Music and Movies
it has been a while since i mentioned the latest batch of movies i've seen. in addition to my short and mostly worthless remarks about these films i thought i might mention a little music i've listened to as well. i'll start with it to boot.
music
- garden state soundtrack -- a pretty good soundtrack featuring the shins, iron and wine, and coldplay. my favorite track is iron and wine's cover of the postal service hit "such great heights".
- lifehouse by lifehouse -- their latest album doesn't deviate from the sound of their earlier hits like "hanging by a moment". the signature single from the album is "you & me" but i fully expect "we'll never know" to have an equal impact in airplay. "the end has only begun" is a likely secondary hit. this album is definitely worth the listen.
- guero by beck -- another fine offering from the beck-meister. no single track jumped out at me as being the hit, but at the same time there were plenty of tunes for your listening pleasure. "girl" has a good soft beat, but "que onda guero" will probably attract the most attention and airplay, so be sure to wave back. :)
movies
- two days -- i'm very disappointed. while the theme was novel and should have been rather disturbing way it was presented in an unbelievable manner and was almost more comedic.
- the notebook -- i have already posted about this film and will leave it at that. i give it the thumbs up.
- paparazzi -- i can't recommend this movie because it wasn't that good; however, if you like watching people plot and carry out their revenge and get away with it, you might give it a look.
- vlad -- how can you make a movie about vlad the impaler bad? watch this film and you'll find out. on second thought, don't waste your time.
- corn -- it sounded interesting at the time. :(
- supersize me -- the adventures of morgan spurlock eating nothing but mcdonalds and recording how it impacts his health. all in all i found the movie interesting and amusing. texas has another reason to think everything is big there. heh. and did you know mcd's frys don't seem to breakdown and mold? go figure. i might have to try that sometime... just to prove it to myself. supersize me was well presented to be entertaining and informative.
- this life -- lets just pretend i didn't see this.
- troy -- most people seem to either love the movie or hate it. while not epic, i thought it was an excellent movie (albeit long) adaptation of homer's illiad. there was plenty of fighting and the plot to match. i could have done without them trying to glam up brad pitt and orlando bloom, but it's a price worth paying to keep the ladies interested i suppose. thumbs up!
- shall we dance -- yeah, it's a chick flick, but i'll tell you this... i'm not the dancing type, but even i could feel the enjoyment some of these people were getting out of the activity. sure, gere found the dance instructor hot, but that isn't where this film takes you. i like the way they crushed all the misconceptions at the end. it's not a movie i'd want to see many times, but was a nice story and diversion.
- ladder 49 -- a movie about a baltimore fireman and his passion for the job. it was a decent movie but frankly was not on par with backdraft or turk 182. i will say it didn't have the traditional hollywood ending. thumbs up none the less.
- donnie darko, directors cut. this movie leaves so much up to interpretation. me? i'll have to discuss with fred what i should say about this film, but do know i can utter "cellar door". now that's lovely.
- i heart huckabees -- i was definitely amused by dustin hoffman and lilly tomlin being existential detectives, but beyond that... i guess i just didn't quite get the movie enough to appreciate it. whatever.
- exorcist: the beginning -- the prequel to the infamous exorcist movie from the 70's. yawn! not scary and doesn't even do a good job to startle people. i don't even see how the two tie together myself.
- the final cut -- robin williams plays alan hackman, a "cutter". the basic idea is that you get some sort of chip put in you at birth and it records everything you see. after you die, cutters take what you saw throughout life and turn it into a rememberance film. that is sort of a creepy idea actually. with this happening you have people that think this is wrong, protest, and fight to keep from recording and being recorded. i didn't care for the ending, but the flick was novel enough that it didn't matter so much. thumbs up and kudos to williams for another excellent non-comedic roll.
- what the bleep do we know is a pretty nonconventional movie. it is more of a documentary than anything... or at least in the same sense that fahrenheit-911 was. despite some of the bunk science used to bolster the points they were trying to make, the movie will make you think some. how can quantum physics not make you think? there is plenty to argue about in the movie, but that is really a feature -- it gives you something to talk about. i give it a thumbs up for that.
- after the sunset -- i mistakenly thought it was tied to the movie "before sunset", but it was really a cops v. jewel thieves movie pitting pierce bronson and salma hayak against woodie harrelson. the comedy flops back and forth and each side tries to outwit the other. i was pleasantly surprised and found the movie to be quite entertaining and worth the thumbs up. no doubt worth the rental.
Posted by ac at April 1, 2005 10:10 PM