Sideways and Other Movies

If you want to know what we did when we went wine tasting a week or so ago, rent Sideways. We went to a couple of different wineries than they did, but otherwise we saw everything else--the Hitching Post, the Windmill, Solvang, Buellton, etc. So we basically did everything they did, without the drunken shenanigans, of course :)

Since we've been gone from Fairfield we've seen a lot of movies. I thought I'd make list and rate them just in case anyone's been thinking about seeing The Corpse Bride or The Brothers Grimm. I'll pretend I'm a real film critic and rate them on a scale of 1 to 5 stars.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin--This movie was sweet and funny, though not as laugh-out-loud funny as I thought it would be. It's also a little on the long side, but Steve Carrell is awesome in this. (***)

Broken Flowers--Not too bad, but not as good as we thought it would be. Ok, it was pretty disappointing. Bill Murray is an old bachelor who has no life and sits around in his dark house. A lot. Then he gets a letter from an old girlfriend who says he has a son who may be looking for him. So he sets out to visit his old girlfriends. That part is great. The part that sucks is him sitting around in his house ALL THE TIME. Maybe my attention span has been ruined by television and the internet and all that good stuff, but watching Bill Murray sit for 5 minutes (literally) is just not my idea of a good time. (***)

The Brothers Grimm--I thought this movie was going to be pretty cheesy, and it was (the special effects were more comical than scary), but it was also refreshing. It was really different from anything out there. It was a fun movie--I would definitely rent it. (***)

November--This is a little indie film starring Courteney Cox that got the beatdown by the critics, but we all loved it--as soon as we figured out what happened. I should say, as soon as Joel figured out what happened and told the rest of us. I definitely recommend this one (if you're not sure what actually happened, email me). (****)

Wedding Crashers--Yes, we only just saw this movie a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad we did (even though it's probably about ready to come out on video) because it's really, really funny. (****)

Just Like Heaven--This is a romantic comedy that's heavy on the romance and light on the comedy. It stars Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, who are really good together. It's super sweet and I liked it a lot (how's that for some real film critic's jargon?). (***)

The Constant Gardener--This movie was incredibly depressing and good. It's a thriller about the big pharmaceutical companies in Africa and one man's quest to find out why his wife was murdered for snooping around the pharmaceutical's business. I bet stuff like this happens all the time and we never hear about it (until 10 years later when the faulty drugs kill too many people). (****)

Lord of War--I don't normally like Nicolas Cage, but a shady arms dealer is the perfect role for him. Forget all those heroic or romantic leads--this kind of character really plays up that weasely side of his that I find so annoying in his normal movies. Another eye opener, with lots of action in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Again, something that goes on all the time that we just never hear about. It's probably not really technically a good enough movie for five stars, but that's how much I liked it. (*****)

The Corpse Bride--Another Tim Burton claymation film. The claymation is cool--I really liked the corpse bride--but the story is pretty flimsy. It felt too long at 75 minutes even. A good Halloween flick. (**)

OK, that's all the movies I've seen--for now. The only movie left that I really want to see is Proof, which hasn't come here yet. Oh well, maybe next week.