127 Hours

November 27.

"127 Hours" is hard to watch and completely worth it. It made me cringe watching the opening scenes as Aron Ralston (James Franco) greedily chugs water, ignores phone calls from his family, and leaves his apartment without his Swiss Army Knife to go hiking in Utah. I knew he was going to go, not tell anyone where, fall, and that a boulder would trap the hand he'd lose on the trip. But a part of me still hoped for a different outcome.

It didn't happen. About a half hour into the movie he fell, the boulder crushed his hand, and he was trapped. The real-life hiker filmed himself during his 127 hours in the canyon, and Franco and director Danny Boyle are among the few people who have seen these tapes.  I'm sure the video helped Franco to pull off the amazing performance he gave expressing the frustration, fear, anger, desperation, and sadness Aron felt.

There's a scene when he's standing there, hand caught, nothing to drink, nothing to eat, where his mind rushes back to the bottle of Gatorade laying in the back seat of his car. Oh, what he'd do for that Gatorade. There's nothing funny about this story, obviously, but the way Boyle tells the story I can't help but laugh. Even though there were lighthearted moments I was just waiting. I knew what was coming. The hand had to go. And he had to be the one to slice it off.

From the time I heard about Aron when he had his accident in 2003 I always said there's no way I could do it. I'd just die there in that canyon. I still think I'd die there. I don't think I would have had the strength to survive what he did (not that I'd ever have been there to begin with). But watching him, how he had given up, knew he was dead, I understand how he did it. Not the physical how, but the emotional how. The physical how, well, that's another story. Watching him snap his bones and hack away at his half dead arm, blood gushing out, just to get to the nerves, which he plucked like guitar strings as he screamed in pain. It is graphic and slow but I felt the relief with him and could breathe again.

The movie ended with a little about Aron and his life since 2003, but I still want to know more. I wonder if he will ever show the real videos? Probably not. "127 Hours" is probably intense enough anyway.

Love & Other Drugs

November 27.

"Love & Other Drugs." I don't know. I didn't hate it. I didn't love it. I don't recommend it. I don't even really have much to say.

Anne and Jake are great. Good actors wasted on a below average script. They play charming and interesting characters. But the story kinda drags and goes back and forth. They are just sleeping together, they are dating, they are back to being casual, they are serious again, and back and forth. Maybe this is the way life works, it doesn't always go beginning, middle, end.

So, ehh. If you really want to see Anne Hathaway naked go ahead and see it, otherwise there's got to be something better to do.

Burlesque

November 26.

I don't know why I always get sucked into these movies. It's like I see sparkles and hear singing and think "oh, that's going to be good." But it's never good. Never ever ever.

The small town girl with a big heart and even bigger dreams makes her way to the big city. She wants her name in lights and works her way up, standing up to the established stars, proving her talent, and stunning the legend, the boy she likes, and pissing off the current star who's a massive bitch. As she makes her way into the spotlight she dates the wrong guy but eventually finds her way to the nice boy and ends up with everything.

Kinda sounds like "Showgirls" doesn't it? Nope. "Coyote Ugly?" Try again. This is "Burlesque," and it's awful. Sure, Cher and Christina can sing. The dance numbers are fun, the music is great, and Stanley Tucci can do no wrong, but, oh god, the acting, the dialogue, the story. It's so awful.

Elf

November 25.

To continue my month-long holiday movie marathon (do I have to watch them all at once to call it a marathon? I'm not, so let's move on) I turned on "Elf."

I love this modern day holiday classic and was just thinking everyone must love it, right? They don't! Rotten Tomatoes has it at 84% for critics and 73% for audience. What?!? OK, I don't think this is the best movie ever made, but how could you watch "Elf" and then say, "nah, I didn't like that" or even "ehh, that was ok?"

Will Ferrell as Buddy the (human) elf running around a wintery white NYC in bright yellow tights, what's better than that? And, a great supporting cast with James Caan, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner, and so on.

I don't know Rotten Tomatoes, I think you missed the mark on this one. Viewers and critics should be resurveyed.

Miracle on 34th Street

November 24.

There's no way you can grow up with a TV and not have seen at least parts of "Miracle on 34th Street." And that's all I saw until now. Even though I'd never seen the iconic movie from start to finish I knew what happened and think I saw at least a part of each scene.

Miracle is super cheesy, maybe the cheesiest of all the Christmas movies, although there are some ridiculous things happening on the Hallmark channel. So even though the point of the movie is figuring out if this old man is just crazy or indeed Santa Claus it's still good and a great way to kick off the Christmas season, which I guess is why it's always on TV starting on Thanksgiving.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

November 22.

I've heard people say that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1"is kind of a waste. It doesn't really have a story or stand alone as a movie. I guess I see where these people are coming from, but I still really liked it.

It's beautiful, exciting, and fun. I wasn't bored, didn't think it went on too long, and wasn't ready for it to end. Watching Harry and his friends on the run was spooky and more adult than any of the other movies, which I guess it had to be since they are older, have left Hogwarts, and are running from an army of evil. All of this made it sad too. It's like the long goodbye. They are tying up loose ends, moving towards final declarations, and preparing for it to be over. I know it has to end, no one wants to see a geriatric Harry Potter, but it's still sad.

So maybe this movie is just a set up for Part 2 but it's still a must see for any Harry Potter fan.

The Trouble with Angels

November 21.

Rosalind Russell in full habit, a bunch of nuns (one with what appears to be a rifle), and a smart ass Hayley Mills ... this doesn't seem like a movie I'd be really interested in. But, my mom, the product of an all girl's Catholic school education, has been asking me to watch "The Trouble with Angels" for almost a year. So one Sunday I finally gave in and we watched.

She remembers the silly movie fondly from when she saw it in her plaid skirt and black and white saddle shoes. It must have seemed exotic to a go off to an old school and cause trouble with friends. And although I've never been to Catholic school and am about 20 years older than she was when she first saw the movie I can see its charm. Even if it is a bit flawed as movies go.

Hayley Mills, Mary, and her best friend Rachel cause, well, trouble for the sisters every chance they get. They lie, smoke, sneak out, start what appears to be a fire, and so on. The movie is cute and harmless but it goes on a little too long and the story doesn't get going until too late. And, the end comes out of nowhere.

But with all that said, young girls would probably still find fun and charm in the campy flick.

Fair Game

November 20.

"Fair Game" is about Valerie Plame (the undercover CIA Agent who got outed by people working for then-Vice President Dick Cheney). Even the poster shows Naomi Watts, as Plame, upfront. And in the background is Sean Penn, who plays her husband Joe Wilson. But Penn steals the movie. He steals every movie, doesn't he? He might be the best actor working today.

This movie is great. International intrigue. Government cover ups. Great acting. Amazing script. And it's all true. Well, you know... It's based on actual events, who knows how much is actually true.

Sometimes stories like this get completely confusing. But this wasn't at all. Maybe because it was in the papers and I knew most of the story already or maybe it was just done well. Either way it works.

Side note: the actors they got to play Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, and the rest of the Bush crew were spot on.

Due Date

November 20.

I soooo wanted this to be good. A buddy comedy with RDJ, Zach Galifianakis, and that cute dog. It should be funny right? It's not. Not enough at least.

The odd couple works but the story gets too serious and the mishaps are too out there. The two strangers get thrown off a plane together and are forced to travel together in a rental car from Atlanta to LA. RDJ is in a rush because his wife is about to give birth (that's where the due date comes in). Along the way they (mostly RDJ) are shot, drink the ashes of ZA's dead father, are in a way too serious car accident, and get detained at the Mexican border.

I usually hate movies that are made up of a bunch of misunderstandings, when each one is more ridiculous then the next. And, this is a perfect example of all of that. It's a big mess and annoying to watch.

It's too bad but this story was better the first time when it was called "Planes Trains and Automobiles." Hollywood needs to stop remaking the classics.

Prete-Moi Ta Main

November 13.

Well it happened. I finally found a French, romantic comedy I do not like. "Prete-Moi Ta Main" wasn't as bad as so many Hollywood rom-coms, but it wasn't the cute Frenchie-type that I love.

The English title, "I Do: How to Get Married and Stay Single," is a mouthful! But the story is, well almost, simple. The main guy has a gaggle of overbearing sisters and an even overbearing mother who just want him to get married. So he comes up with the worst plan ever - hire a woman to pretend to be your finance, she stands him up at the altar, he is heartbroken, no one bothers him about marriage again.

Of course the plan goes wrong and he falls in love with the woman who's pretending to be his future wife. So the eternal bachelor has met his match, and so and and so on.