First off, is there a cooler bird in the world than the hoopoe? I think not. I can't believe Boob gets them in his neighborhood! We had some wildlife this week too. Or more accurately, our neighbours did... They called us over Monday evening to show us this brush-tailed possum that had spent the day on their
porch light. We're not sure why. Either it was sick, or it was young and not very competent at being a possum yet. It was gone the next morning, so it might have been the latter... I've seen a bunch of movies that make me wonder about the value in putting numbers next to movies. They're all enjoyable enough. None are great. None are horrendous. So I'm not quite sure what to give them. It's got me [url="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/journal_view.php?journalid=186375&entryid=161577&view=public"]wondering if it might be time to resurrect the Ack-o-Meter[/url]... (which reminds me - here are three things that I will pretty much always find funny: take any noun and put it one of these three phrases: -o-Meter The of Death! in my pants I'm pretty easily amused) In any case, here are some thoughts: Mrs Henderson Presents - I love Stephen Frears and Bob Hoskins. I like Dame Judi Dench and Kelly Reilly pretty well too. And still, this movie didn't work for me as well as I would have hoped. Maybe Maggie is right and it's too biopic-ish. In any case, it's an ok movie. Funny in parts, well directed, well acted. But the characters didn't connect with me. In Her Shoes - Better than I expected. The opening isn't very good, but once Shirley McClain shos up, the plot gets a lot more interesting. Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette are both pretty good. Although here's a question - why do critics fall over Collette's acting? She's a good actress - but being able to switch from pretty attractive to frumpy and vice versa seems to be her big trick. It just seems pretty shallow to me - the idea that since she doesn't look glamorous all the time, she must be a great actress... The Alibi - I enjoy Steve Coogan pretty well. He's the lead character in this caper movie. And I'm a sucker for caper movies. If you're not, you probably won't like this one much. But the plot clicks along pretty well, there are some funny bits, and it's not overly stupid. How's that for a ringing endorsement? Where the Truth Lies - I'm never sure what to make of Atom Egoyan. In the first place, his name is 'Atom'. In the second place, he never has characters that seem all that human to me. His movies always strike me as very cold. Which is certainly the case with this one. Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth play what are mostly stock characters for them, the directing and cinematography are excellent, and Alison Lohman is captivating (this is what made me think of the Ack-o-Meter...). But the plot centres around a mystery that is neither mysterious nor very interesting. The movie is extremely well made, but for me at least, a bit empty. Combien tu m'aimes? (How Much do You Love Me?) - French. Pretty enjoyable romantic comedy - with a few surprises. The last 25 minutes are either completely incoherent, or a work of genius that I'm incapable of understanding. In either case, it's an interesting movie.
November 29, 2006
