February 2009 Archives

2008

Plot: A giraffe falls in love with a hippopotamus, four penguins build an airplane with the help of ten-thousand monkeys, and other animal weirdness.

Eric: I watched this with my niece, nephew, and Kyle the cat. Once again I was the only one laughing. This movie had some nice messages about home, family, individuality, and acceptance. Too bad it was not as funny as the original; still, it was a cute movie. I say ditch the four annoying main characters and make Madagascar 3 Penguins vs. Lemurs: Rumble in the Jungle.

Kelly: I was in the other room talking to the adults . . .

No vote.

Jessica (age 5): It was silly.

Grady (age 3): It was just done and now it's over.

Kyle (age 13): Those lions were idiots.

2008

Plot: Roger Ferris needs a day off.

Kelly: I had no sympathy for anyone in this movie. "Body of lies?" No kidding! How can we solve terrorism if even the good guys lie to each other all the time? No wonder the Arab world hates America so much. Roger Ferris, the main character, was selfish and manipulative; he sacrificed his colleagues, two fingers, his love affair, and nearly his life. For what purpose?—to flush out a terrorist leader by creating an entire fake organization on his own and blowing things up? Really? His CIA boss talks to him constantly from the opposite side of the world on his magic cell phone that always gets reception. Eric and I don’t get good cell-to-cell reception from the other side of town. Oh, and that CIA dude is seriously going to talk about killing people at his kid’s soccer game? Oh, and how 'come when those two talk from opposite hemispheres, it’s always the middle of the day for both of them. Oh, and another thing . . .

Eric: [Ducking out of the way] Okay . . . ! (This is why I don't let Kelly go first.)

2007

Plot: Noah drives a Hummer; God wears a sweater.

Eric: We saw this movie in our Hotel Colorado room in Glenwood Springs during our first anniversary weekend celebration. What a time we had!—massages, vapor caves, hot springs, fine dining, luxurious accommodations, comfy bed . . . er, what movie are we talking about?

Kelly: Oh, look—another movie on a religious subject! Great. But THIS one was actually entertaining—proving once again that God subjects do not have to be boring, preachy, and poorly acted (a la Fireproof). In fact, God can be pretty darn funny! I'm not sure who I like better as the Almighty One: Morgan Freeman in Evan Almighty or Alanis Morissette in Dogma. I'd take either one of them in a storm.

1954

Plot: How to have fun with a broken leg.

Eric: I discovered an appreciation for Alfred Hitchcock’s minimalist methods for creating suspense after watching this film. Who among us have not acted like voyeurs from time to time? This movie offers us the chance to vicariously experience that thrill while avoiding the consequences L.B. Jeffries suffered. I think, had I been him, I might have put film in my camera when spying on Ms. Torso. Ooops, Did I type that out loud? I learned that if you fall asleep during one your wife's all time favorites, you'll have to keep watching it until you stay awake for the whole thing.

Kelly: What can I say? This is one of my top-ten favorite movies, and not just because I had to study it in a communications class in college. Alfred Hitchcock is a master at developing really interesting, multi-facetedcharacters and also ramping up suspense just by piling on layers of hints and letting us connect the dots. He doesn't have to show gory slasher scenes to scare us. He lets his audience decide who we shouldn't trust, and then he sticks the main characters in the same room with the suspect. All that gushing aside, Grace Kelly's fashions alone are worth watching this flick.

2006

Plot: Don’t skip the action between denial and despair.

Eric: I’m sorry it took me so long to see this important film. I appreciated Mr. Gore’s affable, easy-going approach in his presentation. Even though I was a receptive audience to the message, I still feel the consistently reasonable arguments should be accessible to the most ardent naysayers. You can even set the issue of global warming aside and appreciate Mr. Gore’s inspirational message about how humanity can tackle serious issues of all kinds. His reminisces of his family and childhood were welcome insights into our former vice president and Noble prize winner.

Kelly: I agree with Eric: I appreciated this documentary and it's message as much as he did. I'm looking forward to spending time on ClimateCrisis.net to learn more about these issues.

2007

Plot: Throw this one back.

Eric: This movie was a paradox. It was cute and mostly funny, and I thought I was having fun watching—I stayed awake for most of it. But when it was over I felt strangely unsatisfied and the story didn't quite make sense to me; it was hard to care about a dead character we never met. Perhaps I was just entranced by the Boulder, Colorado setting. I would never claim to live in Boulder (we're from Denver), but it was fun to see it used as a backdrop.

Kelly: I have to agree with Eric on this one. It was a cute movie, and I laughed out loud several times. I also totally enjoyed the Boulder, Colorado setting. But something was missing. It didn't quite go far enough with the development of any of the characters, which is sort of a shame, because they were interesting at first glance.

Eric: SHE DROVE AFTER THE WRONG GUY, FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD!  Sorry.

2008

Plot: Eric and Kelly's date night goes up in flames.

Eric: I saw this one on the shelf at Blockbuster and thought it was going to be a heroic and romantic drama along the lines of Backdraft or Ladder 49. I had to talk Kelly out of Madagascar II to get it. The instant the actors opened their mouths to deliver their wooden, preachy dialogue, we knew we had been duped. I woke up thirty minutes into the film to find Kelly railing at the TV screen.

No vote.

Kelly: Will I go to hell for cursing out a religious-themed movie?

No vote.

2006

Plot: Rival magicians are dying to find the next best trick and squash a few birds in the process.

Eric: The real slight-of-hand in this movie was a story that obfuscated the plot as much as possible. The final payoff ruined the whole film for me—they are trying to tell me that Nikola Tesla invented a "transporter" before Star Trek did? I don't think so.

Kelly: The only thing I got out of this movie was don't get involved with a magician. They're tricky. Eric, what are you doing with that cat?

2004

Plot: The baby from hell grows up and saves the world’s kitties from giant squids.

Eric: I’m removing Hellboy II from my queue right now.

Kelly: We took The Tudors out of the DVD player for this?