Ms. Amused

Earlier this year, I decided to make it a mission to fill in some big gaps in my pop culture knowledge and finally watch old classics so that I’d know what people were talking about or referring to!

Last week I watched Singin’ In The Rain and in love! Now I see why Gene Kelly was thought of so much. And wow does George Clooney look a lot like him.

The girl was adorable and I was tickled later to realize that was Debbie Reynolds in her first acting gig!

Donald O’Connor isn’t a name that was familiar to me but IMO he stole the show repeatedly!

I’ve always loved musicals and why did I wait so long to get into the best musical era of them all?

I’ve got Anchors Aweigh waiting for me now but first…

Last night I watched “Breakfast At Tiffany’s”, which filled in a lot of gaps for me. I noticed that it’s based on a story by Truman Capote. Ahh so that’s what he wrote. Ironically I’m at the tail end of reading To Kill A Mockingbird by his best friend, Harper Lee!

I don’t recall if I’ve watched Audrey Hepburn in a movie before but wow I can see why she was so popular.

Now I understand why people want to be Holly Golightly. But even before Paul’s big speech at the end, I was wondering whatever for because she’s not “free” at all! She’s so busy running away or towards things that she doesn’t ever seem to just be.

And perhaps I’m jaded but I found myself being annoyed because this is how love is being portrayed but they’re leaving out all the hard parts

Here’s the shocker for me about BaT… Paul Varjak. At first I thought, wow he looks like my neighbor Dan, kind of. But then it was starting to bug me that he looked like someone else. Earlier during the credits, I’d noticed a name that was familiar but I couldn’t place. But it all came together when I realized that Paul was none other than Hannibal of the A-Team!! One of my favorite shows to watch in the 80s!

So very weird to see him as a young man playing a lovelorn suitor. Not at all like the confident, always has it together, man with a plan Hannibal!

This has definitely been fun for me, to take this trip down vintage lane past when I was born. Netflix emailed me an hour ago to tell me that I’ll have My Fair Lady tomorrow. I’ve seen bits and pieces of this and probably in school as a girl but I don’t think I’ve ever really seen the movie.

There’s also Casablanca. And I haven’t even begun to crack open a dvd set I’ve owned for 8 years: Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals containing many classics including the uberclassic: Sound of Music. All of which I’ve never seen.

I also need to watch the three Mae West movies I also bought back then. And after watching Debbie last week, I want to see Annie Get Your Gun which I know I bought but I think I got rid of last year

Plus my friend Jen, recommended a bunch more!

Almost forgot, while watching Breakfast… I was struck by how much some of the people in the bit players or even just background looked like people from today. For example, the drunk lady crying in the mirror at herself: Alison Janney. The black man in the library the first time they go there, you see him at the edge of the screen as he watches Holly & Paul walk away from him and I had to convince myself that Tim Meadows was not an immortal vampire who remains eternally young.

James Doohan (of “Beam me up Scott” fame)’s son writes about the repeated failed attempts to give his dad the funeral he wanted. In Space.

And also in very worrisome news, Morgan Freeman was seriously injured in a car accident! NOOOO!!!!

As cleolinda on LJ put it… NOOOO NOT PRESIDENT GOD!!

When older actors pass away, like George Carlin, it hurts and it’s hard but it’s less devastating (for me at least) than when people like Heath die because none of us live forever and they were getting to the end of their life anyways. George had bad heart health for some time anyways.

But Morgan Freeman… he may be old but he’s also very in demand and prolific in great roles which puts him on the screen several times a year it seems. He’s in so many movies that I love that it’d be brutal to lose him though nature dictates we will one day.

Just NOT YET!!!! please not yet… not for another 20 years at least.

There’s talk about a Batman curse since Heath died earlier this year. Supposedly it was talked about on set… but why? Were there injuries and other mishaps leading up to Heath’s death and now Morgan’s accident?

Some people are even including Bale’s recent appearance in the tabloids as part of the curse. But I discount that because that’s just opportunistic parasitic family members trying to make a buck by hook or by crook. And oh yea, I don’t believe Bale “assaulted” anyone. Yelled, sure. But beat? No way. I looked up old interviews and noticed that he rarely talked about his mom and that it was mostly all about his dad. Bad relationship much?

Since I’ve already rambled to Nepal and back… might as well finish off by saying:

I SAW DARK KNIGHT ON FRIDAY AT MIDNIGHT AND LOVED IT!

Not a perfect film but I actually prefer that. Too perfect movies make my head explode. I am even more sorry that Heath is dead because it is a CRIME that there’s no way to finish the Joker story.

Well someone, I think A, actually brought it up “What if they got Depp to finish it?” and that made me stop and think. I’d been thinking that no one would tolerate anyone stepping in for Heath to finish the story but how about an actor that people are lauding for having done just that on a different film? I dare say even Colin Farrell would work but not Jude Law.

The Joker was the ONE character in Dark Knight that I didn’t “see the actor” in. And that was only because between the heavy feature obliterating makeup and the voice modulation, even a focused attempt to see Heath under the makeup rarely worked.

Put Depp through makeup/costume tests and I’m sure they can get him to look very much like Heath’s Joker. Depp is also talented enough that I believe he could “find” Heath’s Joker’s mannerism & style and carry them on.

So yea… maybe there’s hope after all to continue the Joker.

Gonna force myself to save the tangent rant about one of the reasons why people say that Angelina Jolie should not be cast as Catwoman but instead point out what I’ve determined to be the current truth about casting for the next Batman movie.

There is NO casting other than the obvious already played ones, the surviving characters from Dark Knight (I listed them but realized it’d be a spoiler).

Apparently a number of actors signed multi picture deals, ie Maggie Gyllenhaal and Aaron Eckhart both reportedly signed 2 picture deals. But just because the contracts exists, doesn’t mean they have to be used in the 2nd picture of the deal.

It was reading that Christopher Nolan isn’t even attached for a 3rd Batman picture that made me realize that at this stage, absolutely nothing is set in stone. The next movie might not even be made. Common sense dictates that the buckets of cash and records breaking run of Dark Knight is enjoying will drive the studio to make another movie at some point. But that’s about the only thing you can count on.

Fare Thee Well James Doohan, George Carlin, & Heath Ledger and GET BETTER SOON Morgan Freeman!!

And someone stick Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Caine in a padded bomb shelter til 2009! Oh and Christopher Nolan too!

Wow what a delightful little movie!

Stars Frances McDormand as a governess in London who is very down on her luck and gets fired from the last job that would have her, in 30s/40s wartime.

On the streets with nary a pence nor any worldly possessions, she manages to manuever herself into a position as a social secretary to a starlet in the making, played by Amy Adams (of last year’s Enchanted).

I’d just gotten done watching Nanny McPhee when I put this in. I love Nanny McPhee and especially Emma Thompson’s acting in it so it was an interesting segue into Frances McDormand playing a woman who finds herself acting as a “nanny” to a “mess” of a girl whose morals are in the toliet but is so endearing that “Miss Pettigrew” finds herself staying on to see what happens next.

It’s a very charming, fun movie that I highly recommend. It’s one of those “you’ve never heard of it because it wasn’t mass marketed as a blockbuster romcom.

And it turns out, it’s originally a book written by a Winnifred Watson who was a wife and mother and wrote the story in her head while washing dishes. And the book talks about a girl who jumps in and out of her suitor’s beds and apparently handles cocaine as if it were a piece of candy. Not a book you’d expect from a housewife in the 40s.

But she was a wily one and managed to get it published by writing another book that was more like her “love in the country” tamer ones she’d written before as part of a 2fer deal with the publisher. And it took off proving her right and the publisher who thought it too risque, wrong.

What gets me laughing and shaking my head with admiration for Winny, is the producer in the extra telling the story of the long path of getting it actually made into a movie. “We’re just about to sign the contracts and the lawyers are doing their due diligence, call up from CA and say You don’t own the rights to this movie”. Turns out Winny had sold the rights to a studio way back in the day, and again in 1954, to Universal. Who owns Focus Films through which they were contracting to make this film now. So in essence, wily winny sold the movie rights 3 times to the same studio!

You must go watch the movie and be sure to watch the extra “Miss Pettigrew’s Long Trip To Hollywood” to see Winny’s son talking about her and the photos of her in her 90s with a wicked grin on her face and brandishing a cigarette with no apologies or regrets.

I only regret that there’s not more movie to watch. But there’s the book… I shall be reading that!

If you need yet another reason to watch this movie, how about this? Are you one of those frustrated by the fact that Hollywood seems to have very few good stories about women older than 22? It’s easy to see why Frances McDormand attached herself to the story before there was a screenplay!

Also of note besides the lovely Frances and Amy are Lee Pace whose face kept bothering me cause I knew it but had no idea what the name was. IMDB revealed that he’s the star of Pushing Daisies ahhh. He makes a very nice turn in this movie. But more and more I keep seeing this other bloke in the films and despite his older age, I find myself crushing on him: Ciarán Hinds. I keep thinking that it’s Chris Cooper because they have the same kind of “older gentleman/authorative figure” persona. Clearly there’s another Sam Jackson/Lawrence Fishburne interchangeable actor pair now but Ciarán brings a little extra something that makes me sit up and take notice!

Ah I see he’s in Margot at the Wedding which I’ve been meaning to watch. Guess what I’m doing now?

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I’ve been enjoying older movies lately. Finally saw Singin’ In The Rain for the first time ever. This movie reminded me of the old style of story telling in the movies from the 40s. Originally, if it’d been made in the 40s when Winny first sold the rights, it would have been a musical like a lot of the other movies were. This one isn’t though Amy has at least one singing number but that’s what her character does, sings in a club.

The point and I do have one sometimes, is that if you like or love those older movies, it’s yet another reason to watch this one.

Two half-watched movies I finished watching this weekend.

I can see why Juno got the Oscar nod. This movie is worth watching for the fun dialogue alone. Cody & Ellen made a great team in crafting and acting the character of Juno. And another rarity, I really liked ALL of the supporting characters (and the cast that acted them). They were all quirky and not without their flaws but were easily real people and believable.

Mad Money is just a fun flick. It’s directed by Callie Khouri who brought us Thelma And Louise. MM isn’t quite like T & L but it’s female centric and fun. Sometimes predictable and outlandish still works to make an enjoyable movie I think my favorite part was Katie grooving 23/7

Bummed about missing out on a chance to finish a 3rd “half-watched”, Disturbia. Need to get my hands on it somehow! I left off where David Morse was in the kitchen with Shia and Carrie-Anne and Shia’s freaking.  I love what I’ve seen so far but had player issues. Shia’s one of the best “kid actors” I’ve seen since Elijah Wood.

Wow… what a mess of a movie.

Trying to watch Southland Tales was like reading Neal Stephenson’s Diamond Age for the first time. Confusing as HELL but it started to make sense by the end and upon a re-read or two became one of my favorite books.

However, I don’t know that I have the patience to do the same with this movie. I ended up falling asleep halfway through.

Maybe I’ll give it another go later on… maybe I won’t.

He never gets “too big for his britches”. I love that he’s still a goof ball and very easy to talk to.

Reading this interview with him makes me really want to go see Journey to the Center of the Earth now. Before I was just interested because I like Brendan’s work. The talk about the footballs and treadmill sold me.

This is a great summer… Brendan times 2! and DARK KNIGHT!!!

Just to remind you of the eye candy…

Jason Statham so far has made a career out of making action flicks (either as lead or part of an ensemble cast) that are extremely watchable for me. In this day and age of endlessly recycled and “lets make things go boom” action movies, this is a big deal for me.

In the first 10 minutes, I’m thinking to myself that perhaps he’s finally missed the mark because it starts right out into a heavy gun fight scene and it’s hard to give a damn about anyone because you don’t know who’s fighting who and why.

But it’s all set up and then we see the basis for justice as per the tag line and then I was engaged.

I don’t often watch Jet Li movies but I really should because he’s excellent at establishing a real presence for his character with few words.

I did have some problems with the storylines.

Problem 1: My understanding of Japanese culture, Shiro should be carrying an eternal grudge that he has only a daughter for an heir. Instead, he’s very American in being proud of his daughter and her ability to be his heir. Plus Devon Aoki was rather wooden in her performance. I saw her “acting” her character whereas everyone else WAS their character.

Problem 2: Crawford (Statham) gets all bent out of shape over his partner Tom being killed. Yet his reactions in the tea shop when his new partner is killed seem suppressed. Yes I know he does kill the guy who shot him but the same level of angst isn’t there.

Problem 3: The ending is a anticlimactic. The final confrontation scene ends too quickly and the subsequent dénouement feels disconnected from the intensity of the revelations we just had.

The reasons to watch it anyways out number the cons.

Jet Li is awesome.

Jason Statham is a great conflicted cop.

Good balance of action/fight scenes to story telling.

Fresh twists on common stories.

And did I spy the latino actress from My Name is Earl, playing Shiro’s wife? Yep that is Nadine Velazquez!

Kate & Matthew’s first movie together: How to lose a Guy in 10 days was only saved by their chemistry and how well they played off each other.

This movie didn’t need that to save it this time around but it really showcased it as Kate & Matthew are pitted against each other as a divorcing couple who are both obsessed with finding the wreck of the Aurelia.

I was having so much fun watching the two of them that the finding of the treasure was anticlimactic because that also brought reconciliation between the two leads. The movie’s strength is in the dialogue and interplay between the feuding couple and the others involved.

It’s not a ’smart movie’ but boy is it a fun popcorn movie that you want when you want to smile. Kate & Matthew are definitely the new Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan. The latter even did a movie in the tropics too, Joe vs the Volcano anyone?

Donald Sutherland was also amusing as billionaire father who was trying to build a relationship with his estranged airheaded socialite of a daughter who was just plain stupid as well.

Surprise casting involved Malcolm-Jamal Warner (Theo from The Cosby Show) as a dread locked islander speaking in a Jamaican style accent. He needs to be utilized more. I remember him from Drop Zone too. We should be seeing a lot more of him.

Like someone pointed out in the (measly) extras, I can’t think of any other movie where the male lead gets beaten up so much and repeatedly but never really fights back.

Some of the comedy bits were a little stale but still got a smile from me. The only thing I had a problem with was the sword between the legs bit. It just seemed like an excuse to aim a camera up at the crotch of the daughter. There was nothing funny about it right down to her “oops hahaha” flirty giggle. This is the kind of thing that makes me hate Judd Apatow movies because that’s all they seem to be about, setting up for the next “oh gimme a break” shot.

While their first movie narrowly misses my new much higher mark of “would I buy this”, Fool’s Gold passes muster for enjoyability and rewatchability.

As suspense/thriller movies go, it’s very formulaic. You see every plot device for what it is, ie Griffin’s phone call to Marsh saying that he thought he knew who it might be but he wanted to look at it a bit more first so see ya at work. I immediately looked and Ryan said “Well that’s it for Griffin, he’s dead”. Because A) anytime a supporting character says that they have an idea but need a little more time to verify it, they are killed or otherwise taken out of the picture before they can divulge it. Also B) combine that with “I’ll see you at work” means that won’t happen either in a Murphy’s Law kind of way.

And that’s really the worst thing I can say about this movie. Despite a lot of predictability, it’s very watchable and enjoyable. The premise is an internet killer that sets up situations where the more people that log into the site, the closer to death the victim becomes.

Ryan found that very scary but couldn’t seem to make the connection that I was pointing out that it’s commentary on the state of our society these days where we encourage paparazzis to stalk the celebrities and anyone of minor importance and the distribution of real life gory photos such as the ones of that girl whose head was smashed like a melon in an car crash. A cop sent photos to dispatch who then sent them to someone else in a “hey look at this gruesome thing” and it quickly became another internet thing and then someone sent the photos to the girl’s cousin’s cell phone.

Knowing how close we are to that gives this movie even more power to grip you.

Diane Lane is decent though I thought her character was a little off. Colin Hanks was excellent. Joseph Cross (who we thought was one of the Ashmore twins) was superb. I have to admit I found myself thinking that Joseph looks more like a young Tom Hanks then Colin does.

The premise for the movie is original but the storytelling isn’t. Watch it if you liked Kiss The Girls, Double Jeopardy, movies of that ilk, want to see Colin Hanks prove it’s not just cause of his Dad that he’s getting casted, like Diane Lane, love creepy torture death scenes a la Se7en.

It might have been released in 1990 but the script was definitely written in the 80s. Felt like the leads were all thoroughly bored and distracted. They’d ‘wake up’ and realize it was their line and deliver it and then zone off again.

I’m fond of Daryl Hannah but now I have to wonder if I’ve inflated her acting skills in my mind. She came off as petulant instead of neurotic.

I’ve never been a huge Dudley Moore fan but I’ve liked things he’s done. This felt like a phone in job for him.

It was mildly amusing to see Paul Reiser playing a similar character to the corp hack in Aliens.

At the end, I was doing a serious double take because I could swear that the one helicopter pilot was George Eads (CSI), but it wasn’t. And I knew it would be because George doesn’t look 45-50 as he would be now.

The only thing I would recommend this movie for would be the funny “honest advertising” campaigns that the movie’s plot centers around. Otherwise unless you just REALLY love 80s movies, Dudley Moore, Paul Reiser and/or Daryl Hannah….. don’t watch.

Daryl Hannah: 1.5 star
Daryl acting badly: -.5 star
Funny ads: 1 star
It’s an 80s movie and I love the 80s: 2 stars
It’s a bad 80s movie with little to no charm: -1.5 star.
Summary: 2.5 stars