Monday, January 17, 2011

second movie review

I thought I would go ahead and do this now, instead of later, because I don't think this second movie review will be as long. Anyway, everyone who knows me knows I love Cher. I love her music, most of all, but I also like her as an actress. I've watched a few of her movies recently, but I really wanted to watch one called "Mask" because it was referenced in a season 5 episode of X-Files that I really love, called "The Post-Modern Prometheus." And since I've seen that episode a bajillion times, I figured it was time to watch "Mask." I had to put it on my DVD queue on Netflix, because they didn't have it on instant streaming. The movie arrived in my mailbox on Saturday, and I watched it last night before bed. So here goes my review.

Mask
1985
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089560/

This movie was really heart-warming. It's based on a true story, about a boy named Roy "Rocky" Dennis, who has craniodiaphyseal dysplasia. I didn't even realize it was a true story until after I watched it and read up about it on Wikipedia and IMDB. I really liked it, but I have a tendency to have a soft spot for underdogs, and that's exactly what Rocky was.

One thing I found amusing was that the actor (Eric Stoltz) who played the main character is an actor I don't really like. But in the movie, you couldn't tell it was even him, because the character he plays has craniodiaphyseal dysplasia. So he was unrecognizable. That's awful, maybe, but it was easier to care for the character when I couldn't tell it was Eric Stoltz. I can't even remember why I hate him... I think it was because he was on "Mad About You," and he was very irritating. So irritating, in fact, that I can't stand seeing him anywhere else. Haha.

Anyway. The movie was very sweet. It was really easy to care about the boy and his family. He grew up with his single mother, Cher, and their "biker gang" family. And of course, I have a bit of a soft spot for motorcyclists. Even though I wouldn't consider my parents to be a part of a biker gang, or anything close to it, I have a fondness for people on motorcycles. Because I know a lot of awesome people who ride.

Cher, who played Rocky's mother, did a really good job, I thought. She was a drug addict in the movie, and a little bit slutty, but she was an awesome mom, for the most part. You could tell she really loved her son. And the relationship they had was very sweet, and real, I think. When a mother has a child who is disfigured like that... they are automatically going to stand up for their child and try to protect them. She was like a fierce mama lion in the movie. And he was just adorable. Plus, Cher looked super pretty. You know, real. Not like a plastic Barbie doll, which is how she looks now -- which don't get me wrong, I still think she's hot for a 64-year-old. Also, she sang a little bit in the movie, which always makes me happy. :) And I totally bought all of the acting... she plays a really good drug addict. Wait... that sounds wrong... Haha. Oh well. You get it, right? Right!

Sam Elliot played Cher's boyfriend. And he was super hot! I saw him in a recent Christmas movie and now he's just old, right? But back in the 80's, he was a hottie. And that voice is yum-yum.

Plus, the biker gang was really cute. They were an interesting group and all adorable for a variety of reasons.

Oh, and young Laura Dern was in it! She was 18 when it came out... It was weird to see her so young. I can't say that I really, truly like her... She seems a little weird... But I LOVE Jurassic Park, so I have a soft spot for her because of that.

Anyway. I don't think there's much else to say... Cute, heart-warming movie, with a sad ending. I would give it an A-.


i get a little bit stronger...

I've started playing around with this idea in my head of making this blog dedicated to movie reviews, at least in part. A few weeks before Christmas, I bought a subscription to Netflix and well... I love it. I'm obsessed. I watch at least five movies a week. I watched a lot of movies before, but now it's even worse! A lot of the movies I watch are slightly obscure, considering new releases don't come out forever on Netflix and some of them I've already seen in theaters. Although, a lot of newer releases I haven't been watching, because now that I have Netflix, I don't go to Blockbuster (or haven't yet, since getting Netflix) and haven't really downloaded any movies like I used to. So I've watched a lot of older movies, from the 80's and 90's. I generally tend to pick an actor/actress to focus on and watch a few of their movies before moving on. Already I've gone through short phases for Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, and Sally Field. And of course I watch a lot of scary movies.

I think if I do this, I won't review every single movie I see, or else I'd be updating this blog almost daily. Especially because I watch a lot of low-budget, awful "horror" flicks, and nobody cares about the reviews for those. I'll probably just review the movies I like or feel like reviewing.

As such, review is a term I use very loosely. I'm not Roger Ebert. And I don't have any background in film or anything like that... I just know what I like and what touches me, makes me laugh, freaks me out, etc. So I will mostly just be talking about that... not so much analyzing the film or different aspects of it. Plus, I am not sure how many "spoilers" I want to post... maybe for newer releases, I'll go light on that, in case anyone who reads this wants to see them.

ANYWAY... So to get started, I thought I would review two movies I watched this weekend. The first is a movie I went and saw in theater with my mom on Saturday...

Country Strong
2010
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1555064/

This movie was not the greatest movie of all time, but I liked it for a few reasons.

1) The music was amazing. It's all country, of course, and that's something I've been drifting back to lately. Not in its entirety, but I've been listening to more of it, more often, and not just bypassing it because it's "new" country -- which I haven't had as much of a taste for as I used to. There are SEVERAL songs that I love, but I'd have to say my favorite is "Give in to Me" which is sung by the actors, Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester. I also really loved:
I pretty much liked all the Gwyneth Paltrow songs, which is half weird for me, and half not. It's weird, because she's an actress, not a singer. And I've never really been a huge fan of her as an actress, so it's weird. But, it's not weird, because she sang in the movie, "Duets," with Huey Lewis and I really liked it. Plus, Maria Bello sang in that movie, too, and I have all of those songs on my iPod. So GP singing is not new to me. (Sorry for the initials, her name is really annoying to try to spell/type. Haha.)

So anyway, the movie soundtrack came in basically 2 discs. The "official soundtrack" and then, "other songs from the movie." Haha. So I bought the official soundtrack and realized that a lot of the songs weren't sung by the actors, which is who I wanted to hear. So I picked out some of the songs from the second album to buy on iTunes, so I could get the versions I wanted.

Basically, the music rocks. In my opinion.

Another reason I liked the movie: 2) The acting. Okay, so GP has never been my favorite. I usually find her kind of flat and annoying. But in this movie, she hit the dramatic acting spot on. The only part that was hard for me to swallow was when she was on stage singing. I think she's a decent singer; I like her voice. But she didn't look completely comfortable on the stage. That's okay, I guess, because she's NOT a singer... but she is an actress and I'm supposed to buy what she's selling. So, it goes both ways. (Also, she looked a little bit like a retarded giraffe trying to dance around on stage, but I digress. She can't act her way to good dancing.) But the drama stuff she excelled at.

Tim McGraw played her husband/manager in the movie and this is his like... third film. Maybe more, but I just remember "Flicka," "The Blind Side," and this. And I am too lazy/don't care enough to look it up on IMDB to see if he's been in anything else. And he's not bad, for someone who has primarily been a musician throughout his career. Before he started doing movies, I never would have thought of him as an actor. But he's not doing so bad for himself. His character wasn't very likable, in my opinion, but that doesn't make him a bad actor. The character was written kind of flat, anyway. I can't fault him for that.

The other main actor was Garrett Hedlund. I've never heard of him, so I didn't have any preconceptions or anything like that. He's kinda cute, in a "he hasn't showered in several days" greasy kind of way. A little scruffy. When I see pictures of him outside the movie, you know, as himself, he looks a lot different. And doesn't really look country at all, but he worked it for the movie. I read on IMDB that he likes punk music... but he sings country really well. So yeah, it worked for him.

And the other girl... Leighton Meester. All I knew about her was that she is on "Gossip Girl," which I don't watch. Her character was slightly annoying in the movie. But I didn't have any complaints about her acting. Also, throughout the movie, I had this thought a lot: She's cute, but goofy looking at the same time. Haha. Anyway, she is also a good singer. I like her sound.

As far as what I didn't like about the movie... the plot was kind of... I don't even know the words for it. There was too much going on and I felt a lot of it was never resolved. Plus, some of it wasn't believable. Like, I didn't buy certain things... But something I did find interesting was that the writer & director, Shana Feste, said that "American pop singer Britney Spears inspired Gwyneth Paltrow's character in the film." I found that out after I saw the film and it amused me.

ANYWAY... I am seriously rambling. This is a bad first movie review. I'm all over the place... kind of like the movie.

I do want to mention one more thing, though. My favorite scene in the movie was the scene in which GP's character went to a school to visit a little boy with leukemia for the Make-a-Wish foundation. It was really cute and she made up a song on the spot for him. You could tell that GP is a mom, because she had a really good chemistry with the child. It was adorable and touching.

Overall, despite all the plot holes, for lack of a better word, I might buy the DVD, just because I liked the music so much. And I could see myself watching it again.

If I had to give this movie a grade, I would probably give it a B- ... maybe a B, depending on what mood I'm in. :)

Now, I was going to review another movie I watched, but I think it needs to go in it's own post. And I am not sure if I am going to do that right now, or just go to bed. Decisions, decisions...