Dark Shadows

As the credits ended and the overhead lights came back on, a Regal employee asked Laura and I if we liked the movie. In a word, yes. He then added that Johnny Depp fans like it. To which I replied, "yeah, we fit that category."

This film is a classic Tim Burton vision, a Beetlejuice flourish here, a Corpse Bride-esque darkened eye and pale complexion there, and of course, Helena Bonham Carter (she is great with an American accent, as is Depp with an English one). The Burton-Depp collaboration is one any fan of theirs would enjoy. Johnny Depp is also a producer on the movie. It is the producers that have the power, the say and that win the Oscars.

The score by Danny Elfman was fantastic as are all of his Burton film scores. The songs selected for the soundtrack were equally terrific hits from the late 60s and early 70s; The Moody Blues' Knights in White Satin kicks things off over the opening credits. With the Carpenters, Donovan and Alice Cooper also making appearances. Steve Miller Band's The Joker also makes it into dialogue. To sum up as Barnabas did, "I really enjoy the music of this era. 'I'm a picker, I'm a grinner. I'm a lover and I am a sinner. I play my music in the sun.'" sizzle. The end credits feature a Killers cover of the Raspberries' Go All the Way.

I am not familiar with the 1966-1971 soap opera for which the film is based upon but I have heard boomers reflect on it fondly. The cast of characters are the same in name and there seem to be acknowledged nods to the original throughout the movie.

The movie has many laughs and is very fun. This is certainly a fantasy so be ready to suspend your disbelief. The extensive main cast that includes, Michelle Pheiffer, Eva Green, Jonny Lee Miller and Chloë Grace Moretz, is strong. Get your Depp on.

Las Vegas special edition for Scott and Shannon

In honor of Scott and Shannon's wedding in Las Vegas, I give you some of my favorite Vegas pop culture moments on film, and one from tv. After all, there would be no blog without Scott suggesting it!

Ocean's Eleven
George Clooney and Brad Pitt leading a crew that was originally made up of the Rat Pack? Fantastic. Blows the original away. Say what you will, I love the third one too.

Fools Rush In
I have not watched this one in awhile but when I was younger it was one of my favorite romantic comedies. I saw it at a theater that no longer exists.

Honeymoon in Vegas
Another fun one from youth. Much more fun than Nicholas Cage's Academy Award winning role in Leaving Las Vegas. And all the flying Elvises you can imagine.

Casino
I just watched this tonight in honor of the Vegas edition. Classic gangster Scorsese. Excellent use of classic rock and Vegas standards for the soundtrack. I was a bit daunted by the nearly three hour run time but over the break for Mother's Day dinner, my sister Erin told me how fantastic it was and when I resumed watching the last hour and ten, it was much improved. I think that is where the plot picked up for me. The end is perfection.
On the mini bus to the wedding, the question of how Vegas became what it is was asked by Miss Foltz. I stand by my answer, the Mob.
Thanks for letting me borrow the DVD Cup.

The Hangover
A contemporary classic often referenced. Saw a normal looking dude in Vegas carrying his baby a la Zach Galifianakis and actually said "oh sh8t" when I saw it. Really? I hope it was being done ironically. Also love the tag line, "Some guys just can't handle Vegas."

Friends
One of my favorite arks of the show, just for Ross and Rachel's drunken wedding. At the champagne brunch at Paris the morning after the wedding I could not help but think of Joey "here's where I win all my money back."

Honorable mention to Bridesmaids. The ladies never quite made it there but they had a memorable flight trying. Can not say how happy and honored I was to make it to Vegas to see an amazing couple get hitched.

The Hunger Games, the Lucky One and the Five Year Engagement

I have not blogged in awhile. Life has been busy to say the least. That's part of it. I think the main reason for my delay is that the last three movies I saw in theaters were not that wonderful. Seeing the films with Dana and Kari, and watching Rum Diary with Laura was great though.

The Hunger Games
The widely anticipated adaptation of the first book in the Hunger Games trilogy was very well done. It was a great movie and was also a memorable movie going experience. I saw the film with Dana. Midway through the movie, right at a very serious and poignant scene in the story, a man walked out and yelled, this movie is messed-up, why are you here? Well, sir, maybe you should inform yourself before you go to the theater. Just because something is popular and not what you thought it would be, refrain from attempting to ruin others' time at the multiplex. Despite this interruption, I did enjoy the movie and I have only positive things to say about it. The experience of reading the book was just so powerful that even the best interpretation by a movie pales in comparison.

The Lucky One
Another book adaptation. This marks a first for me -- I read my first Nicholas Sparks novel before seeing the movie. There is a certain amount of cheese that comes with a film based on a Sparks book. There was just too much in this one. It was more A Walk to Remember and very much less than the Notebook. The acting is poor and too much of the story had been changed from the book. Taylor Schilling is a very bad actress, beautiful and very well cast in the role of Beth, but not a good actress. Blythe Danner was a highlight, as was Zac Efron's bod.

The Five Year Engagement

I was very eager see to this flick. I am a big fan of both Jason Segel and Emily Blunt. There were many hilarious moments and the extensive supporting cast including Parks and Rec's Chris Pratt and Mad Men's Alison Brie was excellent. One plot complication just ruined things for me. If you see it and you know me, you will know what I am talking about. If you enjoyed it despite some events, I am genuinely happy that you did because I could not get past it.

Now on DVD...
Rum Diary
Laura and I were planning to watch the new Muppets movie but after three Red Boxes I was done searching. I know you can reserve online and there is an app for that but it all worked out. Fresh on my mind from our top five movies as friends, I saw a picture for Rum Diary as I headed back to my car, nearly defeated. The movie is based on a Hunter S Thompson's novel and is a must see for any Johnny Depp fan. The wacky exploits of an American journalist in Puerto Rico during the 1950s unfolds hilariously. There was line after line of laugh-out-loud dialogue. A very fun flick for those who would like the Hangover crossed with the Mexican, taking place in the 50s. I am also very excited to see Dark Shadows this week with Laura. I am optimistic that the film will end my slump.

21 Jump Street

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are hilarious together in the movie version of the late 80s/early 90s tv show about young cops working undercover as students in high school. The filmmakers made the wise decision to go for humor in their take on the premise. The afterschool special tone of the tv show would not have translated well into a contemporary movie. There are several episodes of the show available on imdb and hulu if you are interested, there are funny moments in the show. Jonah Hill was quoted as saying that they were attempting to make "a R-rated, insane, Bad Boys-meets-John Hughes-type movie." I think their efforts were successful.

I laughed out loud many times and that is the purpose of an all out comedy like 21 Jump Street. The movie knows what it is, it even pokes fun at itself. Things went a bit too far for me to maintain my suspended disbelief, but the chemistry of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum more than made up for it. I want to see these two together again, it was a blast to watch them.

Now on DVD...
The Outsiders

I have been reading Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe and after reading about his experiences filming Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of SE Hinton's novel, I wanted to see the movie which I had never seen before. A librarian, Jo Ellen Misakian, at Lone Star Elementary School in Fresno, California, and her students requested that Coppola make the movie. Filmed in 1982 and debuting in March of 1983, the movie has not aged well. The best thing that can be said for the film is the careers it launched and that it contains the early work of not only Lowe, but also Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, C Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, and Diane Lane. Tying the two movies together, Rob Lowe crossed paths with Holly Robinson Peete early in his career; she was in both the tv show and movie 21 Jump Street. For what it's worth, I enjoyed reading about the making of the movie more than I did watching it.

A Friendship Top Five List

The time has come to present a list of the Top Five Movies of my friendship with my bestie Laura. As we ran our warm-up laps for track all those years ago, it is not surprising that all these flicks are from a four year range in the 90s.

1) First up, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.
Laura and I watched this movie more times than I can recall at sleepovers. We even watched it the night before we attended our own ten year reunion.

2) The Wedding Singer
This is another movie that we have watched several times together. Many of the songs featured in the two volume soundtrack are featured on the CD of songs from the year we were born that Laura made me for my 30th birthday.

3) Interview With the Vampire
The movie that started it all. Literally. Remember in school when a friend became a real friend, when you actually hung out together outside of school? Well the first time Laura and I hung out, I went to her house and we watched Interview With the Vampire. We would watch several other horror movies together before leaving high school. Oddly, as neither of us are horror fans today.

4) Seven Years in Tibet/Meet Joe Black
Through out the years, we have seen many a Brad Pitt flick. Honorable mention goes to Johnny Depp. We have also seen many Johnny Depp movies and Laura's husband Jerre even commented once on "our whole 'Johnny Depp' thing."

5) Psycho (1998)
Part of the high school horror trend. Laura and I creepily saw Psycho in an empty theater. We were the only ones in the theater at the no longer in existence 82nd Cinema. We saw a lot of movies there before it closed in 2004. I think something really depressing like a Baby Gap is there now. Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates? Really Gus Vant Sant, your next project after Good Will Hunting, really?! It remains one of our most memorable movie going experiences.

Maybe in another 17 years we can make it a Top Ten list.

American Reunion

All the original cast members are back for Reunion, even the minor characters. Surprisingly it felt like a real reunion. Looking back, these actors looked so young back in 1999! Didn't we all. When was the last time you thought about Thomas Ian Nicholas in Rookie of the Year. The same clever casting of Nicholas in the original Pie movie, makes the nostalgia of a reunion all the more on point. Being from the class of 99 myself, the coming of age aspect of the movies always seemed personal. I enjoyed that the characters acknowledged early in the film that it was a thirteen year reunion and were not trying to play it off as the more conventional ten year reunion. I enjoyed all of the sequel movies but this one is my favorite. There were only two years between each of the first three Pies and Wedding. It has been nine years since American Wedding hit theaters. The time since the last one gave the writers much more to work worth and they fully developed the characters.

Available April 3rd on iTunes, the soundtrack is excellent, a few new tracks and some great tunes from the 90s. I was reminded of how great all the Pie soundtracks are and loaded the previous three CDs to my iPod. And in a further example that everyone is all grown up, Seann William Scott and Jason Biggs are both credited Executive Producers.

As I waited in line for the American Reunion screening with Emily, just in front of us in line were the couple that saved us seats for the Artist. This time we officially met Helki and Jose. Nicest, most normal people I have encountered in the screener lines. Hopefully we will all see each other again at the next one. There is also something to be said for enjoying a comedy in a theater. Laughing with a group of people makes it even more enjoyable. See also Bridesmaids, the Hangover and Wedding Crashers for these types of theater going experiences.

The replication of the original poster is spot on and very fun.

Jeff Who Lives at Home

Jason Segel is Jeff, the kind hearted stoner who lives in his mom's basement. His brother Pat, portrayed by Ed Helms, is not so sweet. Pat is more of an adult in the conventional sense, he has a job, an apartment and a wife. These do not necessarily indicate maturity. Mom Susan Sarandon gets her own plot line in her cube at work. We soon learn that Jeff is not the conventional stoner, he just feels really strongly about finding his destiny. And the movie Signs.

The film is definitely an indie and takes its time to tell its characters' stories over the course of a day. The score is fun and fitting and the writing style and acting successfully bring the characters to life. If you enjoy movies like Away We Go, Sunshine Cleaners, and Cedar Rapids, you will like this film.

And on DVD...
Midnight in Paris
If you have not seen Midnight in Paris, do yourself a favor and see it. You do not have to be a Woody Allen fan to enjoy the humor and whimsy of the film. Allen most deservedly earned the Best Original Screenplay Oscar he won. Owen Wilson is at his best and carries the movie with humor and charm. The supporting cast is extensive and excellent. I fulfilled my wish to google to my heart's content about art and the real life people referenced throughout the film when I watched the movie for the second time at home.