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Here comes another round of movie reviews from the past couple of months. Hold on to your knickers!

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991)

This tells you how far behind I am in reviews, Amy! We watched this a while back with Ryan and Amy for a movie night. I thought I remembered seeing this when I was a kid, but perhaps I just remember seeing all of the commercials, and distinctly remember the "dishes are done" catchline. Well, recently I became enamored with Christina Applegate because of her role in Samantha Who? If you haven't seen the show, I'd say it's worth a watch just to experience Applegate as a comic genius, not only in selling her lines but in phyiscal comedy as well. I love her.

So I was excited to see her in something older, and not just the static role of Kelly in Married with Children. I think she's definitely matured over time and gotten a lot better, but she did hold her own starring in this movie. She and her sibilngs are left home alone when her mother leaves town for the summer and the babysitter dies, and she ends up getting a high-end fashion job with a lot of pressure.

It's fun, it's got that late-80s-early-90s vibe stamped all over it (even down to the Heathers-esque background music - yes I checked, and it's the same composer), and it's probably one I'd watch again whenever I see it on tv. I also liked the cheesy creepy guy David Duchovny portrays. Awesome. Although Ric liked it, he said it probably appeals more to girls than guys, and I could see that with all of the fashion plotlines. By the way, I never realized how much The Devil Wears Prada was just a rip off of this movie.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Vicky Cristina Barcelona feels like a pretty comfortable Woody Allen movie that isn't a comedy. I mentioned in my review of Manhattan that it was nice to see a movie of his that felt like he was in his own. I think that applies here as well. It didn't get too cliche and wasn't over-the-top with its witty conversations. It moved along fluidly and was performed well by all of the cast, which includes a very suave Javier Bardem, a perfect performance by Rebecca Hall, a comfortable and casual Scarlett Johansson, and an Oscar-winning role (which I didn't understand at all - I think the script itself talked up her character more than she played it) by Penelope Cruz.

It's about two girls who vacation in Barcelona and meet an artist. One engaged girl has a fling with him that surprises even herself, and the other dates him, even when his ex-wife moves back into the house with him. I liked it better than all of his more recent films (in the past decade).

I Love You Man (2009)

I wanted to see what all the kids were talking about, so I went to see I Love You Man with my sister at the cheap theater. I know we're not necessarily the target audience, but I was surprised to find that the girls in the audience were laughing just as much as the guys, and I think that had to do with the fact that Paul Rudd's character was so unintentionally metrosexual that they were able to find something in him with which they could identify.

His character is engaged and happy, until he realizes that he doesn't have any good guy friends to be in his wedding, so he goes about trying to make friends. That's a funny concept in itself, because it really is a weird thing to proactively try and make friends when one is an adult. There's no playground, and people don't just walk up to each other and say, "Be my friend." Rudd meets Jason Segel's character, who is a total bachelor, and the two hit it off awkwardly, which is half of the comedy of this movie.

I'm not really sure why Segel's character would be drawn to one like Rudd's, but thankfully, he's pretty indulgent, and the movie works out to be one of those funny guy movies with a bit of a sappy ending. I had a fun time, but yeah, there's a lot of crude conversation that feels like it's there just for the sake of creating a "guy" movie.

Field of Dreams (1989)

Believe it or not, I had never seen Field of Dreams until I saw it at Movies on the Fox. All I knew was that Kevin Coster has a corn field and hears the phrase, "If you build it, he will come." I didn't expect it to be as humorous as it was, and had no idea James Earl Jones was in it. The interchange between Coster and Jones was great.

But my favorite person in the whole movie was Amy Madigan, who plays Costner's wife in the film. Her sense of humor is exactly how I'd like to approach life. She's certainly sensible, but the way she had spunk and humor throughout any situation was really heartwarming. During the whole movie I kept trying to remember where else I've seen her. I know she's in a lot of other things, but knew she was in one of my favorites. Now that I just looked her up, I looked at her photo and thought, "Duh, she's in Uncle Buck!" Haha. I love her.

For some odd reason, the vibe of this movie felt a lot like that of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, even though the two were 12 years apart. I think it has to do with the very natural approach they take to the characters. Good times.

Portrait of Jennie (1948)

Thanks to Nate, I was encouraged to rent Portrait of Jennie, starring Joseph Cotten. I have always liked him, and the more I see of him, the more I realize he is, to me, just as big a star as the Cary Grants and Humphrey Bogarts of the past. He's great. Incidentally, I just watched the Alfred Hitchcock Presents in which he plays a paralyzed man who struggles to let someon know he is alive after a car accident - he does the whole episode staring blankly and without moving his body - awesome!

Anyway, in this movie, he stars as an artist who just hasn't quite found the right object to paint. One odd day in Central Park, he meets a young girl named Jennie, who makes a wish that he will wait for her to grow up so they can be with each other. Jennie seems to be from the past, but somehow seems to be able to connect with him, and each time he sees her, she's much, much older. This is the story of their mysterious relationship, his painting, and Jennie's past.

It's very haunting, beautifully filmed, has some cool effects (like a canvas-texture being superimposed over the panoramic shots to make them look like paintings, as well as a color-ending like that of Picture of Dorian Gray), good music, and of course, Cotten holds the movie up beautifully. Becky, if you're reading, I have a feeling you'd like this one.

Galaxy Quest (1999)

I never realized what the actual concept of this movie was until watching a clip of it in the Rotten Tomatoes Show. It's about the stars of an old 60s science fiction show (much like Star Trek) called Galaxy Quest, who don't seem to have much of a career going on for them. They go to the comic conventions and sign autographs, and are in a bit of a rut - that is, until one of them is approached by real visitors from another world who intercepted feed of the TV show and confused it for archival footage. They have built a replica of the show's spaceship and ask the crew for aid. It's a pretty funny idea, and is excuted really well. I especially loved Alan Rickman's deadpan humor (he has a knack for it, don't you think?) and how Sigourney Weaver's character basically only repeats everything the computer has already stated. Great movie, and a bonus was seeing Rainn Wilson as one of the aliens.

Flashbacks of a Fool (2008)

Daniel Craig is the fool in this movie, who has made many a mistake in his lifetime. He plays a film star who seems to be a bit washed up thanks to his wreckless lifestyle. When he hears about the death of a childhood friend, he decides to go back home, and in the meantime, has many flashbacks to his past. These reveal some special moments of his teenage years, as well as some darker bits that I didn't quite see coming.
I really loved the way this movie used the soundtrack. There's a wonderful scene during which two teenagers who love David Bowie and Roxy Music dress themselves up like their idols and lip sync to a Roxy Music song, and later on that song is echoed and becomes more relevant, which I didn't expect either. The style of the scene, the music, and the moment were absolutely great. The first thing I did after watching was to find the song and download it.

The opening scenes of this movie were so far removed from where it went, that I guess maybe that's why it surprised me. I mean, the credits are all sex, drugs, and rock and roll. I never expected it would lead to the sad story of a youthful summer in a small beachside town. The last shots of Claire Forlani are a little overboard, but I went with it.

17 Again (2009)

Nobody's review piqued my interest, so I caught this at the dollar theater. This is one of those movie experiences that gets me talking more about the audience itself, just because they were crazy. I mean, at least, the caretakers of the notable audience members were crazy. Ten minutes into the movie, two ladies brought in two adults who had mental disabilities. One of them was pretty content - that is, until the other one started yelling at the screen constantly. She got so riled up by the funny scenes or scenes with music in them, that she stood up, arms raised in the air, and yelled and yelled and yelled. She kept yelling, and half the audience couldn't tell what she was saying or that she had a problem, so they were getting upset. The content guy came to life and kept yelling, "Be quiet" at her, which was finally what got the caretaker to take her out of the theater - temporarily. The antics of this group just made me laugh more than anything else. I think I might have been upset if I had been watching any othe rmovie, but for a pop kids movie starring Zac Effron, it wasn't worth the effort to get very upset.

Well, the movie itself was fine. I was kind of bothered by some of the mature content of it. I mean, I'm not too sure an adult would even be accompanying the target audience teenagers who went to see it, so why make all the sexual jokes? They just made me feel uncomfortable because I was imagining being the mother of a teenager who went to see the movie.

At any rate, Michelle Trachtenburg was wasted, but Zac Effron did a good job. This is another one of those age switcheroo flicks, which is basically the opposite of big - a grown up wakes up young again. I think The Rotten Tomatoes show needs to do a montage of the scenes where the switcheree looks in the mirror and realizes that the switcheroo has taken place. I liked Leslie Mann a lot as the mom and am looking forward to seeing her in Funny People, just based on the trailer where she imitates Eric Bana. The part of this movie that made me smile the most was the relationship between Effron's friend and the high school principal (played by The Office's Melora Hardin). It's basically a Comic Book Guy, only rich and not quite so fat, and the fact that they have a conversation in Elvish just made me laugh.

High and Low (1963)

My sister and I caught High and Low as part of the essential foreign films series being played every weekend at Laemmle theatres. I hadn't seen it yet and liked it a lot. It's Akira Kurosawa and Mifune, like usual, only it was set in modern day Japan. Mifune plays Kingo Gondo, whose son is targeted by a kidnapper for ransom. Unfortunately, the wrong boy gets taken (Gondo's driver), and Gondo has to decide what is most important to him - paying the ransom to save someone else's son, or paying to save his life's work, which he has recently put at risk by promising to make a big business deal.

I like that this movie almost seems like two movies in one. The first act is all about the hostage situation and the decision that Gondo must make. Everything takes place in one room, and is high-stress. The second act emerges out into the streets and city. It's a huge contrast from the static first act, going to nightclubs, city streets, hospitals, drug neighborhoods, and several other setttings.

Both acts of the film are great pieces of work in their own right, the movie makes a lot of commentary in an effective way, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Glad I got to see it in hi-def and on the big screen!

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)

I had never heard of this movie until I got the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers box set for Christmas. Unfortunately, it was one of the movies that were missing from my defective set, so I never got to see it until I saw that it was playing on TV. It's actually based on famous real-life dancers and tells their love and success story.

I was very pleased to find myself watching an Astaire-Rogers movie with actual depth to it. Don't get me wrong - I pretty much always like their movies, but this one felt much more sincere in its love story, and especially in its urgency at the end. I didn't know anything about the real Castles, so it was education as well as unexpected. It's also interesting to see the famous couple do some older dances.

The costumes are great, the dances are good, and the acting is better. It was a nice change and I actually got involved in it more than I expected I would.

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

Speaking of movies that show us an older time of dance, Yankee Doodle Dandy shows us an older time of dance, Broadway, and entertainment in general. This was another Movies on the Fox feature, and although I had seen it as a kid, I hardly remembered any of it watching it this time around.

James Cagney stars in this bio pic of George M. Cohan (that's George Michael, btw!), once known as "the man who owned Broadway". It traces his steps from childhood to the end of his career, and in the process, the viewer witnesses the metamorphasis of his genre of entertainment. The sets, the costumes, the songs, the jokes, and the sincere family moments come together to make a movie that was more moving than I expected it to be despite the fact that it takes its time intelling Cohan's story.

Amy and I oohed and aahed on the car ride home about several aspects of the movie. I think part of it was admiring the famous pieces of music he wrote and part was thinking about the awesome sets (our favorite was the giant boat pulling away from the harbor and then appearing in the distance wtih a flare shooting into the sky).

It's definitely a classic and Cagney is awesome. Loved it.

Greyfriars Bobby (1961)

Thanks to Nate yet again, I loaded about 40 live action vintage Disney movies into my Netflix queue. Most of them will have to wait until later, but I couldn't resist watching Greyfriars Bobby right now, since I remembered hearing the story of this dog when I visited Edinburgh last fall. It's the story of a dog who was so devoted to his master that when his master passed away, he insisted on sleeping on the grave every night. The movie didn't want to get bogged down with the idea of the dog dying, so it didn't mention it - but the dog actually got buried in the same graveyard because of his famous reputation throughout the city.

The story differs a lot from the real life tale, but it's actually very heartwarming. We see the cemetery keeper and a local restauranteer as they fight over ownership of the dog - only to realize that neither will ever be his master because he will always belong to his old master. The whole town, including the local orphans, become good friends with Bobby and admire him, but he faces danger when it's discovered that the law requires that his owner pay for his license... and he has no living owner to pay.

This one was an instant classic for me, and I'll be sure to show it to my kids one day.

Earth (2009)

I caught Earth at the cheap theater on a Friday afternoon. I guess I was really tired, and I guess the repeated footage from watching the Planet Earth series was a little too familiar for me, because I got super sleepy while watching the movie. I fought sleep quite a bit, and it almost won, but I made it through, barely.

James Earl Jones narrates this movie, and does well enough, but I have to say that I was disappointed by the recycled footage. I already knew how many of the suspenseful chase scenes ended. I was also weirded out by how depressing the movie was. I know that it was trying to show the natural cycles of life on planet Earth, but there was a long stream of sad endings in the various vignettes that I don't think would go over well with young children. It would probably have been better to have more ups and downs interspersed with each other to soften the blow. The world's a harsh place, but seriously, I could hear people shifting in their chairs with the discomfort of so many cute animals facing death.

I hope the Oceans movie (to be released next Earth Day will spruce things up a bit. I do like that Disney wants to go back to its roots and wants to fairly show what real life is like, but I think they could do so a little bit more evenly.

Redbelt (2008)

Another movie night selection, Redbelt was Ryan's pick, on Blue-Ray, of course. It's a David Mamet movie starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as a mixed-martial arts instructor. A long series of events builds up in such a way that it seems like Lady Luck is smiling down on him, but as they get more complicated, they play out much to his disadvantage.

It's interesting to see how Mamet lets things play out gradually, as if the plot will only reveal itself as it happens, even though as it happens, it totally makes sense that it was going to happen because of all the establishing events that occured earlier in the movie. I don't know if that makes any sense, but that's my take. What I didn't like about the script was a lot of the dialog. It's very play-like, in which there are many unnatural interruptions and emphases. I thought it was going to ruin the movie for me at first, but then it seemed like it got more natural as it continued, so that became less of a concern to me.

As it turns out, the movie does follow a lot of the sport movie archetypes while still managing to make a new spin on some of them. There is a final fight, but it's not necessarily how one might expect it to be. I went along with the ride for most of it, but did think that the bounce back of good fortune at the end was a little bit overkill. I would have preferred to see a little bit more resolution to the many problems that Ejiofor's character was facing before the fight, but overall, I liked Redbelt for what it was. Great performances by him as well as Emily Mortimer.

Night at the Museum 2 (2009)

Ric and I caught this last night at the cheap theater. I had a lot of fun. It starts off a bit shaky with Ben Stiller's former night guard character having made it rich in the insignificant invention/tv sales arena. He discovers that all of his friends (figurines that come to life at night because of a magic ancient tablet) at the Natural History Museum are going to be sent to storage in the Smithsonian archives, and when he receives a call for help from one of them, he sneaks his way into the archives only to find that a battle has been started by the villains of the past.

Hank Azaria completely steals the show in this movie. I almost died laughing when he pronounced "cous-cous". But on top of that, it was so great to see Amy Adams, who was pitch-perfect as always with her fast-talking rendition of Amelia Earhart. Is she hot in that little pilot outfit or what?! Anyway, Bill Heder is a little unused as Custer, as are many of the figurines from the first movie. I think I saw a review somewhere that complained about how there were so many characters to follow that the movie felt a little bit disjointed. I didn't have too much of a problem with it, but yes, there were a million bit parts played by famous people who only got a couple minutes (or seconds) of screen time. As a matter of fact, it was funny to see half the cast of The Office make an appearance in the movie. Not sure what that was about, but it was fun.

While some of the special effects were a little too cartoonish (the squid and hippo in particular), I don't think it mattered too much because this movie wasn't exactly banking on reality. What I liked about this movie was that it took the idea of museum pieces coming to life and expanded it to apply to artwork. There's a little Degas ballerina stretching and dancing, and famous paintings and photos are fluid and animated. I love the idea of paintings coming to life, and loved the creative ways they explored it. The scene inside the sailor kissing the nurs photo was awesome.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this movie, despite some of its cheesiness and the kind of lame last few scenes. The dialog between Stiller and Jonah Hill was a crack up, and Azaria owned the screen any time he appeared on it. I'm glad I went out to see it and would definitely check out a third movie in the franchise if they made it.

Sullivan's Travels (1941)

I finally broke down and moved this movie up in my queue when I saw Errol Morris list it as his all-time favorite movie on the Rotten Tomatoes show. It's directed by Preston Sturges, who incidentally directed The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend, one of my childhood favorites that's pretty difficult to find anywhere, except on VHS. One day, I tell you, one day. I think I might have my mom copy it from her VHS. I must show it for a movie night some time.

Anyway, this Preston Sturges movie is about a director (Joel McCrea) who wants to make a movie called O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which would be about the poor and hopeless of the country. When his producers point out that he himself doesn't know what it's like to be run down and needy, he decides to head out with only a dime in his pocket and see if he can understand what it's like to walk in other people's shoes, especially shoes with holes in the soles. In the process, he meets a girl played by Veronica Lake, who accompanies him on his travels, which don't go according to plans when he keeps ending up back in Hollywood.

The movie is one that just runs along so smoothly and perfectly that it just makes me happy to watch. It doesn't hurt that most of the smaller roles are all played by some of my favorite stars from the old days, including Eric Blore, William Demarest, Roberg Greig, Franklin Pangborn, and many, many more. I am not sure if I had ever actually seen Veronica Lake in a movie (I think I had only seen her lookalike in LA Confidential), so it was great to see her and what she was like, and why all the men loved her. She was beautiful, funny, and grounded.

I liked that this movie tackled a current topic without being condescending or only taking it lightly. The conclusions it comes to about the value of comedy are valid and refreshing, and I loved that the Disney cartoon starring Pluto and some fly paper was used to help reach these conclusions. Great movie.

There you have it! Hope you find at least one review interesting, as non-in-depth as they may be.