Hooray for Movies!

I have seen six new movies since right before Christmas and it has been quite an odd selection:
1) I Am Legend - Post apocalyptic zombie flick. I was interested to find out if Will Smith could pull off the "I am alone and have nobody to talk to except for my dog" better than Tom Hanks pulled off the "I am alone and have nobody to talk to except for my volleyball". This is not in anyway insulting Tom Hanks, but the movie Castaway could have been 30-45 minutes shorter and it would have been a lot better. I rather enjoyed I Am Legend, but I would have to say that the ending was a bit predictable. I will not go into detail because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who may still want to see it, so if you'd like to discuss it, ask me next time you see me.

2) Sweeney Todd - This may sound a bit morbid, but I watched this movie on Christmas day, and it is one of the best Christmas presents I got this year. Part of my enjoyment with this movie was that we watched a video of the Broadway version EVERY year in theatre class when I was in high school. Another part of my enjoyment was WHO KNEW that Johnny Depp could sing? And of course there's Alan Rickman, of whom I am also a big fan. Another enjoyable aspect is that it's not a traditional musical. Most people think musical and they think fluffy romance and/or fluffy happy ending. This is NOT one of those musicals. The story is completely sick and twisted-- a barber killing people and sending them down a chute to be turned into meat pies... You would never imagine such a story being set to music, but it is.

3) Charlie Wilson's War - This movie was actually a bit depressing. It was a good movie, an okay film (ask me about the distinction) and explained a lot. The trouble is, the further you get into the movie, the more you realize that there is no possible way for it to end well, since it is based on real events. It is more of a thought provoking ending, which for me is a good thing, but for most people does not satisfy. People like to know all the answers, even if they have to be made up.

4) 27 Dresses - This is the type of movie that I would normally see on video, but I went with a friend who is very hard to please when it comes to movies but she does like romantic comedies, so this is what we chose. It was your standard run of the mill happily ever after romantic comedy. I know, big surprise. It was entertaining, I would probably buy it for $5.00 at Blockbuster, but I would not call it a quality film. It's the kind of movie I would watch when I don't feel like thinking. Cute, entertaining, definitely NOT thought provoking.

5) Atonement - This would fall into the quality film category, in my opinion. I don't quite know how to explain my thoughts on this without giving anything away, so I'll just leave it at that. I definitely recommend watching this one.

6) Juno - I went to this movie today because I got my tax return and I've been wanting to see it since BEFORE I saw 27 Dresses. This was my movie choice that night, but my friend didn't really want to see it. So today I went alone so I wouldn't entirely miss my chance. The way that most of the movie was filmed reminded me a bit of Napoleon Dynamite, however the movie was NOTHING like Napoleon Dynamite. It was the type of movie that was laugh out loud funny without being sappy and predictable. I would have to say the best part was the dialogue. Oh yeah, and the hamburger phone. If you want to know more about that you'll have to see the movie.

If anybody else has any movie recommendations for movies that are out right about now, please tell me. I'm in a movie mood recently.