like the weird kid in class, it's kind of interesting to watch what they're doing.

If you can live through a slow movie with an even slower beginning, and over the top silliness from a horror director, I say check it out. Netflix has it, and one copy is on the way back to the warehouse.

Outlaw

Outlaw. Another mysterious Netflix selection. Came in the mail recently and it looks interesting. British, violent, crime drama. I like Sean Bean, why not?

First impression. This is a fairly large budget movie with big stars. But it has a strangely small production values. Extremely shaky filming. Like Blair Witch on stationary targets, 10 years later. It's not original or appropriate, and just ends up annoying you. Then there's the lighting. Maybe they couldn't afford enough lights for the set? The director was no doubt trying to be edgy with these effects, but failed miserably.

The story we follow is thin, and doesn't really stick with you. Why are these people doing this again? Why do they keep quitting then coming back then quitting then showing up again? Sean Bean looks like what he's supposed to be I suppose, but Lennie James (I only know him from Snatch..., oh and Jericho) was a terribly unconvincing Barrister.

I always like Bob Hoskins, I think Outlaw could have used a bigger dose. Overall, the movie came in with low expectations, and barely lived up to that. Not interesting, well shot or well acted. Maybe if you're doing something and need background noise, but please don't pay a cent to view this.

Becoming Jane

Becoming Jane. Another Victorian movie with a weak premise and mediocre actors. Anne Hathaway is hot, but other than Devil Wears Prada(and Havoc to some extent) she is a really sub par actress. James McAvoy, similarly was good in Last King of Scotland but really seems to be getting along by the fact that women find him attractive. Pretty weak for the mains in a big production movie. I wish I could blame it on the writers strike, but Hollywood kind of sucks these days.

Another thing that bothers me : Hathaway(an American) is playing a Brit. And McAvoy(a Scot) is playing an Irishman. Are we supposed to be stupid and not notice? Hathaway at least pretends to have a British accent, but McAvoy maintains completely his Scottish Brogue. Not one word he utters sounds authentic. If you were Irish OR Scottish wouldn't that make you upset? I'm willing to speak out. Make it stop, now! There are plenty of European actors with experience, looks, and ability. Lets get some people who are actually from the country they play to be from. Please, I implore you.

If you're engaged in crude fisticuffs with someone, hitting, being hit, and someone speaks your name. Not yells, not shouts urgently but speaks. Do you stop fighting completely and stare at them? Apparently James McAvoy does, and gets knocked out. Repeatedly.

When one makes a film that's supposed to be gripping, you're supposed to care about the characters? Hathaway and McAvoy were completely unlikeable. They started out vapid and annoying, and just declined from there. My co-worker said I should name the review 'Becoming Lame' I agree.

See at your own risk.

The Seven Year Itch

The Seven Year Itch. The last installment(for now) in the Marilyn portion of movie swap, my post pool movie tonight is The Seven Year Itch. I can't help feeling like I've seen the movie before, but we'll see I guess.

The main character of the movie is really Richard Sherman(Tom Ewell), a terribly frustrating man, not the lovely 'the Girl'(Marilyn Monroe). Screen time is completely disproportionally in favor of one of the most annoying movie characters I remember ever seeing. The style seems off as well. The sparsity and small number of sets made me think this was originally a play. I looked it up, and indeed it was. Starring the same Tom Ewell. This would explain a couple of things :
He overacts terribly(also a problem of the 50's in general)
He constantly speaks aloud his inner dialog. I can see how this is informative in a play, but in a movie it's really really unnecessary and stupid. Just shut up already. Really.

The movie is terribly dated, and is miles and miles from being 'The funniest comedy since laughter began!' as it is billed. The number one movie from 1955, peculiar ideas permeate. The only thing that translates is Monroe. She truly is intoxicating as 'the girl'. She would be famous in any era, which is more than I can say about most of her co stars. See it if you're into classics or Monroe, but don't expect to laugh out loud.

PS. There are two extremely brief scenes with a plumber, who is one of the scariest looking people I've ever seen.

PPS. Despite declaring at the beginning that I hadn't ever seen a Marilyn movie, I had actually seen at least 2. I guess they didn't leave a lasting impression.

An Affair to Remember

An Affair to Remember. I have two more classics to watch before I get back to my Netflix queue. A friend lent me 'Affair' a couple of weeks ago, but the first time I had to run out of the house in the middle of the showing. Home on Sunday, just put the laundry in, lets check it out.

Affair stars Cary Grant, one of history's most remarkable screen presences. He's handsome, confident, so self assured. He seems like he could make almost anything watchable. At 53, he still comes across as vibrant and full of youthful energy, wooing a much younger woman doesn't seem quite so ridiculous(as say, Fred Astaire). Opposite Grant is Deborah Kerr, who holds her own quite well. Pretty and coquettish, Kerr trades looks and quips with Grant stride for stride.

This is another film set on an ocean cruise, as many movies in the 50's seem to be. Mugs and I have discussed trying to imagine that being the big style of a swanky vacation. Journeys greeted by ticker-tape and a dock of awaiting friends and family. Voyages being such a big deal. Can't. I can't imagine.

The story is nice, and is the inspiration for Sleepless in Seattle, among other films(though it's a remake itself). One can't help but be charmed by Grant and Kerr, definitely recommended if you're in the mood for a slightly cheesy romance.

Waitress

Waitress. This was a request by Margo from a few weeks ago. Then she never wanted to watch it, so I gave up and checked it out. What did I expect coming in? A little movie where Keri Russell gets to show her stuff, some cheesiness, just a cute little indie flick.

Ok, so we're in a diner. Somewhere in the south, Mississippi it seems. Keri Russell bakes pies. Lots of pies. And daydreams. She is stuck in a boring job, and a loveless marriage. Her husband(Jeremy Sisto) is an angry, abusive(verbally, emotionally, then physically), and extremely needy man. Jenna(Russell)'s coworkers are inane but good hearted, and her main customer is an enigmatic old man who seems to be superfluous to the plot.

Jenna finds herself pregnant and her new doctor is Dr. Pommiter (Nathan Fillion from Firefly). It has taken me a long time to get to my main point. This movie is weird. Weird weird weird. People are bizarre, relationships are strained and quirky, the movie is filled with strangely named Pies!

It's hard to describe what's so out of the ordinary, but the movie is far from what's expected. I think it didn't do well commercially because people couldn't even nail down what genre it truly belongs in. You'll have to see it to truly appreciate, but one certainly might not like it. Worth viewing IMO, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Morcheeba

One of my favorite bands came to town tonight. Morcheeba at the Somerville Theater. I saw them once before, at the Avalon(which doesn't exist any more) about two years ago I think. Their lead singer wasn't the one I was familiar with, I found out later that they had recently made a change. Last time it was a terrific show, and I had a great time. I had high hopes tonight.

First a quick social commentary. Why is it that 'Doors open at 6:30, main act starts at 7:30' means doors open after 7
opening act starts at 7:45
headliners start around 8:45
Annoying and ridiculous. Why can't the actual time of the show be what is listed on the web site, the tickets and the marquee? Wouldn't that make sense? Does anyone prefer this ridiculously inaccurate time reporting? It's worse than Microsoft time estimates on file transfers.

The opening act was awful. Federico Aubele. We thought he was joking. Along with a female companion, he performed strange, unenthusiastic numbers. Both of them seemed bored to tears on stage, counting the minutes until they could get back to sitting on a couch somewhere. Their act features two rattles and a triangle, each used quite sparingly. Terrible terrible terrible. Really, avoid this guy unless you have insomnia.

Far, far after 7:30 Morcheeba enters. This is another singer entirely. And she seems French! It's funny, when she sings their older numbers she has a more British accent. I would guess that this is because she is imitating. The newer the song is, the more her French accent comes out, and when she speaks she has obviously 'traveled all the way from Paris for this tour' as the guitarist confides in us.

The music is catchy and melodic. There is genuine chemistry between the performers, and the music sounds great. Vocals are somewhat de-emphasized, which makes sense considering their turnover, but old songs still sound good. After a nice length set, Morcheeba came back out for a perfectly paced 4 song encore that got everyone on their feet and dancing. People spilled out happy, well done. See them in concert if you can, highly recommended.

The Eye

the Eye. Another movie I wouldn't have watched if not for Jessica Alba. But we all have our reasons for doing things. The film also stars Alessandro Nivola, whose brother I kind of knew in college, and who I think I met once.

The Eye starts out with dark jump cuts filled with something scary. You can't tell exactly what, but there are screams and loud threatening things going on. This isn't what I expected from the movie. Then we get to Alba. Walking around, showing us how capable of a blind person she is. She can cross the street! She knows the doorman! She can smell flowers! Hooray for her. Lame lame lame.

Alba(her character is Syd, she seems to love playing characters with gender ambiguous names) is getting surgery to replace her eyes. Her sister flies into town to support her, keep her company in her time of need. Parker Posey is the sister. I'm normally a big fan of Posey, but she's pretty useless here.

We're supposed to be scared of the glimpses of death bringer thingies, and care that it upsets Alba. She has absolutely no chemistry with Nivola, and the movie completely fails to engage the viewer. Alba doesn't sparkle and acts as poorly as ever. I'd stay away.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The latest installment of the movie swap stars Marilyn Monroe. The lovely miss Monroe was the object of obsession for a period of my friend's life, resulting in her collecting all things Marilyn(posters, magazines, trading cards), including all of her movies. Yes this is a little creepy, but she's a nice girl so we'll let it pass.

Believe it or not this is my first Marilyn movie. Blondes is a musical(loosely) that also stars Jane Russell. The ladies are a musical act(on Broadway?) that is horribly dated. Mugs said they were dancing like 60 year old women. We are also subject to the ya-ya-yammering of Monroe's millionaire sap(fiancee) whom she kept calling daddy(yes, as weird as it sounds).

The women decide to take a cruise to France, without the fiancee. The US Olympic team is on board, however, as well as a number of rich men, young and old. Hi jinx ensue. We are treated to a number of musical numbers, including :
The Oh-so-creepy almost naked(flesh colored short shorts-with sweat stains) male gymnasts tumbling and flexing
The Uber-bizarre human chandelier in the Paris revue
The cool-to-see "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend" performance that inspired the Material Girl video

Monroe has a constantly breathless way of speaking that I was able to handle for a movie. As I watch more we'll see if that grates on me. She does have quite a stage presence tho, and I'm intrigued by the stories of her nervousness and bouts with all sorts of substances. This is a fun movie, and has some historical significance. It is quite dated though, and a musical(much to Margo's dismay). Make your own decision :)

**Small correction. I have seen Some Like it Hot before, I didn't remember Marilyn was in that.

Breaking News

Breaking News. I have been seriously neglecting my Netflix queue lately, which feels like I'm not getting my moneys worth. I gotta knock a few of these out this week. Mugs worked all day, and I had some time before pool, so I decided to watch the current Chinese movie(I usually have one out, and Margo usually isn't into them so it's good to watch while she's at work). Today's choice is Breaking News. I remember adding it to my queue because I like a lot of the main actors.

The story opens with a robbery, where we establish that the criminals are thoughtful and ever-planning, and our main policeman is persistent and plucky. The criminals get away, in a highly publicized police failure, and pressure is applied to both solve the crime, and make sure it looks good. One of the actors I watched for was Simon Yam, playing Asst. Commissioner Wong but unfortunately his appearance was more of a cameo.
Nick Cheung plays inspector Cheung(original I know) very well, following relentlessly like he was trying out for the next Die Hard movie. He is handsome and charming, and plays well off of Kelly Chen. Chen herself does well as the 'straight man', yelling at Cheung and manipulating the media. Richie Ren impresses as the bad guy who has thought of everything; Robbing, shooting, taking hostages, even showing off his cooking skills. The scenes in the apartment between Ren and Chung are actually touching, and some of the action is cool despite over reliance on the grenade as element of danger.

The beginning of the movie is an astounding 7 minute one shot take. Worth seeing if you have some time and like HK action films, but don't go out of you way to see it.

John Adams

John Adams. Here is a new mini-series from HBO. Good. Produced by Tom Hanks? You've got me. I'm not a huge fan of Paul Giamatti, but maybe he'll surprise me. I'm interested in American history in general, and this series seems to have a cast of good actors.

We open on the night of the Boston Massacre. Giamatti is his normal overacting-in-strange-times self, making it difficult to tell what Adams is supposed to be feeling. A very poor job is done of conveying the horror of the massacre, or the effect it had on the locals. Another problem is that the British soldiers are so horribly weird looking, it really distracts. It honestly looks like they walked around the streets for a couple of hours, and grabbed the strangest people they could find. Then chose the worst actor among them to be the commander.

Then they completely skip the Boston Tea Party! This could have been the most fun scene to watch in the entire series. Give a good director that scene to work with, the budget of HBO and a little artistic license, what could they come up with? Oh, a mention that the tea party happened. Awesome.

The Continental congress is more boring to watch than C-SPAN, and Margo almost choked on her beverage the first time we saw the fake nose on the George Washington(David Morse).
Laura Linney brings very little to the table, and there has to be a better way to handle the wig issue. Two episodes were more than enough, I am miles from impressed. At least it shows that HBO can still make mistakes. If I manage to struggle through any more episodes when they come out I'll try to write another update, but so far, I would recommend that you stay away.

Into the Wild.

Into the Wild. Hmm ... I have a lot of thoughts about this movie, I'm just not sure how to express all of them. Coming in I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. I think I like Emile Hirsch, and the subject matter sounded interesting. I didn't read the book, I don't know anything about the book, I don't think I even knew this was a true story. Mugs is much more in touch with the literary world than me, she seemed to know a lot about it. I read my share, just less mainstream stuff, and pretty much no non-fiction.

I have some perturbed things to say about the movie, so let me start with this : It was beautifully shot. The scenery was just amazing. It made me wish(a bit) I had seen it in a theater. Or on an HD DVD. Mountains, rivers, the Grand Canyon. Roads, deserts, even the people were really filmed well. It was almost like watching a National Geographic special.

As for the subject matter... Hmm... I really really disliked the protagonist Alex(played by Hirsch). I just found him so terribly hypocritical and annoying. He was all about preaching absolutes(which he didn't adhere to) when life isn't black and white. Last night Margo was trying to help me put a finger on just what I hated about him so much. She realized that I hate fundamentalism. This is true. Religions, statements, beliefs in general. I don't like a 'black and white' view of the world. People have asked me to get more into this, but I don't want to rant, and I don't want to make more people upset than normal. We can get more into it one-on-one if you'd like, I'm around :)

Overall, the movie is interesting, and visually terribly engrossing. Most people won't have the same problems I did with it, so I can recommend it. I felt unsatisfied, but check it out for yourself. It's at least worth seeing so you can talk about it :)

**Spoiler alert**
I was kind of happy he died at the end. It feels like the inevitable ending to throwing away all of the rest of the world. And even though it seems like it wasn't his intent to die out there, it must have been one of the possibilities as he entered his 'great Alaskan adventure'.

The Constant Gardener.

The Constant Gardener. I saw this movie a couple of years ago, and didn't really like it. A friend recently recommended it to me, and I couldn't for the life of me remember why. I just remembered it being very long, and unsatisfying.

About 2 minutes into the movie, I remembered. It is starring two of my least favorite actors. Rachel Weisz, and Ralph Fiennes. Weisz has this brimming overbearingness that comes through in most of her roles. I know some people find this charming, but it drives me a bit mad. I also find her terribly unattractive. I have fostered a dislike for Rafe(I'm writing the pretentious crap phonetically) ever since I saw The English Patient in Spanish. Every role I've seen him in (Except Valdemort) has been of a simpering ninny. Just spineless uselessness. I am very much looking forward to seeing In Bruges, maybe he'll turn things around.

The good news is that they are both well cast in Gardener. Weisz, the bulldozer do-what-you-think-is-best-everyone-else-be-damned activist who drives everyone nuts and hurts everyone who cares for her. Fiennes the rare male 'wet blanket' who underwhelms and acts completely helpless for most of the very long two hours.

The scenery is amazing. Craters, trees, lakes, rivers, the landscapes are breathtaking. We see the vibrant colors and beautiful nature from the perspective of planes, cars, and walking people. Aside from the mains, the people are terrific. Showing a genuine, wholehearted friendliness and exuberance, you can't help smiling at the adorable children. We also see the terrible side of a country with an unstable government. Corruption, graft, constant fear for ones safety, being preyed upon by every outside force and native power possible.

There is a legitimate political agenda in the movie, not bothering to hide. It could have been done well, but seems thin and hacky. Strange indigence and hinted threats only work for so long. If we could combine an effective message with the scenery and take just that, I may have really liked the movie. The main players however, and the poor social commentary doom it for me. View at your own risk.

Awake

Awake. Came in from Netflix last week, I just never got around to watching it. A friend wants to borrow the DVD, so why not knock it off while I have some free time. Got home early cause we won our 9-ball match this week!

So who is in this movie? Jessica Alba and Hayden Christenson. This does not make me hopeful. As much as I love Alba(and Margo can attest, that's a lot) I don't remember her ever being in a movie that made me say "that was a good movie". Except for ... nope, never a good movie. Oh wait, Sin City. That was a good movie, but her part was pretty inconsequential for me.
Hayden Christenson however, finally found a part written for him.
"You're under general anesthetic. You can't move. ACTION!" As much as it seemed like he thought that was his role in the Star Wars movies, it wasn't. He was also pretty wooden in Jumper, so I am glad he's lying down.

Terrance Howard. Now there's an actor. He excels in every role he's in, and he seems to be making a daily, non SAG rate. I don't understand why that's not a story, and some day I'll find out more about it. Shooter McGavin and the goofy guy from Short Circuit are doctors, and playing serious roles.

Christenson needs a heart transplant, and he wants his friend(Howard) to perform the surgery.
The process begins, but he retains consciousness without the ability to do anything except feel pain and have out of body experiences. This allows him, and the viewer, to see all of the twists and turns that take place in this anything-but-ordinary procedure.

Awake is well paced, interesting, and just a good movie. I was pleasantly surprised throughout, as all of the actors seem well casted, and the dialogue was effective. I would recommend it for almost anyone, check it out.

The Squid and the Whale.

The Squid and the Whale. Well, it's been a few days and I have another movie from my movie swap buddy. Swap 1, we each gave a movie starring an Audrey. Swap two, was heavy movies. No, we don't discuss beforehand. I gave her One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Which is a terrific movie, especially if you've read the book(luckily she has). I was given Squid, so here we go.

I remember seeing posters for this when it came to the Kendall theater. I wanted to see it, but it never seemed the right time. You kind of have to be in a certain mood to see a movie that will probably make you upset. The good news is that I've never experienced a divorce first or second hand so I have some buffer from the emotions.

We open on the final stages of a broken marriage. Parents fighting, lying to each other. Making the children take sides on issues, blaming each other for problems. The children each seem to be closer to one parent, the younger(Frank) seeming to be more mature and more interested in keeping everyone happy. A healthy dislike is developed for most of the characters, with William Baldwin(of all people) ending up as probably the most likable character.

Jeff Daniels is terrific as the overbearing, intellectual snob father far past his prime. Can you believe he was one of the stars of Dumb and Dumber? Laura Linney also excels as the mother who means well but just doesn't seem to understand how to handle relationships. Anna Paquin effectively portrays the minx creating friction between Father and older son.

As I said, I'm pretty far removed from family stresses of this kind, so I can look at it objectively. I enjoyed the film, and it was written, casted and acted very well. If you don't mind some disturbance, and some pretty heavy stuff check it out.

Funny Face

Funny Face. My new friend SLC found out I love movies, so we decided to try a movie swap. I know she loves European things so I lent her Dirty Pretty Things, which is a terrific thrilling drama set in London and starring Audrey Tautou. I was given Funny Face, which looked familiar but I haven't seen it before(and also stars an Audrey).

Funny Face is an amusing little musical starring the aforementioned Audrey Hepburn, and Fred Astaire. We are treated to some classically dated cinematography featuring genuinely good dance numbers and some fun songs. Astaire helped choreograph, and Kay Thompson seems to combine the inspiration for Meryl Streep's character in The Devil Wears Prada and a jovial Lucille Ball.

Astaire starred in Funny Face as a Broadway musical in 1927, 2 years before Hepburn was born. Then he starred in the movie as her love interest in 1957, even though he is 30 years her senior. While there seems to be some real chemistry there, it is a bit creepy. Mugs doesn't like musicals as much as I do, but she liked that I was enjoying it, so everyone ended up happy.