Somusing

This was not that good. Surprise.

I do have some meatier posts coming up, but I'm getting all the fluff out of the way first.

I watched this while trying to decide what Jon and I should see in New York (we went at the end of January). Mamma Mia! is playing on Broadway there right now, but it was not our choice. The movie was okay. Definitely fun to see seasoned actors singing and dancing to beloved Abba songs; they were obviously having a delightful time. But what a lame story! I don't regret seeing it--who doesn't love Abba?--but it's fluff. (I think Jon said he'd still be interested in seeing it live sometime, though.)

I dragged my feet about seeing this, because I thought I might hate it. When I finally saw it, I was the only person in the entire theater, and now I wish I had been really loud or something. But anyway, I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. The part where Edward explains the whole vampire business to Bella is too long and contrived, and they spend way more time up in the tops of impossibly tall trees than I remember from the book, but it's entertaining enough. I think the movie shows the sexual tension between Edward and Bella even better than the book did, and in a possibly useful way for talking to kids about sex and its consequences.

I had never seen this before, and I had no idea it was quite that old--I was four when it came out. It was slow-moving but still kind of sweet, with lots of cheesy music to accompany Benji's meanderings. Oh, and a montage of doggy love! Or maybe that should be puppy love, literally.

This was alternately irritating and quite funny, which was a nice surprise, since I expected much more irritation than humor. If you liked The RM or The Singles Ward, it might be worth borrowing it from a friend.

It's always satisfying to discover that a beloved movie of my youth is actually a good movie. I loved The Journey of Natty Gann when I was a teenager, mostly because of John Cusack, who was cute, of course.

He's still cute, but aside from that, this is just a good movie. Good acting, good Depression-era story that's fairly realistic, good cinematography. It's pretty serious for little kids but not too serious, especially if accompanied by some history and explanation.

Seems like Jon and I always get to the go the movies when there's nothing particularly enticing playing at the time. We weren't super excited to see Four Christmases, but it was much better than I'd anticipated. The acting by all is stellar ('cause they're stars, you know), and it's perfectly written. I loved it.

The acting in this LDS film (though not outright LDS) is better than usual, probably because of the mockumentary format. (Or maybe this crowd of LDS actors is just really good at playing MLM sales people because of personal experience? Actually, I have no idea if they're all LDS.) This movie successfully reminded me of every in-home sales pitch we've ever had (and of a couple of particularly unpleasant out-of-home experiences), which made it an uncomfortable movie to watch. And yet Jon thought that it didn't sufficiently explore the yuckiness of having friends and family and church acquaintances hit you up to buy stuff or "start your own business." (He did not use the possibly made-up word "yuckiness;" that's me.)

Admittedly, for those of us who are returned missionaries, there is an interesting connection to explore between preaching the gospel and being a sales person. But I am too tired to address that right now.

It might be worth it to see this movie just for the inspirational MLM song performed by a real member of Air Supply.

In this TV mini-series, Debra Messing sometimes channels Lucille Ball, and it's wonderful. Maybe she's been doing that all along (I didn't see Will and Grace often enough to notice), but I loved it here. It's not outright comedy like I Love Lucy was, but there are plenty of funny spots, especially the dream sequences that parody famous films. I really enjoyed it. As of right now, you can watch the entire mini-series on hulu.com.

I think this is a better-than-average romantic comedy. Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany are both good actors, and there's more to the story than boy-meets-girl, etc. I guess it's about how love makes you a better person, and that's a good message. Also, I really like a rom-com that ends with real commitment, instead of some vague promise that the right people are together, at least until someone even more right comes along.