Starman, a review

One of my favorite sites for romance reviews and general information about ebooks, ereaders, how-tos, and what's going on in the publishing world is Dear Author. On Fridays, they post a film review and today the review is mine of STARMAN, the 1984 Jeff Bridges movie.

It would appear from the comments, that I'm not the only one who remembers this film fondly.

Go read and enjoy!

Barney's Version

The weather was too bad on Saturday, cold and windy and where is spring?, to do anything outside, so we took ourselves off for a little shopping in the Big City, or at least its suburbs. Shopping accomplished, it was too early for dinner (because if you go to the trouble of driving an hour to shop, you're not coming home to leftovers), so we decided on a movie.

Movie prices vary greatly by locale. Where we live, they're $5 after 6PM, $3 before and always $3 for "senior" citizens and children under 12. Since we qualify (former, not latter), it had better be a very good movie to pay more than that. Last one which qualified: The King's Speech.

So we chose a movie which we didn't think would make it to our local neighborhood, Barney's Version. We hadn't heard of it, read only the barest description of it on my iPad as we're tooling down the toll road, and decided what-the-heck. It was at our favorite indie theatre and restaurants abounded in the area.

I usually know quite a bit about a movie before we go. I read the reviews, see the ads. But this one was off the radar. I really expected we'd be the only ones in the theatre, but it was probably 3/4 full. Mostly people who looked like us and had decided it was too cold to work or play outside.

It's refreshing to have no preconceived notions about a movie. I don't know that I'd want to do it all the time, and I don't think I could give a "go see it!" to everyone I know, but I'm glad we went.

One UP-man ship

I just finished watching UP, the Disney/Pixar collaboration about lost adventure. And life. And friendship. I rented it to watch in three segments while exercising on the treadmill. I like movies in the 90 minute range.

I did spread this over three days, but let me tell you, it's hard to walk on a treadmill with a lump in your throat. The first basically silent ten or eleven minutes are very touching and subtle. It quickly dissolves into a typical animated adventure, which is what I was expecting in the first place. Then, in the last little bit, we're back for more lumps in the throat.

My sons are the ones who encouraged me to watch this, even the one without children. "You know, Mother," one said, "it's really for adults."

"Most good cartoons are," I told him. "Watch the classics and be amazed at what they got away with."

I've got till Monday on the rental. I think I'll watch again.

Gran Torino

In a small town, the weeks between Christmas and mid-winter can be a delight, entertainment-wise, before they virtually shut down to the cinematic equivalent of the Dead Sea. In December, the studios have put forth their final movies for the award push, and they eventually trickle out to the hinterlands. So we have had occasion to view quality movies at bargain prices, which here are $3 matinees and senior rates (over 55) and $5 full-price.

In November, I rejoiced with having seen Slumdog Millionaire and Australia. The latter, alas, did not hold up at the box office, which I think is a real pity, and the former has not made it to the small town screens as I had hoped it would. They would both have made the top rating on my movie rating scale:

Worth full price
Worth matinee
Rent it
Free TV
Don't you have anything better to do?

Regrettably Marley and Me has to go into the Rent It category. Yes, I cried, but really, not a strong movie. I could stretch it to be worth a matinee if it were reasonably priced. Bride Wars would be in the same category. As an aside, if you watch the trailer closely, there's a scene where one of our 'heroines' devastates the other's wedding dress. Not in the movie.

On to better pickings: We liked Valkyrie, the Tom Cruise opus based on a true story of a plot to assassinate Hitler. I don't know how well it's doing at the box office, but the History Channel show about the attempt interspersed with how/why the movie was made helped our understanding. Strong matinee to Full Price.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is well done and worth the full nickel, I think. It made me want to find Fitzgerald's short story and read it.

And then there's Gran Torino, the latest from Clint Eastwood. Full price value. I was surprised to see it here, thinking (obviously mistakenly) that it would stay with the big-city theaters. But it sold out here twice this weekend. If this doesn't have Oscar written all over it, I don't know what does. I hope it opened in December somewhere so it's eligible.

Movie reviews

I realized I hadn't been listing the movies we've watched. Best reason: we've seen so few because, IMHO, there hasn't been anything out there worthy of the cash outlay. But of those we've chanced:

Black Dahlia: Rented it and for the $1.40 we spent, we wasted money.
The Departed: Quite good. For the $10 +/- at the hotel, it was a good deal. Worthy of the outlay.
Music and Lyrics: Harmless fun, but in truth, a renter.
The Devil Wears Prada: I had seen this in the theatre and enjoyed it (worth a matinee), but rented it for my husband and rewatched. He liked it too.
Name Sake: Indie movie about Indian family's struggle for assimilation and yet to retain their identity. Saw it at an independent movie house where the matinee cost more than my regular evening fare here. It was worth that. I did find the trailer to have been a bit deceptive, in that I expected a physical journey through our hero and that wasn't it at all.
A Good Year: The Russell Crowe vehicle that was lambasted last season. We enjoyed it. While a renter, it was worth matinee-money. Reminded me of a romance novel from the hero's point-of-view where he (and not the traditional heroine) is the fish out of water.
Keeping Mum: Maggie Smith. British. Loaner from a friend with Netflix. I thanked her, but I'm glad I didn't even rent it.
Waitress: Another indie. Despite some of the ethical issues I have with it, if I make myself concentrate solely on her journey to independence, then it was very good. Somewhere between matinee and full price worthy. And there's a website with recipes!