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Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Robin Hood
I judge movies on how much I think about them the next day or two. If I hardly think of the movie, it is pretty mediocre. If I think alot about the movie, it is usually really good or very, very bad. Good movies make me think of the storyline, the characters, and the effect it has on my emotions. Bad movies have me thinking what a waste of time it was to watch and how it could have been better. Some movies, however, make me want to do some research and more reading to learn more about the storyline. These movies are invariably movies with some history connected to it. Robin Hood (starring Russel Crowe) is such a movie.As a movie, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Deb, on the other hand, fell asleep. I enjoy well done movies with some history attached to them. When the movie was over, I wanted to know what was actually true, and what was not. So, I did some research on the Internet to find more about Robin Hood. Of course, the movie is almost entirely fiction since only circumstantial evidence is available that such a character as Robin Hood existed. This movie tells the story of how Robin Hood became an outlaw.
As far as the movie itself, I gave it 7 out of 10 stars on IMDb. The movie felt long to me and it was long (almost 2 1/2 hours). In very good movies, you do not notice the length. Perhaps this movie could have been tightened up a bit so it did not feel so long. Overall, though, for me it was enjoyable. For Deb, it was a snoozer.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Movies
Time to catch up on some movies we have watched, but we have not posted to our blog.
We watched
"Ponyo" as a family. It is an animated movie from Japan that used American actors for the voices in the version released in the United States. Disney released it for the US market.
The movie was interesting. I am sure, some of the odd parts of the movie come from the differences in the American and Japanese cultures. It was very difficult for me to believe that the main character, Ponyo, was a goldfish. It had a human face on it and when the boy, Sosuke, first rescues it and when his mother saw the "fish," they didn't freak out that it had a human face! Other than that, the story was quite good and the girls loved it.
As I mentioned earlier, Ponyo is a "goldfish" that is rescued by Sosuke. She falls in love with the boy and transforms herself into a human. However, the transformation changes the earth's balance and the two children must save the world.
On IMDb, I gave it 5 of out 10 stars. I would probably give it more stars if some of the storyline made more sense to me. I am sure my girls would give it many more stars.
The other movie we watched together as a family was "How To Train Your Dragon." This movie was very surprising. I did not think I would like this movie, but it was great. The storyline kept me interested, and the underlying tone of the message of not judging before you get to know someone was powerful.
Hiccup is a young Viking trying to meet his father's expectations to become a Viking warrior. The vikings are fighting the dragons that raid their village almost nightly. When Hiccup wounds the mysterious Night Fury dragon, he cannot bring himself to kill the dragon. Soon, the two form a friendship. Together, they fight to make the dragons and Vikings understand each other.
On IMDb, I gave it 9 out of 10 stars. I highly recommend this movie. The girls liked it, but I think Deb and I liked it a lot more. It seemed more geared to adults than children. Or it could be that our girls are chickens and don't like scary stuff like dragons.
Over the weekend, Deb and I watched a "chick flick" called "Confessions of a Shopaholic." We were pleasantly surprised by the lack of sex and sexual innuendos in this movie. A few swear words were heard which made us cringe.
Basically, the movie is about a journalist that lucks out in getting a job for a finance magazine. She gets the job to help those in debt while she is heavy in debt herself since she loves to shop and buy. A few things seem to be a stretch--like when her boss tries to get her to write a story that she has no idea how to do it but still gets it done. It did provide some laughs and in the end, all works out.
I gave the movie 5 out of 10 stars on IMDb. I am sure Deb would give it a lot more, but, hey, it's a chick flick!
We watched
"Ponyo" as a family. It is an animated movie from Japan that used American actors for the voices in the version released in the United States. Disney released it for the US market.The movie was interesting. I am sure, some of the odd parts of the movie come from the differences in the American and Japanese cultures. It was very difficult for me to believe that the main character, Ponyo, was a goldfish. It had a human face on it and when the boy, Sosuke, first rescues it and when his mother saw the "fish," they didn't freak out that it had a human face! Other than that, the story was quite good and the girls loved it.
As I mentioned earlier, Ponyo is a "goldfish" that is rescued by Sosuke. She falls in love with the boy and transforms herself into a human. However, the transformation changes the earth's balance and the two children must save the world.
On IMDb, I gave it 5 of out 10 stars. I would probably give it more stars if some of the storyline made more sense to me. I am sure my girls would give it many more stars.
The other movie we watched together as a family was "How To Train Your Dragon." This movie was very surprising. I did not think I would like this movie, but it was great. The storyline kept me interested, and the underlying tone of the message of not judging before you get to know someone was powerful.Hiccup is a young Viking trying to meet his father's expectations to become a Viking warrior. The vikings are fighting the dragons that raid their village almost nightly. When Hiccup wounds the mysterious Night Fury dragon, he cannot bring himself to kill the dragon. Soon, the two form a friendship. Together, they fight to make the dragons and Vikings understand each other.
On IMDb, I gave it 9 out of 10 stars. I highly recommend this movie. The girls liked it, but I think Deb and I liked it a lot more. It seemed more geared to adults than children. Or it could be that our girls are chickens and don't like scary stuff like dragons.
Over the weekend, Deb and I watched a "chick flick" called "Confessions of a Shopaholic." We were pleasantly surprised by the lack of sex and sexual innuendos in this movie. A few swear words were heard which made us cringe.Basically, the movie is about a journalist that lucks out in getting a job for a finance magazine. She gets the job to help those in debt while she is heavy in debt herself since she loves to shop and buy. A few things seem to be a stretch--like when her boss tries to get her to write a story that she has no idea how to do it but still gets it done. It did provide some laughs and in the end, all works out.
I gave the movie 5 out of 10 stars on IMDb. I am sure Deb would give it a lot more, but, hey, it's a chick flick!
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre DumasMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Interesting book. One of the few times I felt the movie was better. Although the storyline is basically the same, the movie changed some details that are not in the book. However, as usual, the book goes into much more detail.
View all my reviews
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Family Viewing
Since we no longer have TV (a long story involving being the "man" of the house!), we have purchased a Roku player so we can watch Netflix movies and TV programs on our TV. One of the TV shows that we have been watching together is "Flipper." The acting is corny. The story lines are lame. Yet, it is wonderful! Angie and Lilli both love the shows. They will watch them from start to finish. And when I sit down to watch them with me, I reflect back to my childhood days when we would watch the show together as a family.One reason (and a big one at that) I'm not concerned about getting TV back was the content of TV shows and the family "unfriendliness" of the shows. Even though Deb and I may roll our eyes with the poor acting or inconsistent story lines, we are watching TV together when we watch "Flipper." Back in my day, that was how it was always done. We watched as a family, but it seemed to have a lot more family friendly programming. Now, with Netflix and Roku, we can do the same.
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