Movie Monday/Travel Tuesday - The Man from U.N.C.L.E

Maybe not exactly "elegant"... and not entirely 60s, either, but Christopher and I saw the new movie "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." tonight. And there was a decent amount of travel in it.

We start in Berlin (both East and West), then head for Italy and wander around Rome for a bit through the ruins as well as some really swanky hotels and office buildings.

All of which takes place while watching British Henry Cavill (who plays an American), American Armie Hammer (who plays a Russian), and a host of other people who play various other nationalities.

(from the official "Man from U.N.C.L.E." website)

Here's the thing, though: I had a blast. It was kind of "buddy cop movie meets James Bond" or maybe "White Collar meets the Cold War" or something like that. The two protaganists antagonize the heck out of each other, and they do it while being dashing and rugged and (kind of) getting the girl(s).

And, of course, at the end the set-up arrives to make this the start of a possible new movie franchise - so you know that everyone survives to the end of the movie. Because, of course, they're the good guys.

Was it the best movie ever? No. Was it a great way to spend a couple of hours on a rainy night? Definitely. Heck - I'd even go back and spend those two hours on a sunny day to see it again. (Though I'll probably wait and do that when it's out on DVD.) I'd totally give it an A.

And, yes, when/if a sequel comes out, I'll definitely go see that, too.

Stumbling Upon Movie Monday

My book club meeting just ended and - since it was here at home - I cleaned up and then turned on the TV. Tons of channels. Nothing on. As usual.

But then I saw "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was on. Sure, it started about 19 minutes earlier. Yes, I have seen it a bunch of times and have favorite lines. Yep, we own a copy of it and can watch it whenever we want - without missing the first 19 minutes. No, I'm not sure I'll watch it all the way through.

And that all makes me ridiculously happy.

One of the best kinds of serendipity, to me, is stumbling across a movie I love on TV. There is something so fun in the surprise and unexpected joy that comes with turning on the TV and being greeted by characters you love and a story you already know. It's like finding a warm, fuzzy blanket on a cold night. Or an ice cream cone in one of those cake cones that you always used to get at your grandmother's house.

It's familiar. It's friendly. It's the perfect way to round out a Movie Monday.

Clothes Make the Man (Sometimes)

A while back, I made a comment on social media that got some odd reactions - mainly from the people who only read half of it.

My comment was basically "Sometimes, when I'm driving through town to work, I see a guy and I just want to walk up to him and strip him down. And then put him in better clothing to see if it makes any difference."

Obviously, the people who only read the first sentence thought that I was simply talking about stripping down random men on the street, probably for prurient reasons. But those who read all the way to the end realized that I was truly trying to focus on the greater good. After all, there are a lot of good looking guys in the world who simply have no idea how to dress.

What's worse is that so often it is guys who obviously have a lot of money who look the worst. They're usually - in my opinion - trying one too many trends at the same time. It's like the old pre-bar adage of needing to take off one accessory before going out. If they're already doing skinny jeans and a lumberjack beard, maybe they shouldn't also do the clunky boots that make them look like they just left Dogpatch. That kind of thing.

But then there are also the guys who seem to find the right thing to wear... once... but then miss the mark the next time, after proving that they can do so much better.

In non-real-world terms, it's like Chris Hemsworth - the guy who plays Thor in the recent movies of the same name. (Full disclosure - one of those is on TV right now as I'm writing this.) For me, I think he looks good in the Thor costume. It gives him good shoulders (although I assume he has pretty good shoulders, anyway) and between his hair and the way the cape attaches to the armor, his neck fills out well. In real life, when you see him, he has a really long, skinny neck. And he looks kind of out of scale.

The times that I've seen him on talk shows, I've thought it would be nice to strip him out of his street clothes and put him in the Thor suit (or maybe just attach the cape to his street clothes, I guess), because that seems to be a better look for him.

I kind of wonder what I would think if I saw him walking across the street in front my car some morning. I don't really know how he dresses in real life, so it could go either way, I guess. And I can't really imagine me whipping out a full set of Norse armor to put on some random guy walking through downtown Minneapolis at 8:30 in the morning, anyway.

Oh... I totally admit that I also could use someone showing up and completely redoing my wardrobe. So if there are any fairy godmothers out there looking for that kind of gig, feel free to send them my way.

Movie Monday - That Awkward Moment

A couple of months ago, I made the mistake of going to see "Neighbors," in part because Zac Efron was going to be in it and... well... he was going to be shirtless. I know... I know... that's kind of weird and creepy and all that. But he's over 21, so it's not so bad.

Unfortunately, the movie was so bad. It was awful. Horrible. Not even good horrible, but just bad horrible. Like when you crack open a rotten egg horrible. (Not to say that I didn't have fun at the movie, but that's because of who I went with - not in any part due to the movie.)

This week, though, my Netflix account did one of those weird shuffles and sent me a disc that was supposed to be about three layers down. It was "That Awkward Moment", which starred Efron as one of three guys who make a pact to not date any more after one of them has a really bad breakup.

It's a strange little movie. It's got some frat-boy-ish humor, but it gradually pulls you into their lives. And their lives are good, but not great. Sure, they have good friends and bad relationships, but they also have sparks of good relationships and the realizations that friendships are often malleable.

Sure, the movie gets a little predictable along the way and you kind of guess what's going to happen in the end. But, along the way, it actually seemed to get... well... good.

Which, I guess, means that this is that awkward moment when I admit that I liked the movie against my original prejudice, and that I'd actually recommend it.

Overall rating - B+. It's not a really great movie. But it's good. It even hit a few of those "ohhh..." chords along the way.

Movie Monday: Neighbors

You know those times when you think that maybe the movie you've chosen to go to may not have been the best choice?

You know how you often think, during the previews, that if those previewed movies are aimed at the same audience as what you're seeing it might be a bad choice?

Yeah. I went to one of those kinds of movies, yesterday: Neighbors.

The best way to describe it is a "frat house comedy." Or maybe a revenge comedy. It's also a grown-ups versus youngsters comedy - where both sides kind of lose, and both sides kind of win.

Unfortunately, I'm old. I was never in a frat. And the only revenge I want to take is on the people who make really bad movies that play to the lowest common denominators.

Yes, I had fun because I was there with a good friend, but that fun was before and after the movie, not during it.

Overall score: D. Yes, it played to its audience, but it could have been so much better...

3-D Invasion

Let me admit, up front, that I have come to enjoy some 3-D movies. The first ones that came out in the latest round (so we're not talking from the 1950s, but the 2000s), were kind of overwrought and I tended to opt for the 2-D versions whenever possible. But, lately, I've been happy with more of the 3-D movies. 

In theaters. 

Yep. That's a huge point for me in this discussion. The whole "3-D in theaters" thing. 

Sure, some movies are still really gimmicky. There are a lot of action films where stuff gets thrown at the camera, or arrows go whizzing past, or stuff comes bouncing out at the screen. But there are others where the 3-D effects simply give the move more depth. Where it's not a movie with 3-D effects added, but it's actually a movie which just happens to be in 3-D. 

But... again... I still think it's best in the movie theater. 

You see, I don't expect to have a 3-D television any time soon, and so when you're watching a movie that was in 3-D in the theater - even the "serious" movies where they don't spend half the movie going "LOOK! IT'S IN 3-D!!" - I find that you can feel the moments where something was supposed to have happened. 

Why do I bring this up? Because, in the past week or so I have seen at least four movies on TV that were originally in 3-D. I honestly don't remember what the first one was - I just remember watching it and saying aloud at one point "Oh, that was a 3-D moment." The second movie was "Journey to the Center of the Earth" - the Brendan Fraser version - which is incredibly campy even without the effects. 

Then I tried to watch "The Great Gatsby" (the one from last year), but got massively bored with it because it was too slick and there were too many "look at this glorious 3-D scene" moments. 

And, without realizing it, I started to watch "The Legend of Hercules" just this evening only to watch arrows come flying toward the screen in the first few minutes alerting me to the fact that I could have seen it in 3-D if I had gone to a theater for it. 

Yes, I know it's kind of my own fault. If I had seen all of these in the theater (I did see "Journey" in the theater), then I wouldn't be going through all of this. But... still... The more I see the cheap versions of it, the more I long for the simple 2-D days. 

Movie Monday - A Three-fer

Yep. Tonight's movie review is a three-for-one. Three very different movies. One very abbreviated blog post.

Maleficent - I really wanted to like it. I mean, I really wanted to like it. But I'm not an Angelina Jolie fan, so it had that against it from the outset. It wants to be dark, but it's not. It wants to be a kids' movie, but it's not. It wants to be Wicked, but it's not. It's a perfectly fine movie (some of the people we went with absolutely loved it), but the sacrilege part, for me, is that Disney mucked about with their own mythology. That did it in. Score: C+. 

Mr. Peabody and Sherman - Taken from the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. Lots of very smart humor that goes over most kids' heads. Some action and stupid humor to keep the kids interested. Some fun historical "facts." And, actually, a quite touching story about a dog and his boy. Did I love it? No. Did I laugh a lot and rather enjoy it? Yes. Score: B+. 

The Way, Way Back - A kind of coming-of-age movie with this quiet teenager who is dealing (poorly) with his divorcee mom's new boyfriend, which is made worse by the fact that they go to Cape Cod for the summer and have to deal with this all in a much more claustrophobic way. He accidentally gets a job at a water park and the people there give him a self esteem boost, but he still has to go home at the end of each shift. I liked it, for the most part. It's a quiet, kind of melancholy, movie. But here's my problem with it: it felt like someone had written a script and wanted it to be set in the early 60s, but had realized that they didn't have the budget for the sets and costumes for the 60s, so they set it in present day. That really threw me a few times. And it was a clumsy choice by the director/designer/whoever, which could have easily been avoided. So the more I've thought about it, the more I've been bugged by that. Which is too bad, because the cast was really good, and I liked the story. Score: when I first finished watching it, I probably would have given it an A-, but a few days later, having had more time to think about it, I'm going with a solid B. I definitely recommend it, but try to ignore the very 2014 aspects (like iPods and cellphones) and think of it as a period piece, instead.

Movie Monday - Captain America: The Winter Soldier

In the middle of the Memorial Day weekend, Christopher and I headed out to go to see a matinee of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier."

Let's go ahead and go straight to the point on this one.

As we were leaving, I turned to Christopher and said "Well, that was fun," and he replied "It helps that he's cute."

It is a fun movie. It gets a little into some ethical/moral dilemmas, but mainly it's all about the action and the fights and the CGI'd technology and the attractive people in tight clothes.

I'm glad we didn't see it in 3D, because it worked really well in 2D. Even so, I'm glad we saw it in a theater, because it would lose a little on a TV.

Overall score: A-. It was fun. He was cute. It just wasn't an A+.

Movie Monday - R.I.P.D.

You know those times when someone you watch movies with says to you "I saw that. Don't waste your time on it." But you already have it at home from Netflix? That happened to us a couple of weeks ago.

We'd had "R.I.P.D." at home for a couple of months, actually, and just never gotten around to watching it. When some friends were over for dinner and a movie, we put that out as an option, and it was immediately panned. The actual description came down to "If you watch the first ten minutes and don't already hate it, then you might be okay."

So, this weekend, when Christopher and I were hanging out and trying to decide what to watch - but weren't sure how well we'd be able to pay attention, what with both of us feeling less than well - we pulled it out.

It's a fairly basic premise: Cop dies just after doing something bad. Gets sent to purgatory with a sentence of 100 years of service in exchange for a clean slate and a ticket "upstairs." Of course, he's paired with a crotchet-y partner and they don't get along well, and buddy-cop hilarity ensues.

I'll admit that I put it onto my Netflix queue because it stars Ryan Reynolds. And, yes, he looks pretty good in the movie. And it has a decent supporting cast, really cool special effects, and a premise which is very easy to follow (because, of course, we've seen most of it before).

Was it the best movie we've seen? God, no.

Was it worth watching on a weekend when we didn't have anything to do and wanted to watch something we didn't have to care about? Yes.

Was it a case of low expectations delivering a better outcome? Definitely.

Overall score? C. Really... It's a mediocre movie, but even mediocre movies have their time and place.

Movie Monday - Whoa.

You can only make one first impression. I know it's cliche, but it's also true. 

When you first meet someone at a party, and his handshake is kind of limp-fish-y, you know that you're never going to forget that. He's always going to be "limp-fish handshake guy." 

If the first time you meet someone in the office is when she is standing next to a cubicle wall gossiping about another co-worker, you're going to assume that she's always going to be gossiping. 

And when the first time you see an actor is when he's Harry Potter, you're probably always going to think of him as Harry Potter. Until he performs in Equus on the West End in London, then transfers to Broadway with the production after he comes of age enough that the show doesn't get shut down for child pornography. One stint on stage as the crazy naked kid blinding horses, and suddenly he may look like Harry Potter, but you know there's another side to him. 

Then there's Keanu Reeves. Unfortunately - for all of us - he will always be that spaced-out dude from the Bill and Ted movies. Or the surfer cop from Point Break. I mean, even in the Matrix movies, he still had that same kind of speech pattern going on. I absolutely love the movie Speed, and I don't think he says "Whoa" at all in it, but for some reason that didn't break the spell. 

So tonight, when I went to see 47 Ronin (which is based on the true story of 47 warriors who defeated an army in Japan - a "ronin" is a samurai without a master), and I watched him on screen, I was of two minds. 

On the one hand, I thought he was quite good. The movie is gorgeous to look at, with effects that a lot of movies try really hard to get, but only end up looking like they tried really hard. In this, the effects are gorgeous (as are the costumes), and it all seems kind of effortless. 

Many of the actors - I'm guessing - may not be native English speakers, and they have strong accents which make the dialogue a little hard to understand at times, but at no point is the movie hard to follow. It's a pretty straightforward piece, really. Even one of the kids in the family seated at the front of theater was able to figure out "This is where the action part of the movie starts" (which was okay, since we were at the Cinema Grill, and you just don't expect quite the same level of quiet as you do in a regular theater when your waiter keeps coming in and out to check on you as you munch on waffle fries). 

I went to the movie with low expectations, and it was definitely better than I expected. But, even so, when we got to the end, my not-a-date date (oh... yeah... the waitress said, as she walked away early on "You're really picking on her - this must be a date!" and we LAUGHED...) turned to me and said "He never once said 'whoa.' I was paying close attention." 

And we were back to that angle of Keanu. I mean... we'd just seen him doing all sorts of cool stuff in Japan in amazing clothing. He really doesn't even look like the same person any more. His body shape is different, his face is different. There's nothing about his look that says "I'm the surfer dude." But, still, you expect the "whoa." For better or worse. 

What I definitely will say, though, is that the next time he shows up in a movie I'm going to expect that a lot less. Granted, he didn't blind any horses in this, but maybe - for me at least - he finally found his Equus.

Overall score: I totally give it a B+, dude. (Sorry. Had to.) Honestly, it was gorgeous to look at, some very cool effects and all, but there were a few moments that were supposed to be emotional that fell flat. And a few emotional moments that worked, but not well enough. Definitely either a big screen or Blu-ray/HDTV kind of show, though, if you can. 

Movie Monday - Dystopias

Labor Day, traditionally, marks the end of the summer movie season. And, by the looks of the trailers, it was a really good season of movies. But Christopher and I had problems getting the time to go out to many movies. So I just kept adding things to my Netflix queue, and checking the cheap seats theaters in the hopes that I might catch movies before they're gone.

In the past 10 days, though, we actually got to see two of the summer movies. The first was Elysium, which stars Matt Damon and Jodie Foster. It's a movie that is, at the base, a statement about the haves versus the have-nots. Matt Damon, a have-not, decides he wants to be a have. Jodie Foster, a have, decides she wants to be a have-more.

There's cybernetics and action and some really cool visual effects. And, actually, a bit more story than you might expect.

There's also more graphic violence than I had expected. Not that it was inappropriate, it was just really kind of sudden and shocking at times.

On the other hand, we also went to see The World's End, which has been - in some circles - referred to as the third installment of the Cornetto Trilogy, which started with Shawn of the Dead, and was followed by Hot Fuzz. Granted, the stories aren't connected, but the two lead actors are the same in each.

This one, instead of being a Zombie movie or a Buddy Cop flick, is a cross between a high school reunion movie and an alien abduction movie. And, you know, it's a really good combo.

As with Elysium, there's cybernetics and action and some really cool visual effects. And, well, maybe not all that much more story than you'd expect.

Two versions of dystopian society - one serious, one serio-comic. Two movies very much worth seeing.

Elysium - B+. I'd have been okay with it without the shocking violence, although Christopher said that the director does this kind of thing in his movies, so if I had seen anything else by him I might have been okay.

The World's End - A-. Because I had seen a movie by these folks before, I knew what to watch for, and I laughed out loud a lot, but also found myself liking the serious aspects from time to time.

Movie Monday - The Words

I promise not to give any spoilers. But I will say that I liked this movie up until about the final 15 minutes of it.

The Words bases itself on an interesting premise. It's a story within a story within a story.

Dennis Quaid is an author who has written a story about Bradley Cooper, a writer who has found and published a story by Ben Barnes without giving Ben Barnes any credit. But then Jeremy Irons shows up to say "Wait. I'm Ben Barnes." and things get all wonky. But, of course, this is all happening in the story which Dennis Quaid had written. So there's actually no Bradley, Ben/Jeremy in the "real" world.

And, you know, I was perfectly okay with that for most of the movie. I thought it was all handled really well. I liked the characters (for the most part), and I thought the movie was styled really believably (we watch Bradley's character go from unemployed to best-selling author - and his hair styles changed with him, which is something that usually only happens to women in movies).

There's a very cool kind of morality play happening throughout the movie, too. Not only are we watching Bradley deal with the fact that he's taking credit for someone else's work, but we're watching the characters around him react and deal with it all.

And then there's the whole writerly aspect of it, too. That was cool. Watching the different writers and their processes.

But then there was the end. Which just left me wanting... something different.

Still, I'd recommend the movie - and I'd recommend it for watching at a time when you can truly focus because the first 3/4 of it are quite beautiful at times.

Overall rating: B-

Bonus review: Oblivion. As with The Words, I recommend this movie, but I'd also recommend leaving this one about 15 minutes before the end. Unless, of course, you have any fantasies of... well... boinking with Tom Cruise and, let's say, a stunt double Tom Cruise. In which case, watch the whole movie. (And, no, there is no Cruise on Cruise boinking - that's just... well... you'll understand what I mean if you watch the full movie.) Overall rating: C, because it wanted to be more than it was and simply didn't live up to its potential.

Wednesday Shorts

Sadly, it has been way too freakishly wintry for me to be talking about going out and wandering around in short pants. So that's not the kind of shorts we're talking about.

We are, in fact, talking about short films.

**Sidenote**
I'm not using the "Royal We," here - I'm assuming that you are talking back to me while I write, and thus "we" are having a conversation. I have to do this in my imagination a lot because I know you're out there reading this but so few of you actually ever make any comments. At least not that others can see. In my mind, you're all commenting all the time. Which is why - to get back to my point - I'm saying "we."
**End Sidenote**

You know that short film that was done at our house last fall? (Oh... Sorry... that would be Christopher's and my house - not "our" collective house, because even though it's not a huge number of you reading this, I think that if you all moved in with us it might be a tad tight. Not that you aren't all lovely and we wouldn't love to have you come one or two at a time, obviously.) It's the short film I talked about here. Well, tonight was its Film Festival Premiere at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival.

It was in a bundle of 5 Minnesota Made short narrative films - 4 dramatic pieces and one pre-zombie apocalypse wedding-day comedy. And it was - once again - really fun to see "Golden" on the big screen. This time, I even paid attention to the narrative, instead of just looking at our house. And, you know what? That made it even better. I even teared up a couple of times, even though I knew the whole story.

And it was fun to hear a few extra stories about it tonight during the Q&A after the films were shown. For instance: "Why did you use a short focal range?" Because we were working in a tight space with, usually, only 2 feet from the camera to the person. I hadn't ever thought of that, but... yeah... our long, narrow living room doesn't exactly provide lots of space for long shots. Neither does our long, narrow kitchen. Or the small, squarish piano room...

When I mentioned to the director this time I had actually watched the story, not the house, he commented that he is still watching scenes, thinking "So, the sound guy is just out of frame over here, and the camera was there..."

Unfortunately, the evening ended fairly quickly - which I guess makes sense with short films. But there's one great takeaway that I can offer: Supporting small, independent arts can lead to incredible outcomes. For Christopher and me, the weekend of filming last fall has resulted in new friendships and a couple of fun - very unusual for us - nights out.

And a friend of ours who was in the audience tonight even saw me on the way out and affirmed our brush with fame when he said "I wondered if that might have been you and Christopher [listed on the screen in the thank-you section]."

It may "only" have been a short. But it sure has been sweet.

A "Golden" Evening

Christopher and I are not the most spontaneous of people. We admit that. We plan. We both plan. We share an online calendar to make sure our plans are planned.

And, unfortunately, this often leads us into ruts, because when we're not planned, we tend to just do rut things - like watching TV and/or going to bed early.

This week, however, we have made our plans work for us. In a strange confluence of things, we've ended up with three decidedly non-rut events all on the calendar this week. Last night we went to see Madeleine Peyroux perform at the Dakota Jazz Club, and splurged on having dinner there, too. It was pretty great. And although we had plans for tonight, as well, I think we were both thinking last night might be hard to beat.

But then we went out to tonight's event. It was a "pre-release" screening of "Golden" for the cast and crew who worked on it. You may remember that we had a short film filmed in our house last fall. (If you don't remember, here are the posts that related to it: Before, During, and After.) And we had an amazing time hanging out with the people who were involved - even though we really had nothing to do with it except saying "yes, go ahead and use our house."

Well, the 9-minute film is now about to start making the film festival circuit (starting with the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival this month, and hopefully going all sorts of places in the very near future), and so the director opted to have a private screening of it for everyone involved.

We got there a little before 7, and it was like the start of a really great reunion. We got to see all of the great people we'd met last November, and then - after an hour or so - got to see the film. And then we schmoozed some more, followed by going out for one last drink. As we were driving home, we both admitted that getting home after 11:30 on a Wednesday night was *not* part of our original plan.

But, sometimes, even the best laid plans need to be laid aside.
-----
"Golden," as part of the Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival, will be showing in a block of short films on Wednesday 4/17 at 7pm. You can find out more info on the film, the block of shorts it will be included in, and how to buy tickets, here on the Film Festival's website.

Movie Monday - The Broken Hearts Club

I feel like I should have named this post "The Way We Were."

You see, over the weekend - the second weekend when Christopher has been gone and I've been home with the pup - I watched "The Broken Hearts Club."

If you haven't heard of it - or if it doesn't ring a bell - I won't hold that against you. You see, it came out in 2000, and it's "a romantic comedy" with an almost entirely male cast. In the middle of the movie, they actually talk about the fact that there are no gay movies about "normal gay life" - which, of course, is exactly what they're trying to be.

Amazingly, it has a pretty star-packed cast. It's just that a lot of the people weren't big stars, yet. Timothy Olyphant is the de facto main character, and he's flanked by Zach Braff and Dean Cain, with John Mahoney as the "den mother" of the group of about 5 best friends.

Sure, there's some dating and hooking up and partying that goes on in the movie, but it's more about the friendships of that group of guys than anything else. It's a movie about being just past the point of being "young and cute" but being nowhere near the point of being "middle-aged and sad." Or, in the case of Mahoney's character, being "average" - and being all the stronger for it.

I could wax rhapsodic about the movie for a while longer, but I fear I'll eventually have to admit that one of the main reasons I like it so much is what my life was like when I first saw it.

In 2000, I was living in Baltimore. I wasn't rich or pretty or a club kid or a gym bunny. I didn't have the fabulous - or dramatically tragic - gay lifestyle that a lot of movies (either gay or straight) seemed to think I was supposed to have. I had, for the most part, a really "normal" life. Decent job. Okay life. Amazing friends. A world of potential. (If you watch the movie, you'll know why I mention that.)

I think we all live our lives looking back at some golden period when (in hindsight) everything looks amazing. And I fully admit that there are a few different points in my life that I look at through pleasantly rose-colored glasses. But in the middle of winter, home with the pup while Christopher is on vacation, the memories that "The Broken Hearts Club" brings to mind are pretty amazing.

The best I can hope for all of us, as we bask in the afterglow of movie award season, is that we can each have a movie that takes us back to that place in time when life was good and the world was ahead of us.

And maybe, just maybe, that will propel us forward into a future we never could have imagined all those years before.

Les Movie Le Monday

It'll come as no surprise to most of you that I went to see Les Miserables this past weekend. Or... well... it may be a surprise that it took me so long to see it, I guess.

While I was really excited to see it - I'm a huge Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman fan - I was also a little nervous about it. I wasn't sure how much "Hollywooding" would have happened to the show. And I really wasn't looking forward to seeing (or, rather, hearing) Russell Crowe in it.

So I bided my time to watch some of the reviews come out (mostly from friends of mine - not from professional reviewers), so that I could have my expectations mitigated. And then I went this weekend.

Now, I have to admit that I saw Les Mis on Broadway a number of years ago in its nearly four-hour-long glory. I was in the cheap(-ish) seats way up in the balcony, and it was hard to tell which character was which, and I really didn't get into it until people started dying. Which just happened to be about the same time that probably 1/4 of the people in the balcony all had to get up to leave to go catch their busses. So... Not the best experience.

Even so, I wanted to see the movie. And with my expectations appropriately lowered, I headed out.

Here's the thing you need to know (which was explained to me a week or so ago by Christopher): You can't go to it expecting a Broadway musical. You have to go to it expecting a movie.

What he didn't explain was that, once you get your mind wrapped around it being "just" a movie (which helped, I have to admit, with sitting through Crowe singing a few clunkers), you find yourself totally enthralled by the movie.

Yes, the plot is intense. Yes, the scenery and costumes are incredible. Yes, the cameras being two feet from people's faces at all times got to be a bit much at times.

But the singing. Holy crap. Watching those people on screen sing "live" (not over-dubbed and singing to a pre-recorded track), and doing full songs in what appear to be single takes. That was powerful. (Because I haven't, yet, said it enough: Anne Hathaway is amazing.)

I believe I've admitted, before, that I am a movie cryer. It just happens for me, and I deal with it. Luckily, I found myself 20 minutes from the end of the film trying to figure out when one of my favorite songs was supposed to show up, and so I didn't get too emotional - but I did shed a couple of tears, and I watched a number of people mop themselves up before going out into the light of day.

Is it the best movie of all time? No. Is it an amazing example of how a Broadway musical can transfer to film and still have incredible impact? Yes.

Rating: A. (I'm so close to giving it an A+, but Russell Crowe just took that one percentage point away.)

Aftermath(s)

Seriously. What a week it has been. I mean, along with everything else, I even missed posting on here last night. Let me see if I can give you the Aftermathical bullet points:

Last Tuesday - The election. Emotional chaos on the day. Aftermath: Quite good, actually. Although all of the calls to secede are kind of stupidly extreme. I mean... Really? We all survived 8 years of Republicans in the White House, and I'm sure we'll all survive 8 years of Democrats in the White House. And, you know, if some of these states actually do secede, we might have a lot more years of Democrats in the White House.

Last Weekend - The filming. Seriously bizarre to be out of the house for most of two days knowing that about 20 people are doing Godknowswhat to the house and you can't know exactly what until later. Aftermath: Lots of good stories to tell. Nothing but positive tales and experiences. Not sure we'd jump at the chance to do it again (although we might), but we'd definitely work with/hang out with that group again.

Last Wednesday - The movie. Christopher got sneak preview tickets to see "Skyfall" last Wednesday, and in the midst of the week's tumult, we went and had a rather marvelous mid-week date night with a really good movie. Aftermath: We've been telling stories about going to the movie almost as much as telling stories about having the film crew around last weekend. If you're looking for a good fun action movie, definitely go to it. If you like Bond movies, that will help even more.

Last Tuesday and Last Weekend - The funeral. I'm not really sure I'm ready to talk about this in specific terms, yet. I will say it was a close - not immediate, but close, in HR-ish terms - family member, and my emotional state for the week was definitely altered by it. Aftermath: I've been looking at some things differently, lately. Looking at "ordinary" objects around the house with a different eye, as well as re-contemplating what I'm doing with my life. In mainly good, though not necessarily easy, ways.

The Barrowman Sighting I mentioned a while ago - It was great, but it was also right before the election. So the Aftermath of that - including pictures - is still on its way. Sorry. I hope to upload photos from that and some photos of our house as a film set as soon as I get a moment with me, my computer, my camera, and the right number of charged batteries and cables.

Hopefully we'll all make it through the aftermaths, and come out ahead.

Oh, and watch this space tomorrow - I might have a little something extra cool to share...

Stepping Out of Another World

Our house no longer has random fake grapes in it. The afghan on the back of the couch is, once again, the one my mom made, instead of the mustard yellow one that was there for a couple of days. (Again, my apologies for "hiding" it in the side cabinet - if you're reading this, you know who I'm apologizing to...)

It was a relief, really, to walk back into the house this evening and see it all back the way it's supposed to look. The Snoopy print (purchased in Vegas a few years back) is back on the wall in the kitchen where a mustard-yellow phone had taken up temporary residence. The coasters are back where they belong, as are the runner on the coffee table, and Christopher's grandmother's clock. The fridge and the TiVo are plugged back in and the sheets hanging over the windows are gone.

In other words, our house's brush with the film industry is done.

We spent most of the day at our neighbor's house, running back to our house just a few times to wander through, take a few pictures, and help find a few extra props. And to try to stay out of the way - which is remarkably hard in a small house. Then, as they were wrapping up, we got to hang out at the aptly named wrap party.

Christopher got to talk electronic equipment. I got to talk editing (and blogging). We ate some pizza and drank some wine, and Aoife (whose presence was requested in the group wrap photo) finally got to collapse on the couch.

Contact info exchanged, we headed home to try to get back to our normal lives. Or at least to bed.

We'll worry about normal tomorrow.

Movie Monday - New Year's Eve

If people celebrate the whole "Christmas in July" phenomenon, then "New Year's Eve in September" makes sense too, right?

Okay. Maybe not. 

But I did watch the movie "New Year's Eve" on Netflix last weekend. It's a Garry Marshall film in the same style as "Valentine's Day." Of course, I don't know how many people actually saw "Valentine's Day," so I should probably just explain the premise. 

You've got about a dozen storylines, all populated with interesting people, all taking place on the same day. And you know that they'll probably connect, but you're not sure which ones will connect with which other ones. 

Oh. I know. It's like "Love Actually" - you've seen that one, right? 

Anyway... The thing is that I kinda love this kind of movie. I love the blended stories that you're pretty sure you understand, but which still can give you a twist that makes you laugh a little or smile or tear up. 

And the cast in this is really fairly A- -list. (Yes, that says "A-", not "A".) It's got Michelle Pfeiffer in a storyline with Zac Efron. Sarah Jessica Parker and whatshername from "Little Miss Sunshine." And there's Robert DeNiro, and Jon Bon Jovi, and Halle Berry, and Sofia Vergara, and Lea Michele. 

And it all takes place on New Year's Eve in New York City. And some of the stories are happy, and some are sad, and some of the people you really just want to throw out the window. But, in the end, I really have to admit that I liked it. 

Overall rating: A. Yes, it's full of schmaltz. But it didn't overpromise. It didn't overtry. And if my own New Year's Eves turn out as well in future, I'd be happy with that. 

Marvel Movie Monday - The Avengers

Yes. I like alliteration. Why do you ask?

So I finally made it out to see "The Avengers" last week. I waited long enough that it was at one of the cheap seats movie theaters and - even better - it was one of the cheap seats places where you can get real food at your seat.

And, with all that in mind. I thought it was pretty much what I expected it to be. It was funny, and actiony, and explosive, and even witty (which might have been a surprise for some people, I admit).

Let's see... plot... umm... Bad guy from another world shows up, turns some people evil, begins mayhem. Good guys from around the globe assemble and bicker because they've got wackily different personalities. Bad guy escalates. Good guys come together for a massive battle scene that lasts for about the final 20 minutes or so of the movie.

Lots of fairly muscle-y guys (Chris Evans, Robert Downey, Jr., Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth) in tight costumes . Scarlett Johansson kicking butt alongside them. Special effects. NYC getting mostly destroyed. Basic superhero movie stuff.

And, since I was expecting a basic superhero movie, I had a great time. I ate my dinner and listened to the kids ooo-ing and ahh-ing around me, and just let all the noise and color and all that wash over me.

Oh, I should mention that - as a bonus - the movie was directed by Joss Whedon, so the witty factor was very high. Lots of throw-away one-liners, and such.

But... well... Because I was enjoying the wit, when we got around to the huge battle in the final 20 minutes, I started to get really bored. I felt bad about that, actually, since I was pretty sure that was the part of the movie that they paid the most money to make.

So... rating: Solid A-. It would have been an A if they had carried the humor all the way to the end.