Disney/Pixar’s Up

Last Sunday, we decided to go to the theater to see Disney/Pixar’s Up. We saw the 2D version but I can’t imagine how it would have been any better in 3D. Disney and Pixar have an incredible history of great storytelling and this movie was no different. It was extremely well done. The story has ample amounts of action and comedy to appeal to the younger audience. It also contained several references to some of great movies of the past that only the older kids or adults would get. What was interesting to me was that this movie had a wonderful human element that made it very touching in a couple of places. So much so, that both Kristi and I were misting up for about 30 seconds near the end of the movie.

Pixar movies have always been awesome but the last five have each been better than the last. They rank among my all-time favorite movies. For those that can’t remember which ones I’m talking about, they are: The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up. We currently own the DVDs for two of these as well as Monsters Inc. (another awesome film). I can’t wait to get the rest of them as well. They are fun to watch over and over.

Conversation – Day Four

Okay….. A little too touchy feely on the pride thing. So let’s try something not so close to the heart. How about favorite movies?

North By Northwest: Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant. I love most of the Hitchcock movies and Cary Grant is one of my all-time favorite actors. It is such an intense movie.

Shag, The Movie: Every time I watch this movie, I remember what it felt like to live in coastal North Carolina when I was in the Marine Corps.

Bell, Book, and Candle: Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart. In college, Kristi and I saw this in some guy’s garage that he had converted into a movie theater. He even sold popcorn and candy. It wasn’t as weird as it sounds.

Tomb Raider: I know, I know… it’s all about Angelina Jolie in skimpy outfits. But, come on… sometimes you have to enjoy the eye candy.

The Chronicles of Narnia – The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe: The special effects and battle scenes are almost as good as in LoTR but without the Orcs. I also like Prince Caspian as well sometimes even better.

The American President: It is a total chick flick but it is also the starting point for the TV series The West Wing. I really like Michael Douglas in this. I also like him a lot in The Game.

Office Space: This is a classic for anyone that works in a cubicle; especially an IT professional like me. I almost fell off my chair the first time I saw the “paper jam” scene. So many of the situations in this movie have been paralleled in my own work experiences.

What are your favorite movies?

The Chronicles of Narnia – Prince Caspian

Yesterday, as a family, we went to see the new Narnia movie, Prince Caspian. I can truly say that I was as impressed with this one as I was with the first one. It was absolutely amazing. It has been a while since I read the book, so I am not sure how close it is to the actual story. I do know that Douglas Gresham, the stepson of C.S. Lewis, was the co-producer of both this movie and the first one and I believe he is doing all he can to ensure that the movies stay fairly true to the original books.

The scenery was amazingly beautiful. The actors did an exceptional job. It was just enjoyable to watch. I’m sure that all the young girls will think that Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) is just dreamy. Personally, I think that the girl that plays Susan Pevensie, Anna Popplewell, is very pretty and should get as much admiration from the young men in the audience. The movie is two and half hours long and some may think it a bit too long but it didn’t drag a bit during that entire time. Just make sure you don’t drink all of your “Large” soda too early into the movie… I’m just sayin’.

I will talk about specifics below the cut.

Shadowlands, The Movie

Kristi found the VHS version of the Shadowlands movie at the Menomonee Falls Public Library the other day. I watched it yesterday and I have to say that I really wasn’t impressed. It stars Sir Anthony Hopkins as C.S. Lewis and Debra Winger as Joy Gresham. It is my impression from everything that I have read and heard that Joy and Lewis were nearly intellectual equals. I don’t know if it was the Brooklyn accent that Winger was using or the way she carried herself, but she didn’t come across as being very smart at all. Several of her lines and the way she presented them almost made her seem jealous of his intellect.

Additionally, there were a lot of humorous moments between Lewis and his brother that were played very flat. I got about halfway through the movie and I had to convince myself to keep watching. I know that this is a drama and a sad movie at that, but even the upbeat parts of the movie were downright depressing. I really only finished watching the movie to be able compare the entire movie to the play.

I know that our little community theatre production of Shadowlands at Acacia Theatre Company can’t compare to big budget film by Sony Pictures. I have to say that Michael and Mo seemed to give Lewis and Gresham more depth than I saw on the screen. I am sure that part of this critique is personal bias but I can truly say that if I hadn’t been in the show, I would not have finished the movie.

Enchanted

We went to see Enchanted, Disney’s newest princess film, at the Marcus Majestic on Friday. It is a wonderful film. It referenced many of the other princess movies in various ways and although it seemed like it would be a parody of them, it wasn’t. It has its own unique brand of Happily-Ever-After that you haven’t seen before. I won’t spoil it for you by telling you any of the plot but they did a fantastic job of blending the animation and the live action. Better than the classics of Bednobs and Broomsticks and Mary Poppins. I will suggest that you not wait for it to come out on DVD. Go see it in the theater.

And speaking of seeing it in the theater, we saw it on the Ultrascreen at the Majestic and we paid the extra cash to get the VIP seats. We were in the front row of the VIP seats which are at the back of the theater. These seats are very similar to the standard Midwest Airlines seats. They have an amazing amount of walking space between rows and between every two seats there is a large platform for you to set popcorn, soda, and other items on. Each seat gets a free bucket of popcorn. It really makes for a fabulous movie experience. We don’t go to movies that often, so we didn’t mind the extra money. It will make seeing a movie in the regular seats very difficult from now on.

The Da Vinci Code

Kristi and I rented The Da Vinci Code last week. We had both read the book previously and although it didn’t get great reviews, we had wanted to see the movie. Big Mistake! Big! Huge!! I knew that with the book being as long as it was that they would have to cut a lot of the content and I was okay with that. However, I was very disappointed with the stuff that they kept in the movie. The movie has been out for more than a year. Out of respect for those that haven’t seen it yet, I will place my ranting below the cut.

The Order of the Phoenix

On Sunday, A.J. and I went to see the latest Harry Potter film at the Marcus Majestic in Brookfield. We saw the film on one of the theater’s two UltraScreens. The theater is new and very nice. We learned a valuable lesson about arriving early at the UltraScreen. We got to the theater about 20 minutes before movie and it was already packed. We ended up sitting about 6 rows back from the screen. With a normal screen, that really isn’t a problem. When you are that close to a 72′ screen you end up practically moving your head back and forth to see all the action.

A.J. have read all of the Harry Potter books and seen all of the movies as they have come out. We were pretty disappointed with this movie. The movie was all action and very little plot. If you didn’t know the story, it would be very hard to follow. In defense of the filmmakers, the book was extremely long and detailed. To do it justice, the movie would have needed to be at least 6 hours long. The audio book reading of the story takes 27 hours. That being said, the stuff that was included was watered down or completely different from the book. Maybe it was my closeness to the large screen but it seemed like things flew back and forth on the screen so much that you couldn’t really tell what they were.

Me as a Simpson

I’m not a big fan of the Simpsons. But I found a place where you can make your own avatar as one of the Simpsons. Because I made this of myself, I was kinder to myself regarding my flaws than other would be. Also, the options are not quite limitless. So, I had to choose those items that were closest to my actual appearance. Those of you that know me can feel free to comment as to whether or not I came close or if I should try again with something more Homer-like.

Go to the Simpsons Movie website to make one of yourself.

More Earnest On TV

I set my DVR to record the 2002 version of The Importance of Being Earnest that was shown on the “We” channel mid-morning yesterday. I watched about 20 minutes of it last night just to see how it differs from the play we are doing and the 1952 version. What I did see did not make me hopeful for the rest of the movie. The story is set in the 1890s, but this version seems to allow the actors to portray the actions and emotions that someone in the present time would have.

In this version, Jack and Algy first meet in what could be described as a Dance Hall. The whole “cigarette case” dialogue takes place in this same setting with a bunch of women of less than honorable character laughing at the description of why he “… is Earnest in town and Jack in the country.” It would have been scandalous for men their character to be seen in place like that at that time in history. In Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the title character is criticized for just such action.

At Algy’s place, when Earnest is about to propose to Gwendolyn, she is kissing him all over the face. People in high society would not have acted that way in public 50 years ago much less over a hundred. Some of the reviews of this movie allude to a flashback of Lady Bracknell in her younger days as a dancing girl and a scene where Gwendolyn is having Earnest’s name tattooed on her behind.

I’m sure that the average movie-watching troglodyte would have been bored by traditional versions and values of this story. I understand the need to spice it up a little to appeal to modern audiences but from what I saw they went too far. I think that if you want to see a movie version of this story that is closer to the original, you should pick up the 1952 version instead.

What happened to my lines????

I have mentioned before that, while I workout at lunch, I also have the opportunity to watch TV to take my mind off of how much my legs hurt (or how much I’m sweating). Today, just as I was starting out, the 1952 version of The Importance of Being Earnest began on TCM. I was able to watch the first 30 minutes of the movie. I stopped watching at the point where the first act in the play ends. Although they moved much of the dialogue around and added a scene at Earnest’s apartment (with dialogue from Algernon’s house in the play), most of the first act remained intact. What was missing? Most of Lane’s good lines were gone. With the exception of the “Cucumber” lines in the middle of the act, all he did was introduce guests and say “Yes, sir” a lot.