Grab your popcorn!

It is time for some way overdue movie reviews. And maybe some TV thrown in if I have time.

Mamma Mia! I liked it. It was pretty much what I expected. I mean it is certainly not an amazingly high quality drama. It is a musical. Based on the music of ABBA. I mean, come on. But the story was cute, the singing was really well done (I thought, Matty disagrees, he is not a fan of Pierce Brosnan's singing). Not a whole lot else to say. If you sing whenever Take a Chance on Me or Dancing Queen and if you like silly musicals, see it. If not, well of course you should probably avoid it.

Horton Hears a Who! Umm. It has been awhile since I read this. But it seems to follow the gist of the story. But it is a bit weird. There are some parts that do not fit in and I am not entirely sure how a child would actually like this movie. I don't know. I was a bit disappointed. I mean I felt like in some ways they tried to stick to a very Seussian way of doing things but then it is like someone smoked a little too much and threw in a scene or too that fit more into an adult movie. I dont know. I wouldnt recommend this really unless you have nothing else to do.

Tropic Thunder. I have to say I was very very pleasantly surprised. I had absolutely no hope for this movie and I ended up really enjoying it. It is raw. It is certainly not for the faint of heart or stomach. But it was pretty funny. I was concerned about having so many funny people (Ben Stiller, Jack Black) and so many strong and different personalities (Robert Downey Jr., Nick Nolte [who looks awful!], Tom Cruise [who was fantastic], Matthew McConaughey) in the same movie and trying to outdo each other. But they all wroked really well together. And I totally dont get the whole uproar about the "R" word. Because honestly, it kinda seems like they didnt actually see the movie. Sooo . . . yeah. On the other hand, Jewish movie producers and funders, they have something to yell about. Just kidding. Really though, highly recommended.

Paragraph 175. Yeah. Didnt see it. Sent it back. Couldnt come up with a night that felt like a "documentary about the Nazi's policy on gays during the Holocaust" night. I feel bad. But it was slowing up the queues. We will try again.

Angela's Ashes. This was Matty's answer to Paragraph 175 being too depressing. Sigh. He read it on his way to Ireland and so wanted to see the movie. I havent read it. He says it sticks well to the book. It was very good. The acting was good, the story was heartbreaking, the scenery was sad and dreary.

When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.

Pretty much sums it up. Well worth the watch, might want to grab some tissues.

The Duchess. Yeah, I am a girl. A period piece about an obscure duchess who was the political and social force of her time in an unhappy relationship? Yeah. I am going to rent it. Shoot me. And I dont think Matty hated it exactly. I think he liked it better when he realized it was based on a ture story. I know their are Keira Knightley haters out there. But I think maybe they might not hate her in this. Maybe. I dont know. The costumes and sets (mostly actual locations) were superb. The acting was good all around though I disagree that Ralph Fiennes did much to make his character less awful. And it made Matty bring up an interesting question (to which he flip flops on his thoughts I think):

How is it different and is it "better" that we have so little surviving information about her (relatively important for her time) and about other people in history (both unimportant and middling important and very important) but what information there is is concrete (letters, paintings, castles) or that there is so much surviving but digital information (emails, tweets, flickr accounts, facebook pages, blogs) about every one of us?

Gran Torino. My dad knows this guy . . . never mind. But anyway, we watched this last night. I really really liked it. It was much different than what I thought it would be, but I cant exactly say what is different. Clint Eastwood was fantastic! He was so angry and disgruntled! That grunt he makes. Oh my god. And the comments he makes, the things that actually come out of his mouth! Matty thought it was too hammy. I think if they didnt throw in some humor (not ham, in my opinion) it would have been too downright depressing. And you are supposed to want to pull for him and I dont think you could if he was too serious. He reminded me a lot of Matty's dad. Which is probably not a compliment. Highly recommend it!

Ok, no more for now, but I will try to get back soon with some thoughts on The Wire: Season 2, Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries, Season 1 and Season 2.0 (though if you are actually interested in Battlestar Galactica, check out The Daily Drew [see sidebar]) and maybe if I am ambitious Lost: Season 5 (the current season). Also at home now we have Changeling and This American Life Season 1.