Is it really? No! Really?? It's Avatar.

Sometimes I'm wrong. There I've said it. It does happen occasionally, so I figured when it does I should fess up and be honest. When I heard that James Cameron was making this film, I really thought that this was such a horrible idea. James Cameron...he's a decent film maker but really his scripts are horrible and are so basic. Since Titanic, I really lost a lot of respect for him and was not looking forward to this new film.

I saw the film a couple of months ago and I have to say that it didn't speak to me. I thought that the computer generated creatures and lcoations were very nice but that doesn't make a film. What about the storyline, the acting, the characters? I really felt like once again, Cameron came in and went for more expensive thrills instead of a decent story. I looked at the movie like it was an animated attempt for a comeback for Cameron...can you tell that I wasn't impressed. I saw the movie with my hubby and just wasn't into it.

When Nat suggested that we go again this past week, I thought well, ok, I'll sit through it again. Maybe I'll like it more than before if not let's sit at the back and I'll play on my iphone. Now wait for it...I LOVED IT! I sat there next to Nat and soaked up every minute of the music, the beautiful colors and interesting creatures.

I was completely enchanted with this film. I can't believe that I am writing this, but I really enjoyed this film. I thought that the nature themes that he included were very timely and appropriate. I even appreciated the writing more the second time around, but still I don't feel like Cameron's strength is in his script writing...directing yes, producing yes, writing...not so much, but I will admit that he's getting better.

This time around, the movie overwhelmed me. It conjured up all sorts of feelings and emotions. I got completley inveolved with the film, hook line and sinker. I cried. I laughed. I cried more. I smiled. I cried more. I enjoyed it and then I cried more.

I tried to understand the film as a whole and give myself completely while I watched it. I really enjoyed it. I can't wait for it to come out on DVD, I'd like to show my daughter. The first thing I did when I got home was chat with my son, about how I had changed my opionion of the film. He smiled and listened to me as I described my experience the second time around. He was suprised. I was surprised. I can't wait to see it again and go back to Pandora.

Longest Date Night Ever

Every week, my husband and I go on a date night. It used to be Saturday evenings, but apparently, we were cramping my teenager's social life, so we've moved it to Sundays. Have you ever seen an early evening film on it's opening weekend on a Sunday evening? It's fabulous...there's nobody there.
Ok, I have digressed...let's get to the point...last night on our date night, I saw "Date Night" with Tina Fey and Steve Carrell. I really wanted to see something light and fluffy, so it was either "A Single Man" or this...yeah the choice was pretty easy. I went into this film, thinking that I would have a fine time, the movie would be cutzy but nothing special. What a surprise! I really enjoyed this movie. It's the story of a couple who after many years of marriage have settled into a mundane routine. They decide to shake up their weekly date night (sound familiar) at the local restaurant - where they order the same food every time (at least we go to different places) - and go and have an expensive dinner in New York City. Once at the restaurant, they are trapped in a web of mistaken identity which throws them into crazy situations. That NEVER happens on my date nights!
I was not expecting to laugh in this film, but it was pretty impossible not to. The writing is quite decent, the situations were hilarious and Tina Fey is great. I think that she is absolutely fearless comedically. Steve Carrell is still a bit bumbling for me, but he's easier to take in this film. Their chemistry got better throughout the film...the beginning was a little strange, but it all seemed to come together at the end.
One of the lovely surprises was Mark Wahlberg, who plays an old client of Tina's (she's a realtor), who is fantastic and by the way - his Hebrew is remarkable! Mila Kunis and James Franco are also funny, charming and a little scary.
It's really a story about a couple who were in danger of losing themselves and each other who end up discovering all the great things that made them fall in love in the first place. There were some parts which hit a bit too close to home, but that's what made the movie good. The thoughts and feelings came from a real place, but what they did with them was pretty impossible and some were extremely funny to watch.
Was this my favorite movie??? Well, no...but it was a fast paced, adult oriented comedy about family life that dabbled in the insane. I'm glad I watched it with my husband, there were mostly couples in the audience so it felt like the entire theatre was on a date night and it was a fun way of spending our evening. Who knew that Marky Mark (without a shirt, mind you) would be so much fun? (Ok, seriously - that was totally rhetorical)

A Story about Loving Capitalism?

Over the past weekend, my hubby and I saw Michael Moore's current documentary/dramady "Capitalism, A Love Story." I usually enjoy Michael's films, as I find him intelligent, creative and quite thought provoking. He has a tendency to lean towards the dramatics to make his point, but he's always fun to watch and I tend to agree with most of his politics. I find that it's usually the manner in which he tries to make his points that gets him into trouble.
I enjoyed this film, but I'm not certain that enjoy is the correct word. I appreciated this film. The movie also made me laugh, cry and become quite frustrated. It's a difficult film to watch. It's essentially the history of capitalism in the USA and how it became so prevalent. It was hard watching scenes of the economic crisis over and over again. It's just so heart wrenching.
It's tough seeing ways of how many of these tragedies could have been avoided if the powers that be acted on behalf of the greater American public instead of their own personal gain. That's a tough nut to crack. What happens now to all that's been corrupted and troubled? Who is able to help? How are they going to do that? Is it even conceivable that help is possible?
I was quite thrilled, I have to say when President Obama took office last year. He certainly had the intelligence, charm and wit that I wanted with a new president. He also had decency, good sense, progressive thinking and diplomacy which I feel has been lacking in the White House for many years. While watching this film, it became quite clear that President Obama has inherited a large pile of poop from previous administrations. I can't blame the Bush administration for everything (even though that would be fun) but Clinton had a hand in it, Bush senior as well as Reagan. I really don't know what poor President Obama will be able to accomplish, but Heath Care is on it's way and it's a start.
The movie shows the audience all the worst things about politics. Things that you thought would be done for the greater good, wasn't. Things that big business wanted to push in order to increase their own profits, were allowed and supported by high levels of government. It's incredibly sad. It seems to me that the American government has really failed the American people.
As an American Canadian living in Vancouver, I thank my lucky stars that I live in Canada and not the US. We may not get all the wonderful things that living in the US would give me, like frozen fat free pizza and fat free twinkies but I'm willing to give that up for so many of the incredible things that I take for granted here. Well...I wouldn't mind a fat free twinkie sometimes.

The Dragon Whisperer

I have a cat. His name is Sam. Sam looks like the dragon in this movie. Now before we go any further, I will admit, that I cried during this film. Not copious amounts, but really for a woman to become weepy because her cat looks like a cartoon dragon, I realize that I may not be entirely normal.
That being said (or written), I really enjoyed this film. The animation was great and the writing was fantastic. As I would tell my father...it was a sweet film. He would always answer - how can a film be sweet, it's not dessert - ahhh, Daddy, you give up too easily. This was a bright, funny and creative animated film from Dreamworks which gives us an interesting take on the Vikings and their creatures of torment...dragons.
Hiccup, voiced by Jay Baruchel, is a small viking, the son of the village leader and trying desperately to be taken seriously by his father in warrior viking ways, he ends up injuring a dragon, not just any dragon, but the most feared of all the dragons. Hiccup ends up learning a lot from his dragon friend and ends up teaching him a thing or two as well. It reminded me of the man that Oprah had on her show...this guy that can figure out how to deal with dogs and they call him the Dog Whisperer...For me, Hiccup was the Dragon Whisperer.
One of my favorite parts of this movie is how Jay voiced his character. His voice has a sweetness (yes, I wrote that, Daddy) to it which brings out some fantastic comedic timing and definite leading man material. I really enjoyed listening to him bring the teenager out of Hiccup in a very real, but tender way. As the mother of a teenage boy, I really appreciated that.
Gerald Butler voices Hiccup's father, Stoick and also has a loving way of maneuvering through the script. I understand that the 300 star isn't married or has children, but he was able to bring out the concerns, worry and frustration that having children, particularly teenagers can bring out in their parents. Oy!
The other characters were voiced by the talented America Ferrera, Kristin Wiig, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Jonah Hill to name just a few. They were all great. It's a lot more fun to go to the movies, when you have a decent storyline. I find that too often animated films get thrown together and aren't creative or witty or fun to watch. This movie was an animated action film...it was quick witted, interesting and as in all animated films, it's not too difficult to figure out the ending in the first 10 minutes or so. The trick with a decent animated film, is the manner of which the filmmakers develop the storyline in order to keep you focused and interested from start to finish. Can you enjoy the ride to the end?
Take your kids to see this film. It's worth the ticket price. My kids ended up seeing it without me, but I made my hubby take me later on that same weekend. I think that when we saw it, there were more adults than children in the theatre. I thought that this was hilarious. That is until one of the little boys turned around and asked me if I needed a tissue...apparently I was a little too emotional about the cat/oops, I mean the dragon.

Hot Tub Time Wasting Machine

I am a John Cusack fan. I always have been and I suppose I always will be to some degree. Recently he has been making it very difficult for me to see his movies, as he has been doing some crapola films. This new film, "Hot Tub Time Machine", is no exception to the crapola genre of movie making. It's horrible.
The basic premise is that 3 old high school friends and one nephew head to a weekend getaway at the same place that they used haunt back in high school. They are frustrated with their own lives and are at the same time trying to live in the past. They find a hot tub time machine...yes, they do...I usually do also when I head to Bowen Island or up to Whistler when I am trying to relive my glory high school days. Sigh, really people keep up here. So they find the time machine and it takes them back to the exact same place but in 1986, when they were supposed to be cool and had their whole pathetic lives ahead of them. Yup, that's the story. They end up spending the rest of the movie, trying to get back to 2010 while trying not to disrupt the natural turn of events that occurred originally. Did you get this incredibly complex story line? It's so "Back to the Future" with several major exceptions...."Back to the Future" was funny, well written, innovative, creative and included many talented actors...acting well.
Yeah. This movie was one that I really didn't need to see on the big screen. Well, to be completely honest, I really didn't need to see it at all. I would have happily spent my days rewatching all those glory Cusack moments in "Say Anything" or "The Sure Thing" or even his little role in "Sixteen Candles". John, John! Where did you go wrong?
Are there no more creative ideas floating around Hollywood that James Cameron can't put onto 3D? I don't understand why anyone would have made this film. It was ridiculously stupid, poorly written and just plain silly. It should have been called the "Sad Hot Tub Time Machine" as I am certain that everyone involved was so sad that they had to associate themselves with this crapola film. Where was the acting? Well, I think there was anything for the actors to work with and quite frankly there wasn't a whole lot of acting going on.
My son told me that this movie is being compared to "The Hangover" from last year. Let me make myself perfectly clear (in case the last several paragraphs were too vague), this movie is nothing like it. "The Hangover" was hilarious, over the top, provacative, funny, strange and pushed the boundaries of decent film making with good lines and many surprises.
"Hot Tub Time Machine" owes me 90 minutes, a diet coke and $11.99 Canadian. Where should I send my receipts? Mr. Cusack?