Stayed up far too late last night. *sleepy eyes*
We went into Cork to watch “16 Blocks” yesterday. I liked “Inside Man”. It didn’t cheat. It was a good, solid, intelligent movie with decent characterizations and good actors.
“16 Blocks” blew it out of the water, in my opinion. Bruce Willis looked so awful he looked gorgeous, his physical acting was above and beyond anything I’ve seen out of him, his line delivery was so not-Willis that the five or so times he said something that *did* sound like Bruce Willis I was jarred. Some of those jarring moments were nothing more than a short laugh or a single word or an exhalation. The script was smart, and even the one scene that got further out of control than I would have liked had all the right elements in place *driving* it there, so I can forgive that.
Mos Def, as the convict Willis’s character is supposed to get 16 blocks to the courthouse, is completely fantastic. The only other thing I’ve seen him in was “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, where he played a *perfect* Ford Prefect, so I was looking forward to seeing him in this. His character just _will_ not shut up through the entire course of the movie, but you kind of sympathize with the motormouth response to everything going on around him. The non-stop talk also makes for huge effect in the few scenes where he *does* get quiet.
There’s also some fantastic cinematography, especially in the scene early on where everything goes to hell. It’s another instance of silence being far more effective than sound. Some *really* nicely done stuff.
And, of course, it’s also got David Morse, who I adore. (He is my Morrison. Somebody else can be your Morrison, but David Morse is mine. And, uh, no, the name similarity is not on purpose. I only just realized it when I was typing this.) Anyway. *Really* good movie. Go see it!
*laugh* I was wearing a t-shirt yesterday with a Batman symbol on the chest. When we got off the train, there was a man in front of us carrying a 3 or so year old boy, and he looked over his dad’s shoulder at me and then his eyes got really wide and he smiled REALLY BIG and kept staring and smiling and then started saying to his father, “Batman! Batman!” and pointing at me. *laughs* That was pretty cute. :)
I guess I have to go to work now…
P.S. I’ve just gotten the Irish version of Netflix. Recommend me some movies! Lighthearted stuff especially (I don’t like sophomoric humour), because I think I can probably find all the dramas I need, but movies in general! Please! :)
Have you seen “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang”? Very smart script and really funny. It’s more black humour than lighthearted, though…
I don’t know what you’ve seen or not, and I don’t know how lighthearted some things I consider lighthearted really are, so I’m picking one movie from each month that I saw last year to reccy:
Jan ’05: House of Flying Daggers – definitely not lighthearted, but such a visually stunning movie, and just a neat story. Kinda of a downer of an ending, so be forewarned.
Feb ’05: Girl with a Pearl Earring – again, not so much on the lighthearted, but a good movie and again, visually wonderful.
Mar ’05: Jersey Girl – more of a standard romantic-comedy, not terribly sophomoric (like a lot of Kevin Smith movies) but really good.
Apr ’05: The Legend of 1900 – this is just such a wonderful movie. It’s lighthearted and fun and a compelling story.
May ’05: Frazetta – Painting with Fire – A documentary about Frank Frazetta. Very good, informative.
Jun ’05: The Terminal – I know a lot of people hated this movie, but I really enjoyed it. Hanks is so much fun to watch.
Jul ’05: Run, Lola, Run – it’s not Rashomon, but it’s quite interesting/entertaining.
Aug ’05: Dodgeball – True Underdog Story – This is prolly too sophmoric, but I liked it so I’m reccy’ing it.
Sep ’05: Lost in La Mancha – Documentary about Terry Gilliam’s aborted attempt to make The Man who Killed Don Quixote with Johnny Depp.
Oct ’05: Finding Wonderland – My 2nd fave “Peter Pan” movie ever. Depp and Winslet are awesome.
Nov ’05: Bonfire of the Vanities – A great satire of just how shallow people were in the 80’s.
Dec ’05: Kinsey – Liam Neeson, Oliver Platt and John Lithgow. What more do you need to know?
Um um! If you haven’t already seen ‘Sneakers’ (caper flick) and ‘The Last Seduction’ (snarky villainess flick), both of those would fit your bill I think.
I haven’t, but it in fact already on my wishlist for the Netflix thingy. I’ve heard it’s great. :)
You rule! Now I’m going to make you pick again for the months I’ve seen already:
Jan ’05: It was only about ten seconds before everything went completely to hell that I realized House of Flying Daggers was going to end badly. As it all went to hell I thought, “Well, of course, it’s a Chinese film,” but right up until two minutes before it ended I thought it was going to pull off a HEA. :) I *really* liked it.
Feb ’05: I also agree with your summary of Girl With a Pearl Earring. I read the book this year, and actually prefer the movie.
Mar 05: I liked Jersey Girl, too!
I haven’t seen 1900, Frazetta or The Terminal. I’ll put ’em on the list.
Jul ’05: I loved Run Lola Run.
Aug ’05: *grits teeth* How does Dodgeball compare to Zoolander? I wouldn’t have expected to like Zoolander, but I watched it on the rec of somebody whose tastes in movies dovetail well with mine, and to my surprise I was rather charmed by it.
Out of the remaining 4, I’ve seen Finding Wonderland, which I loved. What’s your *favorite* Peter Pan movie, then? I’ll put the rest on my list, because we seem to be pretty solid on likes, here…
I haven’t seen “The Last Seduction”, but funnily enough, “Sneakers” was the first movie I put into the wishlist. I’ve been wanting to rewatch it. It’s great. :)
I wasn’t impressed with The Last Seduction. I wanted to be, but I wasn’t. At all. :P
Ok, replacement picks:
Jan ’05: Miracle – the story of the 1980 USA hockey team. A really enjoyable flick (I’m not a big sports person, but I like sport-related movies, especially underdog stories.)
Feb ’05: Starsky and Hutch – somewhat sophomoric, but not superly so. Not a great movie by any stretch, but 2/05 wasn’t a great month for movies, apparently. :P Oh, wait, I saw Babershop 2 that month – if you’ve seen the first and liked it, you’ll enjoy the 2nd, and if you haven’t seen the first, I strongly reccy you do. (The 2nd was just more of the same, still good, just more of the same.)
Mar ’05: Steal This Movie! – Vincent d’Onofrio… wait, you need me to tell you more? *sighs* Vince plays Abby Hoffman. Docudrama – dunno how “True” it all is, but it’s fun, quirky/silly.
Jul ’05: Gah. You’ve prolly seen Fantastic Four, which was enjoyable (though I didn’t really like their version of Doom… he was so flat compared to the comic character.) Um… erm…
Aug ’05: Dodgeball is, in my opinion, better than Zoolander. Zoolander was pretty all right, but I got more yuks out of Dodgeball. *shrugs*
Oct ’05: Can’t really suggest anything from this month, either. :P
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My favourite Peter Pan movie of all time is “Hook”. Seriously – Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith, Arthur Malet… hell, it even had Julia Roberts (who I almost loathe) and it still qualifies as one of my fave movies of all.
I liked Hook, too. :)
Ok! Replacement films noted! Thanks! :)