Posted by barb on Jun 28, 2003 in
Movies 4/5 stars
Pixar continues its tradition of fun, entertaining animation. This is the story of a clown fish trying to find his son, Nemo, after Nemo was taken by a diver. Along the way, we meet some sharks, a scary glow-fish-thing, and some surfer turtles. Very fun.
However, I remarked to Andrew that I couldn’t think of a single WOW animation moment. In A Bug’s Life, there were the leaves on the tree — each seemed to have a life of it’s own fluttering in the wind like real leaves. In Monsters, Inc., Sully’s fur was most impressive. Maybe we’ve gotten spoiled. Maybe we’re just taking it for granted now. Don’t get me wrong, the animation was incredible, and I was duly impressed.
Posted by barb on Jun 21, 2003 in
Movies 3.75/5 stars
I don’t care what other people say. I had fun. Is The Hulk the same as the TV show? Most definitely not. Is The Hulk the same as the comic book? I don’t frankly know (and don’t really care).
Andrew pointed out that it may have been more difficult to get into this movie because there was no clear super-villain. Perhaps. For much of the movie, the Hulk’s biggest battle is with himself. But in some ways that battle is more graspable for us normal people than a super-villain. We all have that inner struggle against lashing out when we’re angry, but most of us don’t have a super-villain-type enemy.
Posted by barb on Jun 17, 2003 in
Movies 4/5 stars
This is a very difficult movie to watch. A former neo-Nazi (Derek; Edward Norton), fresh out of prison, endeavors to keep his brother from following in his foot steps. Black and white flash backs tell the story of Derek’s seemingly inevitable path to jail for murdering two black men who were prowling around his house. We also see the signs of the same path being followed by Danny (Edward Furlong), Derek’s brother.
While the content may be hard to watch, this is definitely a worthwhile, and important, film.
Posted by barb on Jun 16, 2003 in
Movies 4/5 stars
The movie follows a young man (Homer; Tobey Maguire) on his first venture away from the orphanage where he grew up. Homer was trained as a doctor at the orphanage (and the director (Dr. Larch; Michael Caine) hoped Homer would succeed him. But Homer needed to see more of the world.
Woven through the main story are statements about abortion, racism, and incest, which make it difficult to watch at some points. However, they also make the story full and rich.
Posted by barb on Jun 8, 2003 in
Around DC,
Movies I wanted to see Spellbound, so as a reward for working so hard yesterday with such spectacular results (see yesterday’s entry), Andrew took me up to Bethesda to see it. He also took me to lunch (yummy portabella fajitas at the Austin Grill) afterwards.
One of our favorite used bookstores is in that area of Bethesda, too, so we poked around there for a while. I found a pop-up book of the Universe (cool!) and an oversized book on celestial maps. Unfortunately I did not find Beyond the Blue Event Horizon, the second in Frederik Pohl’s Heechee series. Of course, the state of the sci-fi section was such that if you weren’t very motivated, you would never find a single book (lots of books on far too little shelf space).
Overall a very good day, making yesterday all the more worthwhile.
Posted by barb on Jun 8, 2003 in
Movies 4.5/5 stars
This is a documentary following 8 children participating in the National Spelling Bee. Excellent film.
Posted by barb on Jun 6, 2003 in
Movies 0/5 stars
I want that hour and a half of my life back. Yes, I know the movie is actually about 2 hours, but I didn’t even finish. The story and characters were one dimensional and completely uninteresting.
Posted by barb on Jun 3, 2003 in
Movies 3.5/5 stars
Fun, fluffy movie of the old Saturday morning cartoon. I can’t actually remember the cartoon, so I went in with a fresh mind. I found it fun, but easily forgettable.
Posted by barb on May 30, 2003 in
Movies 2.5/5 stars
Fluffy romantic comedy starring JLo. Every time I watch a JLo romantic comedy, I swear it will be my last. But then I watch another one. She’s not going to take over for Meg Ryan or Sandra Bullock in the romantic comedy genre, but I have to admit that she’s not all bad.
Posted by barb on May 29, 2003 in
Movies 3/5 stars
Cute feel-good comedy with Hugh Grant (yum).