Busy Busy Busy

I feel like I'm spinning my wheels still trying to get caught up on all the movies I missed during the late summer and early fall. There are also quite a few current movies that we just can't seem to get to - like The Hobbit. Got to see it before it leaves the theaters. If they would just quit opening new movies til I get caught up that would be helpful. Otherwise I get distracted. What follows here are very brief descriptions and reviews of movies we have seen recently.

Once I was not a huge Matt Damon fan, but that has changed. I think he is an excellent actor and I think I'm also impressed that he is a daddy of 3 or 4 daughters! Anyway, he produced this movie because the issue of fracking is so important to him. I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't understand what fracking was until I saw this movie. I get it now and I understand the concern on both sides of the issue. We need to be more self reliant about our energy sources, but we have to find a safer way to get the natural gas out of the ground. This movie really handles both sides of the issue pretty objectively, I think. Go see this movie. If nothing else, it's educational. Oh, and Dave Eggers wrote the story!

This was a movie that I didn't necessarily want to see, but I knew that I had to see it because there is so much Oscar buzz about it. I'm glad that we forced ourselves to see it. Daniel Day Lewis was nothing less than amazing as Lincoln. The movie focuses on the beginning of his second term in office and what he had to do to get the 13th amendment passed. Politics hasn't changed all that much in all these years! You must go see this movie. Yes, it's like sitting through a history lesson, but a very enjoyable one. 

P.S. Also, Sally Fields is very good in this, too, and I like her...I really like her!

OK, this movie is pretty cheesy and silly, but if you like Billy Crystal and Bette Midler, you will get through it just fine. Marissa Tomei is good as well, and the child actors are cute and funny. Of course, the humor is a bit slap-sticky and silly, but there are some touching moments as well. And leave it to Bette to find a way to include a little song and dance into the movie. Wait for this one to come out on DVD.

 I keep waiting for Paul Rudd to be in a really good movie because I like him as an actor, but I'm still waiting...I had looked forward to this movie because it looked like it would be pretty funny. There were some funny spots, but I found a lot of the humor to be crass and it made me a little uncomfortable. Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann are a married couple with 2 daughters who fight constantly and seem on the verge of leaving each other all the time. I keep trying to remember if I was so self centered 10 years ago...well, yes, but NO! This is probably my least favorite Judd Apatow movie so far. Wait for this one on DVD, but it's ok if you miss it altogether.

Now here are a few that I caught on pay per view...

 This was a very interesting movie. Made me think of the film Memento a little bit. You definitely have to pay attention because there is time travel involved. Also, it's more than a little bit gooey with blood - not my favorite. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the younger version of Bruce Willis and the filmmakers decided to CGI Joseph's face to look more like Bruce. It was terribly distracting at first, but I got over it. Bottom line, though, I did like this movie.

This is a sweet little movie about a couple who aren't able to have a child of their own. They imagine what their child would be like, what all his characteristic would be, write them down, put them in a box and bury it in their garden. Thunder rolls, lightning strikes, rain pours and then the magic happens! Timothy appears, although it seems, not for very long. He is with them long enough to teach them some important life lessons and prepare them to be parents for an adopted child. I probably gave too much away here, but it's worth a look.

 Finally, here is what I think about The Bourne Legacy. Wow! I always had a hard time keeping up with the previous Bourne movies - somehow I would fall asleep during a couple of them. Ron loves the series! Well, this one didn't have Matt Damon in it, but Jeremy Renner instead. Maybe that why I loved it! The action was intense and there is a chase scene with motorcycles that kept me on the edge of the couch! I liked it so much that I'm going to go back and try to watch the other Bourne movies again. Definitely put this in your Netflix queue if you haven't already seen it. It was very good!

OK, I think I might be all caught up now. Time to think about my Top 10 Movies of 2012...that's coming soon.