September 2011

{before you start: did you see I’m giving away a NOOK?}

I am so glad the new fall season of TV has begun! We saved a few TIVOed shows for the summer (Fringe & The Office) but you can only watch Dwight talk about beets so many days in a row. So, we finally started Redbox-ing it. Which, as a rabbit trail, I hope the person who thought of that thing is a millionaire! Wouldn’t it be horrible if that idea just got included under someone’s contract and they didn’t make a dime? Because seriously, that thing is genius.

Anywhoo. I love reading movie reviews, so here are my mini-reviews of the…

TOP TEN MOVIES I WATCHED THIS SUMMER

1. Limitless

Basically, I loved this movie and want to watch it again. It’s about a guy who finds a wonder drug that opens up that infamous untapped 80% of your brain. And really, as a blogger/writer I *so* wanted that pill. The whole movie was kinda quirky and had these weird camera-things going on. I love interesting movies with smash-bang endings. This totally delivered. PLUS. Chuck from Pushing Daisies plays the ex-girlfriend. So, that makes me happy.

2. The Lincoln Lawyer

First of all, this movie stars Matthew McConaughey. So, besides being totally charming he is the ONLY actor (besides Tow Mater) that has a real Southern accent.

This movie is based on Michael Connelly’s novel of the same name. And any time a movie is based on a book, it already has about 3 bonus points. This movie is a law-thriller-mystery. And I loved it. The story got me from start to finish. I wasn’t trying to figure it out–it wasn’t too easy to figure out or too far-fetched. It was just like a perfectly written book. Hmmm. Big surprise, right?

3. Unknown

Enter charming man #2: Liam Neeson. You know he’s the voice of Aslan, right? *sigh*

I loved the whole premise of this movie. I totally don’t want to tell you what happens because it’s a great twist-and-turn thing that will keep you guessing. (Or at least it did me!) I do think they rushed the end a bit and there was a fight scene that was kinda out of place, but besides that I thought it was creative and exciting.

4. The Adjustment Bureau

I loved this movie till the end. It had some cool paranormal, supernatural stuff going on. But the ending left me flat. My husband loved it. Eh.

5. Source Code

Maybe you’ve figured out by now that we don’t watch chick flicks around our house. And it’s not my husband’s fault either. I just don’t get into them. There’s too much syrupy sweetness, too much sex and too much pretend-feminism. It gets on my nerves. My favorite kinds of movies are real historical period pieces or thrillers. And if there is some kind of twisted plot line (and even a touch of sci-fi-ish-ness), then I’m even better.

OK, back to Source Code. This is movie is exactly the kind of movie I like. I just love when you have NO IDEA what is going on for like the first 15 minutes. You are figuring out what’s going on at the same time as the main character. I want to compare it to another movie, but I’m afraid it would give away the storyline. It was so good. I loved this one!

6. I Am Number Four

I had no idea what this movie was about when my husband brought it home. But when I realized it was about teenagers I was not happy (see: Chick Flicks above). Then I discovered it was kinda Heroes-meets-Twilight and I started to dig it! It was a little comic-book-ish and a little high-school-drama. But for some reason I liked it. I’m a sucker for how-super-heroes-were-born. (Seriously, I want to see X-men:First Class!)

7. The Help

OK. This one is not out on DVD yet, but I did see it this summer. And OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS SAKES ALIVE. I don’t know how they did it, but they captured the complete gut-punch that the book brought. I actually saw it as a pre-release on my anniversary! (Yeah, Les didn’t know he would be the only guy in a theater full of girls and sitting with my sisterchicks, no less! But he loved it, too.)

The acting was just spot on. The accents, the haughtiness of Hilly, the naivete of Skeeter, the complete blindness of Elizabeth, the on-no-you-ditten of Minny and the gentle strength of Abilene. It was just so fantastic. If you aren’t going to read the book (which really, you MUST), please see the movie. And then maybe go see it again.

8. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

My husband came home one night and said, “I stepped out on a limb. We’re going to take a chance with this movie.” And when the menu came up on the screen I said, “OH NO.” I cannot even begin to tell you how strange this movie was. It’s about a young 20something who falls in love with a loner girl and before he can date her, he has to battle her 7 evil exes.

Do you need to go back and read that again?

It was sort of Napolean Dynamite meets The Batman TV show. It was probably one of the strangest movies I’ve ever seen. But (*whisper*) I kinda liked it! (see: “how superheroes are born” above)

9. The Eagle

Ah, finally! A real period piece! This one is set in 120 AD and it’s basically just the slightly overused story of a boy trying to redeem his father’s name. The character development was a little off (I ended up liking the sidekick better than the main character). But I enjoyed the movie because it’s based on fact (you know I like a movie when I have to get online as soon as it’s done to check facts and history!) It was based on a true event in Rome when an entire legion of Roman Soldiers were lost after entering Britain. The only thing recovered was a gold eagle used as their standard.

What was so cool about the movie is that it DID NOT LOOK LIKE LORD OF THE RINGS. There was not one bit of CGI. That means there was REAL scenery and REAL fighting and REAL mud and water and tromping through the forest. You know how all war/battle movies just look alike? Like 40 billion waves of troops advancing on one another and fighting like crazy? This was more…realistic. (I oughtta know, right? Because I’ve been in a centuries old battle before.)Anyway, I can’t describe why that was such a breath of fresh air, but it was.

10. Have you seen any good movies lately?

Disclaimer: Just because I recommend these movies doesn’t mean you will like them. Or that they are godly. I am the queen of fast-forwarding when there are things I am uncomfortable watching. If you’d like to see real reviews especially ones that detail things you don’t want to see like language, sex and violence see my favorite movie review sites.

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