Movies Movies Movies

I’ve been lazy and haven’t kept up with my requisite movie reviews. I’ve got four in total that I should have done by now, but just didn’t bring myself to write. I’d feel really bad about it if I thought someone cared. Anyway, I’ll be rambling about them after the link.

First, way back before Christmas I went to see “The Golden Compass.” It got decent reviews, so I figured what the heck. Well It was a pretty decent movie. I don’t think it went as well as say “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe,” but it was pretty good for the kids. It seemed to jump a bit in the story telling. It was a bit jarring, and I sometimes felt I had missed a scene or two. Luckily there were some good actors in the flick that smoothed some of that over. Had the acting had issues it would have made the editing/directing flop. It did make me want to read the book series though. As a consequence I bought a copy at the book store after Christmas. It’s actually an omnibus of the “His Dark Materials” series by Philip Pullman. I’m hoping that, as is usually the case, the book is more thorough than the movie. It’s on my list of things to get to.

Then there was the standard Christmas Day movie my family started as a tradition years ago. We looked at what was out and decided that everyone would probably enjoy seeing “National Treasure: Book of Secrets.” I did enjoy it for the most part. It wasn’t as good as the original, but the reviews said that as well. There wasn’t nearly as much problem solving and clue following in this one. Plus some of the initial drama wasn’t explained very well, nor was it pulled off that well. But it was entertaining, and they left it open for a third movie.

Yesterday I went to watch “I am Legend.” I’ve never read the book or seen the two other film adaptations. This one deviates from the book, as all good film adaptations should. First I will say that those among you that dislike scary movies probably should wait to rent this. I’m not a big fan of scary movies myself, but I will admit that I had to make sure I set my drink down at certain times. Luckily those times are well telegraphed. Smith offers a great performance that really brings home the silliness and seriousness of the human dependency on interpersonal contact. The film almost feels like it has two parts. There is the mediocrity of the daily living, the doing the dishes part of the movie, and then there is the fight for survival. It’s really a pretty good movie. You just have to get past the obvious CGI creatures. But it isn’t called suspension of disbelief for nothing.

Then today I went to see “Sweeny Todd.” Well now that was just a good time right there. I don’t get to see musicals much, unless they are made by Disney. And there is a whole lot of singing in this movie. I’ve watched musicals on television and in person before, but this was jam packed with it. I know some people don’t care for musicals, but I’m not recommending it to them. I was actually surprised at how funny parts of it were. It reminds me of the human ability to make light of almost any situation. I recommend it to anyone that likes a bit of dark, gory, funny, and musical entertainment.