Cleaning out the Netflix Queue

So, I've had a couple of movies from Netflix for quite a long time. One is Waking Ned Devine, which I had previously seen and loved. Since it's almost St. Patrick's Day, I think I'll save it until then. The other two, however, I finally watched this weekend.

First off...

Swingers
I tried to watch this film some years ago when my then-roommate, Jimmy, told me it was the funniest movie ever. I watched about 10 minutes of it. Basically, I thought it was a guy flick--the kind of movie that you have to be male to appreciate. Recently, however, a couple of women told me that I really should watch it, and not just for the Vince Vaughn factor.

I watched it. All of it. Here's what I thought:
1 - Swing dancing is really fun and there should have been more of it in this film.
2 - Vince Vaughn was really skinny
3 - John Favreau was really skinny
4 - The is a guy flick.

I think my Studmuffin enjoyed it, but it's qualities were still lost on me.

The next movie:
Trust the Man
I'd seen the previews for this movie and was waiting for it to come out in theaters and, lo and behold, it ended up on Netflix. Probably not a good sign, but oh well. It stars Julianne Moore, David Duchovny, Maggie Gyllenhall and Billy Crudrup. With the exception fo Crudrup, who I can't recall ever seeing in another movie, I think this is an excellent cast.

Basically there are two plots. First off, Julianne Moore is married to David Duchovny, who is a stay at home dad and sex addict. Marital issues. Then there is Maggie Gyllenhall, who has been dating Billy Crudrup for 7 years and wants to get married and have babies.

I actually kind of liked the second plotline. It seemed believable and starred one of my favorite actresses. I think if they were making a movie of my life, the role of me would be played by Maggie Gyllenhall, but I digress. It was entertaining and cute--maybe not enough to hold up by itself, but oh well.

The Julianne Moore/David Duchovny storyline, however, was far too contrived for me. For such a serious topic, it came off like a sitcom. And, frankly, I expected far better acting from Julianne Moore. Really, I didn't car about either one of them.

So, my verdicts:
Swingers - Only watch this if you are a guy. Vince Vaughn is not nearly handsome enough in this movie to make it worthwhile.
Trust the Man - Not horrible, but could definitely be worse. Maggie Gyllenhall save it.

My final Oscar Rant

Okay, so why wasn't Steve Irwin in the dead peoples montage? Yes, I know he was mostly a TV guy, but he did make his own documentary AND he appeared in one of the Eddie Murphy Dr. Doolittle movies.

Hmm, maybe that's why.....

Oscar summary

Yawn!

Okay, it wasn't that bad. I thought Ellen was a great host--much better than Jon Stewart. It was nice to see Alan Arkin win.

But, beyond that...boring! I think there are 2 reasons for this. Most of the categories were not surprises. The exceptions being Alan Arkin's win and best picture. I'll admit that I like it when there is no frontrunner for best picture (but I like it much more when there IS a front runner, which is a terrible movie, and it loses!). The thing is that I will never see The Departed. I sat through Gangs of New York and The Aviator, both of which I thought were terrible movies. Forgive me if I'm not first in line to see the next Martin Scorsese/Leonardo di Caprio film.

And to think I missed The Amazing Race for that (or, if my Studmuffin had his way, The Simpsons).

The Oscar Rant

Okay, so I haven't been exactly good about posting over on this blog. Part of it is that I haven't seen a lot of movies that inspired me to write anything. I've seen one great movie since The Queen and, when I watch it again on DVD (I already ordered it!), I'll post my thoughts here. So there.

Anyway, the Oscar nominations were announced yesterday (I think) and I usually have all sorts of things to celebrate and complain about. However, I just don't care quite as much this year. Of the five nominated pictures, I've only seen The Queen and Little Miss Sunshine--both of which I loved, by the way. But I really don't have any desire to see Babel or The Departed and only a marginal desire to see Letters from Iwo Jima (give me a break, it has subtitles!)

But, I do have this tradition to keep up, so here you go. Here are my thoughts and predictions, in abbreviated form. In other words, I will not start ranting about cinematography or film editing or whatnot.

Best Picture
As stated above, I've only seen The Queen and Little Miss Sunshine. To tell the truth, I came very close to peeing my pants while watching Little Miss Sunshine and, while I hate to talk about complete strangers, I think the woman next may have actually experienced some leakage. The Academy doesn't like comedies, but they also don't like stuffy British films--so the odds of either The Queen or Little Miss Sunshine winning are pretty small. Still, between those two movies, I think Little Miss Sunshine might have the edge

Best Actor
Okay, I haven't seen any of these movies, but I do have a very stong belief that a MAN should win this award, so anyone besides Leonardo di Caprio (who I still think is a girl) winning is okay by me.

Best Actress
Helen Mirren should win this...this should be a slam dunk...but it's not. You can play a British Monarch better than the British Monarch herself and you'll still lose the blonde American--just ask Judi Dench (who lost to Helen Hunt) and Cate Blanchett (who lost to Gwyneth Paltrow). Of course, this year is not that cut and dried. There is only one blonde and that's Kate Winslet, who is not American. There is only one American, and that's Meryl Streep, who was not blonde in The Devil Wears Prada. I can, however, see a case for Ms. Streep since she was blonde in A Prairie Home Companion (for which I think she also deserved a nomination!) However, maybe the lack of a true blonde American will help Helen Mirren get the Oscar she deserves.

Best Supporting Actor
Wouldn't it be cool if Eddie Murphy became "Academy Award Winner Eddie Murphy?" If that happened, I would be far less embarrassed about seeing The Golden Child about 10 times. However, since I have yet to see Dreamgirls, I have to go completely on his performances in The Golden Child, The Distinguished Gentleman, and the classic Bowfinger.

Best Supporting Actress
I really liked Jennifer Hudson on American Idol and it's great to see her do so well. But, I gotta go with the kid. I'm hoping that the fact that Abigail Breslin is in this category and not up against Helen Mirren works in her favor.

So, there you go. Have fun watching the awards...Ellen Degeneres should be funny--at least funnier than Jon Stewart.

The Queen (2006)

Okay, if I give anything away in this little review, then you are either younger than 10 years old or were living under a rock during the second half of 1997. This is not a movie that’s going to have surprising twists and turns but, rather, will show you a side of the very stuffy British Royal family that you may not expect.

It starts out with the election of Tony Blair (Michael Sheen, who, according to the Internet Movie Database, has not been in anything that anyone in America would have ever seen)—which does not exactly amuse the Queen (the oh-so-cool Helen Mirren). After all, he’s a modernist and is married to the “known anti-monarchist” Cherie Blair (Helen McCrory, who is the spitting image of the real Cherie Blair). So, that’s all, you know, slightly irritating to the Queen. Then Princess Diana dies and things are turned upside down. The Queen doesn’t respond as the British public feels she should and she doesn’t understand why her people can’t respect her grandsons’ privacy and her husband, Prince Philip (James Cromwell, taking the villain turn), is deliciously hateful.

The bulk of the movie takes place in the week from Diana’s death to her funeral and, as I said, everyone knows the Queen finally make a speech and Elton John—much to the displeasure of Prince Philip—sings at her funeral. No surprise there.

The surprise was the transformation of the character of the Queen in just that week. She does seem like she doesn’t have a clue and that she does not, at all, care. But then her Butler (or personal secretary or something—I’m not sure what he is, except that he listens in on her phone calls) explains to Tony Blair that the Queen is in shock—she watch the monarchy kill her father and recognizes that, this time, it may do in her entire family.

Before I go on, there are a couple things you must understand. The first is that I have a degree in British Medieval History and so I understand the monarchy a bit more than your average American. Secondly, I didn’t really like Princess Diana and always thought that she made sure the Royal Family got quite the bum rap.

Even so, I was surprised at how this movie portrayed the royal family. True, not all of them came off as sensitive human beings. Others, however, were surprisingly human. Frankly, I think that director Stephen Frears put together a surprisingly accurate portrayal of these people and he should be applauded.

The real treat of this movie was Helen Mirren. It seemed to me that she was always in the shadow of Judi Dench, but she clearly stands out on her own. And I can’t believe that this was an easy role to play but Helen Mirren makes it her own. I honestly believe that this is the best performance by an actress this year. However, if history holds, Ms. Mirren will lose out to a blonde American (just ask Judi Dench or Cate Blanchett).

I went to this with the Good Doctor since neither of us was in the mood for something too frivolous or too heavy and The Queen hit the nail on the head. It’s not a difficult movie to watch, but a fascinating one. There are some comedic moments—but unfortunately some of the humor was probably not intended. Instead it was just the American reaction to some rather British (and, to us, confounding) ways.

If I had to find one fault with this movie it would be the casting of Alex Jennings as Prince Charles. It’s not that he’s bad—in fact, I think he does do quite a good job. The problem is that he looks exactly like George W. Bush. Trust me, watching a Bush look-alike speech with a high-falutin’ British accent will definitely weird you out.

In a nutshell: A great movie if you are looking for a lighter “thinking” movie or if you just want to enjoy some dang good acting. Worth a full price ticket!