... So with the temperatures approaching 100 degrees, and our air conditioning, well, dead ...Kates I have literally been living in our basement for the weekend ...
... We called off our plans to go up to Bastille Days last night and instead opted to rent half of Blockbuster's inventory -- ok, not half, just 5 DVDs -- and spend it filling up on pizza, pop corn and, well, cold water in our naturally air-conditioned basement rec room. We blew up our air mattress, moved the pillows and sheets downstairs and were set ... only traipsing upstairs to get more food from the cupboards or refrigerator ...
Yeah. Lots of fun. ... if only the movies would have been better
... First up on Friday night, 'Prime,' featuring Meryl Streep as a shrink who's protective of her adult son and Uma Thurman, the 37-year-old patient, who has a chance meeting with Streep's 27-year-old, Jewish son. They fall in love of course, not knowing each other's connection to Streep ... The premise was enticing, but other than some hilarious moments between Streep and Uma, the movie is pretty blah and a stretch to get through ... 2 stars.
Next up, 'Flightplan'. ... Not spectacular, but by far the best movie we saw all weekend. Jodie Foster, of course, plays the mother whose daughter somehow disappears on this gigantic plane, which in a convenient twist of fate, she helped build and knows better than just about anyone on it. The fun of it all is you spend the first half of the movie -- a la 'Sixth Sense,' or any other recent mind-game thriller you can think of -- trying to figure out what's real and what's not, is she just dreaming things about her daughter's disappearance or is really the work of someone else on the plane ... needless to say, though, I did have the bad guy pegged from the beginning. ... 3 1/2 stars, highly recommended. And it it's any consolation, it's the only DVD in which we bothered to watch the special features afterward, which of course, always enhances the enjoyment and affection you have for a film.
After a good night's sleep (in our basement, on a cushy air mattress, remember) we watched 'Chicken Little' over breakfast ... whoah. I don't want to say awful ... but it came pretty close. The opening sequence where a narrator negated the traditional 'Once upon a time' and 'the shot of a book opening' fairytale introductions drew a good laugh from me, but it was all down hill from there ... You know the beginning: Chicken Little thinks the sky is falling, and the whole town goes crazy but ultimately disbelieves the innocent little chicken. Fine ... but the 'War of the Worlds' way the rest of the movie plays out isn't worth repeating ... 1 1/2 star. Don't bother.
Saturday night, we picked up again and kicked the evening off with 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith.' ... Ugh. Watching Brad and Angelina do nothing but hop around and blow things up, in between bickering and hopping around and trying to blow each other up, got really old after, like, 10 minutes. ... possibly one of the worst movies I've ever seen (right up there with other 'Feeling Minnesota' and 'Mary Reilley'). 1 star. That's 2 hours of my life I'll never get back.
Finally, we ended it with 'Matchpoint,' one that drew a lot of interest from me, given the Oscar buzz it got last winter, not to mention the beauty and charm of Scarlett Johansson and Emily Mortimer. Simply: It's a love triangle that goes horribly bad. Fading tennis star Chris meets and marries his friend's sister, Chloe (Mortimer), but quickly falls for the friend's fiancé, Nora, (Johansson). ... and you can imagine everything that follows -- an affair, a pregnancy and a murder. The story, acting and suspense were as good as any film, but it's easy to get annoyed with Nora's over-the-top whining and desperation, as well as the horrible opera music that plays throughout much of the movie ... 3 stars. But it's nothing I'd run out and grab.
As we shut down the DVD player and cleaned up our mess, Kates and I looked at each other and agreed: Overall, that was a pretty sucky batch of movies ...
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