Over the extended holiday period, I managed to see three new movies in the theater. That’s a lot for me, although I love going. Here’s what I saw: Sherlock Holmes, Up In The Air, and Youth In Revolt. Did you see any of these? If so, leave me a comment and let me know what you thought. Here’s what I thought:

Sherlock Holmes – Robert Downey Jr is just so charismatic. I love him. The rest of the cast was good but he is the star. This version of the venerable tale is a big budget effort and it shows. But there is still attention to the Holmes character. It’s fast-paced and very entertaining.

Up In The Air – The smartest movie of the three for sure. It’s from the director of the wonderful Juno, and like that film has great dialog and sharp, interesting characters. George Clooney is the lead and does a very good job, but both of the main female characters are very good too. It’s very funny at times and moving at other times. This one is for the brain and the heart.

Youth In Revolt – It’s an indie-feeling teen comedy but a little raunchier and more “out there”. The characters are wild stereotypes and the situations are hilariously outrageous but the main thing is that I was laughing out loud over and over during this film. It’s really funny unless you are easily offended. Even then, you will probably laugh a lot.

In short, I would recommend all three movies. If you’ve seen any of them or even if not, let me know what you think!

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That’s what happened. I didn’t plan it but these things happen. There we were enjoying the all-you-can-eat Indian food buffet lunch at Curry Corner. Harmless enough, and tasty too. But then we waddled out the door and [poof] there was the video store nearby with a big ole “Five DVDs For $20” sign. We were powerless. So here’s what we bought, did we do good? Did you like or not like any of these?

“Ghost Town”, “He’s Just Not That Into You”, “Rachel Getting Married”, “Revolutionary Road”, and “New In Town”.

Meanwhile, within a few days of that I won a free copy of “Bruno” and Petra bought “Free Willy”. Yes, really.

Leave me a comment below. Tell me what you think.

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As I mentioned earlier today, I had a tooth pulled yesterday, so today is a “sit around and relax to feel better” day. And what better way to feel better than with some classic comedy. This one streches w-a-y back to 1934, long before I was born. But a classic is a classic.

W.C.Fields made a series of comedies in the 30s and 40s. He frequently frustrated the movie censors of the day, who questioned his sarcastic grumpy mean-spririted funny banter and smartass asides and also found his drinking, dislike for children, and comic meanness as, well, less than appropriate material for a leading man in a comedy. But Fields was Fields and trying to make him more likable would have just dimished his character. Luckily, he still kept his crankiness and is remembered so many years later for his classics “The Bank Dick”, You Can’t Cheat An Honest Man:, My Little Chickadee (the censor-pushing comedy with Mae West, and others, including this film.

I had a tooth pulled yesterday. This has nothing to do with the movie “Go”. Well, a little maybe. After the oral surgery yesterday I thought I might be a little under the weather for a while, so I took today off. Oh, I’m doing ok, thanks.

A friend had given us a copy of the DVD for “Go” quite a while back but we had never found the free time to watch it. Well, I finally watched it today and I wish I had watched it sooner. I really enjoyed it! “Go” is a fast-paced, wild ride of a comedy, edgy and fun and full of surprises. It’s from 1999 and features a great cast, with Sarah Polley, Katie Holmes, Taye Diggs, Jay Mohr, Scott Wolf, and many more. Everyone does a good job, the script is tight and funny in a darkishly wild way. And I mean that in the best sense.

 I won free passes to see a preview of a new movie called (500) Days Of Summer. I had read a couple pretty positive reviews and was hoping that it would be as good as I was hoping. Well, stevenology, hope no more because it was really, really good. This was one of the most enjoyable movies I’ve seen in a while.

The stars are Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and they are both very good here. The other stars may be the writing and the directing. The lines are a combination of clever, witty, charming, sarcastic, romantic, jaded, warm, and well, you get the idea. It’s just really well-written. And the director is more than willing to be innovative and clever too. It’s visually cool and smart and you’ll find yourself laughing and smiling knowingly at many of the lines. And the way it’s filmed, with innovative techniques, is a pleasure too. It’s a sort of romantic comedy that’s not a conventional romantic comedy.

I was never bored and had no trouble following the sometimes non-linear plot. I’d say if you like smart, modern, innovative, funny, witty, romantic, sad, and happy, then you should like this film. I liked it a lot. A big thumbs up. I saw it for free but it’s well worth full price or more. This will be one of the best movies of the year, I predict.

At the time of this post, it had a stunningly high 88% rating from the awesome Rotten Tomatoes site. The film’s official web site is here. Have you seen this movie? Yes, no, either way, leave me a comment below!

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It was a Friday night video double feature here at the old homestead. I watched two (more or less) recent Woody Allen films. I had seen both before but not for quite a while. And of course, with his films you can watch them many times and still enjoy them.

First up was “Small Time Crooks” (2000, about). He stars in this one with Tracy Ullman (who is great) and Hugh Grant, among others. Watching it again, I liked it more than I remembered. The first part with the plan for a bank robbery was very funny. Then the story leaves that to follow Woody and Tracy on their road to “success”, and it gets even more entertaining. All through the film the Woody and Tracy characters are funny as they grow (or not grow). There’s an overall warmth to this move plus lots of laughs.

Next was Scoop (2006, about), with Woody, Hugh Jackman, and Scarlett Johannson. It was lighter than I remembered, quite a bit. More fluff but still plenty of humor. Not his best but enjoyable. And Scarlett in those glasses is quite something too. It’s escapist fun with some laughs.

So I liked them both, of course, but I like almost everything he does. Neither of these made my top 11 Woody Allen films, but after watching both of them together I’d say to see Small Time Crooks first, if you want a recommendation. It was better than I remembered, Scoop was not quite as good as I remembered. What, you didn’t ask? You were going to. Really.

Have you seen either or both of these? What did YOU think? Leave me a comment.