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Jul. 17th, 2011 11:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragonfareTreat time for me - ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zora113 has been nice enough to send me some Josh Groban, so I will have lovely music to listen to on the way to work this week!
I haven't been writing lately, so I've been watching a lot of movies. Four of them, I'd like to mention, but I'll put them under a cut for those on my flist who don't care about movies.
1) L.A. Confidential - I wouldn't have watched this, normally. It's not at all my style. But my dad and brother said I should, so I said what the heck. With Kevin Spacey, it has to something going for it, right? Well, it was far better than I ever expected. A really excellent script, great acting, fine directing, and a period setting that never "shouted", but felt natural. I was particularly impressed by the great differences between the three cops, how the movie made you dislike them and yet end up liking them later, and how their three approaches to the same case were woven together. Truly a terrific movie. Do I recommend? - Don't miss this one.
2) The Ref - This is another old one, and one I've watched before, but I tend to forget how delightfully funny it is. Denis Leary does the whole "exasperated to the point of insanity" better than anyone, and Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey (yes, Kevin again) are terrific as squabbling spouses whose constant bickering and dysfunctional family drive him to that point. He's a burglar who takes the couple hostage and ends up with the whole family as hostages, and listening to him, the outsider, spew the truth to these people is such a fun ride. Do I recommend? - Another one not to miss, if you like comedies.
3) Rango - I really didn't expect much from this film, but boy, was I wrong. It's adorable, touching, and hilarious. If you're not a fan of Westerns, you may not get as much of a kick out of it as I did, but it skewered Western movie cliches in almost every scene, and I almost broke a rib laughing at parts. Bill Nighy voiced my favorite character, Rattlesnake Jack, and Timothy Olyphant does a Clint Eastwood imitation that is spot on. Do I recommend? Absolutely, if you like animation, Westerns, or just a fun, sweet movie.
4) Love's Labour's Lost - I love Kenneth Branagh, and I love his Shakespeare films. This was an experiment, a Shakespeare play made into a 1930s style musical, set in a frame of WWII (which is shown in B&W, like Kansas vs Oz). It's one of those films where, if you can just go with it, it's delightful, but if you can't, well, that's a shame. Nathan Lane has a comic role, and so does Timothy Spall (no rats in sight) (only HP fans will get that one). The dancing and costumes are gorgeous. It falls down a little, plot-wise, because Ken left out a little too much of the Shakespeare dialog, but the music makes up for that, especially the Gershwin tunes, which include one of my favorites, "They Can't Take That Away From Me." Do I recommend? Only if you like 30s musicals; if so, then by all means.
zora113 has been nice enough to send me some Josh Groban, so I will have lovely music to listen to on the way to work this week!I haven't been writing lately, so I've been watching a lot of movies. Four of them, I'd like to mention, but I'll put them under a cut for those on my flist who don't care about movies.
1) L.A. Confidential - I wouldn't have watched this, normally. It's not at all my style. But my dad and brother said I should, so I said what the heck. With Kevin Spacey, it has to something going for it, right? Well, it was far better than I ever expected. A really excellent script, great acting, fine directing, and a period setting that never "shouted", but felt natural. I was particularly impressed by the great differences between the three cops, how the movie made you dislike them and yet end up liking them later, and how their three approaches to the same case were woven together. Truly a terrific movie. Do I recommend? - Don't miss this one.
2) The Ref - This is another old one, and one I've watched before, but I tend to forget how delightfully funny it is. Denis Leary does the whole "exasperated to the point of insanity" better than anyone, and Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey (yes, Kevin again) are terrific as squabbling spouses whose constant bickering and dysfunctional family drive him to that point. He's a burglar who takes the couple hostage and ends up with the whole family as hostages, and listening to him, the outsider, spew the truth to these people is such a fun ride. Do I recommend? - Another one not to miss, if you like comedies.
3) Rango - I really didn't expect much from this film, but boy, was I wrong. It's adorable, touching, and hilarious. If you're not a fan of Westerns, you may not get as much of a kick out of it as I did, but it skewered Western movie cliches in almost every scene, and I almost broke a rib laughing at parts. Bill Nighy voiced my favorite character, Rattlesnake Jack, and Timothy Olyphant does a Clint Eastwood imitation that is spot on. Do I recommend? Absolutely, if you like animation, Westerns, or just a fun, sweet movie.
4) Love's Labour's Lost - I love Kenneth Branagh, and I love his Shakespeare films. This was an experiment, a Shakespeare play made into a 1930s style musical, set in a frame of WWII (which is shown in B&W, like Kansas vs Oz). It's one of those films where, if you can just go with it, it's delightful, but if you can't, well, that's a shame. Nathan Lane has a comic role, and so does Timothy Spall (no rats in sight) (only HP fans will get that one). The dancing and costumes are gorgeous. It falls down a little, plot-wise, because Ken left out a little too much of the Shakespeare dialog, but the music makes up for that, especially the Gershwin tunes, which include one of my favorites, "They Can't Take That Away From Me." Do I recommend? Only if you like 30s musicals; if so, then by all means.