Seen any good movies lately?

I have.

I generally don't go to movie theatres because I hate people. Well to be more clear, I hate people who cannot behave by either shutting up or not bringing their children. When I do go to a movie theatre I specifically go to movies that I think are inappropriate for children. But no, there's always a toddler or a baby. It never fails; the loud people and/or jerks with children always sit by me and annoy me. Bastards! And for the record I hate popcorn eaters! The constant noise of munching is distracting and really disgusting. But I digress.

So I thought I could avoid the above-mentioned annoyances by going to a REALLY inappropriate movie and at a theatre you have to take BART to because people who have to lug their children everywhere generally need a place to park their ridiculous SUV. And so Rick and I went to see Sweeney Todd in Berkeley on Saturday. My plan worked! I was able to watch a movie with only Rick's popcorn eating to annoy me. So after a few scornful glances to remind him to eat that crap with his mouth closed, I was off.

Not everyone seems to like this movie but I really did. It was visually stunning (as are most of Burton's films), I was impressed by the singing (having no great expectations), and the acting was great! Johnny Depp is perfect (as always), Helena Bonham-Carter fantastic, and I can never find wrong in Alan Rickman. Oh and hey the little boy who ends up working for Mrs. Lovett is terrific! I had never seen the show (I know, I'm a theatre person and I hadn't seen it!) so I had never known where the song, "Nothing's Gonna Harm You, Not While I'm Around" came from. I love that song and I couldn't get it out of my head afterward. It was pretty gruesome in spots but was generally so cartoonish, it didn't bother me. Anyhoo, I give it two thumbs up and perhaps even an index finger.


RENTALS
We also rented a buttload of movies too. Here's what we saw...

Blades of Glory: It was cute. That's all I can really say about it. Fun but something I don't think I'd bother to see again, unless it's for free and on a Sunday afternoon when I've got nothing else to do.


Stardust: What fun! I really enjoyed this one. Fun characters, fun plot, happy ending. This one surprised me. I just had a smile on my face by the end of it. Completely charming.



Superbad: The name says it all. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for this one but I just found it stupid. It wasn't clever, it wasn't particularly funny, and I wanted to smack the shit out of the characters. Maybe I'm getting too old for this shit.

The Illusionist: It's like the less depressing version of The Prestige. I liked both films very much although this one was predictable. My sister seems to take the Highlander approach to these films of "there can be only one," but I liked them both. And like Rick said, "it's nice to see Paul Giamanti (sp?) play a non-manic role".

Pan's Labyrinth: Wow! Very, very good and cut your friggin heart out! Not for the faint of heart, there are a couple of scenes of violence that I found hard to take. I'm generally not prissy about that stuff but man! Still, amazing film and one that each person can interpret differently. Rick's take on the ending was different from mine. I tend to interpret things more tragically than he does. We were both really upset by the end though.


H O N O R A B L E....M E N T I O N

I also wanted to mention The Fountain. We saw this about a month ago and were both floored by it. This is another film that each person can interpret differently though each interpretation will make you ball your eyes out. If you don't have a romantic bone in your body, don't bother.