The Foster Family

I hesitate to do this because all the comments I get that aren’t friends or family are negative reactions to my reviews! So, here’s my disclaimer… The reviews on this blog are my personal opinion. They are intended for my friends and family. I am not a professional critic, nor do I always agree with professional critics. I realize I often like lame movies, and I sometimes intensely dislike technically good movies. All you haters out there… deal with it.

So, Star Trek. May I first say that we brought our 6 week-old daughter to the movies with us for the first time, and she slept the entire time. What an awesome kid. Anyhoo, Star Trek was visually pretty awesome, and was entertaining the whole way through. I have never liked a Star Trek movie/show before, but I did enjoy this one, although it definitely will not be the same on a small screen.

Last week Nat and I saw State of Play with Russel Crowe, Ben Affleck, and Rachel McAdams. It was pretty good. I didn’t love it, but I was interested in the plot all the way through. I don’t think Russel Crowe’s hair has ever looked worse than in that movie, but he’s still very cool, as always.

Before Jo was born we saw Slumdog Millionaire. That movie is awesome. It is both incredibly sad and extremely joyous.

I think that catches us up on my movie reviews. Oh, except for Watchmen, which was pretty hard core, and kind of amazing at the same time. My suggestion with Watchmen is that first you read the graphic novel, and if you’re okay with seeing all that acted out, plus a few more bad words and a little more violence (somehow), check out the movie. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was great in it. The character “the comedian” is so interesting to me… but I think reading the novel may have been enough.

Lastly, I want to see Wolverine even though it might be awful. I’ll let ya know how it goes.

Holy moly, that movie is long. It had some very interesting things about it, and I have to admit I really enjoyed watching how the characters changed ages. It was a little lacking in plot, and the main character made some decisions that made me kind of hate him, but I think I enjoyed it overall. Brad Pitt still has some babe left in him… despite his exponential increase in children in the last few years. Cate Blanchett was good. It kind of felt like being read a bedtime story… a really long one.

This movie is entertaining and intense. It’s not the best movie in the world, but I enjoyed watching it. Liam is one tough dude in it. I definitely recommend it if you’re feeling like watching something you don’t have to think real hard about, and you just want to be taken for an interesting ride for a couple hours. The writing and the story are pretty good, as is the acting.

This Bond movie takes place right where Casino Royale left off. It is action packed! Daniel Craig is, of course, amazingly cool in it. I liked the new Bond girl more than I expected. She is not just a piece of meat, and Bond is not as promiscuous as I feared he would be (after losing Vesper, I thought he’d be using old-fashioned Bond methods of finding happiness more). The story keeps you entertained and interested, and the villains were pretty bad dudes. I don’t remember hearing much, if any, profanity. Awesome videography. It was great. That being said, it is possible I liked Casino Royale a little bit more, but still was thoroughly entertained… and it was a midnight show!

This is a new vampire movie from Sweden that Nat and I saw last night. I don’t think it will be shown in many theaters in the US (as it’s in Swedish, and it’s pretty weird). It was very well done though. It’s about a vampire girl in a 12 year old’s body, and a 12 year-old boy she becomes friends with. The movie has an amazing blend of creepiness and sweetness. It’s not real entertaining/pleasant, but the climax and ending are great. Man, Sweden looks freezing! The whole time I felt cold just watching all the snow and breath.

I give this movie a solid B. Maybe B-. So, not so solid I guess. Nat liked it a lot though. I went in without any knowledge about it except Ed Harris, Viggo Mortenson, and Renee Zellweger are in it, and it’s about a rough town. I don’t think I’ve even seen the preview. Anyhoo, my thoughts beforehand were that it can’t be as tight as 3:10 to Yuma (which I love… but it’s not a typical Western… which might be why I love it). The movie was pretty good throughout. It’s only rated R for a few f-words, and a few shootings I guess, but they weren’t that bloody. I expected the movie to be more hard core, but no one in it is too hungry for blood. I had a realization while watching it that in order for me to like a movie I have to really like at least one character in it. Without Viggo’s character, this movie would have been in trouble. The bad guy was kinda cool, but he was also pretty normal. I like bad bad guys. Like what’s his face in No Country For Old Men. That was a great bad guy. During the movie, my mind also wandered to There Will Be Blood, and how awesome Daniel Day-Lewis’ character is in that. Overall, considering it wasn’t a movie I would have seen without Nat inviting me, it kept me pretty much entertained. Will I run out to buy it for $20 when it comes out on DVD (like I did 3:10 to Yuma)? No. But I would recommend it to people who love westerns, Viggo Mortenson, or who just want to see it. If that’s you, go for it.

I have been wanting to read this book for years now, and finally actually did. It’s crazy! The narrator has his own vocabulary. The book is extremely violent and rough most of the time, but it is written in this made up vocabulary, which kind of disguises the awfulness of what is happening. The writing is very interesting. The story is rough, but you want to find out what happens to the narrator, so you keep reading even though you’re thinking he’s terrible! What’s interesting about this book is that when it was published in the US, publishers chopped out the final chapter, which completely changes the ending! Everywhere else in the world, people read the ending that the author intended (and now the US publishes the complete version as well). I would never see a film version of this. It would be horribly unpleasant to watch. So, if your imagination while reading is more vivid than watching a film, do not read this book… unless, of course, you love violence with all your heart. If you love linguistic creativity, and can handle a narrator with very evil behavior, do read it. It is thoroughly interesting. But man is it rough.

I’m not sure what I expected from this movie, but I was a little disappointed. I like Ralph Fiennes a lot, and Keira Knightley did a good job, but the story starts out interesting, then slows down more and more as the movie goes on. In the beginning you expect her to be tough and maybe heroic even, but then she decides to act very responsibly… which is probably the right thing to do, but it does not make for an entertaining movie. I was also waiting for her to freak out about some things, but she held a lot in. I would have been wailing on people if I were in her shoes. I guess women in the 1770s knew better how to hold emotions in and put up with really crappy situations. The sets and costumes were fun to watch. They probably could have cut out a few of the many close ups of Keira’s face. Overall, the movie is almost good. It is well done, but I just thought there must have been some secret plotting going on, or that she’d explode, or go crazy, but no. It’s possible I should have seen Appaloosa or Quarantine instead.

You know, the previews for this movie have been bothering me for a while now because of the thieving of Juno-like things. But today Nat said let’s go see it and that it got pretty good reviews so I thought what the hey. I give the movie a C-. Michael Cera was the only thing I really liked about it. The main girl is okay, although a little annoying (and I wanted her to be super cool). The story was unique, but I just didn’t care about it much. Nat said the soundtrack was good, but I don’t remember hearing much. The only song I remember was The Cure’s Boys Don’t Cry as Michael Cera’s ringtone.

I was afraid though that they would go too far with the music (since “infinite playlist” is in the title). I thought they’d be droppin’ band names and songs just to show how hip they are. They didn’t. That was wise. Anyway, unless the preview has you REALLY wanting to see it, save your money. It’s no Juno. Not even close. Nat said, “It’s a romantic comedy, so it couldn’t be as well written as Juno.” Which might be true… I can’t think of a well written romantic comedy… but if you’re going to steal the Juno font and the Juno guy, then don’t deliver drastically inferior goods. Weak sauce.

It’s hard to find CDs that have NO lame tracks. Here are 4 that qualify:

Madonna… Confessions on a Dance Floor

Arcade Fire… Funeral

Ingrid Michaelson… Girls and Boys

Erasure… Nightbird

This show (made in 1999, but set in 1980) only has 18 episodes in the whole series. It is thoroughly entertaining, and kind of sad at the same time. Lots of awkward, nerd moments, and many funny situations. In one episode, the main character (a 17 year-old girl) throws a party, and her younger brother (14) and his friends switch the keg of beer out with a non-alcoholic one… to save everyone’s lives obviously. So throughout the whole party, all the teenagers think they’re getting drunk, and they act all stupid, when really, they are not. It’s fabulous.

If you are a chick, you enjoy cheese, and you can put up with some televisual immorality… this show will fill you with delight. This show makes me laugh, cry, and realize what a dork I am. I am embarrassed to say that I love this show enough to be completely blind to its stupidity. I love Izzy Stevens. I love and hate McDreamy. I have been counting down to the season premier (September 25th) ever since last season ended with Meridith declaring her undying love for Derek. I can’t wait.

This show is awesome, and not enough people know about it. It’s about a high school student who is a private investigator. She solves mysteries for students at the school, as well as a few big murder mysteries. Similar to most series, the first season is by far the best. The second season is also great, and the third season is good. And that’s all there is! You don’t have to rent/buy ten seasons! Nat loves this show more than any other show ever made. It is good for both genders, and anyone who appreciates a good mystery.

I had never seen the show House until like a week ago. I’m addicted now. He’s wrong a lot, and mean, and a drug addict… but I love him. The problem with watching multiple episodes of House everyday is that you will inevitably start to worry that something in your home is giving you some kind of rare infection, or cancer, or auto-immune problem.

I am 31 minutes into season three, and I am worried… I might be done with this show. I’ll elaborate. Season 1 was awesome. The characters are interesting, and the plot of season 1 made sense and was intense. Season 2 went a little nuts. Time travel can be interesting, but when you start watching entire episodes that are a future that is not going to happen because someone is going to change it–I feel like that’s a waste of time. None of it really will happen! By season 3, there are multiple people who can time travel… so every single scene I wonder “Is this really part of the story, or will it be canceled out later?” My other issues are smaller. Some of the characters have started to bug me (Nikki is annoying, and Claire gets hurt constantly… seriously, just because you can heal fast, doesn’t mean you should be stabbed or killed everyday). Maybe this season will be better than I expect. There are some cool looking villains on the way.