Reviews

It is an unfortunate habit of most of the population of the planet to believe that what they have to say is inherently interesting to someone else. I am no exception.

For various reasons, I have had the opportunity to view a number of movies in the past few days. Here's the quick and dirty for your reading pleasure.

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" - Excellent! Loved it. I liked Johnny Depp's version of Willy Wonka, completely different than Gene Wilder's interpretation. I loved the cinematography, the colors, the dancing/singing Oompah-Loompahs - everything. It was a very good movie, in my humble opinion, and if you haven't seen it, you should. I watched this one, along with Madagascar, with the boys, so it was really fun to see the movie through a child's eyes. They were also impressed.

"Madagascar" - I was pleased with this movie as well, because I got exactly what I expected: a cute, decent story involving talking animals that solve deep emotional problems in less than two hours, complete with singing and dancing. This is better than a lot of the drivel that gets made for the children's audience, though, and I would MUCH rather watch "Madagascar" than the "Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy."

"The Fugitive" - I have always liked Harrison Ford, just because you know what to expect from his action movies. He's always the everyman placed in an extraordinary situation and he has to rise to the challenge and kick butt. Which he always does, much to the audience's satisfaction. Some of my friends in junior high had the Backstreet Boys on their walls. I had Indiana Jones. Anyway, I had not noticed before the pharmaceutical company angle in the movie. He, Richard Kimble, is supposed to be killed because he wouldn't lie about the efficacy of a drug being tested at the hospital where he worked, but his wife is killed instead. Fascinating that this was a topic back when the movie was made in 1992, and yet nothing has been done, and the problem is now far worse. Big pharmas are scary. Very scary.

"Knocked Up" - I saw this in the theater tonight as their father and his girlfriend were watching "The Fellowship of the Ring" with the boys and I wanted to not be there. It was either this or "Vacancy" and I much preferred this. It is irreverent, funny, sweet, and by turns, gross (she has a baby, and they show part of the birth - I was 'sick' the day we were supposed to watch the baby being born video in health class - I really don't want to think about that part of the process until it's absolutely necessary). I enjoyed the performances - Katharine Heigl is better than I expected, and I adore Paul Rudd anyway (Phoebe's husband from "Friends").

Thus ends the - of course - fascinating reviews for the evening. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing "Rush Hour 3" - you know exactly what to expect from Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. Should be a blast!