The Ringer (2006)

I am actually not sure if this was really released in 2006 or not, but I don't feel like looking it up either. I found this to be actually a decent movie. I had high expectations of it, because I had heard so many good things about it in the "special needs" community. One of my DS groups really ranted about how good this was, and it did have a great message, and they did a very honest job with the whole thing...but I guess I thought it would be funnier and a bit less cheesy. I still enjoyed it, and thought that it was an interesting enough (albeit crazy) plot, and the acting was good, I am starting to kind of like Johnny Knoxville...but there were parts of this that I kind of got bored. It was sweet, though, and carried a good enough message that I wasn't sorry I watched it. My parents really liked it, and wanted my grandparents to watch it too, so maybe I just missed something there, maybe I was too tired and should have just went to bed, I will be interested to see what others think of it...

The Origin Of AIDS (2004)

Wow, this was scary. I don't know how much of it could be true, if any....but it was very disturbing in any case. I truly believe like that quote I read in that book by Richard Preston (is that his name...The Hot Zone guy??) that "Aids is the rainforests revenge". The documentary implies that AIDS is a direct descendant of another chimpanzee virus that was cultivated etc...and then used in some experimental oral Polio vaccine used in Africa in the late 1950s. I can't believe how freaked out that made me. I guess it made me happy that we don't deal with the vaccine industry, thats for sure, but it sure made me remember just how much pull the pharmaceutical companies have in the worlds health situation. Scary stuff. I am interested in reading more about it, thats for sure...as far as viewing pleasure...eh, a bit slow and boring, but an interesting concept nonetheless

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)

awww, I loved this movie. Loved the book, loved the movie. I can't even remember if the movie was a good representation of the book because I read it so long ago...but I thought the casting of these girls was awesome. Everyone was exactly as I would have pictured them looking. I thought the soundtrack was great, and I would actually consider buying this movie. I thought it was a perfect chick flick (is that even PC anymore?) and I don't think I wille ever get tired of seeing it. I think thats about all I can say about it.

New Orleans Music in Exile (2006)

Ouch, this was hard to watch. Its not like I have forgotten all the horrific images, but I guess in a way I kind of blocked them out a little bit, and watching this, just reminded me of the horror and the destruction. This was a good documentary though, showing the rich history and the amazing talents of the musicians in New Orleans and where they are now, what they went through, how they are rebuilding. There are awful images, of the destruction and the damage to the various parts of the city. Not so much of the whole lack of respect for the humanity part, this is truly about the destruction and devestation of the city, and focusing on the music and the music community, which was interesting, because its not something that I usually think about when remembering Katrina. Its obviously a minor problem compared to some of the other horrors, but it was still moving to watch.

The DaVinci Code (2006)

I know, I know...its not like a new story or anything. I still actually liked this movie. I realize that die hard fans of the book are NOT going to love it, in fact out of our group, the few die hard book fans (which, mind you...I do consider myself one) didn't like the changes made in the movie, thought Ron Howard wimped out on a few issues, and left out plot points that they really wanted in there. I disagree. There was maybe one minor thing I may have changed, but really, I thought it was an exciting, interesting movie on its own. If I hadn't read the book first, I still would have liked the movie. I liked how he showed the historical references in flashback style, so that it wasn't just narrative...I LOVED Tom Hanks long crazy hair, I loved the girl, I loved Paul Bettany playing Silas (though I would have focused a bit more on him than Ron Howard did, because you miss something in the relationship between Silas and the Bishop, it doesn't really present that well on screen) I thought it was done very well, and I was absolutely not disappointed.

Oh and I took a few days off this week, sick as a dog!

Chicken Little (2005)

Okay, pretty much just cheating, from here on out....as much as I wanted to be honest here...its just too darn hard....I have been watching tons of movies, forgetting to blog them, and then realizing that half of them are movies I have already seen...so I am officially cancelling that rule. I will DO MY BEST to see movies that I haven't seen already....but sometimes I am just dying to see something again, or see something I have only seen part of, etc....so...since nobody really is reading these anyway...and its my damn blog...I am doing what I want darn it!
Okay, so Chicken Little....I saw it at the movies, I loved it then. I loved the characters, I thought Chicken Little was by far one of the most adorable cartoon figures ever, in the history of small cartoon animals. However, after watching this thing 100 times this past week with Ian...I can't really say I love it anymore. I like it, I still find him adorable...but now its downright annoying..is it the fault of the movie? Probably not, but I don't think its nearly as good as I thought it was the first time.

RV (2006)

awww...this movie was so much better than I thought it was going to be. I expected the worst, and I was so pleasantly surprised. I actually thought this was a very funny movie. It was Ians pick, and I was nervous it was going to get on my nerves, but I found this to be as funny in parts as the original Vacation was. Robin Williams character reminded me exactly of my dad, so that might have helped me see the humor in many of the situations. I LOVE Kristen Chenowith, she can be in every single movie ever as far as I am concerned, she is so darn cute, and talented. Jeff Daniels did a great job too, as usual. I thought it was much funnier than Ian did, so perhaps its not aimed at the under 10 crowd, but the theater was in hysterics much of the time, so obviously I wasn't the only one finding it funny. I would see it again I think..just for a few scenes that I thought were so funny I want to see them twice. It did make me want to go rent an RV and just take off for awhile...driving around the country in a nice Winnebago....I had a dream like that once.

Riding Giants (2004)

I love movies like this. I love documentaries about surfing. I could watch a million of them and not get bored. This one was directed by former skateboarder Stacy Peralta. I thought it was so cool. I find watching surfing to be very therapeutic for me, and what excites them, in such an extreme sport, calms me to watch. This film does it just right too, beautiful music playing in the background watching these huge waves, and these awesome surfers like Laird Hamilton, surfing and talking about the history of surfing etc....I thought this was a really good one especially for the history part. I don't know what about surfing attracts me, I mean first of all, its a sport, second of all, I don't like to swim...but for some reason, I find it amazing and awesome to watch. I thought this one was done really well, and I highly recommend it if you want to know anything about surfing, and even if you don't, its interesting anyway.

American Dreamz (2006)

Dude, this movie...was funny. At first I wasn't sure if I liked it, it was kind of all over the place, and just, sort of, I don't know....different. But that ended up being what I liked about it. You couldn't have predicted anything in this movie if you had written it yourself..okay, well if you wrote it...blah, blah, blah...I get it. I thought everyone was spectacular in this. Hugh Grant, who is becoming one of my favorites, when he plays the Mr. Not-so-nice, that is...was awesome. There were so many great lines in this movie too, classic, the kind of thing you want to repeat just to amuse yourself. I am so glad that this was what we ended up choosing to see tonight. I was very impressed, I can honestly say that after this, I will see anything that Paul Weitz decides to do, I have not been sorry so far. The premise of this movie was unique and insulting, and just incredibly witty. Dennis Quaid playing an idiot president (ooh big stretch for the imagination right?) was goofy and adorable, and almost left me feeling sorry for our own idiot president (until I remembered this is just a movie, and our idiot has no redeeming qualities, that I have seen...)This movie rocked.

Raise Your Voice (2004)

I know, I know, Hilary Duff right, annoying??? A little I guess...but I love these cheesy pre-teen or teen type movies sometimes. This was pretty decent I thought. Not as sugary sweet as some of the others, this one dealt with some real emotions I thought. Not to mention, she is kind of sweet. Even if she does look like she has no neck sometimes, and I am not sure what thats about...maybe she is just short? Who knows, but I thought this was decent in a teenage chick flick kind of way, I would say its most definetly a drama thats for sure, there were some pretty sad parts, I even cried (not that its a difficult feat of course, I cry to the radio half the time) Some of the themes were pretty typical (grouchy father, needs a clue...you get the picture) but some not so typical, dealing with the death of a sibling, moving past that etc....not bad. I am glad I watched it, even if it was a bit Hallmark movie of the week...

The Pink Panther (2006)

Okay, I can't believe I did this, but I saw this months ago, and forgot to blog about it. No idea why, but somehow it slipped through the cracks. I took Ian to see this, and I can say that I found it completely amusing. I thought it was going to be kind of bad, I never watched any of the Peter Sellers movies all the way through, even though my dad found him to be amusing, I just didn't get it. I do however, love Steve Martin, in a serious way, so I would see him stand still and recite the alphabet. I thought he was great, the movie was funny, I could have done without Beyonce, but she didn't suck I guess...the best part of the movie for me? Watching Ian, he was seriously hysterical, I have never seen him laugh so hard at a movie in my life, he laughed so hard almost the entire time, he could barely eat his popcorn. I think it was worth watching for sure.

Mystery Alaska (1999)

I have been resisting this movie for some time now, even though I have heard that its a good one. Sometimes I just can't stomach Russell Crowe, and lately I can absolutely not stomach the game of hockey....so it was surprising to me that I actually enjoyed this movie. I tend to like ensemble type movies of course, and there were some great performances here. Not to mention the "Northern Exposure" feel to the town of Mystery. Add that to David E. Kelleys great writing, and this movie turned out to be pretty good. Hank Azaria was my favorite part, its nice to see him do something a little different, where he isn't the "nice" guy you are supposed to feel sorry for...even though of course, I ended up feeling sorry for him anyway. I am glad I finally gave it a chance.

Stanley and Iris (1990)

I just caught this for the heck of it, I had no real interest in watching it, but it was on, and I was far too lazy to get up and find the remote to change the channel, so read this and keep that in mind. It wasn't bad. I like DeNiro....I find him, I can't think of the word...but you know what I am getting at...I want to make him soup. All the time. He always seems like he needs to be taken care of, and this role was no different, in fact it was worse. He couldn't read, he enlists the help of Jane Fonda (who I also like) who plays this young-ish widow. I thought they were very complentary to each other, however the movie itself kind of played like a Lifetime movie of the week. Not too bad if you are bored, but nothing I would run out and rent in a hurry either.

A Walk on the Moon (1999)

I liked this movie. I tried to watch it once before but I never got to finish it. Of course, I have good reason to like it...Viggo Mortensen (who I only sometimes like) was really hot in it, as the hippy-ish blouse salesman who seduces (? or is it the other way around) this unhappy (sort of) housewife. There was a scene before they start their torrid affair, when he bends down to bite the tag off the blouse she is trying on...I swear to God, I could feel my knees go all rubbery. Sometimes he is fine to look at. Liev Schrieber plays her husband....and I like him too...can't decide which boy I would want either!! Diane Lane plays the housewife, and she has grown on me over the years. I do want to know why every movie she is in has to have a scene of her running around desperate in the rain....and why she always seems to have affairs? Hm.....this was a good movie, taking place the summer of 1969, takes place in upstate NY at this little camp like place. The daughter played very wonderfully by Anna Paquin (I never get tired of her either)was just an added bonus, the music was good, the whole thing was just good. rent it, you shouldn't be sorry.

The West Wing (1999-2006)

Okay, I know, this is officially a complete cheat. I don't even care, this show is so good right now, it should be a damn movie. I was a fan from the start, I LOVED this show the first season, sure mostly because it reminded me The American President, mixed with A Few Good Men (thanks to the brilliant writer Aaron Sorkin) but also because it was smart, and different, and the guys were kind of cute. I fell in love with the characters immediatly and I couldn't get enough of it. The second season was lukewarm for me, and eventually I stopped watching this show....until now. The death of John Spencer made me decide to see how they dealt with the death of his character Leo (one of my favorites ) on the show, plus to see how they were going to end this thing. Not only did I get sucked in right away, it made me truly question why they are ending it now, when it has so much potential for another few great years with the new Santos administration. Sure it took me awhile to figure out who the heck everyone was, there were so many new characters and very few familiar faces...but this has been an amazing few weeks, I watched several episodes in a row so it felt enough like a movie that I thought I would count it as such. The series finale is on next Sunday, Mothers Day and I think everyone should watch it, they will show the pilot first, also spectacular, and then the series finale. Its a don't miss kind of thing. Come on guys...give it a shot!

Dreamer (2005)

I am so glad I bothered watching this. I love horse racing movies, I seriously can't think of one that I ever didn't like, no matter how cheesy it is, I just love horse racing. This was especially good, I thought, because Dakota Fanning is so incredible. I really am starting to believe this girl could do just about anything. Her character in this is so strong, and smart, I just loved it. The horse was beautiful too. Its nice to see that cute little guy from Six Feet Under getting some decent roles, I think he is awesome and would like to see more of him. I thought this was a nice, sweet, wholesome movie. Inspiring of course, and just an all around good family movie. Ian watched some of it, got bored for some of it, and came back for the ending. So I guess he enjoyed it for the most part. I would probably even watch it again.

Imaginary Heroes (2004)

This was kind of a downer. I am not even sure if I liked it, though for many moments I did, for many others I did not. It kind of reminded me a little bit of that other Sigourney Weaver movie that was slow and everyone loved it except me...The Ice Storm. This one too is about a disfunctional type family, this one dealing with the death of their son (brother, etc...)by suicide, and other various issues. I thought that there were some surprises, it wasn't predictible, I thought the soundtrack was good...ugh, I guess I liked it. I almost need to see it again to be sure. The kid, Emile Hirsch, is really good. I would watch probably anything that involved this guy. I love seeing someone so young, so such acting potential. I don't know how I really feel, so feel free to ignore this entry completely!

House of D (2004)

Awww...this was so good. I loved every minute of it. David Duchovny wrote and directed this, and it was smart, and honest, and awesome. I rented it, of course, because of the New York location. I love movies set in NY (as everyone knows) and especially ones that took place in another time. Being the freak that I am...This was great. I loved Robin Williams, he was wonderful as the, (insert preferred politically correct term here...I will use just a random one so as not to show preference)mentally challenged adult that befriends the young boy played so amazingly by Anton Yelchin who I now love!! David Duchovny plays the boy as an adult coming home to come to terms with his past, he isn't in the movie a whole lot, but the story is the part that I loved. It was just so sweet. I thought it was a much better movie than I thought it was going to be, and it makes me sad that movies like that don't last very long at the movies, (if it even came out here) it was such a great film.

Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

well, everyone can probably guess why I would bother with a movie like this. Ethan Hawke, you know, my favorite boyfriend is in it. Actually, this wasn't bad. Its not my type of movie, but I thought it was exciting and interesting. The plot was different, and the acting was all very good. I love John Leguizamo, I love seeing him in anything, he was good. Laurence Fishburne....Maria Bello, lots of good reasons to watch this movie. Then again, its long, and violent, and people get killed left and right, so lots of reasons not to watch it too. I got confused as usual, I always get confused in movies like this, when I am not sure who the bad guys are, and why....but this kept my interest at least, and I wasn't sorry I watched it. I thought it could have been about a half hour shorter though. I am a bit perplexed as to why it did so bad at the box office, I thought it was a perfectly interesting mainstream type movie. The kind that usually is a big enough hit.

Declarations of War (2005)

I am not sure if I can even count this because it was a documentary, only an hour long, and seemed to be made for one of the cable channels. But I liked it, so decided its my damn blog, I can't count whatever I want...heck maybe I will count the last several episodes of The West Wing, they are good enough to be a movie darn it. Okay, so this was basically just a quick little documentary talking to people with various feelings about the war, this was mostly filmed as the war in Iraq was beginning, back in 2003, all viewpoints seem to be represented, you can tell by the way you feel when watching it....you are going to agree with some people, and find yourself yelling at the screen calling the others idiots, sheep, whatever else nasty name you can think of for people who don't really get it. I can always tell which guy I don't like by the fact that his news channel is FOX news....does that really count as news? Anyway, I thought this was well done, it made me remember that it seems to have escaped everybodys mind that there is still a war going on, that our guys are still there, and going back, some for the third time already...and its sad. Very, very sad.