M-N Movies
Madagascar (2005)
I didn’t like this movie. I think that it did pretty good at the box office, but the three or four people I talked to either didn’t like
this movie, or it didn’t stick out in their minds. But I wouldn’t watch it again.
Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett, David Schwimmer, Ben Stiller and others voice the zoo characters who are looking to escape to the wild. Wandering around New York, and then eventually getting shipping out to have to make it on their own, the point in this movie never really comes out. It feels kind of like one big flashy empty gimmick after another, and not an ounce of me liked any of the characters. The animation was ok, there was a good amount of detail, but I think that the dance song routine on the island encompasses what this movie was all about. Making really young children laugh at the silliness, instead of developing characters with somewhat relatable plights, feelings, and needs. The best Disney movies did that, and I think this is one of those that just figured because it was 3d that maybe the lack of story would be overlooked.
I just wonder how much longer it will be before we as an audience are past the “wow” factor of 3d animation and demand more quality, helping suppress movies like this from ever making it to the screen.
Watch this for the visuals, but I don’t think anyone you know will ever come out of this crying, or with a day changing emotion of any sort.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
What a good fun summer movie. Good action, but the plot wasn’t forced and was really funny. Starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie plus Adam Brody from “The OC” fame if you can call it that.
You’ve seen the previews, these two government killers that somehow manage to marry each other. Now they are after each other. That is just about all they could get into the :30 second preview. But what they don’t show is this great portrayal of American marriage, the things left unsaid, and the role that time can play in driving two people apart. It is really funny, and I think that my parents and most people could enjoy it, if they could handle the brief sex type scene, and the violence between themselves and the other characters. But it isn’t bloody, it is just a ton of gunfire.
But Brad Pitt is great, he has just the right delivery for this role, and Jolie did as well, as the housewife, which I was surprised she pulled off.
This is one you’ll want to own and laugh with friends. See it. Have an open mind, but this is a good movie that just didn’t hit it at the summer box office as well as it should have, due in part to the downturn in the film industry attendance.
Monster In Law (2005)
Starring Jane Fonda, Jennifer Lopez, Wanda Sykes, and Michael Vartain, Monster In Law is the age old battle between new wife, and old mother, to win the affections of their son.
I don’t know why Wanda Sykes was in the movie, mostly as a black commentary in an all white cast, a kind of feel good corporate production thing. Both characters were over the top, Fonda with the crazy and solidifying any stereotype we may have of aging women, and Jennifer Lopez in her overly cute and innocent acting style. She never has anything different to say.
None the less, this movie is really funny. You don’t go for all that stuff instead, you go to ignore it, and think about how funny this would be, but not so much if it was you. From endless slapping, to sleeping in a platter of octopus, to swollen Lopez platypus lips, there are some classic scenes in this movie, with the perfect title to boot. Everyone should see this movie.
The Notebook (2004)
A classic story of romance, this is a solid movie. Nothing outstandingly original, just a good American story steeped in classes and how we balance the wants of others when it comes to love.
The movie is revealed through a book, a book read by an older man to what seems like an irritable older lady. The man seems quite upbeat to be with what seems like this crazy lady, but quickly she is calmed down and interested in the story he has to tell. It is about a poor boy that brings all the excitement and dreams to a young socialite girl that she could ever want. It is a summer romance, but they fall in love. She goes back home, and he goes through a myriad of different things, including fighting in World War II.
Noah (Poor Boy) comes back from the war and rebuilds an old, dilapidated plantation house, one he had dreamed about with Allie (socialite girl). Meanwhile, Allie has moved on, her mother has interfered with her relationship with Noah, trying to protect her. Allie is engaged to James Marsden (Lon or Cyclops from X-Men) and seems to be happy. Then she sees and article about Noah and the house, and decides to go back to “settle” some things. All that results in is an amazingly passionate kiss on the dock in the rain and the two of them sleeping together. In the end she makes the right choice.
But, the focus of the movie draws back to the man and woman. It becomes apparent that this is Noah and Allie, but older. She has dementia, and everyday he reads this book to her, to help her remember. It is very touching.
In the mood for a romantic story, this is funny, and everything seems natural from the characters actions to what they say. Granted, there are some hokey parts with the older couple, especially the ending. But overall a great movie.
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
I was in for a shock with this one. I figured it was a happy story with some letdown, kind of like a girl Rocky. Boy was I wrong.
Starring Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, and Morgan Freeman, this is a really good movie. I have seen a number of movies Clint has directed in the last ten years and haven’t known it. But he has gotten quite the acclaim for the last two. I didn’t really understand the big hoopla over “Mystic River”, but this one…
Swank comes from a redneck trailer family, and is trying to scrap her way through life, eating other people’s food at the restaurant she works at, and living with the bare essentials. But she has one goal. She pays three month’s fee to work out at a ratty gym owned by Eastwood, who happens to be a great and personal trainer who cares about his fighters.
She works and works, and finally wins his attention, his promise to train her. And she is good. There is something satisfying about watching her win fight after fight against girls of all sizes, most of them K.O.’s. You believe Swank all the way. The shape she is in, her punches, her humility and simple way.
Swank then takes all of the money she has saved to try to do good in her family chain. All she gets in return is a slap in the face, and from that point on Eastwood is the only family she has, and we find out they only have each other really.
Hesitant about his fighters and disappointment, Eastwood lost a fighter in the beginning of the movie. So he lets Swank fight at the top level. To make a long story short, after three rounds of intense back and forth fighting, her opponent continues to fight dirty, hits Swank and she falls onto a stool and breaks her neck.
Painful and sad, she is paralyzed for the rest of her life. She loses a leg to bed sores and gangrene and loses hope. She doesn’t want to go out that way, after reaching such great heights for her hard work. She asks Eastwood to kill her, and although he says no at first, he does anyway as she finds ways to kill herself.
The movie kind of drags at the end, being so sad. But I would recommend anyone to see this at least once. You may feel depressed, but at least you will feel some satisfaction that this girl, this redneck girl, experienced life.
Night Shift (1982)
Old but funny, this movie may be dated, but if you are a fan of Michael Keaton, he comes out in full swing in this movie.
Along with Shelley Long(Cheers) and Henry Winkler(Happy Days), this movie is about two guys who turn their night shift at the morgue into a prostitution ring. Now, that may sound really bad, but the movie stays on the surface of the dirtiness of the whole thing. Winkler lives next to Long, who is a hooker, and her pimp was just murdered. She and the rest of her friends are without a pimp, and Winkler is smitten with Long, so he offers to help them out.
Keaton is the brains behind the whole thing, and the driving force of the movie, as Winkler is a push over. Keaton is the jittery funny man who is throwing parties in the morgue, driving kids to their proms in a hurst, and slew of other really bizarre things.
Not exactly a family movie, but if you like Keaton this is a must. And of course, if you can overlook some of the content of the movie. I am a fan, and I hate old movies.
Man of the House (2005)
This was a funny, enjoyable movie.
Tommy Lee Jones stars opposite five very self aware, cute college cheerleaders who witness a murder. As a result, he is charged with guarding them and keeping them hidden until he and the rest of his police unit can figure out who the killers are.
The movie is such a trip because Tommy Lee is a no-nonsense, lonely man who has forgotten how to interact with society, women, and even his daughter. (I know, what I would perceive to be a REAL stretch for his true persona) He is stuck watching over these girls who insist on dressing skimpy, talking big, and generally getting into a lot of trouble.
Watch this movie. I think there is a little humor in it for everyone, both of the sexes, but maybe not little kids. The penultimate part is when Lee goes off to the store to get “monthlies” for the girls. All you see is this enormous wall of products as tall and wide as the eye can see, and the camera switching back and forth to this dried up old man (Lee) with a painfully confused look on his face. He then asks another female character which ones to get, the regular ones or the ones with the wings. The delivery is priceless.
