Somusing

During our week in London, we stayed in a vacation apartment just a little southeast of the city proper in Lewisham (Grove Park), across the street from the home of author Edith Nesbit , who wrote The Railway Children , Five Children and It , and many other books for children. Our apartment had a DVD copy of the 2000 movie adaptation of The Railway Children , so of course we watched it. It seems like I might have read the book when I was young, but I don't remember it at all. We enjoyed the movie very much, especially because it was filmed in lovely Yorkshire, which we had just left. I liked the movie enough that I found a free, public domain copy of it for Kindle and read it on my phone right after we saw the movie. (I don't have a Kindle, but I use the Kindle app on my phone quite often. I'd prefer to use Google's Play Books, but it has been hard-crashing my phone lately, and who needs that?) I like the book even more than the movie, which is to be expected, I gu...

Erin and I watched this 2-part Russian TV movie from 1975: Ирония судьбы, или С легким паром = The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath! I enjoyed it a lot. Good acting, clever story, funny situations, great music (one song has lyrics by Boris Pasternak!), and a nice period piece. There are articles about it on IMDb and Wikipedia , both with fun details. In Russia it is apparently shown every New Year's Eve or Day and has become a seasonal favorite in the same way It's a Wonderful Life is in the United States. We watched it on YouTube, in part 1 and part 2 .

I have fond memories of watching The Muppet Movie in a theater with my family. I guess I was nine, since it came out in 1979. Seeing a movie in a theater was a huge treat for us, but what I remember the most is my parents breaking into song once we got home. They started singing "Moving Right Along," which thereafter became a family joke -- we'd sing it at each other at odd moments, especially when we were trying to leave the house or when we wanted someone to move. I've enjoyed all of the Muppet movies since, but the original was my favorite. When The Muppets came out in 2011, I didn't expect much, but the reviews I read were good, so I raised my expectations, probably a little too much. It had a few good moments (my kids love the part where Chris Cooper raps), but it didn't approach my memories of the original. I recently watched the original again and confirmed that it's a classic. It has such a goofy sense of humor and the cameos are delightfu...

I watched The Dark Knight again with my oldest three boys. They hadn't seen it yet. I was disappointed in it the first time around and I still didn't like it nearly as much as Batman Begins , which is an excellent origin story movie, I think. The Dark Knight is (surprise!) dark and the plot is fairly complicated. And yes, Heath Ledger does a fine Joker. But I didn't enjoy it that much. Maybe Two-Face is too sad or something. But I'm glad I watched it with my boys, partly so I could remember its darkness and know what the boys were seeing and partly because it's important to the plot of The Dark Knight Rises . Which we were lucky enough to see in a second-run theater just a couple of days after watching The Dark Knight . It wasn't the best theater experience -- the focus was off for a little while and there are other things that make this particular theater second-run -- but it's a great movie. I loved the villain and his populist rhetoric. Catwoman wa...

More catching up. 17 Miracles (2011): Really good movie about the Mormon handcart companies. Winnie the Pooh (2011): I liked it a lot! I'm a Winnie the Pooh fan. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011): Enjoyable and not as convoluted as the others (although I liked the others a lot, too). Mansfield Park (1999): I like this movie a lot, although it doesn't have a lot to do with Jane Austen's novel. Monday Monday (2009): A British TV series, good, fairly short. Jerry Maguire (1996): I liked this. Killers (2010): Funnier than I thought it would be. Crazy, Stupid Love. (2011): I really liked this, although the end was overly cheesy and unlikely. Raising Arizona (1987): One of my favorite movies ever! How Do You Know (2010): I really like Reese Witherspoon, but this was just okay. Dear Lemon Lima (2009): Really good music and I liked it, but I didn't like one major part of the plot. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996): A pretty good adaptation of An...

Yes, I'm behind. This is catch-up. Date Night (2010): Loved it! Koyaanisqatsi (1982): I liked this. So did the kids, surprisingly enough. Powaqqatsi (1988): Not as good as the first one. Naqoyqatsi (2002): Even less good than the second one, although the kids liked it because of a couple of scenes from video games. Robin Hood (2010): So good. Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987): Second time seeing it. It's good. Bright Star (2009): Apparently kind of forgettable. Back to the Future (1985): The kids hadn't seen it before. They loved it, and it was fun to see again. Outsourced (2006): Okay Hotel Rwanda (2004): Very good. Moving. Leap Year (2010): Somewhat enjoyable fluff. Whip It (2009): Very good. The Incredible Hulk (2008): Meh. Groundhog Day (1993): Kind of fun. Pizza (2005): Pretty good. Amreeka (2009): Very good. Zed saw this at his Arabic camp at BYU, so we watched it while he was there. Amélie (2001): Cute. We'd had th...

The one redeeming element of Letters to Juliet was the travel. I liked that the English and American characters were in Italy, speaking Italian to the people they met (although, of course, switching to English pretty quickly for the sake of an American audience). Otherwise, I thought it was kind of dumb.

I usually like the movies that Luke Wilson is in, and this one is no exception. It's light-hearted and funny and pleasant. I really liked it (in spite of the too-high-pitched laugh of Denise Richards). As of October 2, 2011, it is streaming on Netflix.

We had this DVD from Netflix for quite a while before we watched it. I can't remember why I moved it to the top of our queue, but after watching (and hating) Paper Heart , I had very little desire to see another movie with Michael Cera in it. Even before that, I suspected and feared that Scott Pilgrim vs. the World might be kind of like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow --I'd hear about how wonderful and innovative and amazing it was and then I'd see it and be kind of bored. But I was wrong. I found it delightful, funny, strange, clever. My favorite ex-boyfriend was the vegan one. I wish it were cleaner, so I could show it to my kids. I'm sure they'll all see it eventually, but there's too much "adult" material in it for a family flick.

Here's what IMDb says about this movie : Charlyne Yi embarks on a quest across America to make a documentary about the one subject she doesn't fully understand: Love. Jon and I watched it a few nights ago. Well, Jon fell asleep about halfway through, so I guess I'm the one who watched it. I didn't hate it while I was watching it, but the more time that goes by since I saw it, the more it makes me kind of mad that I wasted my time on it. Charlyne Yi doesn't believe in True Love, so she travels around the country (and even to Paris towards the end) asking people about True Love--do they believe in it, what is it, what are their experiences, etc. She even consults some "experts" who might have something to say about love--some professors of biochemistry or something like that. She has some famous friends, one of whom is Michael Cera, with whom she starts a relationship. In spite of her experience with him, she refuses to change her mind about the exist...

Jon and I have been libertarians forever, but we didn't really know what to call it until we found and bought a copy of  Liberty  magazine at Barnes & Noble many years ago. Well, Jon was an anarchist in high school, and he still sometimes borders on that; I think I've always been a libertarian. Liberty  became the only magazine we subscribed to without interruption, until they stopped making the print edition a year or so ago. There were times when that magazine was like a cozy, cuddly blanket for me, even though much of what appeared in it was argumentative, sarcastic, sometimes pessimistic. Even our friend Brian , who is not known for his sunniness, found  Liberty  too caustic when we tried to indoctrinate him with it. But I loved it. So did Jon. We still  read it online , but I do miss the print version. Anyway, my point is that many times over the years, Jon and I saw ads for various libertarian conferences and one of us would always say, "We should go to that ...

This is streaming on Netflix, so I thought the kids ought to see it. It is as I remembered it: really stupid but also pretty dang funny. The kids loved it, and I enjoyed watching it again, too.

I believe this movie might still be in second-run theaters. If you haven't seen it yet, you should. It's pretty tense, although I don't think it would qualify as a straight action movie. There's plenty to think about, too. Also, I love Russell Crowe. Anyway, I loved it.

The King's Speech is a delightful movie. All of the acting is exceptional. It's a great story about tackling and overcoming an obstacle, but not in a fantastic or unrealistic way. Also, I love the relationship between the soon-to-be king and his wife. Apparently, it's fairly true to life, too. I loved it. Highly recommended. To my mom and anyone else who wonders: Yes, this movie is rated R. It carries that rating because of a certain word that begins with "f" that gets repeated many times, mostly in one scene that is integral to the story. Otherwise, it is very much PG. And, for what it's worth, that word doesn't sound nearly so bad when it's being said with a royal British accent.

Kristen Bell, the star of the TV show Veronica Mars (which I love), is the main character in this movie. Unfortunately, it's pretty stupid. If I ignore the story, there are some amusing characters and funny lines, but it's hard to ignore the story. Oh, well. Watched it streaming on Netflix.

There is no way I'm going to remember the title of this . I'm just calling it the Owl movie. Anyway, I wasn't excited to see this, but it was the choice of my three youngest. Turned out to be in 3D, so it was our first 3D movie in a theater! I'm actually kind of impressed with the 3D stuff, although it's a pain to wear the 3D glasses over my regular glasses. So, it's a nice-looking movie and the story's okay, though there are elements of other famous movies therein, like the mentor's voice telling the main character to "use his gizzard" (I'm not kidding) in pretty much exactly the same way Obi Wan tells Luke to use the force. And at least once, flying owls looked and sounded like those famous battle ships from Star Wars. But for a kid movie that features owls, it was pretty good. Also, the owls looked very much like owls, with several different species represented, in spite of their human expressions. I'm considering having the kids...

Yes, I watched the TV show The Incredible Hulk when I was a kid, and I liked it. I didn't have high hopes for the movie , but I was still kinda disappointed. It was great seeing Lou Ferrigno in a cameo, and there was one scene where Bruce Banner is sitting by a tree while the original, melancholy theme song played, which I enjoyed. But seriously, how are we supposed to empathize with a giant, computer-generated Hulk? No thanks. Lou Ferrigno in his green paint and weird contacts was sympathetic, but a big cartoon is not. Edward Norton is a pretty good actor, though. And it was fun to see the Lie to Me guy, Tim Roth, as the bad guy, although his super muscular torso in one scene was obviously make-up.

Here's another movie that got lame reviews that I liked pretty well. Of course, the Wyoming characters were stereotypes, but there was some familiar stuff that made me chuckle. For example, it's true that in small towns, a lot of people work several jobs. Also, it's a nice story about a married couple figuring out how to get past their troubles and mistakes, and for once, the mistakes and troubles seem realistic instead of completely retarded and baffling. I liked it.

Seems like this got generally bad reviews, but I liked it. For one thing, it's almost entirely clean. One point. For another, it's not set in New York City. Two points. Third, it's set somewhere crazy cold just like Teton Valley, Idaho. Three points. It really is different living in a place where snow and ice rule for half the year, and I thought this movie captured it pretty well. Sure, the story was pretty formulaic, but the setting and characters made it fun. (And no, I don't actually have a grand point scheme for movies.)

Ivy told me this was not a good movie, but we watched it anyway. There are some very funny parts. Very funny. The idea of a world where nobody lies is interesting and provides some great humor. But that kind of world would look so much different than the one we know, and how it might be different isn't well-explored. There are a couple of stabs at it, but they don't make any sense to me. (Why would total honesty produce a bunch of people who value genetically ideal mates? Or is it supposed to be our society if suddenly everyone told nothing but the truth? No, that's not it, either.) Anyway, definitely some hilarity, but I'm not sure it's worth the time.