Movie #29 – Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are – Saturday, November 7
Date : Holly
Value : $20
Total so far: $519
Location: Bayers Lake

When I first heard all of the excitement for Where the Wild Things Are, I became very curious. How come I never read this book when I was little? Why is everyone so anxious for it to come out? I loved the song that played on the preview (Arcade Fire – Wake Up), and I figured I had to go see this movie.

…I think I should have read the book first.

I did not expect it to be so deep. I mean it was quite emotional for a children’s movie.

Let me start off first by saying that I have a strong dislike for bratty kids – in books, on tv and in the movies. Especially in movies that are made for children. I never had any thought on this before, but now that I am a proud aunt of a 2 year old who is always saying “I don’t like you”, a phrase he learned from Caillou, my opinion has changed greatly. I am not a fan of Caillou and his whiny ways, and the fact that he is teaching the young kids that watch his show that it is ok to be a whiny brat – your mum will be there with a hug no matter what.

So when the movie opened with a bratty little kid who destroys his sister’s room, and is mean to his mother, I was immediately turned off. I know that the purpose of the story was to show how Max learns that it isn’t ok to treat people like that, but it took a long time for him to learn that lesson and very little was shown on how his actions changed (once again, the bratty kid got rewarded – this time with cake from mum!)

I must say that I was enchanted by this other world, and loved it until they all stopped getting along. The Wild Things were fun characters (for the most part) and there was a fair bit of good humour. I’m sure I would have enjoyed it a lot better if I had read the book when I was little and knew a bit more about what I was about to see, but I must admit this movie was a bit of a dud for me. I wished I had enjoyed it more, but the bratty kid ruined it.

Movie #28 – Couples Retreat

Couples Retreat – Wednesday, October 21
Date : Chris
Value : $20
Total so far: $499
Location: Parklane

My brother just finished his around the world journey and landed in Halifax yesterday. It was a cold, rainy afternoon so we decided to go to the movies! I have a feeling he’s holding out to see Where the Wild Things Are, so instead we went to see Couples Retreat. I thought the cast for this movie was pretty good : Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Charlotte from Sex and The City… but I should learn by now that a good cast does not necessarily mean a good movie.

One thing I will say is that the scenery was amazing!! It was filmed at the same resort that Kathy Griffin went to on My Life on the Dlist, in Bora Bora I think. The water was a most beautiful shade of blue, and the resort looked like a little piece of heaven.

The rest of the movie was pretty “meh”. There is a yoga scene that goes on for way too long, and really isn’t very funny at all. The funniest part of the entire movie is probably before the four couples take off to this retreat when one of the couples is shopping in a home renovations store and their young son mistakes a model toilet for the real thing.

It wasn’t the worst movie I’ve seen this year (or this month even), but once again, I was glad I had my free pass!

Movie #23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 (at least I think…)

Extract– September __?
Date : Shawn
Value : $20
Total so far: $419
Location: Bayers Lake

I started a post about this just after I had seen it. Truth is, it wasn’t the best movie. It was made by the same people who did Office Space, so I had certain expectations but it didn’t exactly live up to that. I do enjoy Jason Bateman, but this is far from his best work.

All About Steve– September __?
Date : Me!
Value : $10
Total so far: $429

Another dud. You would think that with Sandra Bullock, whose most recent release The Proposal was actually quite good, and Bradley Cooper starring in the movie it would be kinda good, right? Nope. I actually found it insulting to anyone who is a little bit off the normal. It was not funny, and I almost left part way through.

The Informant! – September 30
Date : Shawn
Value : $20
Total so far: $449
Location: Bayers Lake

I really wanted to see this movie. The previews looked great and I thought it would be funny and because it was based on a true story I thought it would be kind of interesting. I don’t know where this movie went wrong. Matt Damon was great as the lead character, the story was a good one, but it just didn’t all come together. I found the same jokes were repeated over and over again, and by the end I was thinking “Really? He’s lying again?”. I should also comment on the music, which I enjoyed quite a bit but I don’t know how it fit with the movie. Often times it seemed as if it was mocking the movie itself. It didn’t quite fit, even if it was quite good.

It is a neat story, but the movie does a poor job of telling it. I think it could have been a lot more interesting.

The Invention of Lying – Friday, October 3
Date : Me
Value : $10
Total so far: $459
Location: Parklane

Must have been a good week for liars! So Ricky Gervais is a brilliant man on TV, but I feel as if he’s just not translating well to the big screen. The story is about a time/place where everyone tells the truth. That is, of course, until Ricky’s character learns how to lie. He’s the only one in town that can do this, which leads to a series of events where he becomes a local hero, with plenty of money, but he’s unable to capture the heart of the woman he loves. The Beatles were right I guess! (Can’t buy me love).

The problem with people who can’t lie, is apparently they can’t shut up either. Everything they think, they say. Except sometimes they don’t – when it doesn’t work in the movie. Maybe I shouldn’t have put too much thought into this, but this small point annoyed me to no end.

There was also the whole “I can’t marry you because I don’t want fat kids” part to the movie. Sorry, but I don’t think everyone in the world is really that shallow. I’m sure a man looking like Ricky Gervais could find a suitable partner. There were some funny moments, but overall I didn’t really enjoy this movie.

A string of bad movies in a row – it’s a good thing I have this free pass!

Whip It– Tuesday, October 13
Date : Auntie Eve
Value : $20
Total so far: $479
Location: Bayer’s Lake

Finally! A movie I enjoyed. As my Aunt said leaving the theater “Well I don’t think anyone will win an Oscar for that one, but it was really fun!”

Starring local celeb Ellen Page, and directed by Drew Barrymore, this movie about Roller Derby girls was fun to watch and actually quite unpredictable. All those things that usually happen at the end of a movie, didn’t! I thought it was a great story and somewhat inspiring and empowering. Ellen Page played a young girl who stumbled upon a roller derby and discovered it was something that she wanted to do, even if it meant sneaking around for a bit to do it. She followed her ambitions, and turned out to be a star in the ring.

Of course this wasn’t something her parents wanted her to do, but in the end they rally their support and cheer her on in the final match. Ellen’s character is strong and I like the way she handled situations – especially a cheating boyfriend! It is a somewhat realistic story – on wheels.

Drew Barrymore was quite annoying in the movie though. I guess it is hard to direct yourself and see how annoying your character is (Smashley Simpson should have just done a silent jig). I love Kristen Wiig though!

There are lots of great movies in theatres now, so I will try and see as many as I can. Ones I hope to see include : Where the Wild Things Are, Couples Retreat, and The Men Who Stare at Goats.

Movie # 23 & 24 – Hurt Locker and GI Joe

Hurt Locker– Sunday August 16
Date : Shawn
Value : $20
Total so far: $399
Location:  Parklane

Halifax is currently undergoing a bit of a heat wave.  We complained of the crappy summer for the entire month of July, so I don’t really mind the heat.  On Sunday it hit me a bit hard though.  Shawn and I had a lunch date at Little Europe, where I started to get a bit dizzy and nauseous, but the food was so darn good I tried to just get enjoy every little bite (including the grapefruit frozen yogurt), but left feeling a little worse for wear.  We decided to hit up the cinema and see Hurt Locker, with the hopes that the air conditioning would provide me with some relief.  Unfortunately I ended up closing my eyes for the first 20 minutes of the movie, trying to fall asleep and feel better (which, by the way is impossible in this war-flick), and then I decided I had to go.  So the money count still went up, but unfortunately I didn’t get to watch the movie.

…that brings us to:

Movie #24

GI Joe – Thursday, August 19
Date : McNutt
Value : $20
Total so far: $419
Location: Parklane

While the heat wave still rolls on, I did spend the day in air conditioning next to a water cooler so I knew I’d be good for this one.  This movie was just fun – there’s no other way to describe it.  I’m not going to lie, the acting wasn’t brilliant, and the script was nothing that will be Oscar nominated, but it was a fun movie.  Ryan said as we left that if he were a 10 year old boy, that would have been one of the best movies he had ever seen.  It had some good action sequences, and it didn’t try to be anything other than a fluffy movie full of beautiful people with fancy weapons.

Sienna Miller was the only downfall of this movie.  The girl can’t act.  And it’s not even the bad acting that made the rest of the characters in the movie so enjoyable, it is the type of bad acting that is really inexcusable considering how “famous” this girl is.  Why are people still putting her in movies?  There are plenty other pretty girls out there that would have done a much better job.

But I had a good night despite her less than average skills, and I’d definitely recommend checking out this movie if you’re also interested in beating this heat wave.  It won’t be amazing, but you’ll for sure have fun!

Movie #22 – Julie & Julia

Julie/Julia – Tuesday, August 11
Date : Kim
Value : $20
Total so far: $379
Location: Dartmouth Crossing

Another rainy day!  If this keeps up, I may set a record for number of movies I’ve seen in one week!  The movie Julie/Julia was just released this week, so I hadn’t planned on going for a little while, but after seeing the small amount of people in the theatre yesterday I figured they would let me in despite the fact that passes were not accepted – and they did!

Before going to this movie I decided to buy the book by Julie Powell for my summer reading. I started off enjoying it since I share her love of preparing food, but soon lost interest as the book seemed to jump around a bit and I couldn’t really see the real purpose of Julie doing this project.  I find the movie does this a bit better as it keeps the Julie side of things on track, and focuses only on a few of the pivotal moments that helped her realize how cooking through Mastering the Art of French Cooking allowed her to discover her talents and her own secrets to happiness.

The other part of the movie that I enjoyed better than the book was that the Julia Child character (played marvelously by Meryl Streep) took up a good 50% of the screen time.  The book features letters written between Julia and Paul Child and their relatives and friends, but doesn’t exactly get into who she actually was.  I used to watch The French Chef with my mother on Sundays on PBS, and always thought she was an interesting lady.  There were many facts that I didn’t know including how passionate her love life with her husband was, how old she was when she starting cooking, and her international spy work!

I’ve heard a few people comment saying that they enjoyed the Julia Child portions of the movie much more than the Julie parts, but I enjoyed both and thought they played alongside eachother very well.  Of course Meryl Streep is going to overwhelm poor Amy Adams, but only because she is playing a character that so many people recognize, and who is known for being larger than life.

I really enjoyed the movie and would encourage anyone who was a fan of Julia Child, or a fan of cooking to go and see it.  It has inspired me to take a few less shortcuts in the kitchen, and maybe even try to make my own Beef Bourguignon!

Movie #21 – The Brothers Bloom

The Brothers Bloom – Monday, August 10
Date : Me!
Value : $10
Total so far: $359
Location: Park Lane

I am currently on vacation and it is my pleasure to announce that I had just about a full week of sunshine – golorious sunshine! I’ve had bbq’s, gone to the beach, played bocce, seen the buskers, and many other activities that started with the letter “B”.  So I figured why not take advantage of a rainy day and go see the Brothers Bloom.

I saw the preview for this last month, but didn’t hear anything about it since.  There doesn’t seem to be much buzz around it, but I was intrigued by the preview so I decided it would be a good one to go see.  It stars Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody as the Bloom brothers who are world-class conmen working on their last heist.

I became excited at the beginning of the movie because there was a narrator.  I think that because my mum read to me so much growing up, I love being told stories.  One of my favourite shows (recently cancelled) used to be Pushing Up Daisies for this very reason.  I feel like I’m a kid again and someone is taking me on this journey with them.  Unfortunately, the narrating ended after the first few minutes, and therefore that effect was lost throughout the rest of the movie.

The movie was at times very silly, but got very serious towards the end.  I couldn’t really tell what direction they wanted to take.  And there were several twists and turns – to which one theatre goer leaving the theatre said “I just didn’t care any more if they were telling the truth or not”. I would tend to agree, except that I liked the last twist in the movie and felt it at least ended on a good note.

My favourite character in the movie was definitely Bang Bang – a japanese woman who claimed not to speak English, but seems to understand it very well.  Her antics with Barbie dolls were …. interesting to say the least!  And the costumes for her were quite fabulous as well.

This was defnitely a movie I wouldn’t have seen if I didn’t have my free pass, but I’m glad I had the opportunity to see it.  I would suggest, however, that it is more of a rental.

Movie #20 – Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – Monday, July 27
Date : Holly
Value : $20
Total so far: $349
Location: Bayers Lake

This was the first Harry Potter movie I’ve gone to without reading the book first.  While in Quebec going to French Immersion for 5 weeks, I thought I’d be ambious and bought a Harry Potter book in French.  It took me three tries to get through it, and while it was a great lesson in the language, it turned me off reading the books.  I wouldn’t mind going back to reading them now, but I’m glad to have a bit of shock value while watching the movie.

A lot has been said about the teenage romances in the movie, and there were some extremely uncomfortable scenes that reminded me of teenage angst, but I thought several of those same scenes provided some good humour in the movie.  This humour was needed considering the other very dark side of the movie.

It has been fun to watch the three main characters grow up in front of our eyes, and I am glad that the series is doing so well.  It will be hard for any of these actors to escape their roles as Harry, Hermoine and Ron, but that’s because they’ve done such a great job and they can actually act (*unlike those Twilight kids who look much better than they act from what I’ve seen in the first movie).  I also thought that the audience base for this movie was quite interesting.  I would say 95% of the people in the theatre were over 25.  I think that goes to show that these aren’t just your regular teen-series dinky movies.

The first part of the final two-part movie comes out this Fall, and I’m already looking forward to it!  Kudos Harry, kudos!

Movie #19 – Public Enemies

Public Enemies – Sunday, July 19
Date : Mum, Chris, and Celeste
Value : $20
Total so far: $329
Location: Sydney

Ugh.

Is that enough said?  Because I don’t really have much more to say…
This movie was not very good.  Not very good at all.   Even Johnny Depp couldn’t keep my attention through what felt like 7 hours of a poorly made cops and robbers movie.  The story should have been good – based on the real life of John Dillinger, a bank robber who managed to elude police for several years and even escaped from jail.  I don’t know what it was about the movie, but there was no character development, the editing was awful, and it felt like something that was filmed out in the woods by my cottage by a couple of junior film students (no offense to film students – but I expect a bit more from a director like Michael Mann.

I wouldn’t even recommend renting this movie.  And I’m certainly glad I didn’t pay the price of admission.  Sorry Johnny.  I still love you.

Movie #18 – The Taking of Pelham 123

The Taking of Pelham 123 – Sunday, July 5
Date : Shawn
Value : $20
Total so far: $309
Location: Dartmouth Crossing

Surprise, surprise – another raining day during this Maritime Summer.  Ah well, I guess that meant another Sunday matinee!  This time it was Shawn’s choice as we hit up Dartmouth Crossing to see Pelham 123.  I wouldn’t recommend this movie if you’re planning a trip to NY any time soon.   If it helps, I’ve been there several times and I’ve always enjoyed my rides on the MTA.

The movie stars John Travolta and Denzel Washington.  John plays the bad guy, and pretty well might I add.  And Denzel the somewhat geeky yet handsome hero of the story.  I don’t have a lot to say about the film.  It was an action packed movie and a good summer flick.  I don’t see anyone winning an Oscar for this one, but it is still worth checking out.

Movie #16 – The Proposal

The Proposal – Wednesday, June 24
Date : Myself!
Value : $9
Total so far: $269
Location: Park Lane

Well I’ve decided that if I want to get real use out of this card, I’m going to have to start going to the movies by myself.  It’s hard to work around your own schedules and everyone else’s.  For example, my sister and I have been planning to go see the Hangover for about two weeks now, and we still haven’t got there.

So yesterday I went to the 3:30 showing of the Proposal – by myself!  It was lovely!  There were only about 15 people in the theatre, and 4 or 5 of them were also by themselves.  I suppose most people are at work at this time of day, but luckily I can leave work just in time to make the late matinee.

This movie has been getting great reviews, and I believe it was #1 at the box office last week.  I’m a fan of Ryan Reynolds (especially enjoyed this week’s Entertainment Weekly with a multitude of hilarious pictures of him), and Sandra Bullock rarely disappoints in the romantic comedy genre.  Then of course, there’s Betty White.  I’m glad this young lady is finally getting some recognition for her comedy greatness!

The movie did not let down, and although there were fewer laughs than I expected, the story was cute and there were some funny moments.  My favourite thing about this movie though, were the clothes!  The bag that Sandra Bullock carries in the first few scenes is gorgeous.  And all of the Louboutin shoes…. *drool*  I like the clothing and accessories in this movie way more than Sex and the City!

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this movie.  I also wouldn’t hesitate to recommend going to a movie by yourself!  (*especially if it is free!)