At the Movies
It seems like I have been watching a lot more movies the past couple years than before. Watching movies is almost like a way of life now, that I wonder what people used to do before movies were so popular, when there were no AMC 30 screen theaters, no student discounts, and when high school kids still spent their time studying and doing homework.
Well on the news the other day, they were talking about how the movie industry set another record high in revenue for 2002, breaking the record set in 2001 by a big margin. So I guess I am not the only one who has been watching more movies lately.
One thing I wonder though: is it just me, or do movie previews seem much lamer these days? Almost all of the previews I have seen lately kind of really suck. They don't give me much to look forward to. Except maybe for the movie with DMX and Jet Li. That preview was so good that I don't even remember the name of the movie. But I do know it comes out Feb. 28th. Hopefully DMX is in this movie more than he was in Romeo Must Die. When he got shot in that movie, it was one of the all time biggest "WTF" moments I have ever experienced in any movie.
Anyways, my plan for this blog was to give some reviews on the movies I've watched most recently, within a couple weeks. I'm not a professional critic but here is my take on the following flicks:
About Schmidt
A lot of people haven't heard anything at all about this movie, including myself, up until 2 weeks ago. It's nice to go into a theater and not know what to expect of what you are about to watch, unless of course the movie ends up sucking really bad regardless of expectations. But this one was pretty good. It's basically about an old guy dealing with life after retirement and after his wife dies. Played by Jack Nicholson, who is hilarious. I have a renewed sense of respect for his acting abilities after watching this movie.
There was one really unfortunate part of the movie, which was the scene involving the mom from the Waterboy and the hot tub.
Other than that, it was a good movie to make you think, kind of like the stuff I wrote on life a while ago in this blog. I learned two major lessons from this film:
1. It doesn't matter if you are a 60 year old guy who can retire comfortably after a long career in the insurance industry, or a 6 year old orphan boy in Africa who is malnourished and probably suffering from a load of diseases. Everyone has problems, "it's-all-relative". So in the end, it's how you deal with your problems that actually makes one life different from another.
2. The world waits for no one. Sometimes I think life would be great if you could freeze time and have nothing ever change. But this is impossible. People change, situations change, very few things stay the same over time. With this in mind, we shouldn't be wasting time trying to control our surroundings, we should learn to take things as they come without putting too much stock in the future.
Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers
Finally I got to watch these movies, the first on DVD and the second at the theater. One thing I've always wondered is, what was it like 20-25 years ago when the original Star Wars movies were coming out? I don't think LOTR is quite as huge, but it has to be pretty close, in terms of the excitement and hype generated.
And surprisingly, these movies actually live up to the hype. The story is good, of course, but more than that, I don't know if I have ever been so impressed with the visuals of a movie as in LOTR. Maybe it wasn't the most technologically advanced special effects, but watching the movie in the theater is one of those experiences you will probably have to see for yourself to understand what I'm saying. Watching it reminds me of some of the parts in Crouching Tiger, when the music, the scenery and the plot all fit together seamlessly and it really feels like it's more than just another movie on the big screen.
25th Hour
"A Spike Lee Joint" Why does he call it that anyways? Do people actually think that's cool? How many good Spike Lee Joints can you think of? I'm sure there's probably a couple, but when I hear his name, the first thing I usually think of isn't awesome movies. It's those old Nike commercials with Jordan and Mars Blackman.
Well, I didn't really see this movie cause it was directed by Spike Lee. More because I respect Edward Norton's abilities, and also because Nina and Vira said it was supposed to be good. So, in spite of Anna Paquin's skankiness, I had pretty high expectations for this movie going in, and I came out only partly satisfied.
It was one of those movies that is supposed to make you think, which is good. Basically, it's about Edward Norton's last day before he has to go to jail for dealing drugs. After the movie, I thought it was funny that P and Greg said "it's just kind of like how you feel the day before you have to go back to work, after a vacation or something, except worse." Yeah, worse in that you would have to worry about being raped by 300 pound criminals, not just having to wake up earlier.
Philip Seymour Hoffman is also in the movie. I can't think of what other movies I have seen him in, but all I gotta say is, he just plain looks like a pedophile. I mean, maybe he is the most normal guy around, but if I had a daughter, I'd make sure to keep her away from that man.
Overall, not a bad movie. Could've been better, could've been worse. I still like Edward Norton, he is one of my favorite actors/actresses of all time, up there with Harrison Ford, Macaulay Culkin, Gwyneth, and Britney Spears.
