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Monday - January 17, 2005
Movie Marathon
Recently a new Hollywood Video opened down the street. They have a "Grand Opening" promotion with all movies costing only $.99 for a 5-day rental. We went on a bit of a binge and watched the following movies this weekend.
Napoleon Dynamite: This one we actually watched with Scott and Anna because Scott had it from Netflix. A pretty funny movie, but I'll probably never have the urge to watch the movie again. I think this type of movie you really have to be in the mood for.....
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: If you've seen the other Harry Potter films, this is pretty much more of the same. The overall mood is a little more dark and menacing, but the core of the movie is still targeted to the younger audience. I do wonder though, if the younger kids watching these movies really understand the convoluted story line in each of the Harry Potter films. Maybe reading the books would also help with the confusion.
Dodge Ball: This movie is hilarious. I actually saw it originally in the theater. There's a lot of physical gags in there, but the dialogue is also great. Vince Vaughn is a perfect 'straight man' to contrast against Ben Stiller's over the top character. The DVD also has some funny outtakes, and includes the original director's ending. Apparently the director left the film for a week when the studio required him to re-write the ending after it tested poorly with audiences.
The Village: Another good (but not great) movie from M. Night Shyamalan. Some of the 'colonial' dialogue between the actors was pretty week, but once you ignore that this is a decent flick. And of course, as with each of Shyamalan's movies, there is an interesting twist at the end. I didn't figure it out even though I was looking for it the entire movie.
The Stepford Wives: I'm glad it only cost me $.99 to watch this one. The movie just wasn't terribly interesting. I don't know if the movie was really supposed to be a horror movie, or just sci-fi. It didn't really succeed at anything, and is basically totally disposable.
On a related note, Ebert and Roeper released their picks for the Worst of 2004.
Posted by jcraven at January 17, 2005 10:42 AM