On June 27th Netflix lowered its pricing on the 2 out plan from 14.99 to 13.99. Then today it lowered it again to 12.99. The best part is you don't have to do anything it is just automatic. I would like to the pricing page but it isn't updated yet. Here is a pic of the email I got though.
The summer movie season, which is starting early this year with Spiderman 3 on May 4th, is jam packed with sequels. I actually started looking and it is almost a sequel a week between now and September. Between May 4th and September 21st there are 14 sequels coming out. The links go to Rotten Tomatoes since that is where I got the info. Check it out:
May 4th - Spiderman 3
May 11th - 28 Weeks Later
May 18th - Shrek the Third
May 25th - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
June 8th - Ocean's Thirteen and Hostel: Part II
June 15th - The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
June 22nd - Evan Almighty
June 29th - Live Free or Die Hard
July 4th - Transformers (ok remake rather than sequel)
July 13th - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
August 3rd - The Bourne Ultimatum
August 10th - Rush Hour 3
August 31st - Halloween (Again more remake than sequel)
September 21st - Resident Evil: Extinction
Ok so it has been a while since I wrote about some movies. Haven't been watching enough it seems. First, a few that we saw in theaters.
Children of Men - The storyline for this movie is pretty depressing but it is a really interesting look at a potential near future. Many have compared this movie to Blade Runner and it is similar in its dark look of the future. The film is really well made in regards to cinematography and settings. It definitely isn't cheery but I really recommend the film.
Babel - This movie has an interlocking storyline like Pulp Fiction or Sin City. If there is one word to describe this movie it would be intense. The stressful situations start almost immediately and never let up. It is also to a certain degree a little depressing, definitely needed a change of pace after this and the last one. It is also a good movie that I would recommend, but not a forget the world and relax movie.
Breach - This is based on the true story of one of the worst spies to infiltrate the US government. I heard an interview with Eric O'Neill in which he said the movie was very accurate, just a few dramatizations. It was impressive to see how many resources were used to catch the spy and how many mis-steps were made along the way. For someone who lived in Fairfax County it was interesting to see how it was all happening right in town. A really good thriller that I would recommend.
Pan's Labyrinth - This movie is a cross between WWII period piece and a messed up Alice in wonderland. The WWII parts were about the fascist control of Spain and were pretty gruesome at times. Those darn fascist aren't very nice. The other part of the movie was a young girl completing tasks to find if she was a mystical princess. The part with the young girl gets just weird at times, there is a creepy faun and a monster that eats babies. It is a pretty good movie, if a little strange. Oh and it is subtitled.
I have a netflix membership now so I can get some DVD and HD-DVD without my usually buying of everything.
Wordplay - This is a documentary about the current NY Times crossword puzzle editor. It is also about the annual crossword puzzle championship. In several scenes they have several people from Jon Stewart to President Clinton talking about how they do the crossword puzzle. While I must admit I don't a lot of crosswords it was interesting to see how they are created. This is a short quirky movie, if you are at all interested you will enjoy it.
It has been a while since I have written about movies. There are three I can remember right now and maybe one other I have forgotten. The three movies are Brick, Inside Man, and The Departed.
Brick was a critical success but not a box office one this spring. It was closer to an independent film than a wide release. It can most easily be summed up as a teen noir. It is the story of a high school student attempting to find out what happened to a friend. In the process he has to make deals with people and pit others against each other. It moves very quickly and is very stylized. I really liked it by Kelly was so-so on it. I would recommend it.
Inside Man was more of a mixed bag in the reviews. I wasn't sure about the movie going in due to what I had heard. It is Spike Lee's latest film and he has had some recently that I have really liked and others that have been real flops. The move is a heist move pure and simple, although it has some very interesting sub/side plots. I liked the movie and again Kelly was so-so. I would recommend it as well.
The last movie is The Departed and that one we saw in theaters. This movie is amazing, the best movie of the year and will probably win multiple Oscars. It is rough, a touch long but still really good. The cast is great and used very well. I cannot too highly recommend this movie.
Amazon sends out suggestions based on previous purchases and what others have bought. This week I got a really weird one. First the DVD it is suggesting is odd, even more so is the connection. Here is the relevant bit.
We've noticed that customers who have expressed interest in The Lion King (Disney Special Platinum Edition) have also ordered ChickFight 3: Special Edition (two-discs) on DVD. For this reason, you might like to know that ChickFight 3: Special Edition (two-discs) is now available on DVD. You can order your copy for just $29.95 by following the link below.
I have finally updated my DVD list. I also got a program to help me keep it updated. The new list can be found at this link. The program is handy, it let me scan via upc my whole collection and entered everything for me. If the disc didn't have a upc (some special editions) I could just insert DVD and it would use disc id. There was only one that couldn't be identified, it was the In the Line of Fire that was included in my first DVD player. Most likely the number of these discs pressed is very small.
The funny thing is that I am just now doing this. Simply because my DVD purchasing has slowed to a crawl since the spring of 2005. Especially if you compare it to the number I used to buy. I just didn't buy any really while I worked on my basement and I haven't picked up much since. Maybe in the next 6 months I will get a HD-DVD and get a few more discs.
On Friday night Kelly and I were both tired and decided to just relax and watch a movie. We decided on one of the ones I got from my family for my birthday. The movie we watched was Shopgirl. This movie did not do well in theaters, it only made 10 mil, so I wasn't expecting too much. Also the commercials and trailers I had seen didn't seem to portray the movie as it really was. It was a very good drama with a well laid out storyline. It had good pacing so it didn't seem to drag at all. I really enjoyed the film and would recommend it, especially if you are in the mood for an emotional drama. It doesn't get overly emotional though, just enough so you know what the characters are feeling.
On Saturday night I had been left alone to try and recover from my recent sickness. I took the opportunity to watch one of the films that Kelly seems to keep skipping as a possibility. I watched Zathura which is a spiritual successor to Jumanji. This movie is best described as a family friendly action adventure movie. It is aimed more so at kids but I liked it as well. The movie has some good special effects and great action scenes. Also it has a nice brotherhood moral which I thought was cool. It isn't a great movie but I did enjoy it. One interesting note is how few people are in it. There are two main characters, two sub characters and a bit part by a fifth. That is really it, I guess you could call the house itself as a character. It is a fun little movie that can kill a couple of hours.
On September 5th Kelly and I went to a preview screening of The Guardian, which comes out September 29th. It was a free screening at The Charles. It was in their second largest auditorium and it was about 85% full. I had seen trailers for the film, but I still wasn't sure what to expect.
I didn't see Annapolis but somehow I see this movie as the Coast Guard's response. I doubt either the Navy or Coast Guard really had much to do with the original idea of these movies, however both seemed to support them fully. I think the Guardian will do better than Annapolis, which wouldn't be hard compared to its total gross of 17 mil.
The movie is kind of a standard old guy needs to retire but instead becomes teacher and then a new young kid thinks he is better but learns a lesson. One of the problems with this film is it is pretty long and has too many things going on. One of the weird parts was a 10 minute montage of working out. It was done to look like it was a reality show with grainy video and it was a little jarring compared to the rest of the movie.
The story was pretty good and gave an interesting look into the Coast Guard rescue school. It was also funny to watch some of the Coast Guard vs. Navy jokes. A good chunk of the movie was very similar to the Perfect Storm, only from the rescuers standpoint. There was some really good special effects and it was obvious they had buy in from the Coast guard from the on location filming.
The movie had some issues and tried to be a little sappy at points. However it had some pretty good action scenes and decent acting. I wouldn't run out to see it, but it is worth seeing. I almost want to see Annapolis just to compare the two.
A few weekends ago on Sunday July 30th Kelly and I went to The Charles Theatre to see A Scanner Darkly. We had listened to the unabridged audio book (which was read by Paul Giamatti) so we went in knowing the story and having some expectations. The movie appeared to be sold out, which isn't saying a whole lot since it was in a smaller theater seating about 100. This movie has a very interesting look to it. The movie was filmed as normal but then the film was rotoscoped and cel shaded. This actually worked well with the fact that most of the movie is spent watching people on drugs. This movie is based on a book by Phillip K. Dick that was written in the 60's. It is mostly a warning of what could happen with a populace mostly hooked on drugs. It is truly a weird movie. I am not sure I can really recommend this movie as it is so strange, but I did enjoy it.
Later in the week we watched Syriana at home in my theater. I had wanted to see this movie for quite a while. I had heard Robert Baer, the author of See No Evil which the movie is based on, interviewed several times and his stories are amazing. The movie is really amazing and scary all at the same time. The movie is more truth than fiction and that is what is scary. To see what our government is doing in the Middle East and what the governments of the Middle East are doing to themselves and each other. If for no other reason than to open your eyes I highly recommend this film. It is a good movie even if you don't watch it for that reason, it has some decent action and intrigue.
For another total change of pace we went to see Clerks II on Sunday August 6th. There was almost no one at this showing, only about 12-15. Basically you either like Kevin Smith and his movies or you don't. If you enjoyed Clerks and Dogma you will like this film, if you didn't you are almost guaranteed to not like this one either. It is hilarious and just some really quirky scenes. If you want to laugh and aren't easily offended I recommend it, otherwise stay away.
The final movie of the quartet is actually one we had already seen. We saw it on Saturday night August 12th with some of Kelly's friends as a double date no less. It was Little Miss Sunshine, which is the movie that I mentioned when we saw it at the Maryland Film Festival. I still highly recommend it even after a second viewing. It is especially good in a crowded theater since everyone can laugh together. It is still expanding in release so I would suggest seeking it out.
On Saturday night Kelly and I went to the BSO's performance of some movie favorites. We went to this performance as a makeup for the July 4th performance that was cancelled. Also this was a performance that really interested me. The description of the event mentioned my two favorite movie composers John Williams and Danny Elfman.
We left my house about 6 PM and headed out to Oregon Ridge. As we approached we saw the backup on 83 north heading toward Shawan Rd E. We headed west to Wegmans. We got out of Wegmans by 7:10. We then began heading back toward the backup we saw coming in. It was pretty much not moving and we only made it about half a mile in 40 minutes. We decided to take the cloverleaf and head back west and found a back way to where we were going.
As we approached on Beaver Dam Rd we got much closer than we were before in just a few minutes. We got to the point where we could see the parking lot and the performance area. We were making much better progress. While we were waiting to get into the parking lot I opened the windows and we got to here the intro which was the 20th Century Fox opening. I also got to hear a bit of Mission Impossible from the car. We got within 10 cars of entering the parking lot when they closed the lot since it was full. Needless to say this was disheartening. Luckily from the point we were at we could get to the Oregon Grille parking lot, unlike all the poor people still stuck on Shawan Rd and being turned away. We debated for a bit what to do. We finally decided to attempt to walk back.
We walked the half mile back to the parking lot. We cut across the grass lot. I stopped for a few minutes to help a woman find her cell phone; she called it from mine and found it. We got to sit down and enjoy the performance about 8:30 (it started a few minutes after 8). We missed the first couple sets of songs. We were able to catch songs from Harry Potter, Superman, Beauty and the Beast and one other. The finale was a combination of songs from the original Star Wars trilogy and fireworks. It was an impressive show of fireworks and they were nicely timed with the music.
Other than the traffic mishaps the night was a lot of fun. I got to help others identify the music, since as Kelly says I am a movie nerd. I really enjoyed the performances as well. Getting to hear the music I know so well in a live performance like that was great. The one bonus to parking as we did was that were able to exit the area much more quickly than those that were in the main lot. For those who enjoy movie scores I would highly recommend a show like this.
