Recently I've had the opportunity to watch several movies for the first time. I'm not an avid movie goer to be honest. Even more odd is my addiction to pop culture which very often includes referencing movies. So it's with great pleasure that I indulge my movie senses on a regular basis. Surprisingly I usually have the patience to wait until movies are released onto DVD, but sometimes I actually go to the theater to catch it on the big screen.
Tuesday's are dollar movie night at the cheap seats in Bangor, you see. They manage to show some fairly recent movies. Let me ask you, who the hell wouldn't take advantage of this value if the chance was there and boredom was king? Us, actually. When we finally remember it's Tuesday before the final showing and there's something worth seeing then it's off to the scrubby little theater.
The other day we went to see a movie in the theater for the first time in several months. It was worth it too, because it was a movie that I had been wanting to see since it came out at Christmas. It didn't disappoint either. I'll talk about it right after this when I get to the shortlist of movies. Which brings me to...
SHORTLIST OF RECENT MOVIE VIEWINGS v1.0
So here's a list of a few movies I've watched lately. I'd say more here, but it's 1:30 in the morning and I find myself caring less and less for this post. SO here's a quick rundown of the movies.
Sherlock Holmes - This is the movie I was talking about in the last post. It's a pretty damn good movie. Guy Ritchie redeems himself to a level he hasn't been at since Snatch. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law make a great, if nontraditional, pairing as Holmes and Watson. Downey's performance is reminiscent of what Depp tried doing in Pirates of the Caribbean. If you're watching carefully (read: at all) and are a fan of 90s wrestling then you probably recognized Kurrgan as the giant Frenchman. Yup, obscure references booyah! This movie left the identity of Moriarty open for a big casting in the sequel while featuring him as a background player in the main events of the film. Great stuff.
Zombieland - This movie was a whole new kind of awesome. This was the best zombie movie since Shaun of the Dead with which it is unsurprisingly most often compared. All of the characters are extremely likable and have some real depth. They aren't just survivors, they're real people. Oh and Bill Murray cameo for the fucking win! That came out of nowhere and clobbered me in the head with awesomeness. It's quirky and original. Zombieland is as ultra satisfying as a movie can get.
I'm A Cyborg But That's Okay - Insane and bouncing off the wall is the best way to describe this Korean movie. It's directed by the same guy that was in charge of the classic Oldboy and exhibits the same sort of style to a degree. It's about a girl who thinks she's a cyborg and is sent to a mental institution. From there it gets really, really, really weird. In a good way. Sometimes it's hard to tell the reality from the mental delusions of the cyborg girl. Crazy stuff.
Ponyo - Okay I had actually seen this in the theater but that isn't going to stop me from talking about it here. It was just released on DVD a few weeks back and I picked it up first day. Why? It's a Hayao Miyazaki film is why! Everything that he attaches his name to is almost certainly pure gold. Ponyo was no different. The film is targeted towards a much younger audience then some of his other films. It's closer to Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro than it is to Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke. That doesn't mean that the movie is immature or childish at all. Miyazaki shows the world through the eyes of a child and conveys that brilliantly. Ponyo is an innocent and beautiful movie. Spectacular visuals bombard your eyes throughout the film. It has all the trademarks of any Ghibli film and is accessible by any fan of his older movies.
I'm going to call it good there because I'm losing focus. Laters!
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