Bach-ing It.

I must confess, despite the ridiculous number of hours I watch TV, I have never gotten into The Bachelor (ette).  There’s something intrinsically wrong, to me, about being willing to date/make out with/lead on/sleep with a multitude of prospective mates.  I really don’t like the whole part where, say, Jillian is acting with three different guys like she wants to be with them for the rest of her life, and then, she just says, you know what?  Nah, you’re no longer in the mix. 

I have followed a couple of the seasons, because a friend will watch and talk about it.  And, it’s my conclusion that the producers know who they want for the next series, so they finagle things so they’re the person who gets really wronged by the Bach, so everyone’s rooting for the victim, when they come back.  One of my friends, who’s been an avid watcher since they started, says she might stop if they don’t stop doing that and bring some fresh faces in for the Bach.  If I did watch it, I’d be tempted to stop right now, just to punish ABC for running the exact same 1.5 hour season finale episode on Tuesday night, after it just ran on Monday night, and holding back the finale of The Superstars for another week!  Anyway, did you watch it?  What did you think??

*****start poll*****

Poll: The Bachelorette – Jillian

*****end poll*****

 

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

How can you possibly please a fan base as passionate about source books as the Harry Potter fans, when you produce the movies?  I have loved the books, myself.  And, I have had some problems with the film adaptations.  What I’ve found is that I do better if I put some distance between the book and the movie.  But, I know a lot of fans have re-read the sixth book, even all six of the books, in preparation for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.  It’s been a long while since we spent time with Harry, Ron and Hermione.  And, all the readers know how it ends, but it’s hard to remember, exactly, how things transpired to get us there.  The sixth book seemed a blur.

It all comes roaring back in scary shades of gray, in the skilled hands of director, David Yates.  He did the last movie, Order of the Phoeniz, and he’ll do a two part Deathly Hallows, as well.  You Know Who is back, the Deatheaters are running amok.  Even muggles are not safe.  Our Gryffindor friends head back to school with a big cloud over all proceedings and tasks from Dumbledore that are much more significant than anything learned in Herbology.  And yet, they’re kids.  And, if you’ve ever dealt with teenagers, you know that adult problems do not always supercede the importance of a break out or a break up or a quidditch match.  I think the film finds a nice balance between the day to day dealings of Harry, Ron and Hermione and the forward movement of the threat of Voldemort.  And, the actors who play our beloved trio have grown more comfortable in their roles, in their jobs, so that conversations on the Hogwarts Express seem like real chats between “mates,” and not just cute scripted scenes.  Jim Broadbent is a nice addition to the family, as Professor Slughorn.  Young Tom Riddle is played by the nephew of Ralph Fiennes and the son of Stephen Dillane.  Both boys are strong and scary.  I was wondering if Tom Felton would be up to the task of Draco Malfoy’s increased role.  He was.  And, I just can’t say enough about Alan Rickman.  He gives Severus Snape a depth and humanity I’d never have dreamed possible from reading the books.  I am a fan.  Overall, while it doesn’t have the stylized beauty of Prisoner of Azkaban, I’d have to say Half Blood Prince is one of the top two adaptations of the books.  I give Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince a 10 out of 10.

New on DVD this Week

Most of the new titles out on DVD this week are films that will be new to you.  That doesn’t mean they’re not worth checking out!

12 – A Russian take off on the classic 12 Angry Men, with a jury room deciding the fate of a Chechen teenager accused of murder.

The Horsemen – Dennis Quaid plays a detective still grieving over the death of his wife.  He’s investigating murders that seem related to the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

The Color of Magic – A family fantasy based on the Terry Pratchett book and starring Sean Astin and Tim Curry.

The Edge of Love – Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller are both in love with the poet played by Matthew Rhys.

Menage – Speaking of three-somes, Gerard Depardieu plays a thief who brings a bored young couple into his life of robbing wealthy people.  It’s in french.

REC – A spanish film about a TV reporter and her photographer are covering the overnight shift at a fire station, they follow a crew to a call at an apartment building, which ends up being sealed off, Quarantine style.

The Haunting in Connecticut – A family relocates for their son’s health and ends up living in a place that used to be a mortuary.  Way to go.

Beach Kings – Another film about the cut throat world of professional beach volleyball, starring David Charvet (most recently of Superstars) and Kristin Cavalleri.

Dakota Skye – Emotional indie about a girl who always gleans the truth from people.  Some are happy, some get mad.

The Bracelet of Bordeaux – Family flick about two tweens who investigate the disappearance of dogs in their neighborhood.

Movie Review: Away We Go

Here’s the thing about movie reviews, they’re really just someone’s opinion.  The key is finding the reviewer who you agree with most and following their advice.  For me, that was Gene Siskel.  After Gene died, I searched out and read many other reviewers.  I realized I’m on my own.  After I see a film, I sit through the credits and give it a 1-10 in my mind.  I’m always relieved to hear from the people I’m with that they’re in the ballpark of my rating.  But sometimes, like after an M Night Shyamalan film or something like Stardust, I realize my tastes are not the norm.

That disclosed, my favorite film of the year so far is Away We Go.  He’s always good, but here, he’s back to his American Beauty brilliance.  And yet, he’s taking us someplace new, for him, a place where a couple of people are together, and they know each other, and they’re totally, totally in love.  It’s a wondrous place, where you’re with your partner, and you’re in sync, and every one else and their lives and opinions seem foreign.  John Krasinski is an even more serious and loving Jim from The Office.  And, Maya Rudolph is warm and luminous and very pregnant.  Together, they embark on a road trip to try and find the place where they want to settle and raise their child together.  They visit friends and family.  And, the thing that reminds me of American Beauty is that you’re along for the ride, and it’s hysterically funny and real and then, suddenly, painfully poignant.  All of the supporting cast is fantastic, from crazy earth mother Maggie Gyllenhaal, to wacked out suburbanite Allison Janney.  Away We Go is out in limited release.  If you want to wait and see blockbusters in the theaters now, I understand, but please promise you’ll seek it out on DVD.  It gets a 10 out of 10.

New TV on DVD

This is a great week to see some new TV on DVD.

One of the most talked about releases is Season Two of Mad Men.  I have to be honest, I watched most of Season One, and I just didn’t love it.  All the social stratification drives me crazy sometimes. 

The cable series I would recommend to you, instead, is Leverage, with Timothy Hutton and Christian Kane (see Daune’s Eye Candy).  The whole ensemble clicks, every character hilarious and endearing.  Season One is out today.

Also:

• American Gladiators – Season 1
• Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations – Collection 4
• Bewitched – Season 8
• Bleach – Uncut Box Set Vol. 3: The Rescue
• ER – Season 11
• Faerie Tale Theatre – Princess Tales and Tales From Hans Christian Andersen
• Flash Gordon – Complete Series
• G.I. Joe – Season 1.1
• The Guns of Will Sonnett – Seasons 1 and 2
• A Haunting – Twilight of Evil (Blu-ray)
• Peyton Place – Part 2
• The Red Skelton Show – America’s Clown Prince
• The State – Complete Series
• Tales of Wells Fargo– Tales of Wells Fargo
• Tracey Takes On – Seasons 3 and 4
  

  

And, the Discovery Channel has a boxed set of Shark Week out.  Yikes.  I know people like it, because it’s a huge ratings thing for them, every year, but …  bleah.

And, HBO is releasing their original movie, Grey Gardens, starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore.  The film is based on the documentary about Jackie Onassis’ loopy aunt and cousin.  The performances are terrific.  The only people who don’t think it’s amazing are the ones who didn’t feel a movie should be made, because the documentary was excellent.  I say, rent both, then you’ll really be blown away by the performances.  They are spot on!

Bruno Big at the Box Office

Much closer at the box office this weekend than I expected.  But, Bruno takes the crown!

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This  Week		Title
1		Brüno Weekend gross: $30.4M
2		Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Weekend gross: $28.5M
3		Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Weekend gross: $24.2M
4		Public Enemies Weekend gross: $14.1M
5		The Proposal Weekend gross: $10.5M
6		The Hangover Weekend gross: $9.9M
6
7		I Love You, Beth Cooper Weekend gross: $5M

Transformers and Ice Age 3 are not far behind, still drawing in a lot of audience.  Beth Cooper fell way off, in its debut, and you’ll be able to see that very soon on DVD, if you’re interested.  The reason I’m spelling doom for the teen comedy is that you-know-who… AND Harry Potter… open this week, tomorrow at midnight, in fact.  They will be going to that, instead, and should be going to that, instead.  It’s terrific.  Full review coming soon.  And for you grown ups, a movie not in the top 10, or top 20, for that matter, is Food, Inc.  But, I’m hearing more and more that it’s a film EVERYONE should see.  Let’s all seek it out, shall we?

Movie Review: The Hangover

Here are some things you should know about my movie going:
 
1.  I usually know, in advance, whether I’m going to like a movie.  That’s why most of my movie reviews are so positive.  Hey, I’m buying my ticket, why should I go see something I’m not going to enjoy? 

2.  I go by myself, with my son, or with one of my friends, usually. 

3.  Sometimes, I’m fortunate enough, because of my job, to see a preview screening.  I love that.  But again, I’m not going to go to a free movie, just to go.  I have too much other stuff going on.  I’m going to go to a free movie, if it’s something I want to see, and count the screening as a bonus.

4.  My husband generally does not go to the movie theater. 

The hubs took the boys to see his family, 4th of July weekend.  I was still recovering from my surgery and not interested in two long car rides, there and back, so I declined.  For whatever reason, hubs took 3 hours out of his family visit time to dump the baby on his parents and take the boy to a movie.  This is VERY unusual, and I was a little peeved, as I see movies all the time and would like to go with him, but he will never go with me.  Anyhoo, they loved it.  I thought it looked funny, but I was concerned that all the good parts were in the trailer (and AGAIN, WHY do they do that???).  He said I should see it, that there was a lot more to it than the funny parts.  Soooooo…  I’m at the movie theater, I’ve just seen something sublime (review forthcoming), and my son texts me and says, pleeeeeeeaaase see The Hangover, so we can “talk about it.”  ???  Uh, okay.  I duck in.  I still laugh in many of the scenes I’ve already seen in the trailer, but I lament their lack of freshness.  I marvel at the substance in the story, hmmm… “there’s actually something going on here,” I think.  The buddies are in Vegas on a bachelor party binge.  They begin their night of celebration.  Fast forward to the next morning.  Mayhem has ensued.  And, they spend the rest of the movie trying to piece together what has happened.  Adding to my enjoyment of The Hangover, two middle aged white dudes on a man-date talking to the screen.  Their reaction to the things that are going on is as funny as anything on the screen.  When Stu’s girlfriend turns her head away when he tries to kiss her goodbye, they scream, “Ohhhhhh!” and “Get rid of her!!!”  She is pretty horrible.  But, the movie is good, a fun and funny adult comedy.  I give The Hangover 8 out of 10.

New to See this Weekend!

Still a few blockbusters to go this summer.  Check my ratings on the left, if you’re curious about how I have ranked the ones I’ve seen, so far. 

Bruno has been grabbing headlines for over a year.  When Sacha Baron Cohen makes a film, the whole shooting process is in the news, because the characters he creates rely on reactions from everyday people.  I think that’s why I don’t like his movies.  He takes advantage of people, makes them look stupid, even if they’re not.  It’s mean spirited and almost always offensive.  I’m a little disturbed that he can’t keep the Austrian accent going through an entire talk show interview, like when he turned up as Bruno on Conan.  If you aren’t aware, Bruno is a flamboyant fashionista character who terrorized fashion week in Milan and elsewhere, apparently busting up clothes and models and runway shows.  Bruno is rated R for pervasive strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity and language.

On her time off from Heroes, Hayden Panettiere is doing movies, when she can.  The cheerleader turned rebel from TV plays a popular girl in high school in I Love You, Beth Cooper.  Paul Rust plays brainiac and social misfit, Dennis Cooverman.  He picks the high school graduation ceremony and his valedictorian speech as the time to declare his “love” for the the alpha female.  And, she picks that night as the time to show him the night of his life.  High school mayhem ensues.  I Love You, Beth Cooper is rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language, some teen drinking and drug references and brief violence.


Food, Inc. is one of those documentaries that you don’t really want to see, but you should see it, because it will shock you into seriously considering something we all take for granted, our food.  Where does it really come from?  Who’s controlling the supply?  How did it get so monopolized, and why doesn’t anyone know about it or talk about it?  They say you’ll never look at dinner the same way.  Food, Inc. is rated PG for some thematic material and disturbing images.  Chipotle is sponsoring a free screening at the Cedar Lee on July 16th at 7:30.  Go to the movie’s official web page for details.

A lot of the movies coming out this summer in limited release were available to see at the Cleveland International Film Festival.  That’s exciting to me, as a newbie to the CIFF.  I really wanted to see Moon, but didn’t get there.  Now, it’s finally out.  Sam Rockwell stars as an astronaut who is nearing the end of a three year stint on the Moon, where he mines something that the earth needs to continue providing power to earthlings.  This is set in the future, mind, and the only thing he really has for company is a robot, named Gerty.  GERTY is voiced by Kevin Spacey, so you know there are going to be issues.  In addition, this is the first film for writer and producer, Duncan Jones, who is the son of David Bowie.  He reportedly wrote it with only Sam Rockwell in mind for the lead.  Moon is rated R for language.

This should be a big week for rentals.  There are a few interesting movies out, and ones that didn’t necessarily get a big audience in theaters.

Push, for example, had a lot of promotion, not a lot of business, but I’ll bet a ton of people will rent it.  Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning star as people with mental abilities who are trying to avoid being manipulated by two warring sides.

Knowing did well in theaters, and for some reason, Nicholas Cage seems to pick just the right projects for mass appeal.  Here, he’s a Dad whose kid’s class digs up a time capsule that contains cryptic clues to major catastrophes.  It’s very National Treasure ish.

Five Fingers is Laurence Fishburne and Colm Meaney and Ryan Phillippe.  I don’t know where it’s been, but the movie is from 2006 and just getting released.  Phillippe plays a concert pianist who is trying to do humanitarian work.  He’s abducted by a terrorist, and it seems likes it’s a big mental game after that.

A Day in the Life is written, stars and is produced by Sticky Fingaz.  It’s a gangster tale with Mekhi Phifer and Omar Epps, too.

The Unborn is a scary movie, but it could be a star turn by Odette Yustman, who is playing a young woman who is slowly being possessed by a spirit or her dreams.  Gary Oldman and Cam Gigandet try to help her.

Night Train stars LeeLee Sobieski, Steve Zahn and Danny Glover as folks on a train together who find that a passenger with them has expired, and he appears to be carrying some diamonds.  Greed and mayhem ensue.

This week, a new DVD edition of Near Dark with Adrian Pasdar comes out.  And, I have to say, it’s one of the better vampire movies.  Top 20, anyway!

And, Shirley MacLaine stars as Coco Chanel from a TV movie.  If you’re interested in fashion, this biopic got a few award nominations last year.

 

There are some excellent boxed sets out on DVD this week!

First off, the Peanuts 1960s Collection includes all of the very best Peanuts cartoons.  You get a Charlie Brown Christmas, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, You’re in Love, Charlie Brown, He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown… all the greats.  Charles Schulz was so far ahead of his time!

In addition, you can pick up the second season of Third Watch.  This was a really good show about the cops, firefighters and EMTs working that shift.  If you didn’t watch it while it was on, chances are you’ve become fans of one or more of the actors since then, and it’s great to see them in their early roles, like Eddie Cibrian, Michael Beach, Kim Raver or Bobby Cannavale.  It’s ten years old!  Shocking!  But, it still holds up, I think.

Also new on DVD this week:

Murder, She Wrote, Season 10
Reno 911, Season 6
Matlock, Season 3
Callan, Set 1
The Universe, Season 2
Mystery Science Theater 3K, XV
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, RPM

A Gloved Goodbye

You know what?  I thought I was Michael Jacksoned out.  So, I didn’t give the Memorial Service my full attention.  I flipped over and listened to Lionel Ritchie singing.  He was rough.  I flipped over, and a group of people I didn’t recognize was singing We Are the World. 

Then, I flipped over, and Marlon Jackson was talking about his brother, not THE Michael Jackson.  He was talking about losing the Michael who shared formative years with him under the same crowded and hard knock roof.   And, I was spellbound.  Then, the Jackson family all crowded around the microphone, Marlon appeared to turn things over to Janet.  But, little Paris Jackson, just 11 or something, so beautiful and shaken, seemed to want to say something to the crowd.  It was a totally spontaneous move.  It was a courageous move.  What can an 11 year old girl who we’ve never even heard speak in public before say at such a moment?  She started and stopped, her aunts and uncles told her to speak louder, but why?  No one else in the room or watching around the world was even breathing.  And, in one sentence she answered a question we’d all wondered all along.  “Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine.”  And then, we all started sobbing.

Incredible.  At the age of 28, I tried to speak at my Mom’s funeral.  I’d been speaking professionally to people for a decade, all grown up, and I couldn’t get through it.  Losing a parent is horrible.  And, for these kids, he was very much a part of their universe, all the time.  They weren’t in school, they didn’t have activities.  They traveled all around the world and met dignitaries and were exposed to cultures.  Yep, he was a troubled and talented man.  Never had a normal life, himself.  I suspect the drug use started with the Pepsi commercial in the mid-80s.  We didn’t get to see him as much, after the kids.  But, in the last few years, despite the surgeries, or perhaps because of them, you could see how frail he’d become.  In that last rehearsal, he was so thin, not like a 50 year old man at all.  Look at his brothers in their suits at the service.  He should have settled into middle age like that.  I thought, it’s a wonder he survived those dark times in the 90s, but then I look at those kids.  I’ll bet they kept him alive, when his body and his spirit didn’t want to go on.  Kids have a way of doing that.  I’m reminded of the Princes, William and Harry, after Diana’s death, and John Junior and Caroline, after their Dad was shot.  But, they both had their other parent.  Gosh, I hope and pray they’ll be okay.

And, okay… let’s just say it.  Not everyone believes Michael Jackson was the best person or parent or whatever.  There was a letter in a major newspaper yesterday lamenting the attention being paid to Michael Jackson’s passing, as opposed to a soldier, who died in Iraq over the weekend.  We could spend days discussing the fairness of the daily news cycle, the value of entertainment news, compared to “real” news.  I pray for the families of soldiers, and the soldiers themselves, every day.  Like it or not, Michael Jackson touched a lot of lives, in 40 years of music and activism.  I guess I’m not Michaeled out, after all.  I taped the Wolf Blitzer wrap up show, with all the highlights of the service that I missed while I was flipping through the day.  Great memories, touching memorial.  It’s sad that someone who might have been helped by some of that love and support in life doesn’t get to see what happens in their absence.

 

Movie Monday

I feel like I really did my part to help Hollywood this weekend, after seeing three movies in theaters and two on DVD!  More reviews to come, but let’s look at the box office.

 

This  Week		Title
1		)Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Weekend gross: $42.5M (tie)
2		Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Weekend gross: $42.5M (tie)
3		Public Enemies Weekend gross: $26.2M
4		The Proposal Weekend gross: $12.8M
5		The Hangover Weekend gross: $10.4M

Very interesting that we have another week where it’s too close to call at the top of the box office.  Ice Age 3 and Transformers both raked in over 42 million.  Oddly, that doesn’t seem like much for 4th of July weekend, but we are in a recession.  I went three matinees and, partly, I’m sure, because the weather was gorgeous this weekend, they were sparsely attended.  Another reason could be that theaters have (was it just this weekend?  because this is the first I’ve noticed it) basically done away with matinee pricing.  Regal still gives you a little break, if you go to the first showing of something.  Matinees Friday and Saturday were $7!!!  I think that’s appalling.  I go because I love the theater experience, but they are pricing themselves right out of the entertainment budget.  To be fair, I speak to just as many people who don’t go because of other rude theater goers.  I had no problem with that this weekend.  One guy was really chewing his gum and rocking during an exciting part of Public Enemies, but I don’t think he was even aware of it until I gave him a smile and wave, because then he stopped.  The on screen heckling during The Hangover enhanced the viewing experience for me, because it was two 30 something white dudes who were completely engaged in the movie, and they were funny.

Thanks to Michele, who reads my reviews and sent in her thoughts on Public Enemies:

My sister and I, both big Johnny fans, went to see “Public Enemies” yesterday. Both Johnny and Christian are terrific in their roles. Granted that he is a bad guy but it’s like Warren Beatty in “Bonnie and Clyde”…he just makes you want to love him! He has a tender side and such charisma… It just amazed me that even though he was the most sought after criminal, Dillinger would be so public in his appearances. Good film. Know you’ll like it.

I did!  See below!

What a gorgeous weekend for the 4th of July!  I hope you did lots of fun things.  I took care of a few things I never got time for during the normal weeks of summer.  Tried to re-adhesive the ceiling on the boy’s car, went to TWO farmer’s markets, swapped out our router at the cable company and spent much of the weekend getting our home networked (WHAT a fiasco!!  It’s so complicated!).  But, I found time for leisure activities, as well.  I saw three movies!

There are a few directors working today that I admire, and when their names are on films, I feel confident that I will appreciate the movies.  Such is the case with Michael Mann.  He’s solid.  And, I was excited to see him team up with Johnny Depp for Public Enemies.  If I’m not mistaken, the book that the movie is based on is really more of an overview of the Chicago crime scene in the 1930s, and Mann chooses to focus all of his energy on John Dillinger, reducing Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd to cameos.  On the side of the law, Christian Bale is Melvin Purvis, the FBI pioneer who makes it his life’s mission to take down the gangsters.  Bale gives him a lot of depth, you can see some of the inner turmoil that Purvis must have felt, but we don’t get to know much about him at all, just his methods.  It’s Depp’s show.  We get to know and, perhaps, care about John Dillinger.  You could say that a lot of kids grew up, especially during that time, with a lack of love at home, taking beatings and living hard.  They didn’t all resort to a life of bank robbery and, yes, murder.  But, Johnny Depp gives Dillinger a soul and a spirit and a vulnerable side, and Michael Mann makes him the hero.  The teen Depp fan with us said, at the end, something about how even somebody like Dillinger deserves love.  Yep, even the real Dillinger had that allure.  Hey, it’s why we’re still talking about him today.  Go to enjoy the performances and a different time in American history that has some eerie similarities to today, but don’t expect any frills.  Mann’s Public Enemies is solid, straightforward, biopic storytelling.  I found myself a little confused about all the secondary characters, all those bad 30s haircuts and square white faces.  I could not keep the gangsters straight, nor all the G-men.  And, I really did want to find out more about some of the actors!  Billy Crudup is a stand out as J Edgar Hoover.  Marion Cotillard is beautiful Billie.  Public Enemies is an 8 out of 10.