Tuesday, December 20, 2005

I've Been Watching Movies...

And some have been good and some have not. I have been taking advantage of HBO and Showtime, etc., since so many things are reruns right now. Last night I saw Bad Santa. It was made in 2003 and I have wanted to see it since then. Just never did. Billy Bob Thorton cracks me up! I laughed my head off watching this flick. Not for kids. Wacko Cohen brothers movie, but I thought it was funny, as I do most of their films. I do have a warped sense of humor. Not for those who cannot handle the "f" word!

I watched Cold Mountain. I thought it was a good movie. It was very long and sad, but good. Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweiger (sp) were very good. And that Jude Law dude...I have seen him in a couple of things, but this movie he stood out in. These are only my opinions.

We watched Mr and Mrs Smith. What a dog of a movie. Dumb and dumber. Silly and just bad! Brad and Angelina were the stars and the movie reminded me of a bad version of Spy Kids. Need I say more? Save your money, rent it if you must, but don't buy this one!

I loved Aviator with Leo DiCaprio. Well done and just a really good movie. The life of Howard Hughes. Lots of actors got work on this flick. I love movies that depict the thirties and forties. The sets were awesome and the acting was very good. I think DiCaprio was very believable as Howard Hughes. I would recommend this one.

I absolutely loved Spanglish. I have to say, that surprised me. Adam Sandler is not one of my favorite actors. However, in this movie, he was very good as a Chef who had a thing for the nanny, played by Paz Vega. Beautiful woman. Tea Leoni was good too. Man, can she do yoga. She is one strong lady. I would recommend this flick.

Anchorman, silly but fun. Will Ferrell, again, not one of my favorites. However, he was funny in this movie. I think the makers of this movie new it was silly and played into that. I have to admit, I fell asleep at the end and have not wanted to go back and watch it....I suppose I would not recommend this one. Although, Katharine loved it.

And I finally saw Sideways. I have wanted to see that movie since it came out. I have a friend who hated it and the arguing that went on. I loved seeing and hearing about California's wine country. The characters were in a real life town of Solvang, which we love. Over the hill from Solvang is where Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch is. We have stayed at a place called Alisal Ranch, a working ranch, with everything in the world to do as well. David and I fished on the beautiful lake the first time he took me there. I love to fish. The next time we went, Zoe and I fished by ourselves (David and Katharine went on a trail ride) and there was not one other person on or around the lake. We were out in a little boat watching the cattle come down to drink from the lake. It was spectacular.

I think one of the reasons I liked this movie was that I know the area where it was filmed. Right down to the restaurant where many scenes were shot. But, I enjoyed seeing Thomas Haden Church. I loved him in the TV series Wings set in Nantucket. He was good in this movie. I especially loved seeing Sandra Oh. I just love her. She was in Arliss and was his assistant, she was hilarious. She was in Under the Tuscan Sun, which I really enjoyed too. Sandra Oh now plays an intern on Grey's Anatomy, which is one of my favorite TV shows again this year. Virginia Madsen was really natural in her role. She is a beauty and had to do some mighty fine acting to be with the guy her character was interested in. His name is Paul Giamatti. I have seen him in other movies, thou what they were, escapes me right now. His character was depressed and not very likeable at all. Just imagining Virginia Madsen being with Antonio Sabato Jr in real life and then with this guy...Well, she did a fine acting job, is all I can say. I would recommend this movie.

I think that is about it. I think I may have seen a couple others, but nothing that stands out for me to write about. It has been fun to catch up on movies that have been out for a while. I am waiting for Million Dollar Baby to come. I think it will be this weekend on STARZ.

11 comments:

A Flowered Purse said...

Have a beautiful Holiday season!
Love
Dianna

Heidi said...

Nancy..I heard Mr & Mrs Smith was awful..Glad I won't be wasting my money on that one.

My favorite Will Farrell Movie is The Elf..Have u seen that?

LOVED the Aviator! It was filmed in Montreal. I tried for some "Extra" work but they didn't want woman with " highlights" oyevey..lol

I saw Blind Date with Debra Messing this weekend..I fell asleep.

Thanx for the reviews Nancy.

zbjernak said...

wow...u watch tht much movie...in how many days?
i dunno..
i just dont like watching movies at home... hahahahahahahaha

i will tend to drag it...and finish it in 10 minutes...
couldnt sit down still...
of course unless i watch it at the cinema

Nancy said...

Dianna, you too!

Heidi, I have seen Elf. It is funny. I have not seen Blind Date, though I do like Debra Messing.

Z, it took me about two weeks to get all those movies in and some in the middle of the night!

for_the_lonely said...

There are a ton of movies that I want to see as well...I , personally, LOVE Adam Sandler..the Wedding Singer is one of my fav movies, but I digress...

Thanks for the heads up on the movies...it sounds like you are enjoying your time with the girls! :) Wonderful!

Love ya!
Sarah

Playground In My Mind said...

Oh Nancy...so much to say. I love Solvang; we went so many times when I was growing up.
I also loved Spanglish and was surprised by that because Adam Sandler isn't my fave; although I love him in The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates.
I have never liked brad pitt-not even when he was w/Jennifer Aniston; likewise I have never liked Ms. Jolie...or her former hubby Billy-Bob.
I recently saw Closer-You should watch that one too it is showing on one of the HBO/Starz channels. I was surprised by its quirkiness, but it was enjoyable. Lots of blue in it, but I still liked it-Natalie Portman, Clive Owen, Julia Roberts and Jude Law-I hate this guy, but I also liked him in The Road to Perdition.
I have never liked Will Farrell, but I adore Elf; I can't get interested in Anchorman.
I have been watching The Polar Express on a loop...Little Big Boy just loves it, so it is on all the time.
I love the old style movies, too...The Aviator goes down as one of my favorite movies of all time. Leo doesn't get enough respect in the industry...though I do not understand why. He is also awesome in Catch Me If You Can with Tom Hanks.;)
take care and Merry Christmas Renee

alan said...

In the additional features on "Spanglish" they show the chef who created it (for his own midnight snack) teaching Sandler how to make "The Sandwich" he makes in the movie. I googled the recipe, and though it's 1200 calories, most of my daily ration at this point, it is an occasional treat that is simply "wow"!

I loved "The Aviator". I grew up listening to a lot of the music of that era, and reading a lot of aviation history as well. My favorite Howard Hughes story is from Don Dwiggin's "The Air Devils" and relates how Frank Clarke, the lead pilot on Hell's Angels and Jean Harlow flew in to some little airport to have lunch with Hughes and talk about the movie. Before Howard walked in, Clarke told Harlow "watch this" and laid a nickel Coke bottle on the floor and placed one leg of their table on it. They both then sat and watched as Hughes tried to eat his lunch with one hand while conversing and holding the table perfectly still with the other hand, never admitting anything was beyond norm. I don't know whether Clarke really knew about Hughes mental state, or it was just a joke, but can't imagine doing that to the person who was signing my paychecks during the Depression!

alan

Blogzie said...

Ms. Nancy!

Just dropping by to wish you and yours a delightful holiday.

Enjoy!

XoXoXoXoXoX

lightfeather said...

Thank you for mentioning Solvang. It brought tears to my eyes this morning and made me think so warmly of my daddy, who absolutely loved it there and even fondly of the "one who drinks the Goldschlager" from happier times. We visited there with my mom and daddy a coupld of weeks after we married. It was simply one of the most enjoyable little getaways I have ever had.

Loving you,
Lighty

Cindy said...

I wasn't real impressed with Mr. & Mrs. Smith either. We just watched Batman Begins, I fell asleep! Also recently watched War of the Worlds, it was ok, glad I didn't break my neck to go see it. I don't know, I might still be mad at Tom Cruise. I'm adding Blind Date to the queue!

Phoebe said...

I saw the Aviator and Sideways on the plane coming back from Mauritius. I'm not a big Leonardo Di Caprio fan. The Aviator was okay, but too long.

I liked Sideways, but I have friends who hated it. The impossible Alan W., the houseguest from hell, who sees everything was one who hated it because he felt that the characters didn't learn anything in the course of the film. I liked it because it was not a rehash of dozens of other movies I've seen in terms of content and location.

I saw six movies and a couple of TV episodes on my trip to and from Mauritius. Saw Neverland (good), The Incredibles (also good) and my favorite from this trip, Bride and Prejudice which I really loved. It was good to see it on the way to Mauritius because TV there has all these Indian soap operas. I got some understanding of these programs by seeing this movie. No one in an Indian soap opera is less than fabulously wealthy. And they're all gorgeous too! I guess in a country where there are still a lot of very poor people, no one of any class wants to be reminded of it!