Posted by barb on Feb 5, 2005 in
Concerts We went to see Brad Sherwood and Colin Mochrie at the Warner Theatre tonight. Basically they did a live version of Whose Line is it Anyway?, with some familiar games and some unfamiliar games.
The show featured a lot of audience members — more so than the TV show, since there were only two actors instead of the show’s usual four. They played “moving people” and “Whose Line?” (with lines of dialog provided by audience members). They also did “Sound Effects”, which made me laugh so hard I nearly peed.
The final game they played was also the most disturbing game. It was “Alphabet”, but no ordinary game of Alphabet. No. They played it blindfolded. With bare feet. And 100 live mousetraps scattered about. Yeah. Live mousetraps and bare feet. At first I found this game nerve-wracking, but after a while, when they were both on their hands and knees looking for unsnapped mousetraps to thrust in the direction of the other’s voice, I started to get into it, though I hardly paid attention to the improv itself — just the mousetraps.
Tags: reviews
Posted by barb on Feb 2, 2005 in
Movies 3.5/5 stars
Ten years ago, nearly one million people were killed during three months in Rowanda by the Hutu militants. We didn’t hear much about it in the US because our news media was enthralled by the O. J. Simpson trial.
Hotel Rwanda tells the story of a hotel manager, Paul Rusesabagina, who keeps his family safe at his hotel during this madness. He also takes in over a thousand other Tutsi refugies and uses his connections to keep them safe as well.
This is not a “happy” movie, but is very well done. They manage capture a small bit of what the horror must have been without sinking into the pit of gratuitous gore. Don Cheadle does gives an excellent performance, along with most of the rest of the cast. The exception was Nick Nolte, who turns in an uneven performance, giving the impression that he’s drunk much of the time.
Tags: reviews
Posted by barb on Jan 25, 2005 in
Movies 4/5 stars
This movie is a spoof of B-movies. Betty and Paul (a scientist) travel to a remote cabin in the woods to track down a meteorite which is sure to be rich in atmospherium. The cabin happens to be near a cave which, legend has it, is home to the lost skeleton of Cadavra (whatever that is). Dr. Roger Flemming is seeking out the skeleton as part of a plan to take over the world (cue maniacal laughter). On top of all that, a spaceship crashs in the woods nearby, and the pet mutant gets lose. This is all a recipe for a great B-movie!
The movie was a lot of fun. The acting was, well, B-movie, but B-movie on purpose. The dialog usually stayed just shy of being too over-the-top, although occasionally a gag was held for just a smidge too long.
A couple of my favorite lines:
- Dr. Paul Armstrong: Betty, you know what this meteor could mean to science. It could mean actual advances in the field of science.
- Dr. Paul Armstrong: Ranger Brad, I’m a scientist, I don’t believe in anything.
- Dr. Paul Armstrong: I don’t understand. Why does she need an Amish terrarium?
Betty Armstrong: Don’t the Amish live in open air, like us?
Dr. Paul Armstrong: Of course, Betty, it’s absurd. Putting the Amish in glass cases would be inhumane.
Tags: reviews
Posted by barb on Jan 24, 2005 in
Movies 2/5 stars
Bad News Bears grow up and play dodgeball. The humor grew up (or became a bit raunchier), too, but not much else. Not bad, not great, just a so-so diversion.
Tags: reviews
Posted by barb on Jan 22, 2005 in
Movies 4/5 stars
This was a great spoof on horror movies! Sean decided to win back his girlfriend by acting as hero when zombies start to take over London. Sean and his deadbeat flatmate, Ed, set out to pick up Sean’s mother and his ex-girlfriend, and bring them to safety at his favorite pub, The Winchester.
Excellent, highly recommended hilarious movie.
Cool DVD feature: I don’t normally go on about DVD features, but this one had the best feature I’ve ever seen — Plot Holes. This feature had three sections explaining a few plot holes involving three different characters. Comic-book-like graphics showed what happened while the involved character narrated their story.
Tags: reviews
Posted by barb on Jan 20, 2005 in
Movies 2.5/5 stars
Not nearly as good as the first. Here Elle Woods goes to Washington DC to introduce a bill against using animals for cosmetics testing. She uses her “blonde-ways” to charm members of congress and win votes for the bill. However, it just wasn’t as fun as the first — maybe the jokes had all been used up, or maybe I just was expecting too much. Not bad, but not great.
Tags: reviews
Posted by barb on Jan 16, 2005 in
Movies 3/5 stars
I found that I was distracted because I had read the first two books. I kept trying to find the elements of the books in the movie, and most of them were certainly there, but a bit mixed up. A binding thread had been added to the movie that was not present in the books, which was absolutely necesary, and it worked fairly well.
Overall, a great performance by all the actors, great art direction, and a fun, if easily forgetable, distraction for a matinee showing.
I was distracted becasue I had read the first two books. There was a lot taken away from the books, of course, but also a binding thread was added to make the movie more cohesive. It worked, and it was necessary
Tags: reviews
Posted by barb on Jan 15, 2005 in
Movies 2/5 stars
Two years after his girlfriend disappeared from his life, Matthew (Josh Hartnett) hears her voice at a restaurant, but can’t catch up to her in time. He is supposed to be on his way to China to close a large deal for the business of his new girlfriend’s brother’s business and he’s ready to propose to this new girlfriend. However, he can’t pass up the chance to find his ex-girlfriend, who he’s still in love with.
I was expecting more from this movie. The trailers made it out to be more sinister or more mysterious or more something than it turned out to be. I found that I was often confused (and not in a good way).
Tags: reviews
Posted by barb on Jan 15, 2005 in
Movies 3/5 stars
This was a cute movie — Jennifer Garner plays a 13 year-old who makes a wish to be thirty, flirty, and thriving. A fun distraction for a couple hours.
Tags: reviews
Posted by barb on Jan 15, 2005 in
Books This is an excellent collection of short stories based on classic fairy tales. I enjoyed virtually all of the stories (with the exception of “The Frog King, or Iron Henry”), most notably:
- “Stronger Than Time” by Patricia C. Wrede
This is a retelling of the classic sleeping beauty (actually a few renditions of the sleeping beauty story appear in this collection, but this was by far my favorite), in which we find a prince trying to undo a mistake he made long ago.
- “Can’t Catch Me” by Michael Cadnum
This story is told from the point of view of the Gingerbread Man.
- “The Goose Girl” by Tim Wynne-Jones
A retelling of the goose girl story from the Prince’s point of view.
- “Godson” by Roger Zelazny
A story based on a German fairy tale found in the Brothers’ Grimm collections (though I don’t actually know which one, and the intro didn’t say so-as not to give anything away). It’s about a child who has as his godfather…satan? Not exactly, more like a keeper of human life.
There are more collections like this from the same editors, and a series of novels based on fairy tales, all of which I’m looking forward to delving into them.
Tags: reviews