Recent Movies

A quick summary of my movie-watching habits over the past few weeks.

Little Miss Sunshine
Superb. Original. Even splendid. Yes, folks, this one lives up to the hype. And Steve Carell’s performance may be that of the greatest suicidal homosexual Proust scholar ever brought to the big screen. I wish I wrote it.

The Queen
Helen Mirren will win Best Actress at the Oscars this year. I promise you. I almost forgot what the real queen looked like.

While You Were Sleeping
Okay, so I’ve seen this one a few times. It’s a very different movie when you’re not 14, though. I can actually relate to the sometimes-patheticness of being single in the city. I have not yet pretended to be engaged to a man in a coma. That will be 2008.

It’s a Wonderful Life
It’s not Christmas without George Bailey. Love it. It’s probably unhealthy, my enthusiasm for this film. That abandoned mansion is my dream house. Minus the draft.

Blood Diamond
It’s pretty heavy. And if you’re all about the bling, you may have to rethink your next diamond purchase after viewing this one. Surprisingly, Leo DiCaprio’s South African accent stopped bugging me after the first half hour or so. And I’m woman enough to admit that Jennifer Connelly is uber-gorgeous. If you're in the mood for comedy, this might not be the flick for you. It made me think, so it gets my recommendation.

The Lord of the Rings (the trilogy)
I watched one a day for three days. I hadn’t seen the third since the theatre (all I could remember was, “You bow to no one.”) so it was great to see them again, and in relatively quick succession. Very inspiring. I either want to be a filmmaker or a hobbit. Or an elf who marries a man who doesn't let hobbits bow down to him.

The Goonies
When I was young, I couldn’t make it through this film. I was at a sleepover, and all the little girls (myself very much included) were terrified. We chose to watch My Girl again instead. I figured that at 23, I should be able to handle it now. It was actually quite fun, almost a cross between Indiana Jones and Stand by Me. Sean Astin’s had a pretty enviable career (only including Encino Man if you’re really tired and delirious. Then Pauly Shore's remarks about his pancreas are hilarious).

Dreamgirls
I have a confession to make: I left work early today to go to the movies. I seem to have contracted some viral form of ADD, and after 7.5 hours of staring at my computer screen, I could no longer pay attention to what I was doing. And since they all love me at work and want to make sure I’m happy, no one objected to my leaving. Here’s the deal: it’s pretty much just about the music. I mean, it’s a Broadway musical on the big screen. It was entertaining, but it didn’t challenge how I see the world, and the film left my consciousness pretty quickly. I’m also a little confused by all the acting nominations it’s receiving this awards season since musical talent seemed to upstage the acting. Especially in the Beyoncé department. She is not the star. Eddie Murphy (usually, I’m no fan) was pretty darn amazing, but it was Jennifer Hudson (American Idol reject) who knocked my socks off. I left the theatre wanting to be a big, beautiful black woman with ridiculous pipes. She’ll see some awards, and she actually deserves them. One of her songs actually garnered a standing ovation at one of the film’s premieres. Her performances in the film were worth the admission.