The Time Traveler's Wife

I was pleasantly surprised with this one (despite my theory that almost ZERO novels translate to film well). It was a sweet love story that moved quickly, never really dwelling on anything for too long. Rachel McAdams was so beautiful and fresh as the title character, and Eric Bana was okaaaaaay as the husband with a "genetic anomaly." Some of the time-traveling stuff got a little old, like the always having to find clothes thing, but in the end it was another endearing facet to the love story. I'd say CHECK IT OUT - it's sweet and romantic... I even teared up a little at the end.

Indonesia trip movies!

So, on the long flights to and from LA/Hong Kong, we got a fully interactive TV with a remote, and there were alot of movies to choose from, including several I'd already seen (New Moon, Inglorious Basterds - still my favorite movie of 2009!, and An Education - seriously, SO good). Along with those 3, I also watched

The Invention of Lying


I had high hopes for this one - Ricky Gervais is oh so funny and I really like Jennifer Garner... but it's pretty terrible. It starts off cute and funny but about halfway through takes a random turn to where Ricky Gervais is coming up with a description of God and heaven and then announcing it to the whole world. It only got more ridiculous as it progressed. I'd say PASS.

The Informant!


I enjoyed this one, although it's a little slow. Matt Damon is REALLY good as the bumbling, overweight nerd who's trying to take his company down. It's worth watching for his performance alone. It dragged a little in parts, but was quirky and funny enough to keep me interested. I'd say CHECK IT OUT.

Brief Interviews With Hideous Men

Good first-time director effort from one of my biggest celebrity crushes - John Krasinski (Jim from "The Office"). This isn't your typical movie, it's based on a David Foster Wallace short story, or maybe a whole book (I'm not sure) about relationships between men and women. It left me curious at the end and made me think about the issues it dealt with. I'd say it's VERY artsy-fartsy, it's alot of dialogue (most of which is someone talking to a camera) but I found it interesting and humorous. I'd say CHECK IT OUT for some thought-provoking issues.

4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days

FYI - I watch even more movies than I post on here. Mostly because the people who I KNOW follow my blog would NEVER watch some of the artsy movies I spend my time watching. However, I have been told by some that although they're not technically a "follower," they read my blog and want to know what I thought of these artsy films. So, to start off with the artsy films, is 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, a movie you've probably never heard of. I heard of it from Metacritic, it's on their list of the All Time High Scores.

This is definitely one of the most fascinating, gripping and REAL movies I've ever seen. The entire movie is from the perspective of Otilia, who's roommate wants to have an abortion in Communist Romania. Being caught would mean life in prison. The movie is shot entirely from Otilia's perspective, when she's walking down the street, you only see the back of her head in front of you. Getting a glimpse into this day, the most awful day of her entire life, is terrible and sad and makes you feel like an intruder. You feel all of her pain, all of her frustration, and all of her fear about what might happen at any second. This is not a movie the average watcher would enjoy, because it is so sad. But despite that, it is filmed so brilliantly that I appreciated it for what an amazing work of art it was. If you're a film lover like me, check it out for sure. Otherwise, I wouldn't go there.

The Last of the Mohicans

Beautiful movie. Beautiful story, beautiful scenery, and beautiful Daniel Day-Lewis! I like to see period pieces like this (taken as a glamorized, probably SLIGHTLY accurate portrayal) for a little history lesson. To see the British and French fighting over the American colonies, and the Native Americans fighting with and against them for control of the land was pretty interesting. The "I will find you" part was so sweet and worth watching the movie alone. Luckily, you don't need one good part to make it worth watching, because it's awesome overall. Even though this is an oldie - if you haven't seen it, I'd say CHECK IT OUT!

Gran Torino

I am of the opinion that Clint Eastwood the actor is a major cheeze-fest. His voice, his scowls... the whole package just makes me want to gag. However, Clint Eastwood the director is brilliant. His movies are always good and thought-provoking. Such is the case with Gran Torino. It is a beautiful story (although the beginning reminded me of "Up") with alot of heart. I definitely enjoyed it and would recommend it. If you haven't seen it, it's worth a watch so CHECK IT OUT!

Oscar Predictions!

Right now - it is Sunday afternoon around 1 pm... And I had to post about my Oscar predictions before the show starts!

BEST PICTURE
My pick to win: Inglorious Basterds (definitely my favorite movie this year)
What will win: I'm torn - I think Up In The Air or Precious. It just better not be Avatar. Seriously.

BEST ACTRESS
My pick to win: Sandra Bullock
Who will win: Meryl Streep

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
My pick to win: Christoph Waltz
Who will win: Christoph Waltz

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
My pick to win: Monique
Who will win: Monique

Any other categories I either haven't seen the movie or is too technical for me. I'm excited to see what happens tonight!

Shutter Island

It's kind of hard to give a review of this one because there's a surprise at the end! For those of you who haven't seen it - I'd say CHECK IT OUT! It's good overall (although it's maybe a little over-done in places) and it's thought-provoking all the way through. I will leave it at that! Now don't read past this line if you don't want to know some details of about how it ended!
__________________________________

Wow, I am thinking about this movie long after I saw it because of that ending. The one thing that really bothered me while watching it was Leonardo DiCaprio's over-acting, but after that ending I think his acting was pretty brilliant. Wouldn't a person like him be overly dramatic about everything? I really liked that for almost all of the movie, you thought it was about something else. Although this was set like 50 years ago, these mental illness issues are so relevant and I'm sure are dealt with to this day.

Taking Woodstock

This is one of those Netflix movies that I had at home for a long time because I always had a better one to watch before it. But this movie surprised me! It was funny and endearing and quirky. I laughed out loud several times! I was expecting to be bombarded with "hippie" stuff during this movie, but I didn't get that feeling after watching it. The hippie stuff was handled fairly comically, so it turned out funny-ridiculous, not annoying-ridiculous. Because of all the hippie stuff, there was male and female nudity, drugs, and some homosexuality. The nudity was kind of funny (the uptight locals yelling at them "cover yourselves!"), the drug stuff was fairly minimal, and the sexual stuff was never really pushed too far (meaning: they didn't show you much, it was just implied.) Overall, I was happy that the movie never really pushed a huge agenda (the way Woodstock itself did), it was really just the story of how Woodstock came to be. I wouldn't recommend this for everyone (because of all the VERY Rated R stuff), but if you can handle all of that, I'd say CHECK IT OUT!