When in Rome

I really didn't know what this movie was about before I went, but it has Kristen Bell in it, and I love Kristen Bell. More specifically I love Veronica Mars, but that's beside the point. Anyway, it was a lot silly, especially when they pulled Pedro into the mix to go along with Jon Heder's character (and I liked Napoleon Dynamite, so you know it's a bad gag). There were some funny parts, some frustrating parts, and it wasn't one of those melt your heart romances, BUT it was an okay show, and if you're out with the girls for your birthday it makes it even more fun, and this sentence might never end. I'll give it a 2.5 out of 5.

Leap Year

 

I'm so behind on my movie reviews!  I really need to get caught up.  And here we have our first joint review.

Dallas: I overall didn't like it. It had some cute parts that made me chuckle. I thought the end was the cutest part. It felt like it was kind of dragging, and I was just waiting for something to happen.

Brenda: I felt about the same as Dallas.  I kept wondering when it would get good.  There was some pretty scenery, but it just wasn't good enough to make up for the lack of story.  Also, there were a lot of romance movie cliches.  Like some old person telling the fake romantic couple to kiss, and then they do a stupid little peck, and the old person says, "no, a real kiss", and then they really kiss and then afterwards they look at each other like they're falling in love.  Yeah, that's been done.  It wasn't horrible, it just wasn't great.  I'd give it a 3 out of 5, or maybe 2 1/2.

17 Again

About a guy whose life didn't quite turn out how he wanted it to and wishes he could go back to high school and change it. He wakes up one day and is seventeen again and gets the chance to rewrite his life.

I was pleasantly surprised with this movie. Jason was doing homework all night, and I felt like renting a movie. I didn't think that Jason would be too sad about missing this one. I remembered someone telling me that they liked this. All I really knew was that Matthew Perry was in it, and I like him. I thought that maybe it would end up being more for teenagers, but it was quite adult. It made me laugh quite a bit. I think even Jason ended up watching a lot of it, and he even laughed a few times. It also pulls at the heart strings. I'd rate it a 4 out of 5.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

After New York City receives a series of attacks from giant flying robots, a reporter teams up with a pilot in search of their origin, as well as the reason for the disappearances of famous scientists around the world.

On Sundays, my family usually has a movie afternoon.  Most of the time, we watch some kind of superhero movie (usually a Marvel comics one), so it took a little bit of convincing to get my boys to want to watch this one.  The DVD cover doesn't look like a regular superhero flick, but I finally convinced them that this was about superheroes, just a little different.  Anyway, not that we've got that bit of background out of the way, on to my review.

I love this movie.  It was very stylized--it felt like I was watching a movie from the 30's or 40's.  The plot and characters could have been a little more developed.  The movie could have been longer.  But what was there was highly enjoyable.  There was humor, action, romance, and fun.  It was a good Sunday family movie.  I rate it 5 out of 5.

Groundhog Day

Phil a news reporter is having the worst day of his life over and over.

I am sure many people have already seen this but I saw it for the first time recently. This movie is not my favorite but I didn't hate it. In some parts I wondered what would happen but in others I didn't really care for. The movie could have been shortened a little but over all it was okay, I would rate it a 3 out of 5.

The Proposal

Successful editor being deported back to Canada blackmails her assistant who hates her into marrying her so she can remain in the U.S. They go to his families house for his grandmother birthday in Alaska. I thought it was cute but extremely predictable, it seemed to me to be How to Loose a guy in 10 days meets The wedding date. Cute chick flick, worth renting but I wouldn't buy it. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Did You Hear About the Morgans

We went to see this one on our anniversary. I was hoping for funny, and there were a few funny parts, but it didn't quite make it. A New York couple whose marriage is on the rocks witnesses a murder and they have to be put into the witness protection program... in Wyoming. It reminded me of "For Richer or Poorer" with Kirstie Alley and Tim Allen, but that one was actually a lot better. It's probably worth renting, and if you go into it expecting a so-so movie, you'll probably be just fine. 2 1/2 stars out of 5.

Fireproof

I loved this movie! It's one I'd like to buy on DVD when it comes out, because I think the message was just that good. The acting was a little cheesy here and there, but another awesome thing is that not one of these actors were paid. They all did it because they believed in the project. This is a great movie for married couples to see.

Nights in Rodanthe

I would probably never have gone to see this in the theaters of my own choice. Probably wouldn't even have rented it on DVD, either. But my friend wanted to go see it, so I went. It wasn't horrible. It was pretty much what I expected---same as any other movie based on a book by Nicholas Sparks. Manipulative tear-jerker.

27 Dresses

This was a typical chick flick. It wasn't bad, but definitely not spectacular. Same type of plot that you almost always see. I wasn't too fond of the ending (well, the part right before the ending). I thought it was badly scripted and weird. Oh well, it was a nice way to pass the time while Troy was gone on business.

Fool's Gold

I did not like this movie. I thought it was pretty boring, and I had a hard time not falling asleep. It wasn't very funny, either.

The Other Boleyn Girl

I had a really hard time enjoying this movie. The main reason being that I felt absolutely no sympathy, or even an inkling of like for Anne Boleyn. I read the book a long time ago, but I think if I remember right, I had the same problem with the book. It's just uncomfortable to watch.

I guess the good thing is that movies like this do make me want to learn more about the time period, and I know this movie was not historically accurate. So, I guess there is that.

What Happens in Vegas

I fully expected this to be another one of those mindless (and a bit stupid) romantic comedies. Emphasis on the mindless (and stupid), if the previews were right. And it pretty much was, but I really liked it. A whole lot. I'm not sure why, exactly. There were funny parts, there were sweet parts, and yes, there were stupid parts. Maybe I was just in a particularly good mood. I really couldn't say. I guess there are just some romantic comedies that are my cup of tea, and some that I think are the same old stuff.

This one was like a good cup of tea, or something.

Sex and the City

I went to see this with a bunch of girlfriends, because they had loved the show, and were so excited to see this movie. I never watched the show while it was on TV, so I probably would not have gone to see it, if it weren't for them. I thought the movie was okay. There was way too much sex in it, but what did I expect? The title kind of gave that part away.

As a chick flick (and I do mean chick flick) it was a cute movie. The story was a little bit predictable, but it was fun to watch anyway. I was surprised at how long the movie was, though. Usually movies of this type are about an hour and a half, but this one was two and a half hours. It didn't feel long, while I was watching, although there were a couple of places where I fully expected it to end. I'm glad it didn't end at those places, because it would have been a bad ending.

Bella

I have mixed feelings about Bella. I wish that it had been at least a half hour longer, if not more, and that they hadn't left so much up to the viewer to piece together what must have happened. But I thought it was very good, especially on the budget they had. I appreciate what they were trying to do with this movie.

I loved the parts where they were with his family visiting--they lived in a beautiful home. I think it was a really sweet movie, with a reminder that life is precious and beautiful. There was one part of the movie that was absolutely heartbreaking, and very hard to watch, but it was very well made, and I'd highly recommend it.

P.S. I Love You

Troy and I watched this movie the other night. I had read the book awhile ago, and really loved it, so I kind of thought that the movie wouldn't be as good, and I was kinda right. If I don't really think about the movie at all, and just think of it as another romantic comedy, it was a pretty good movie. But I tend to think about things, and the more I do, the more I think I didn't care for this movie.

For one thing, I really like Harry Connick Jr. I thought he was excellent in Hope Floats, and he is not unattractive. Except in P.S. I Love You. He was horrible. His character was annoying, with very few redeeming qualities, and I think they kind of expected us to root for him and Holly (the female lead) to get together.

But I wasn't rooting for that. At all. In fact, I don't know what I was rooting for. It's been awhile since I read the book, so I guess I was rooting for the likeable guy that I vaguely remembered from the book. But that likeable guy wasn't in this movie. Instead we got unlikeable guy, so my brain didn't know what to do.

Which brings me to Hillary Swank as Holly. It just didn't work for me. The person playing this character needed to be a very expressive person, who is able to show a lot of emotion, and I didn't get that out of Hillary Swank. Not even a little bit. She's very pretty, and I have no doubt that she is a good actress, just not right for the part.

You see here in this picture, she looks kind of sad. This is about the extent of her sad facial expressions. Maybe I'm not remembering everything. It has been a couple of days since I've watched the movie, but I pretty much think I'm right here. And then we have the part where she takes a trip to Ireland, and sleeps with some guy. Some guy she just met. It just doesn't work with the story. Maybe the movie version of the story. But not the book version, which was, you know, actually good.

And then there was her mother. Her bitter, angry mother, who basically kept telling her to just get over it. Because at least she (the daughter) had a husband who didn't WANT to leave her. Because, you see, the mother's husband had left her. So every time she was in a scene, it was kind of all about her. Forget that her daughter's husband had just died. Her own husband had left her a long time ago, and that's what really mattered.

But then I think, when I was watching the movie I didn't really feel like it was that bad. I think that's mostly because I expected that something was going to happen. That it was going to get better, but then it never did. And then certain things did happen in the movie, and I thought "That's it? That's where you're trying to go with this whole thing?" And then I turn off my brain, and stop thinking about it, and I think the movie wasn't that bad again.