Summer Movies

Ok, ok, I haven't seen any of the new releases, save Shrek The Fourth or whatever it's called (which I loved, natch, because of the cat). But I have seen a bunch o' movies in the last couple of weeks. We've had early mornings and busy days so I keep falling asleep. Thus, many of these were seen over a couple of days. But I get 'er done.

Zombieland was recommended by a good friend who said she guffawed through the whole thing. Friend, you are a bit twisted. But so am I. It IS funny...it's just GROSS. Vile, disgusting...but the kid in it is going to be a major star. And congrats to Woody Harrelson for making a wonderful life from a walk-on guest starring role in a tv series.



Los Secretos de Sus Ojos won the Best Foreign Language Oscar. It was good, if not transparent...i.e. I felt as though I could read the filmmaker's thoughts. There were beautiful moments and huge human truths...all thanks to great acting. My husband kept comparing it to Almodóvar...but I think a better comparison would be with some other noirish director, like Taylor Hackford.




Invictus is what I'm going to call a family movie. For my two, old enough to deal and curious enough about the world to be interested, (not to mention their sports-fanaticism) this was a great choice. Also? MATT DAMON. I loved it...I think Clint Eastwood has great tricks for subtle exposition. The story is much bigger than the rugby matches shown, and I think the film did a respectable job of highlighting apartheid's horrors while showing the - gradual - improvements in South Africa. For a harsher view of apartheid, see: District 9.



Breathless was part of my annual desire to become more well-versed in film (see: the great Fellini experiment of ought-eight). It's outstanding! I like the strange pacing, the whole look of it, and the freshness. Yes, it still seems fresh lo these many years later. I know just about nothing about Truffaut or Godard, but I can see that this was vanguard filmmaking in its day. We'll be exploring more. By the way, we were able to see this on the Wii! You can stream movies, if you didn't know, through a Wii with a Netflix account. Since my children don't play the Wii all that much it works for us...the picture quality is not stellar but I hear they are working on it.



An Education was not my cuppa. Well, yes it was - it evoked the time period in which it was set quite fully (see: Mad Men; Friday Night Lights). And I'm not immune to the pleasures of Peter Sarsgaard. However, the characters were basically despicable and the plot was predictable. Am I the only one who felt this way? (oh, I guess not.) Maybe it's all Nick Hornby's fault. And what's with the dumb blonde? That was ridiculous.




Shattered Glass was a movie I knew nothing about - but again with the Peter Sarsgaard! This was a well-told tale and a fascinating one to boot. Mindless summer fun with just enough injustice to make you distrust the media. I was especially loving the interactions between the journalist Stephen Glass and his work colleagues. Office politics at the most smarmy and needy!! Recommended for your viewing enjoyment.




Next up: we're going to let the children see Avatar, we're going to go sob through Toy Story 3, and my pre-teen has requested to see The Notebook. (God help us all.)