Tuesday, April 29, 2008

I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

Your Netflix queue, that is.

You weren't thinking anything naughty, were you?
Good. I didn't think so.

Here's what we've seen lately:

Dan in Real Life - Kind of like a Jane Austen story, but about a guy. Actually, that really sums it up! BUT, this hero has 3 kids (he's a widower - did you know that's the only word in the English language to which you ADD letters to make it male-specific?)

It's surprisingly clean, and really showcases Steve Carrell's ability to be normal and attractive, unlike one of our favorite TV shows, The Office. Dane Cook is actually likable as the younger brother, and the gorgeous Juliette Binoche is perfect as always.

Once - A modern musical, independent film. The pace is much slower than the typical Hollywood movie, but if you just sit tight and relax (and listen REALLY CLOSELY - the accents can get pretty thick) you'll enjoy this Irish film. What Aaron and I appreciated in this movie is that the characters don't take the obvious route, but rather the more responsible one. What a relief.

Oh yeah, there's a bunch of F*** bombs in this movie. With a heavy Irish accent, which makes me not mind them very much. But you are warned...the language is rough.

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are real-life musicians (no faking in his highly emotional singing or her beautiful keyboards...) and long-time friends (no faking the chemistry, either!) who won an Oscar for Best Song.

Now, people. I have heard that since filming, the two stars fell in love and are living together (BAH. but anyway...). However, in the DVD extras, Hansard emphasizes that they are NOT a real-life couple, but that they are friends. He does gush quite a bit about her, however. So I'm wondering if this romance happened after the filming of the extras? If you have a source to back you up, let me know. I don't want rumors, I want facts.

The Illusionist - There were, like, three movies about magic all out at about the same time. This is the one about the guy (Edward Norton) who is so good people think he is for reals, not just an illusionist. He's in love with Jessica Biel's character, a richie-rich. And there's also the requisite richie-rich bad guy who's really jealous. Paul Giamatti also has a nice role as the conscious-conflicted inspector.

The other similarly-themed movie we saw a while ago was The Prestige. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are more my type of leading man than Norton, and that story was impossible to predict. But, they are both worth seeing. Kinda dark, though, especially The Prestige.

Danny Deckchair - It's a story that's been told before, except for the whole part about the guy's lawnchair soaring through the sky, aided by helium balloons. He lands in a lady's yard, and they end up falling in love while he reinvigorates the entire town. The fact that it takes place in Australia makes it more original.

Despite the familiarity, we really liked this movie. Rhys Ifans has probably one of the best male makeovers I've seen on film, and Miranda Otto has a lovely role, co-starring her incredible hair. Don't recognize her name? She was Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. And she was also in the TV series Cashmere Mafia, but we'll just forget about that one.

Again, there's some language here, again with a heavy accent that makes it more tolerable. Aaron also made the comment that foreign movies have more normal looking people - and it seems to be true, and make the story more believable.

We've seen some good movies lately. Have you?

6 comments:

Noel said...

Looks like there isn't any overlap between the movies you mention and our Netlfix queue which has over 100 movies in it.

Our main genres are family, foreign, sci-fi, and documentary.

1 Craaazy Mamma! said...

Liz, you and I must be on the same waive length lately.. I was going to post all the movies I've seen lately too. Ha, ha! Anyway, being confined to the chair by my healing body and very hungry new baby has given me a lot of time to catch up on new releases. I usually don't have time to watch movies but life it different right now, temporarily anyway.

This week I rented:
-Becoming Jane
-Death at a Funeral
-Martian Child
-August Rush

Last week:
-The Painted Veil (subtitles)
-Meet the Robinsons
-Enchanted
-The Namesake (more subtitles)

Before:
-Rendition (VERY good)
-Beowulf
-Nancy Drew
-The Nanny Diaries
-Snow Buddies

So, I've caught up on a lot of recent releases I admit, but it's the only thing that keeps me in recovery mode... darn c-section!

My Netflix membership is inactive at the moment.. I'm thinking I should reactivate it, soon!

Lyz said...

Holy cow, Tara. That is impressive.

I really want to see The Namesake - I've read a collection of short stories by the author, & they were just beautiful.

Also have heard a lot about August Rush. I read The Nanny Diaries, so I'd like to see that, too.

Enchanted was so fun! We did see that not too long ago, too.

Noel said...

I'm back from supper in downtown Moline with a Netlix recommendation which may be suitable for folks frequenting this blog as well as myself. We watched and enjoyed it as a family back in late January.

The movie is "Ladies in Lavendar" and the Netflix synopsis is

"It's 1936, and two sisters, Janet and Ursula Widdington (Maggie Smith and Judi Dench), are at their beach house in Cornwall for some rest and relaxation. But their idyll is interrupted when they chance upon a mystery man awash on the beach and decide to nurse him back to health. Turns out he's Andrea (Daniel Bruhl), a violinist who was bound for America when his ship encountered trouble. Before long, he takes the quiet fishing village by storm. … "

For those who like the house by the sea in the one MPT Jane Austen adaptation as well as romantic intrigue from "Sense & Sensibility", this movie is probably a good match.

As for Netflix memberships, besides the x-at-a-time feature, many plans allow unlimited "watch instantly" over the internet. The drawback is you need an adaequate computer with an adequate internet connection within viewing of the movie. Our 1.5 Mbs Qwest DSL works fine, but our older laptop with wireless doesn't have enough horsepower. The "view instantly" titles are a fraction of the total Netflix library.

JJ and EJ said...

P.S. I just realized last night that I put your last name on my last reply. I noticed you caught it. Thanks and sorry!

nydampress said...

Liz WATCH THE NAMESAKE!

Sorry I don't mean to yell, but it is such a fantastic, beautiful story. Have tissues ready!!

Also, did you know you can become our Netflix "friend" and you can see all the movies we watch and vise versa. Which would save me a lot of typing. Let me know if you are interested (currently we have Dave linked to us, and the notes he leaves for movies are very funny).

Really, words can't describe how much I love Netflix.