Monday, September 06, 2010

Movie Monday 9/6

Happy Labor Day!!  We have celebrated the holiday weekend by not doing much of anything!  Ken did some yard work (in between reading breaks), I cooked a bit and worked on setting up my new computer (still working on it!), but mostly we both read a lot and took it easy...and watched movies!  With school starting last week, we have less time for movies, but the long weekend helped us fit in quite a few:
  • Craig and I were on our own Friday evening and both totally wiped out, so we ate dinner in the family room and watched Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.  It wasn't bad but definitely not as good as the first two (they never are, are they?).  Besides the obvious problem that dinosaurs did not exist during the ice age, it just wasn't quite as clever or funny as the original.  Entertaining enough for our purposes, though (we were pretty much zombies anyway).
  • Ken and I watched Next, a sci fi thriller starring Nicholas Cage.  It didn't get spectacular reviews, but I like Cage and I liked the premise, so we gave it a try.  Cage plays a small-time Vegas magician who has a real magic-like ability: he can see into the future.  It's limited, though: he can only see what affects him and only about 2 minutes into the future.  Still, he has somehow attracted the attention of the FBI who are desperate to find some terrorists with a nuclear bomb before disaster strikes.  It was a good action movie, fast-paced and with an interesting twist.  Jamie missed this one, but I know he'd love it.
  • Ken and I watched Julie & Julia.  I had originally borrowed this from the library while he was out of town and never had a chance to watch it, but I think he's glad I waited.  We both enjoyed it very much.  Interestingly, I actually liked the movie better than the book, which is unusual. (see my book review here).  The expanded scenes of Julia Child (depicted by Meryl Streep) were absolutely wonderful, and the movie version of Julie Powell, the author, sanded down all her rough, irritating edges and made her cute and perky (depicted by Amy Adams).
  • Ken and I also watched Ghost Writer which was an excellent political thriller.  Ewan McGregor plays a UK writer hired to help an ex-British Prime Minister, played by Pierce Brosnan, write his memoir.  The hitch?  McGregor's predecessor died in a suspicious accident.  Just after the writer is whisked away to a secluded mansion in the US to work on the memoir with his subject, a news story breaks, accusing the ex-Prime Minister of war crimes.  As the writer delves into the half-finished book, he begins to discover that things may not be as they seem and his own life may be in danger.  Good suspenseful film with an intricate plot.
Have you seen any good movies lately? 

Enjoy the last bit of the holiday weekend - we're meeting some good friends for dinner (i.e. no cooking or dishes!).

7 comments:

Renee said...

Joel and I really liked Julie and Julia too. We watched The Bounty Hunter, The Back-Up Plan, and the movie Remember Me. The last one was really depressing and left us both feeling like we needed to clear our minds. Yuk. The Bounty Hunter was funny. We would like to watch suspense movies but find them to stressful right now.... Have a good week!

Sue Jackson said...

I've been looking forward to hearing about your movie weekend, Renee! I've heard from others that Remember Me is sad - it's on my "watch when Ken is out of town" list. I'll have to check out The Bounty Hunter and the Back-Up Plan.

I know what you mean about suspense movies - I gave them up for awhile when I first got sick, too. Too much stress!

Sue

Never That Easy said...

I also enjoyed Julie and Julia, more than I expected to, for sure.

I watched Kick-Ass this weekend, which also has Cage in it,and it was incredibly violent and not as funny as I'd hoped. Disappointing, but at least it wasn't a repeat of a repeat, which is what I've been watching today. (NCIS/Bones marathons, I just can't quit you.)

Lori P said...

Hi Sue!

The last one sounds really good. Saw Julie & Julia and loved it. Sounds like you had a restful weekend!

We had teenage (college) company so it was a zoo around our house. Luckily Jeff took yesterday off to recoop before heading back to work.

Hope you are enjoying your "back to school" time.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sue ~

I would like to read more books, but it is still one of the more difficult things for me to do because of symptoms.

I liked Julie and Julia also. I watch all my movies via cable, with rare exception like when I got to see Sex And The City 2 with a friend a while back.

I was supposed to go see Toy Story 3 with my girls on Labor Day, but the bod said no, so their dad got to go in my place. Lucky him, according to the reviews they gave me upon their return!

Judy

Sue Jackson said...

Judy -

We still haven't seen Toy Story 3 but are dying to! It's hard to convince my boys to go to the movie theater - if they feel well, they don't want to waste it sitting in a theater, and if they don't feel well, they prefer DVDs at home. Hopefully, we'll get to it before it leaves the theater, but more likely, we'll see it on DVD!

Sue

Pamela said...

Interesting, Renee, we just watched the Back-Up Plan, too. And a movie called The Locket - a low budget mediocre story with some good acting by the lead. Other than that, it's been lots of Veggie Tales here, lately :) Sue, I have Julia & Julia in my queue & can't wait to watch it, esp now that you say it's better than the book!