"Oh, that's pretty, Mr. Grimsby." "Yeah, it's a bit mild. I think I ought to tear her dress off her other shoulder."

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, 1947. Three Stars.

I remember reading the book in high school, and I liked it, even though I thought it was pretty sad. Part of the reason I liked it (and part of the reason I was actually frustrated while reading it) was because, sadly, I could relate to Walter Mitty. I don't remember the details about the story, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't as fun as this movie.

I was expecting a kind of dark flick. But it was actually really funny and enjoyable! Both the characters and fantasies were played with satirical and fantastical intent, which made it all fun. Danny Kaye's little reactions to things were priceless. And, Mitty turned out to be a hero and taking control of his life, which this sap loves.

This is the first time I've ever seen Danny Kaye in something, I think. Strange, huh? He was great! At first I got him confused with Donald O'Connor (who was always my favorite actor from Singin' in the Rain!*

Also, Boris Karloff is in this! Most excellent!

I really like the opening credits, with the "credits" on panes of glass that swing open. I'd like to know how they did that. And I loved that dog, "Queenie". What a good actor, behaving then barking on cue! One of my favorite parts, though, is the fantasy number where Mitty's a hat designer. It's funny and unique and racy. It was weird, though, to see only like two "musical" numbers (rather than this being either a total musical or a straight-ahead non-musical venture).

"Your small minds are musclebound with suspicion. That's because the only exercise you ever get is jumping to conclusions."


...OH NO there's a Secret Life of Walter Mitty re-make scheduled to come out this year? Starring Mike Myers as Walter Mitty?? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Sounds awful!!


* My gramma and my dad used to make me and my sibs watch musicals when I was little. My gramma would have us watch stuff like Lil' Abner and Bye Bye Birdie (which is another favorite of mine). And to this day, I've only seen the first half of The Sound of Music, because it used to come on two VHS tapes, and my gramma made us go to bed after the first tape (no complaints from me though, it was boring!). My dad had us watch stuff like West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He also introduced us to movies like Taxi Driver, Midnight Cowboy, River's Edge (which I got to stay up late on a school night to watch!), and Blue Velvet (which I think he showed us by accident!). My mom, on the other hand, introduced us to B-grade sci-fi/horror flicks, and she used to watch "MST3K" with me back in the day. I partly give my family credit for my eclectic taste in movies!

"I think that's the shit, man. Raw intelligence." –OR– "I don't fuckin' know either. I guess we learned not to do it again."

Burn After Reading, 2008. Three and a Half Stars.

Oh, Coen Brothers! Your joints are such a delight.

This movie was quite enjoyable! And Brad Pitt ruled in it. And I looooooove Frances McDormand. And I dug George Clooney's performance, too. It's usually a little hit-or-miss with him for me (but mostly hit. I just think I'm a little sick of seeing so much of him sometimes). Anyways, the characters that he and Tilda Swinton played opposite each other were perfect!

I grew up watching Gilad on TV, so I took particular delight in the boat work-out scene with John Malkovich.

"I'm bigger, than ever. I'm bigger, I'm back. I'm better —I'm back, than ever—I'm back. You fuckers, I'm back."

"Our enemy has realized that they are fighting guys from the future."

Body of Lies, 2008. Three Stars.

Tim and I found ourselves randomly tuning in to the middle of this movie on TV. After both professing that we'd both been meaning to check out this flick, we found it on On Demand and watched it from the beginning.

I don't, and can't pretend to, know how accurately all of the different cultures, governments, and actions are portrayed in this movie. So I'm going on how good the actors are, and how engaging the story is.

So, I was pretty engrossed with the story and the characters. And yup, all the actors are great! It's always nice to see Leo in a good movie, and I was thrilled that Russell Crowe played a not hot guy. And I'm always happy to see Mark Strong, he seems to crop up in the darndest places. And Golshifteh Farahani! She is so pretty, and seems so cool in real life. Among other things, she's currently living in France and furthering her music career with musician Mohsen Namjoo; she had previously been in the Iranian band "Kooch Neshin" (which I think means "Nomads"?), which had remained underground in Iran since rock music and lady singers are forbidden.

Mike Patton (yay!) does a song on this soundtrack (with Serj Tankian, yuck), and the end credits feature a not very Guns N' Roses-y Guns N' Roses song (yuck).

"My family is not dying tonight. You are coming with me."

Mirrors, 2008. Two and a Half Stars.

I was in the mood for a scary movie. But this movie just didn't do it for me. Mirrors creep me way out, but not movies about mirrors. And especially not this movie about mirrors. There really wasn't much scary atmosphere or anything like that, and everything felt forced. So I just wasn't in to buying what these mirrors were selling.

One interesting thing is Esseker and the story of how the mirrors got haunted (THOUGH since "Esseker" was being written in a MIRROR, I really felt that they should have done the corny thing of the name being backwards and it really being "Rekesse". HWAH!). Also, Amy Smart is in this, and she's great. And her death scene was really the only other cool thing about this movie.

The ending's a bit cheesy, but I liked it a little. Though it didn't fit in with the rest of the movie, since it was so stylized when everything else was so reality-based. Which is a shame! Wasted potential.

Kiefer Sutherland, I miss you in The Lost Boys.

"It's almost a shame to smoke it. It's like killing a unicorn. It's like... a bomb."

Pineapple Express, 2008. Three Stars.

This movie was funny! And good!

I wasn't sure that I was going to like it; even as a non-stoner, I still enjoy stoner humor... most of the time. Sometimes it gets a little grating and unimaginative. So even though it has a good cast and writers that I like, I wasn't sure if this would be good, or just average.

Yeah, it definitely went where I didn't expect it to go. And it was so so funny.

Unsurprisingly, I had a crush on James Franco in "Freaks and Geeks". It was great to see him in something not serious, and also working with Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow again!

And My Guy's in it! If you didn't know that I've been a tremendous fan of his since seeing him in The Warriors, then now you know.

I could watch this movie several times in a row and not get sick of it.

"Time to go suck today's dick."

"Yeah it was funny, it was a fart-free set!"

Funny People, 2009. Three Stars.

This movie is very good. But I thought there would be more focus on the comedy since there were so many good comics and actors in it (plus I had spent a lot of time on RAAAAAAAANDY's website). Also, there's a lot of dick talk. I'm normally fine with stuff like that, but after awhile it got a little excruciating, especially from Adam Sandler's caustic character.

Anyways, the comics are funny, the cast is perfect, and there are lots of great cameos. James Taylor's appearance was probably one of the funniest parts! But this movie ended up getting surprisingly serious. And a little scary. And sad. And it felt like a very long movie. And it got pretty painful to watch. But still, it's good and I'd recommend checking it out if you come across it.

I'm starting to get excited about Aubrey Plaza. I love her in "Parks and Recreation", and she's great in this too. And I just found out that she's going to play Julie Powers in the Scott Pilgrim movie (so perfect!). Which I'm still not looking forward to. I love everyone involved but I don't think it can do the comic book that I love so dearly the justice it deserves. But I'll still see it. Hopefully by not keeping up with the video blogs and all that jazz, everything will be a surprise and I'll love it.

"It's a gift... and a curse."

"Monk", 2002–2009. Three and a Half Stars.

Speaking of excellent shows coming back from the brink of awfulness, there's also "Monk"!!

So, this show was great. But the last few seasons, however, got really stagnant; there wasn't much room for innovation until Monk was able to grow, and he couldn't grow until he started to solved Trudy's murder. (I always thought it was curious that a character so important to the main character in this show ended up being played by two different actresses, the first Trudy being Stellina Rusich.)

Well, because the series would end with the solving of Trudy's murder, this last season was phenomenal! Monk finally starts progressing and growing as a person, the characters around him also develop, and situations aren't dictated by his predictable reactions to everything. It was also cool to see how he finally got his badge back (which was something he always sought during the series), but since he (and the department) has changed and grown so much over the years, he realized he was happier just doing his Monk thang on his own. And, did anyone see the two-part series finale? It was so perfect! Everything I could have wanted and more.

Also, I'm a little bit of a sap, and I really like that Sharona and Disher got together, and that Disher is heading his own department in NJ. Mostly I'm very happy that Disher finally got so less annoying!! Unfortunately, Julie's character remained pretty flat. And I really think it's the character, not the actress (she was good in that episode "Mr. Monk and the Critic"!).

If you've never watched an episode of this show in your life, and you wanna get in to it, I suggest checking out the first few seasons, then a few of the first Natalie seasons, then the last season. Those will all give you a decent Monk experience. Then, if you like it, check out the rest of the seasons. It's easy to check out episodes of this show since, if it's anything like it is now, USA will be re-airing Monk marathons for ages to come.

Whenever I see Craig T. Nelson ("Coach")'s name in credits, for a split second I think it's actually Michael J. Nelson ("Mystery Science Theater 3000") and I get excited. I know that's weird. And don't get me wrong, I'm always happy to see the dad from Poltergeist!