Midnight Club (1933)

Randomly, I checked youtube for new stuff and found a George Raft movie I hadn't seen.

Midnight Club is a fun little visit into the world of aristocratic jewel thieves in London.  The titular Midnight Club functions as a hide-out/base of operations for Colin Grant (Clive Brook) and his gang.  This movie makes thievery into a gentleman's game, and everyone is oh-so-polite throughout.  He and the rest of his gang have employed a set of doubles (the same actors in some beautiful split screen work that does not look like split screen).  The doubles will sit in plain view at their table in the Midnight Club, setting up a perfect alibi, while the real gang goes out and steals jewels.  Commissioner Hope (Guy Standing) knows Grant is guilty, but he simply can't find a way to prove it.  No matter what he does, who he has watched, Grant's beautiful little setup thwarts the good guys.

Enter George Raft, as Nick Mason, an American detective brought over to infiltrate Grant's gang.  Yes!  He's playing a good guy, which I quite enjoyed.  Of course his job is complicated when he falls for the girl, Iris (Helen Vinson).

The fun of this film is mostly just watching the good guys and bad guys sparring with each other in a verbal cat-and-mouse.  The commissioner knows Grant is guilty, Grant knows he knows it and is delightfully smug in the fact that the commissioner will never figure out his secret.  They remain oh-so-polite and friendly to each other throughout, which is quite refreshing.  There's a wee bit of violence at the end when Grant finally cottons on to the fact that Raft isn't who he says he is, but it's short (too short, lol.)

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

I've been really bad about posting anything lately.  Sorry  about that, just unmotivated and have other things on my mind.  Also have not been watching many movies lately.  Television series, yes, but not many movies.

I actually made it to the theater today to see the new Jack Ryan movie.  I read most of the books when they came out.  The Hunt for Red October, of course, had to do with submarines, so I read that one pretty much right after it hit the bookstores back in the 80's, and before the movie came out.  That hooked me, and I kept reading until Executive Orders.  That was the last Tom Clancy book I read.  Patriot Games and Cardinal of the Kremlin are my favorite of the Jack Ryan books.  The Hunt for Red October is my favorite of the movies made so far.  Absolutely love that movie.  Great cast, great score, great fun.  The filmed version of Patriot Games ranks in the other direction.  Hated that movie.  Still do.  I think it is my least favorite book-to-screen translation of all time, and that's pretty hard to do, particularly when I love the actors.  Although, I will freely admit, as much as I love Harrison Ford, he never worked as Jack Ryan for me.  I saw each of his Jack Ryan movies once in the theater... and have avoided them ever since.  I saw the Sum of all Fears film a few years ago and did like that one.  Not as good as Red October, but better than the Ford films.

Which brings me to the current film.  I found it quite enjoyable, (though nothing particularly special), and am glad I saw it on the big screen. The biggest draw on this one, for me, was the cast.  I am a huge, unabashed Kevin Costner fan. I first saw him in The Untouchables (which is one of the films I saw a jillion times in the theater when it was first released).  That movie introduced me to Kevin Costner and Andy Garcia, with Sean Connery's steady performance as a bonus.  After that, I looked for any movie Costner was in.  And I adored him in this movie. His character, Harper, was likeable, protective, and capable and it was a joy to see Costner both in a role like this and on the big screen again.  He really made the movie for me.   Ahhhh, Kevin Costner, how I've missed you.

Right behind him was Kenneth Branagh, who also directed this movie.  He played the bad guy, and he was nicely creepy and cold and a bit smirky.  He was delightful, and I was equally glad to see him on the big screen again.  I'm probably showing my age that I went to see this movie for Costner and Branagh, not the young guys and gals. 

Not to knock Chris Pine.  He was really good and I would definitely watch him as Jack Ryan again.  Liked him far better here than as Kirk (no surprise there, given how much I loathe the Star Trek reboot movies).  He would be my second favorite Ryan behind Alec Baldwin.  Kiera Knightly as Cathy was also very likeable and I have no problems with her either.  They made a great team, and I loved the dinner scene between Branagh and Kiera.

I was also really REALLY delighted to see Mikhail Baryshnikov show up in an uncredited role.   I loved White Nights and always wished he'd done more acting.  He made me grin and grin.

I do have to admit, I sort of didn't pay much attention to the details of the story.  Unusual for me, plot-lover that I am, but really, whenever the characters started talking about secret accounts and plans to crash the dollar... well, I hate economics, hate stock market stuff, and so... yeah, I tuned out.  There were some nice action sequences and fights.  My favorite was the attack on Ryan in the hotel room, which just really worked well for me.

One of the things I loved most about this movie was the fact that the rest of the CIA (and FBI) was not portrayed as stupid just to make Jack Ryan appear smarter.  There are movies and television shows that suffer from this type of bad writing, and it drives me crazy.  This movie, I'm delighted to say, was the opposite.  Harper and his team, the agents back home, etc. are all smart, efficient, and supportive.  They all do their jobs and they're all at the top of their game.  I can't tell you how much I loved that.  Jack Ryan is able to do his job, only because that phenomenal team is behind him feeding him intel and running interference, etc.  What a breath of fresh air!  I loved Harper's whole team in Russia.  They rocked.  And I love how Ryan is stunned and amazed that the CIA could clean up and restore his room after it's destroyed.  And having them smart and quick-thinking did nothing to take away from Ryan's own analytical skills.  It complemented and enhanced it instead.

I'm rather sad to say that Patrick Doyle's score was quite serviceable, but unmemorable.  I was really hoping it would be something I'd want to rush out and buy on CD, as I'm a big fan of his, but alas, no.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

 My first classic film on the big screen this year is The Adventures of Robin Hood.

I was a bit sad that I was the only one in the theater, though.  Granted it's a 10 am matinee, but still.  Just me?  For a great, rousing classic movie like Robin Hood?  I haven't much to say about it that hasn't been said by others.  The film is thoroughly enjoyable and was, of course, even better on the big screen.  Love those sword fights. Love the colors and Maid Marian's costumes really look fabulous up close.  You can pick out details in the fabrics, etc.  I'm particularly fond of the gown she wears to the archery tournament.  The white fading into the blue is just exquisite.  I may have had a private screening, but I wouldn't have missed it.

2014 has not started out well for me, so I apologize for the absence.  Hopefully things will improve.

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to the movies I go

2013 was a banner year for theater-going for me.  I've been keeping my ticket stubs in a book, and it appears I went to the movie theater 38 times in 2013!  I think that's more than the previous 5 years' theater outings combined!  Four of those were to see operas.  Seven were older movies, fourteen were new movies released in 2013.  And if those don't add up to 38, that's because a few of those movies were seen multiple times.  LOL. 

My favorite viewing in 2013 of a classic film was It's a Wonderful Life, which I saw just last weekend.  I had never seen it before on the big screen, and it was perfect, with a great appreciative audience.  It was also I think the only movie of the entire year that had the volume set at a level that didn't require me to wear my earplugs.  That was soooooo nice, I can't even tell you.  (As opposed to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which required two trips to the lobby just to get them to lower the volume to a point where I didn't have to have my hands over my ears WITH earplugs already in.)

I find it interesting that in both 2012 and 2013, I saw both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen.  Wouldn't mind if that became a tradition each year!  Although, I might end up with two Lawrence viewings this year, as it's playing this coming weekend... and in a film print, not a digital.  It's also playing in January, though, so I may just wait for the new year and not try to deal with holiday traffic.

So, what were my favorite new films of 2013?

1. The Lone Ranger (by a long shot)
2. Epic
3. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
4. Jack the Giant Slayer
5. ??

I can't actually pick a fifth favorite movie of the year.  The first four are the ones I bought immediately on DVD when they came out.  I'm not sure I'm going to be buying any of the other movies I saw in 2013, though I will happily watch them whenever they come on.  I liked several movies with about the same level of affection.  They were all very entertaining, but they didn't quite hit my personal sweet spots to push them up into favorites.  Those would include Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, Frozen, Planes, The Great Gatsby.  But I can't really pick one above another.  Probably the Hobbit out of those, but I need to see it a second time first.

Least favorite movie of 2013, of course, was Star Trek: Into Darkness. 

And there is so much to look forward in the next year.  The Phoenix Big Cinemas will be showing The Adventures of Robin Hood in January, and I cannot wait to see that on the big screen.  I'm looking forward to finding out what other classic movies they'll select the rest of the year.

As for new movies coming out next year that I'm aware of, I'm looking forward to the new Captain America movie, Transcendence, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, The Monument's Men, Maleficent, the third Expendables movie, and, of course, the final Hobbit.  I'm sure there will be other films as well.

Favorite Christmas movies

This December is flying by!   I have my tree up and most of my decorations, although it's been raining, so I have not been able to put up the outdoor lights yet.  To celebrate the season, here's a list of my top ten favorite Christmas movies.

1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) - just a perfect movie, regardless of the season.  The whole cast shines, and I bawl every single time I see this movie.  The Phoenix Big Theaters are showing this one all next weekend, and I'm planning on going.  I haven't seen this on the big screen and I can't wait.

2. We're No Angels (1955) - Hamlette introduce me to this film a few years ago and it became an instant favorite.  I'd never seen it previously because it starred Humphey Bogart and my mom was not a fan, so we tended to not watch anything he was in. This movie is very sweet, and very funny.  Another one where the whole cast is perfect.

3. Donovan's Reef (1963) - This movie is definitely a product of its time, but I still love it.  Mostly I just love Lee Marvin and John Wayne together, and not as enemies.  Their traditional birthday brawl cracks me up.  Lee Marvin's train cracks me up.  I love the Hawaiian on-location scenery.  I love Jack Warden, and I love how funny this movie is.

4. Holiday Inn (1942) - I love Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby in this, love the Irving Berlin music, with, of course, the classic "White Christmas" song.

5. Babes in Toyland (1934) - one of the movies I grew up with.  One of my favorite Laurel and Hardy full length films.  Really love Bo Peep and Tom-Tom.  They're so cute together.  And I love the wooden soldiers and how they save the day.  The bogeymen were quite scary when I was young.  Still find them a bit creepy!  We used to make pee wees and smack them around.  They never came back though, like Laurel's does.  Hmph.

6. The Bishop's Wife (1947) - Is there anything more wonderful and Christmas-y then Cary Grant's angel decorating that Christmas tree?  Always one of my favorite Christmas images, and every Christmas, I can't wait to see this movie, just to get to that moment.  This is also one of my favorite Cary Grant movies.

7. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - I saw this movie for the first time last year, and really loved it.  Loved Maureen O'Hara and John Payne, and loved how the trial turned out.

8. White Christmas (1954) - I love this one mostly for the ending, which makes me cry every time.  Great cast here, too.

9. The Polar Express (2004) - this one is on the list more from familiarity than anything else.  Have seen this one a jillion and one time because my nephew loves it, and it's grown on me.  It's got some great parts, and some weird parts, but ends really well.  Watching my nephew sing along with the little girl in one part makes this movie special to me.

10. Joyeux Noel (2005) - the WWI drama of the true story of the truce on Christmas.  A wonderful movie, so touching and beautiful, even more so because it is depicting real events.  One of the few WWI movies that doesn't leave me plunged into despair at the end. 

And no Christmas movie list would be complete without a bonus mention of my favorite non-Christmas movie set during Christmas:  Die Hard.  One of the best action movies ever, and the Christmas setting is integral to the plot and to some of the best parts of the film.  I tend to watch it at least once every Christmas season.  "Oh the weather outside is frightful... da-de-da, de-da delightful."

DVD giveaway at Hamlette's Solioquy

In honor of Pearl Harbor day today, Hamlette is offering a copy of "The Best Years of Our Lives" on her blog.  Go here to enter.  The drawing is open until Dec 13th.

The Living Daylights (1987)

This is a very solid movie.  I have no complaints about it, but neither do I have any spectacular enthusiasm for it either, other than I absolutely love Timothy Dalton as Bond.  I’m not quite sure why this film isn’t up on my favorites list, but it never quite hits my personal buttons.  Maybe because it plays it safe?  But I find it, nonetheless, to be one of the better Bond films and highly entertaining.  

Timothy Dalton.  I love Timothy Dalton as Bond.  Let me rephrase that.  I LOVE Timothy Dalton as Bond.  Until Daniel Craig came along, Dalton was pretty much my favorite.  Looks, action, mannerisms... he fulfills my requirements for Bond very nicely.  And he is very easy on the eyes.  I would have been quite happy if he had made a whole slew of Bond movies.  Alas, there are only two.  That’s a shame, in my opinion.  Dalton’s Bond loses the tongue-in-cheek humor of Moore’s Bond.  Nor is his Bond like Connery’s Bond either.  He’s more about the job, a bit colder and professional... all things I personally love.

I like Maryam d’Abo as our lead Bond girl, Kara... but again, no real enthusiasm for her.  She’s does what the movie requires, but nothing more.  Kara’s in that rather rare “nice Bond girl” category, motivated simply by love for Koskov.  She’s not out to kill anyone, or steal anything, or gain anything.  Bond uses her naïve love to get what information he can out of her.  I always kind of liked that.  I like when Bond’s doing his job and there are personal costs.  

I like Koskov, played by Jeroen Krabbe, as well.  He’s a rather charming bad guy, who is not one of the typical supervillains who came before him.  I think he suits this movie well, but he is perhaps a bit too nonthreatening, in the long run.

And to make up for his charm, there’s his henchman, Necros, who is loyal, icy, and destructive (what you want in your henchman, really).  He’s pretty cool.  One of my favorite scenes in this movie does not involve Bond at all.  It’s the fight in the kitchen between Necros and another capable British agent who tries to stop Necros.  It’s a darned good fight, and I’m always rather amused that that entire scene has nothing to do with Bond.

I also love Art Malik as Kamran Shah.  My favorite character after Bond in this movie.  He’s very engaging.  I love when we meet him in jail, and I love his laugh when Bond frees him.  And then I love how serious he is after he’s cleaned up and back with his people.

I like the plot (defecting Russian generals, arms dealers, opium... all a bit more normal and nice after the earthquake plot of A View to a Kill), but again, it never quite hits the things I like best.  No complaints, just nothing that knocks my socks off.

Favorite scenes:  The explosive device in Bpnd's key chain activated by the wolf whistle.  Love it!  Koskov’s escape at high speed through the pipeline.  The fight between the agent and Necros in the kitchen.  The fact that Kara is a classical musician.  When Bond gets drugged.  Bond on a horse.  The spectacular no-CGI fight between Bond and Necros on the cargo plane.  Dalton, Dalton, Dalton.

Music:  Love it.  I still play this John Barry score an awful lot, more than probably any other of his

Theme song:  Love it... I was quite fond of A-Ha during that time period, and this is one of my favorite of the Bond theme songs

Credit sequence:  Okay

Bond girl:  No complaints, but no real love for Kara either.

Bad guys:  I’m quite fond of Koskov and Necros.  Not so fond of Whitaker, who just needs to be taken down.

Overall personal rating:  3 of 5 stars

Wrapping up September

My apologies, I am so behind!  I have all kinds of movies to review that I just haven't yet.  Midnight Club with George Raft, The Iron Mistress with Alan Ladd, The Liquidator with Rod Taylor, a bunch of newer movies as well.  And I made the mistake of checking my drafts... wow, do I have quite a few abandoned movie review posts in there.

But it's officially autumn, my favorite season of the year.  It's finally cooling off in the evenings.  The last few days have been the first days since May that it was cool enough outside for me to leave my front door open all day long.  It's cool enough that I can finally walk my dog again in the evening without his paws burning up on the asphalt.  Yay!

It's also the official start of opera season, and I'm too revved up about that to write movie reviews.  The Met kicked off its season a few nights ago with Eugene Onegin, which will be broadcast in the movie theaters on October 5th, and I can't wait.  Handsome baritone Mariusz Kwieicen in the title role, Piotr Beczala as Lensky, and Anna Netrebko as Tatiana.  I saw Eugene Onegin for the first time earlier this year with my favorite baritone, Simon Keenlyside in it, and loved it.  It was neat to discover a new-to-me opera that was that enjoyable.  I'm very curious to see this version.  That's the cool thing about operas.  It's always fascinating to see the different staging and what singers do differently.  Simon plays cold very well, and Mariusz tends to be warmer, so I wonder how that will change Onegin's character?

And here at home, the LA Opera season just got underway with Carmen.  I'll be seeing that live soon and am very much looking forward to seeing Ildebrando D'Arcangelo again.  And bass-baritone Bryn Terfel is coming to Santa Monica for a concert!  Woo!  I would love to hear him sing the catalog song from Don Giovanni live, but unless he does it as an encore, it's not on his program.  Sigh.  Something to look forward to in the future.

So, movie reviews are coming, but as my love for opera trumps my love for movies, it might be another few days.

A Tolkien Blog Party of Special Magnificence

Hamlette from The Edge of the Precipice is hosting a Lord of the Rings blog party and, because I love the Lord of the Rings, I thought it'd be fun to join in!  There are some AMAZING giveaways being offered, so if you are a fan of the books, movies, or both, check it out and join in the fun!  To start things off, there are ten questions to start with:


1.  Have you read The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit? If so, how many times?
Twice all the way through the trilogy.  I've read Fellowship by itself, and parts of all three at various times.

2.  Have you seen any movies based on them?
But, of course.  Fellowship was seen fifteen or more times in the theater when it came out.  The other two, only twice each on the big screen.  A couple times each on DVD since then.  It is very difficult for me to watch Fellowship on the small screen.  The other films I'm not that attached to, nor do I have their images memorized big screen, so I'm okay with watching those on DVD.

3.  Who first introduced you to Middle Earth?
A friend, back in college.

4.  Who are your three favorite characters?  (Feel free to elaborate on whys.)
1) Boromir, 2) Aragorn, 3) Sam.  Those were my favorites the first time I read the books, and they stayed my favorites through the movies, in that order.  Eowyn would be my fourth favorite, but only in the books.  She is awesome in the books.  However, I am not a fan of Eowyn in the movies.  I dislike her so much, that she nearly ruins Two Towers and Return of the King movies for me.

5.  What's your favorite Middle Earth location?
Favorite... er... what kind of favorite?  Favorite to visit for a restful vacation?  (Rivendell)  Favorite place I pictured from reading the books?  (Rohan)  Favorite place for sheer beauty that I want to go to every time I see the movie?  That I wait expectantly through the movie for the whole five seconds of viewing?  (That would be the gorgeous above-treeline mountains and stream area Aragorn splashes through, after they leave Moria, right before they get a view of Lothlorien.  In all of the movies, at least, it is my absolute favorite place.  This place:

My second favorite place I want to go to would be to where Aragorn and Brego get that sweeping, panoramic view when he arrives at Helms Deep in The Two Towers.)

6.  If you could belong to one of the races of Free Folk (Men, Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Ents), which would you choose?
Men, specifically I want to be a Ranger.

7.  Would you rather eat lembas or taters? 
Lembas.  Taters I can get any time.  But lembas bread?  Yes, please.

8.  If you lived in Middle Earth, what weapon would you prefer wielding?
Give me my sword and a knife, please, and preferably a bow and arrows as well.  One weapon is simply insufficient in Middle Earth.

9.  What draws you to Tolkien's stories?  (The characters, the quests, the themes, the worlds, etc.)
I like just about everything about the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  The characters, the plot, themes, the locations, the adventure and suspense.  I love both books and movies, and the differences between them.  And, of course, I want to be multiple characters in the Lord of the Rings, and that guarantees a book/movie will be a favorite. 

10. List up to five of your favorite lines/quotes from the books or movies.
Only five?  LOL!

"One does not simply walk into Mordor.  Its black gates are guarded by more than just orcs.  There is evil there that does not sleep, and the great eye is ever watchful.  It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust.  The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume.  Not with ten thousand men could you do this.  It is folly."

"They're taking the hobbits to Isengard." (Mostly because of that cursed video which will now be stuck in my head, yet again, for the next week :-D )

"They have a cave troll."

"Move your feet."

"What is this new devilry?"

With the click of a button

Recently, I was having a conversation with a good friend about watching movies.  It came up that she likes to put on a DVD of a favorite movie she’s seen a lot and jump to the end, or the "good" parts, (or however you want to refer to those favorite scenes we all have).

I usually cannot do that.  What makes the end or finale or the “good parts” of a movie good, for me, is the build up to get there.  The anticipation.  The emotional journey.  To just jump straight to the end, with no lead in... well, then I have nothing invested, even if I know very well what happens to reach that point.  The scene won’t have any impact if I just jump there with the press of a button on my DVD player.  My friend said she jumps to the end because that is the best part, the part she's most invested in, and it is the part she most wants to repeat.

I’ve tried skipping to the end of various movies... and it just doesn’t work for me.  I guess I’m one of those long-term viewers.  When I watch something, I commit to it.  Which is why I’d always much rather see movies in the theater.  Why I often go alone so I don’t have to deal with someone else’s comments or movements (gigantic pet peeve:  people who put their feet up on the chairs in front of them.  I HATE THAT!!!!) or other such rubbish.  I usually sit fairly close to the screen, for two reasons – 1) I don’t want to see see heads or people getting up and moving around – all that takes me out of the movie, and 2) I want to be in the movie, and sitting closer lets the screen dominate my sight.

When I watch a movie, I am not here any longer.  I’m there, in the movie with the characters.  That’s why I go to the movies in the first place.

I think jumping to a favorite scene on a DVD makes me feel like a viewer not a participant in the film.  And that is not something I enjoy.  It breaks films into bits.  Films are not bits.  They’re one two-hour journey.  They're an arc from start to finish.  The rainbow without the storm that came before it is a pretty enough sight, but it is not earned.

There are exceptions, of course.  If I have no emotional investment in a film, then I'm okay with jumping anywhere in it... but if I have no emotional investment, it's not a favorite anyway.  But I can't think of one movie I truly love where I'd want to jump to the end without watching the entire thing, or where I've tried it and the end worked for me stand-alone.

I'll add that individual movie scenes can be the same way for me.  I was looking for one specific scene on youtube from a movie I recently watched.  (The idea being that if it were there, I wouldn't have to buy the DVD just so I can watch that one scene again.)  I found the last 16 seconds of it.  And gee, it doesn't work for me, not without the two minutes leading up to that last 16 seconds.  Same principle.  I guess I'm just not an end result person.

I figure I must be in the minority on this.  But then, given how many times I will go back to see a movie I love in the theater, this is not a surprise.  LOL!

Rango (2011)

I'm sorry I missed this one in the theater, as this is one enjoyable and very funny movie.  Not for little ones.  Even though it's animated, the humor here is more adult, is a bit crude in a few places, and most of what makes this movie so funny would fly right over my nephew's head.  Rather existential searches for self are not exactly on a five-year-old's radar.  Though there is plenty of action that will keep him happy... when he's a few years older. But I loved it and immediately bought a copy after I returned the Neflix DVD.



The plots concerns a sheltered and lonely Chameleon lizard who ends up unexpectedly in the Mojave desert, in the animal-populated town of Dirt.  It's a town that pays homage to the towns of old classic Westerns, complete with the usual complement of Western characters, from good guys to bad guys.  The town is suffering from extreme drought, and if they can't find out what happened to the water soon, they'll all die.  The lizard (who is really on a quest to find his own identity) embraces his sudden shift in his fortune and accepts a position as the new sheriff of the town.  But can he truly become his new identity? 

As a huge Western fan, this movie delighted me with all its references (subtle and overt) to the Western genre.  I love the brief bit of the Magnificent Seven theme that plays through one scene.  I love the mariachi band owls who serve as narrators and Greek chorus.  I love the Spirit of the West, whose appearance made me clap outloud with delight.  Too perfect.

And by far the best part of this movie is simply watching the character of Rango (voiced perfectly by Johnny Depp) as he makes up stories, tries to blend in, has multiple adventures in this animal-version of the Old West on his quest to find himself.  Rango may be just an animated lizard, but he's one of my top favorite Johnny Depp chracters.  Just love him, his crazy dialogue and antics, in this movie.

The first forty minutes are definitely my favorite part of this film, though I love the rest too.  The rest is more plot-driven and serious, the first half is just plain laugh-out-loud fun.

The animation is pretty eye-poppingly amazing.  This one is by ILM, and wow, it is outstanding.  I've had to pause it on certain parts, like the hawk, just to study the details and ooh and ahh over how amazing it looks.  There is so much detail to these characters, to the landscape, to the swirls of dust.  I don't know how they do it, but I'm hoping they do another animated movie, cuz this one was first-rate.



This movie is also extremely quotable. My current most quoted lines are:

"Crunchy creamy cookie candy cupcake."
"I think the metaphor broke my spleen."
"Stay OUT of my peripheral vision!"
"Get your slimy webbed phalanges off my boots!"

I think every one of those gets said at least once a day.  I've watched the whole movie three times already, and the first half at least six times -- and that's just in the last two weeks.  It just doesn't get old.

Just wish I'd caught it in the movie theater!  I'll bet that animation would have looked even more spectacular on the big screen.

The Tourist (2010)

This is going to be a Very Spoilery review.  Please please please do not read if you want to see this movie, because I'm going to ruin the ending.  Because I'm too angry with this movie not to rant about it, and I can't rant about what I didn't like without spoiling the ending.

You have been warned!

There's quite a few things wrong wth this movie, but there's also quite a few things right.  One of the things wrong is the casting.  Now, I really like Angelina Jolie.  She's one of my favorite current actresses.  I think she's cool, beautiful, and fun to watch.  But she didn't work for me in this film.  I'm not sure what it is, exactly.  She's so busy being aloof and mysterious that I failed to connect with her, or see why Frank, Johnny Depp's character, would fall for her, other than she's beautiful.  Her character either isn't strong enough, or isn't vulnerable enough.  But I know she can be a lot more than a pretty face, so her character's distinct lack of personality in this movie was very disappointing.

But Paul Bettany and Timothy Dalton are in it, and they both have personality to spare so they somewhat make up for her.  And Johnny Depp, of course, is always good.  The Venice locale is lovely, though... flat.  As in, this movie could have been set in any city in the world.  They just happened to choose Venice, but it fails to become part of the movie.

And then there's the ending. 

Cardinal rule of writing... don't waste your reader's time.  Same thing applies to movies.  Do not waste your audience's time.  How do you waste their time?  By developing characters they like, giving those characters an arc, letting those characters step beyond their ordinary lives to do something extraordinary... then throwing all that development out the window.  It's cheating.  It's like the "it's only a dream!" ending.  It makes me mad.

And now for the big spoilers.  You see, Johnny Depp's playing a character named Frank.  A math teacher from Wisconsin, on vacation in Venice.  He gets sucked into a dangerous convoluted plot, to be used as bait against his knowledge, basically, to catch a thief.  Cool.  Right on board.  There's a bunch of British, French, Italian agents trying to catch the thief.  There's also a ruthless, brutal gangster who will do anything to get his money back from that thief.  Cool.  still onboard.  So, in our finale, Angelina Jolie is caught by the gangster and threatened if she can't tell him where the hidden money is.  And so, our math teacher from Wisconsin goes in to confront the bad guys when the British agents won't help her.  He goes in to save her cuz he's fallen in love with her.  Dude, this is cool.  This is awesome.  This is an ordinary guy going beyond his ordinary life for the woman he loves.  I am soooooo on board with this. 

But no.  Surprise!  He's not really a math teacher from Wisconsin.  He's actually the thief everyone's been looking for the whole movie... hahah, fooled ya!  Isn't that clever?

Movie... I hate you for taking away what could have been an awesome ending. I wouldn't have cared if Frank had gotten killed trying to save her, or if she was killed because he was in over his head and couldn't save her, or they ended up in jail or lived happily every after.  As long as the movie fulfilled the promise it set up from the very title of the movie -- an ordinary guy willing to do whatever it takes.  But nope, it cheated.  It made it all a dream.  It ended up wasting my time, made me want to bang my head against the wall, and... well, gave me a ranting blog post.

Wasn't that exciting?

I'm sure some people will love the "surprise" ending.  But I am definitely not one of them.