In Praise of the B Movie

Last night I was surfing channels while chatting on the phone with Meryl about her just completed novel (and I must add a big Woot here) and I stumbled upon Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus, or as I like to think of it Mega Stupid with Crocawesome.

It is a truly awful movie.

It shamelessly reuses sets from its predecessor Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus, has endless stock footage, beyond bad dialogue, and some of the worst CGI I have seen in decades. Heck the earlier Godzillia movies had better production values. It is a classic direct to DVD release.

And yet I loved it.

Meryl and I howled over the wooden acting and bad direction. It is classified as Action/Horror, but it really is a comedy. One person in the comments in the trailer ripped into some of the many inaccuracies and my reaction was simply "Dude it's Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus, what did you expect." I love a movie that wallows in its trashiness and this movie is a prime example. Nate was appalled by the hot mess the movie is, but did ultimately see the humor. The earlier movie, Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus, is a better film, but I love this one too for all its cheesy glory. And even better, it has Urkel all grown up.

Yellow Submarine

Sometime last week I noticed that a theater up in Richmond would have two screenings of "The Yellow Submarine." From what I gathered the film had been recently restored by hand and frame by frame. The plan by the studio is to have an extremely limited release of the film and then issue the remastered DVD.

I have heard nothing about this in any way shape or form. If I hadn't been checking on upcoming movies I never would have known. I don't think I ever got to see it on the big screen when I was little, instead I saw it on TV and fell in love with the movie. I'm not sure if I was a Beatles fan before hand, but at the very least it sealed the deal. Right now we have a very worn VHS copy that we all enjoy watching. I mentioned the movie to Larry and he was game to go. In fact he suggested that we got out to dinner before hand and have that as my mother's day treat.

Ooo Mother's day without all the fuss and bother in the restaurants that occurs on the official date.

I jumped on it with a big yes! I think Mother's day is one of the worst days to go out to eat. The crowds, the noise, and so on. By celebrating early I get to miss the worst day of the year to go out to eat. And enjoy it I did.

The only bad part was I got caught in an awful traffic jam before dinner so the meal was a bit rushed. And rush we did. We did miss the very opening of the movie, but that was not a problem. The kids know it well as do Larry and I. Nate wasn't too thrilled when Larry and I sang along in parts. I soften my voice and he got over it.

As to the movie... well most of the problems were from the theater. The first five or ten minutes where spent adjusting and readjusting the picture size along with the focus, then we lost the picture entirely. Luckily the staff at the theater was able to rectify the situation and we were able to lose ourselves in the movie.

John Carter

Larry and I took Nate, Max, and Rebecca out to see John Carter today (Jake had a boatload of homework and had to stay home). We tried to go last weekend, but our busy schedules made it nigh impossible, particularly since we wanted to hit the bargain matinee. It was going to another no go this weekend until we decided to bag the matinee and just go already, we were afraid it would be gone before we could pull our act together. The movie has not been a big draw and with the Hunger Games on the scene, John Carter's days are numbered.

I don't understand why the movie "John Carter" is not doing particularly well. It's a good movie that appealed to all of us that went. The CGI was well done without being overwrought, the action scenes made sense, and there was a good dose of humor in a well written script. I guess Disney's marketing is to blame. They don't seem to know what to do with movie geared more for adults, the PG-13 rating has thrown them for a loop. It was fine for the dynamic duo at age ten. They have grown up on Harry Potter and Star Wars and were ready for the intensity of this film. I won't, however, recommend this to our neighbor. Their eldest is in 1st grade and I can see him being very overwhelmed by this movie and his 3year old sister is a complete nonstarter.

So go see it before it is gone, but be warned it is not a Disney movie for little kids.

Hollywood Comes To Richmond

Lincoln tents capitol, a photo by Teckelcar on Flickr.

Spielberg is in town filming the movie "Lincoln"and it just so happens that a chunk of the filming is occurring near my husband's office. He brought in our camera to work today so he could take a better class of picture than he can with his cell phone. This shot came out particularly well and shows some of the tents pitched on the capitol grounds and addition built onto the capitol itself. 

It is a big deal up in Richmond with the production crew snarling traffic as they take over the city. The extras are dining in Larry's building and stretches of cobblestones around the capitol square have been covered with dirt. 

I would love to go see the filming, but then again I'm very glad I don't have to be up there.

The Slap

A film that is not quite what you would expect, particularly from Iran.

Trofest Finalists - FLASHBACK

This movie, Lamb, was a Tropfest finalist in 2002.
I think this is a beautifully done film. It's emotionally raw, but well worth the time. I promise I'll feature something a little more upbeat next week.

ONE - Tropfest 2010 Finalist

Lovely little wordless movie featuring, of all things, dice as the main protagonists.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Today was a whirlwind of activity for us. In addition to the normal musical lessons for Nate and Max we had Rebecca's piano recital and a private showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows courtesy of Meryl.

The musicals bits all went well, except for the fact that the recital was too dang long (two hours vs the normal one hour- long story and I hope it's not repeated). Which brings us to the movie.

It was glorious.

Yes it's dark, but then the last book is dark. The characters stayed true to the book and only a few liberties were taken. The stopping point chosen was logical and left us pining for the second half. Mind you it's not short, clocking in at 2 1/2 hours. However the movie was well paced and edited, fully utilizing that extra half hour. You really don't mind the length of the movie. I can't wait for the second installment come this July.

Scott Pilgrim Silliness

Scott Pilgrim Avatar
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

In the not too distant past I saw Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World in our beloved second run movie palace, the Byrd Theater.

It is not great cinema, but it is a wonderful flick. It rips along with a great sense of humor and is just the right length. I don't want to say much more, because odds are I would end up spoiling it. Basically it's a boy meets girl, boy has to defeat exs of girl to win her type of movie.

I didn't write about the movie earlier because I hadn't much to say. But, since then I have started poking around on the movie's website. The site is turning out to be a glorious time suck of Avatar creation and YouTube remixes. It's a nice way to wind down the week.

Strangers

A very well done and interesting short film. I won't say anything more, it is better to see this fresh, with no preconceptions.

Let's Go to the Animated Movies

I'm shamelessly stealing this from Jordana. She found it over at First Things where last Friday's topic was The 15 Best Animated Films. In the post was a list of 240 animated films and the question, which ones have you seen.

CLASSIC DISNEY
——————————-

[X] Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
[X] Fantasia (1940)
[X] Pinocchio (1940)
[X] Dumbo (1941)
[X] Bambi (1942)
[X] Song of the South (1946)
[X] Cinderella (1950)
[X] Alice in Wonderland (1951)
[X] Peter Pan (1953)
[X] Lady and the Tramp (1955)
[X] Sleeping Beauty (1959)
[X] 101 Dalmatians (1961)
[X] Mary Poppins (1964)


DISNEY’S DARK AGE
——————————-


[X] The Sword In The Stone (1963)
[X] The Jungle Book (1967)
[X] The Aristocats (1970)
[X] Bedknobs and Broomsticks [1971]
[X] Robin Hood (1973)
[X] The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
[X] Pete’s Dragon (1977)
[X] The Rescuers (1977)
[X] The Fox and the Hound (1981)
[X] The Black Cauldron (1985)
[ ] The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
[ ] Oliver and Company (1986)


THE DISNEY RENAISSANCE
——————————-

[X] Beauty and the Beast (1991)
[ ] The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
[X] Aladdin (1992)
[X] The Lion King (1994)
[ ] A Goofy Movie (1995)
[ ] Hercules (1997)
[ ] The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
[X] The Little Mermaid (1989)
[X] Mulan (1998)
[X] Pocahontas (1995)
[X] Tarzan (1999)

DISNEY’S MODERN AGE
——————————-

[X] Dinosaur (2000)
[X] Fantasia 2000 (2000)
[X] The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
[X] Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
[X] Lilo & Stitch (2002)
[ ] Treasure Planet (2002)
[ ] Brother Bear (2003)
[ ] Home on the Range (2004)
[X] Chicken Little (2005)
[X] Meet the Robinsons (2007)
[X] Bolt (2008)
[ ] The Princess and the Frog (2009)

PIXAR
——————————-

[X] Toy Story (1995)
[X] A Bug’s Life (1998)
[X] Toy Story 2 (1999)
[X] Monsters Inc. (2001)
[X] Finding Nemo (2003)
[X] The Incredibles (2004)
[X] Cars (2006)
[X] Ratatouille (2007)
[X] Wall-E (2008)
[X] Up (2009)

DON BLUTH
——————————-

[X] The Secret of NIMH (1982)
[X] An American Tail (1986)
[X] The Land Before Time (1988)
[ ] All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
[ ] An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)
[ ] Rock-a-Doodle (1991)
[ ] A Troll in Central Park (1994)
[ ] Anastasia (1997)
[ ] The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)
[ ] Thumbelina (1994)
[ ] Titan AE (2000)

CLAYMATION
——————————-

[ ] The Adventures of Mark Twain (1986)
[ ] The Puppetoon Movie (1987)
[X] The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
[X] James and the Giant Peach (1996)
[X] Chicken Run (2000)
[X] Corpse Bride (2005)
[X] Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
[ ] Coraline (2009)

CGI GLUT
——————————-

[ ] Antz (1998)
[X] Shrek (2001)
[X] Shrek 2 (2004)
[X] The Polar Express (2004)
[X] Madagascar (2005)
[X] Happy Feet (2006)
[ ] Monster House (2006)
[X] Over the Hedge (2006)
[ ] Beowulf (2007)
[ ] Shrek The Third (2007)
[X] Kung Fu Panda (2008)
[X] Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)
[ ] How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
[ ] Shrek Forever After (2010)

CARTOONS FOR GROWN-UPS
——————————-

[X] Fritz the Cat (1972)Biggest money maker for my college's film society
[ ] Street Fight (Coonskin) (1975)
[ ] American Pop (1981)
[ ] Heavy Metal (1981)
[ ] Hey Good Lookin’ (1982)
[ ] Cool World (1992)
[X] Beavis & Butthead Do America (1996)
[X] South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
[ ] Heavy Metal 2000 (2000)
[ ] Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
[ ] Waking Life (2001)
[ ] The Animatrix (2003)
[ ] Lady Death (2004)
[ ] Final Fantasy: Advent Children (2005)
[ ] A Scanner Darkly (2006)


OTHER ANIMATED MOVIES
——————————-

[X] Animal Farm (1954)
[X] Charlotte’s Web (1973)
[X] The Hobbit (1977)
[X] Lord of the Rings (1978)
[ ] Ringing Bell (1978)
[ ] Animalympics (1980)
[X] Pink Floyd’s The Wall (1982)
[ ] Rock & Rule (1983)
[ ] Care Bears: The Movie (1985)
[ ] He-Man & She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword (1985)
[ ] Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (1985)
[ ] Gobots: Battle of the Rock Lords (1986)
[ ] My Little Pony: The Movie (1986)
[ ] Transformers: The Movie (1986)
[ ] G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987)
[ ] Bravestarr: The Movie (1988)
[X] The Brave Little Toaster (1988)
[X] Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
[ ] Fern Gully (1992)
[ ] Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1992)
[X] The Swan Princess (1994)
[X] Balto (1995)
[X] Space Jam (1996)
[ ] Cats Don’t Dance (1997)
[X] The Prince of Egypt (1998)
[ ] Wizards (1977)
[X] The Iron Giant (1999)Terrific
[ ] Quest For Camelot (1999)
[ ] The Road to El Dorado (2000)
[ ] Powerpuff Girls: The Movie (2002)
[X] Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)Saw this at the pediatrician's office
[ ] Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon The Movie (2007)
[ ] Superman: Doomsday (2007)
[ ] Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)
[ ] Wonder Woman (2009)
[ ] Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
[ ] Batman: Mask of the Phantasm


IMPORTS
——————————-

[ ] Arabian Knight
[ ] Back to Gaya
[X] Yellow Submarine (1968)
[X] Watership Down (1978)
[ ] The Last Unicorn (1982)
[ ] Light Years (1988)
[ ] When the Wind Blows (1988)
[ ] The Triplets of Belleville (2003)I want to see it
[ ] Persepolis (2007)
[ ] Planet 51 (2009)I'll be seeing it Wednesday!
[ ] Waltz With Bashir (2008)

STUDIO GHIBLI/MIYAZAKI
——————————-

[ ] Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
[X] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)Loved it
[ ] Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)
[ ] Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
[ ] Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
[ ] Only Yesterday (1991)
[ ] Porco Rosso (1992)
[ ] My Neighbor Totoro (1993)
[ ] Pom Poko (Tanuki War) (1994)
[ ] Whisper of the Heart (1995)
[ ] My Neighbors The Yamadas (1999)
[ ] Princess Mononoke (1999)
[ ] The Cat Returns (2002)
[X] Spirited Away (2002)Wonderful movie
[X] Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)Very different from the book, but still very good
[ ] Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea (2009)
[ ] Panda! Go Panda!
[ ] Tales from Earthsea
[ ] Horus, Prince of the Sun

SATOSHI KON
——————————-

[ ] Perfect Blue (1999)
[ ] Millennium Actress (2001)
[ ] Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
[ ] Paprika (2006)

SHINKAI MAKOTO
——————————-

[ ] She and Her Cat (1999)
[ ] Voices of a Distant Star (2001)
[ ] The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)
[ ] 5 Centimeters per Second (2007)

OTHER ANIME FILMS
——————————-

[ ] Galay Epress 999 (1979)
[ ] Arcadia of My Youth (U.S. Title – Vengeance of the Space Pirate) (1982)
[ ] Space Adventure Cobra (1982)
[ ] The Professional: Golgo 13 (1983)
[ ] Unico and the Island of Magic (1983)
[ ] Lensman (1984)
[ ] Macross: Do You Remember Love (U.S. Title – Clash of the Bionoids) (1984)
[ ] The Dagger of Kamui (U.S. Title – Revenge of the Ninja Warrior) (1985)
[ ] Vampire Hunter D (1985)
[ ] Fist of the North Star (1986)
[ ] Neo-Tokyo (1986)
[ ] Project A-ko (1986)
[ ] Dirty Pair: Project Eden (1987)
[ ] Urotsukidoji: The Movie (1987)
[ ] Robot Carnival (1987)
[ ] Wings of Honneamise: Royal Space Force (1987)
[ ] Akira (1989)
[ ] Patlabor the Movie (1989)
[ ] Silent Möbius (1991)
[ ] Ninja Scroll (1993)
[ ] Ghost in the Shell (1996)
[ ] End of Evangelion (1997)
[ ] Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (1998)
[ ] Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust (2000)
[ ] Metropolis (2001)
[ ] Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2003)
[ ] Appleseed (2004)
[ ] Steamboy (2004)
[ ] Robotech: The Shadow Chronicle (2006)
[ ] The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
[ ] Appleseed: E Machina (2007)
[ ] Sword of the Stranger (2007)
[ ] Origin: Spirits Of The Past

ADDENDUM
——————————-

[ ] The Chipmunk Adventure (1987)
[ ] Feli the Cat: The Movie (1988)
[ ] We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story (1993)
[X] The Rugrats Movie (1998)
[ ] Pokemon: The First Movie (1999)
[ ] Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001)
[X] Ice Age (2002)
[X] Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
[ ] Shark Tale (2004)
[X] The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004)
[X] Hoodwinked (2005)
[ ] Valiant (2005)
[ ] The Ant Bully (2006)
[X] Flushed Away (2006)
[X] Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
[ ] Open Season (2006)
[ ] Bee Movie (2007)
[X] The Simpsons Movie (2007)
[ ] Happily N’Ever After (2007)
[X] Horton Hears a Who (2008)
[ ] Space Chimps (2008)
[X] Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
[ ] The Tale of Despereaux (2008)
[ ] 9 (2009)
[ ] Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
[ ] Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
[X] Robots

Well it looks like I need to watch more Anime and other non-Disney and non-Pixar films. However, I refuse to watch the Care Bears Movie.

Forever's Not So Long

Forever's Not So Long from garrettmurray on Vimeo.

Great short movie about having just a little time left in the world.

Nuit Blanche

Another brilliant short film. This one is from Spyfilms and features lovely music with arresting imagery.

Thursday Playdate

I've started to socialize with a couple of other moms in the neighborhood. It started out with my walking the dogs after getting my youngest two on the bus. I would go to the bus stop with Max, Rebecca and the dogs, once the dynamic duo was ensconced on the bus I would take the dogs for a walk. My route would take me to the next closest bus stop and I would say hello to the two moms waiting with their children. Soon we all started walking together on a nice one and a half loop.

We talk about this and that and pick up the litter on the side of the road.

And now we have started going to the movies.

We are up for almost anything. It's a treat for us to see non child oriented movies. Our only requirement is that the movie ends in time for us to get back to our respective bus stops to meet our children.

So far we have seen Holmes, Valentine's Day, Blind Side, and Avatar. We are not interested in great cinema, just interesting movies that fit into our time restrictions. I used to see all the movies and it is nice for me to abe able to do it again at matinee prices.

The Blind Side

One of the nice things about the kids being school is that I get to do fun grown up stuff like going to the movies. There are a couple of mothers in the neighborhood that I'll go on a daily walk with after the bus picks up our respective children. And when we can shoehorn it into our schedules, we grab the occasional movie.

Today we saw The Blind Side.

We chose it because it fit best with our biggest requirement, getting back home before the the bus. Jake had seen it when it first came out with his classmates on a field trip (And at this point I must digress- when did it become normal for schools to have field trips to the movies? I never got to do that when I went to school.) and loved it. I was a bit unsure about the movie, being a nonfan of football, but I thought I would give it a shot.

I loved it. It is a terrific movie and Sandra Bullock gave an incredibly strong performance. Both heartbreaking and uplifting, the movie kept me glued to my seat. I'm so glad that I saw it. Meryl got to join us today and she too thought it was an amazing film.

It is definitely worth seeing.

Great White Hunters

I posted another movie, Marry Me, from Tropfest a while ago. This was the third place winner from the same (2008) competition.

It is so very, very Australian. I can't decide which is my favorite bit- it's either the beer holder or the surfer.

Last Day of Summer Vacation

Tomorrow the kids are all back at school and of course it was a dreary rainy day.

As a sort of last hurrah of summer we took the kids to see Up again.

We had seen it when it first came out and loved it. It is a beautiful movie that is not just for kids. The opening storyline made me cry both times. It was well worth paying full price to see it the first time around.

Today, however, we got to see it at the Byrd Theater in Richmond. It is a classic movie palace that is now a second run theater with the occasional independent movie thrown in for fun. At two bucks a pop, it's the best movie entertainment value in town. The kids were impressed by the theater (less so by the seats- they are pretty much shot) and were amazed that there was only one screen.

There was pretty much a full house and the audience was great. There was a bit of anticipatory laughter before some of the more absurd bits and everybody was rooting for the good guys. The kids groused a bit about seeing a movie a second time, but in the end they had a fabulous time. I think we might try to wait out a fun more movies and catch them on the return at the Byrd.

One of My Favorites

I was so sad to see last night that John Hughes had passed away. He was a wonderful director and much too young. Of his films, Ferris Bueller's Day Off is my favorite.

Larry and I saw it in, of all places, Montreal. We had driven up there for the day from my mom's house on a whim. We were just knocking about the city and decided to go to the movies. We loved it.

And I swear my brother is Ferris Bueller.

Where The Wild Things Are

This weekend Larry and I went to see the latest installment in the Harry Potter opus. It was good, but as Larry so correctly observed it was rushed. Which is understandable considering the size of the book in question.

Anyhoo, this is not about the Half-Blood Prince, but is about another movie that is coming out in October.

Where the Wild Things Are

This is one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors. I first learned about this production months and months ago and I was thrilled by the stills I saw. Then this weekend I got to see the trailer for the very first time during the previews before The Half-Blood Prince.

I love it. I can't wait for the movie, which opens the day after Max and Rebecca's birthday. Maybe I can take my Max to see another Max.

Movie Time

This weekend we went to the movies. Jake and Nate got to see Star Trek with Larry, while Max and Rebecca saw Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian with me and Aunt Meryl.

Larry and the boys had a great time, to quote Larry "It exceeded expectations," a nice pithy review. The boys were dying to discuss the movie, but they were just barely able to contain themselves in my presence. I asked them to hold off until I get a chance to see it for myself.

As for Night at the Museum II, I can heartily recommend it. It is a great family movie that is enjoyable for both kids and their parents. Max and Rebecca were enraptured by it and I only had to go for one potty break with Max. I kind of wished I had checked out Run Pee (an extremely silly yet useful web site that gives me another reason to love the internets), but I don't think I missed anything terribly important. When the movie ended the dynamic duo immeadiately asked if you could buy it, so I think I'll be seeing it again in the not so distant future.