Movies #4 thru #7

TODAYS FEATURE

On the plane ride from Atlanta to Frankfurt, Germany they showed two movies. They were both ok in my opinion so I won't be giving any V8 awards (just a tomato splat).

4. Hairspray- Well, wow. I would say that this one is leaning just slightly to the "I couldda hadda V8" side of things. I can't believe this thing won a ton of awards. I'll tell you why. Disclaimer: I actually really like musicals. This one had some really good numbers in it that were performed well. Unfortunately, I still had some bones to pick or lets just say some things that I couldn't get to stop nagging me. First, John Travolta--seriously? I saw that Oprah special for Hairspray were they just went on and on about how light on your feet you were and how amazingly womanlike you were in the movie but there were so many things about your character that I couldn't get over. Lets' start with the voice and then work our way over to the accent (which Oprah said you nailed but I actually felt was a mockery and a little over the top) and then we can finally focus on how seriously unattractive and unconvincing you are as a woman. Secondly, it nagged at me how quick, seamless, and easy the "integration" went. I mean old girl and dude are just making out on camera and then America (which suddenly isn't racist anymore) automatically call in and vote how they voted. I know that there is suppose to be a lightheartedness to the whole thing but for me- this was a musical too far detached from reality considering that it is actually dealing with some REAL issues. I felt like on one hand they wanted it to be such a statement but on the other fun and light and not really get into it all. Almost, like they couldn't really decide which way to go with it. Maybe since I never saw the original hairspray I just didn't get it. I realize that it is a musical and there's a certain lightheartedness that comes with that but it was too much for me at times.

5. December Boys- This was a sweet little story of 4 orphan boys in England who are given a "holiday" from the orphanage/nunnery to the coast. It's all about their adventures, growing up, family, and lifes lessons even when you have your own intentions. It had the Harry Potter boy, Daniel Radcliffe, in it. He and Elijah Wood remind me so much of each other; it's actually quite weird. Anyway, little potter did ok and the story was a sweet one. The movie was not a waste of time but you know, nothing too intense, or funny, or provoking, or too intriguing-- just a solid story.

On the plane ride back from Frankfurt to Germany they showed two more movies which I did not actually watch on the plane. One I had seen already (Ratatouille) and the other I wanted to see (Martian child) but had already started Monsters Ball on my laptop…good thing no one was sitting in the same row as me btw.

6. Monsters Ball- Ok, couple things. I really liked the movie. I don't think that Halle should have won an Oscar for her performance in this movie and I love Halle. She would have deserved one (in my opinion) for Things we Lost in the Fire but I thought her acting in this movie was over the top. Hated her slang and supposed to be low class attitude. To me it looked like Halle Berry pretending to be ghetto, she never once took me away from who she really is. Geez, Heath Ledger's character and Billy Bob's character had so many dimensions. I was very pleasantly surprised by Diddy too. Anyway, I thought the story was an amazing story and I also thought that the ending was a really great thought provoking and soul resonating ending. The sex scene was absolutely crazy. It was SO realistic. It was like soft porn...maybe. The movie as a whole is really good. Although, if you're looking for a feel good, lift your spirits kind of movie this is not necessarily it. Anyway, with all its seriousness this is this week's pick.

7. Superbad- Thought I was going to hate this movie but there were a ton of inappropriate things that cracked me up. I usually find movies like these not very funny because they usually replace the real humor with crudeness. A lot of that happens in this movie but there still manages to be a lot of really funny elements. Not my feature of the week, but if you're on the crudely funny tip with some extra language have a look.