Crazy Movie Lady 22

June 21-27, 2009
345. Tropic Thunder. Ben Stiller directs and stars in a spoof of the making of a war film. Jack Black, my boy Matthew McConaughey, Robert Downey, Jr. Of course I was reluctant to watch this film because of the black face by RD but Rashan watched it first and turns out it was really funny. I was shocked. I never expect to like Ben Stiller in films and yet I always do. Tom Cruise had one of the worst fat suits in the history of movies. The last bit of him dancing was a misstep but still an amusing movie. I can't believe I'm saying this but 4 stars. What? Wow...
346. Some Like it Hot. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in a film about two men who witness a mob shooting and have to get out of town by dressing as women. All sorts of things commence in this screwball comedy. I liked it. It made me laugh, but it was a little long. I hated Marilyn Monroe's dumb blonde act. 3.9/5 stars.
347. After Innocence. Documentary about people exonerated from wrongful convictions mostly via DNA evidence. I thought it only happened to black people and hispanics until I watched this. This film had the potential to be really powerful but lost some of it in the slow pacing and the fact that they used so many cases. It made it hard to connect with any of the exonerees because you didn't know how many more were coming. Strangely among the what felt like dozens of exonerees profiled, there were no women. I did want to get involved but I already felt that way. Huge slant. Horrible music. 2.9/5 stars.
348. How to Lose Your Lover. Pretty bad mostly because of the obvious similarities to "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." Then it meandered too long. There was some pretty subpar camera work, too. 2/5 stars.
349. Enchanted. Disney animated film transforms when the wicked queen drops the future princess (Amy Adams) into Times Square and the prince follows her from the land of make believe. She's hilarious. One of the unexpected twists involves McDreamy (aka Patrick Dempsey). I didn't expect to laugh out loud like I did. Of course the predictable Disney ending but up until that point a very amusing film. 3.8/5 stars.
350. I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon W.iesenthal. Documentary about the architect turned N.azi hunter who survived in concentration camps, then made it his mission to track down tormenters. Over-reliance on narration for someone who can (and did) dynamically tell his own story. Some excellent archival material though at times its usage makes you wonder if it's just background from the time or directly related to his life. The Boston Globe reviewer talked about the bad score in its melodrama and I absolutely agree. It cheapened a powerful story. And I've noticed reviewers are more reluctant to be honest about a film's flaws if the topic is a sensitive one. That is ridiculous. The more important the story, the more important it is to tell the story in an honest and balanced way. As this film was commissioned by his namesake center that was never going to happen but still... 3/5 stars.
351. A Woman is A Woman. Film by legendary French director Jean-Luc Godard about a striptease artist who wants to have a baby and her boyfriend who doesn't and how they solve their dilemma. References to Godard's other films. Very strange. Some of it I completely didn't understand. 3.3/5 stars.
352. Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day. I picked this film because Amy Admas cracks me up. She didn't so much in this one and her roles seem to all be a little bit too similar. The ditzy red head. Hmmm... Interesting movie about a fired nanny who stumbles upon a job that happens to be just right for her assisting an American star. 3.5 stars.
353. Love and Other Disasters. Film starring Brittany Murphy who plays an assistant at British Vogue who sets up her friends with people all the time with mixed success. Not to spoil or anything but at the beginning it says something about her having an accent sometimes British and sometimes American. Really? I immediately thought, "Wow... Brit's British accent was that bad that they had to put a cop out disclaimer at the front? Bad." It really wasn't that bad, though. I actually laughed out loud several times and was caught up in the romantic comedy. Still... 3/5 stars.
354. The Spiral Staircase. 1946 film about a woman who can't speak in a town with a serial killer on the loose murdering women who can't fight back. She of course is expected to be his next victim. Interesting enough murder mystery though a bit slow-moving. 3/5 stars.
355. He's Just Not That Into You. Really? You show Africans in huts surrounded by goats? In the first 2 minutes of the film? Wack. And why is it more than 2 hours long? And why are the people in this film already so stupid 8 minutes in? I should've known I wouldn't like 1 million things about this movie. Like the bunch of stupid women who give their even dumber friends the dumbest advice of their lives. Did you think it would be predictable and full of cliches? Oh because it was. 2 stars.
356. Bonnie and Clyde. Classic film about the bank-robbing outlaws starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Lots of action and drama. I liked it. 4.1/5 stars.
356. 84 Charing Cross Road. British film starring Anne Bancroft as a cheeky American who writes to London for out of print British books. The recipient of her letters is Anthony Hopkins as a man who works for a bookseller. Cute film I think mostly because I like snail mail for some things and love books. Very appealing even though I didn't really like the end. 4/5 stars.
357. Fools Rush In. Uber romantic comedy with Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek playing a couple who get married on a whim. Of course mayhem ensues. Stace hated it. Rah liked it. I was somewhere in between. I thought it definitely didn't need to be 110 minutes. 3 stars.