Mega Movie Round-up
More for myself than anyone else, here’s the movies I’ve seen over the last month, but not blogged:
- Must Love Dogs
3/5 stars
Cute romantic comedy. Not much else to it, though. - A Sidewalk Astronomer
3.5/5 stars
This documentary did not get a wide distribution (and, in fact, is only available to theaters on DVD). It is about John Dobson. Dobson, for those of you unfamiliar with amateur astronomy, invented a widely used mount for telescopes that is simple for anyone to construct. This mount allowed almost anyone to build larger and larger telescopes without putting out large sums of cash (I remember being at a star party with Melissa and being invited by a drunken telescope owner to climb a ladder to look through his telescope). Dobson is revered by amateur astronomers for this accoplishment.Dobson has also brought astronomy to the sidewalks of San Francisco. He brings a telescope to a street corner, points it toward the moon or planets or, during the day with a appropriate filter, the sun. Then he invites people to look through the telescope. Some people look and leave, while others choose to look and learn (fewer of the latter than former, unfortunately).
I don’t want to diminish the accomplishments of Dobson – both the telescope mount and the outreach are incredible achievements. The film, however, goes on to show Dobson lecturing on his view of cosmology. He’s a steady state guy – the universe has always been, with no beginning. Sigh. In his cosmology, Dobson is a crack-pot. Oh well, two out of three isn’t bad.
- Top Hat
3.5/5 stars
Cheeky comedy featuring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. One night when Astaire demonstrates his moves in a hotel room for the producer of his next show, an annoyed downstairs neighbor, Rogers, complains. The two immediately hit it off, but complications arise as Rogers belives that Astaire is the married producer rather than a single dancer. - Just Like Heaven
3/5 stars
Cute romantic comedy. Reese Witherspoon is upset when Mark Ruffalo moves into her fully-furnished apartment. However, there’s not much she can do about it, since she appears to be a ghost, and only Ruffalo can see her. - Serenity
3.5/5 stars
I’m not a Firefly fan, but went along to this with Andrew and a couple who recently moved to the area, all of whom were Firefly fans. It was fine, as far as sci-fi flicks are concerned – better than much of the crap that’s come out recently – but Joss Whedon is not a god to me. - Swing Time
2/5 stars
Another in the series of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies that the local theater is playing. As usual, plot is secondary to music and dancing; however, this one had even less plot than normal, and it seemed to have less dancing. Astaire plays a lucky dancer who goes to the city to earn a fortune in order to gain the blessing to wed the woman he loves. While in the city, however, he stumbles into Rogers, and falls for her. - Proof
4/5 stars
Excellent film! Gwyenneth Paltrow’s character is a math student who drops out to care for her ailing father, Anthony Hopkins, who was a brilliant mathematician before falling ill. We join the story after Hopkins’ character has died, but see the dynamic that grew between father and daughter. More, though, is that this film shows math and mathematicians in a realisitc light. (Yes, they really do talk like that – like physicists, they’re geeks!) - The Matrix: Revolutions
0.5/5 stars
Total waste of time. - Bend it Like Beckham
3/5 stars
Cute flick about an Indian girl who wants to play soccer against her parents’ wishes. - Secret Window
2.5/5 stars
Predictable thriller about an author confronted by a pschotic fan claiming the author plagiarized his work.