Movie Musings Monday: Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End

Sunday night, Hubs, my little sister, and I caught Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End at a late night viewing. I had high hopes for the 3rd installment as I really enjoyed the first two movies quite a lot. Keeping with my usual trend, critics mainly panned the movie, but I enjoyed it. Visual effects were superb; I bet this will be a fantastic Blu-Ray or HD DVD title. Plot lines could be a bit confusing at times, but who can complain when there's multiple Johnny Depps in one scene? The underlying love triangle plot hook with Elizabeth-Jack-Will was as thick as ever. Keith Richards as Jack Sparrow's father is absolutely hilarious. At one point, he's shown playing an acoustic guiter, but I was disappointed that a pirate-y version of"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" wasn't played. Be forewarned, this movie is quite long, over 3 hours with previews and staying for the hidden post closing credits scene.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars. Proving for a fact that pirates > ninjas :)
Knitting Rating: 1 out of 5 Skeins. I didn't bring any knitting projects with me, but I wish I had during the ending credits.

Movie Musings Monday: Borat

Um. Yeah, I know it's not Monday. I couldn't peel my eyes away from the DVRed episodes of Heroes this weekend. Last night, we sat down to finally watch Borat.

My reactions during the movie ranged amongst mild amusement at the way over the top antics, belly laughs at less forced bits (bear in the ice cream truck = hilarious!), shock at folks' reactions and answers, and wanting to drench my mind's eye with bleach. *shudder*

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars. Rather enjoyable, but some bits are just too gross.
Knitting Rating: 5 out of 5 Skeins. Have a very engrossing, focus-intense project on hand for the more heinous scenes.

Movie Musings Monday: Eragon

We've finally gotten back into the Blockbuster Online groove. Just in time for beautiful outdoor weather. >.< Up for discussion this week is Eragon.

For full disclosure, I have read "Eragon" and its sequel "Eldest." I'm also a fierce believer that movies should closely follow canon and have been known not to enjoy movies that stray too far from the book. Don't even get me started on the shrunken head scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. That said, Eragon the movie did stray from canon quite a bit, including several plot lines with major characters, Brom and Arya. I was highly disappointed that my favorite butt-kickin' elven warrior chick, Arya, was so flat and damsel-in-distress-like. Feh.

Plot diversions aside, the movie was very visually interesting. Good action and fighting sequences, Saphira's gift to Brom, and an absolutely cuddly-wuddly baby dragon. Awwww.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars. Decent enough movie, especially if you haven't read the book.
Knitting Rating: 4 out of 5 Skeins. I was able to follow a pattern and keep engrossed in the plot.

Movie Musings Monday: Underworld Evolution Blu-Ray Edition

Hubs and I undertook a new project this weekend - hooking up the PS3 and DVD player through HDMI cables, upgrading the surround sound system to optical cords, and adding an HDMI source selector to our home theater setup. Ok, more like my idea to add all this stuff and Hubs hard work to get it working properly. I did google around a bit to find a cord that would let these HDMI devices be plugged into our TV's DVI input though. :) Thanks to our college friends, Christina and Tony, who we got the chance to see for the first time in ages this weekend, we even had a Blu-Ray movie recommendation.

We have a copy of Underworld Evolution on regular ol' DVD, so the plot didn't have any big unexpected twists for me to be caught by. What I didn't count on was just how amazing high definition through an HDMI cord looks compared to a non-HD signal. Said amazement led me to say things like "Wow, look at that guy's head get ripped off in HD!" and "Wow, look at that shine off Kate Beckingsale's ass in HD!" By far the best effect was the blue vampire eyes...in HD. :) As Hubs said, this movie will be "The Matrix" DVD of the Blu-Ray format - everyone had to buy a copy of "The Matrix" when they purchased their first DVD player. So it goes with Blu-Ray player and "Underworld Evolution".

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars. Visually stunning on Blu-Ray.
Knitting Rating: 0 out of 5 Skeins. Far too visually interesting for the simplest stockinette in the round. I abandoned the sock midway through the first scene.

Movie Musings Monday: Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest

Yesterday afternoon, I started catching up a bit on our newer additions to our DVD collection. If you like a good pirate brain candy movie, the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are just the ticket. Sit back, relax, grab some knitting and just enjoy the impressive visual effects, soundtrack, and staggering antics of Captain Jack Sparrow.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars. Good movie, but it's a middle movie. Lose a star for the fate of the prison pooch.
Knitting Rating: 3 out of 5 Skeins. I got a bit distracted by the visuals while picking up stitches on a sock for Hubs. Good for mindless knitting though.

Movie Musings Monday: 300

With a leery heart, I saw 300 in the movie theater last weekend. My feelings of trepidation were on a count of my reaction to the last movie based on a graphic novel I saw, Sin City. 300 contained no creepy orange-skinned molesters nor any cannibalistic hobbits dressed as Harry Potter (that's how I interpreted Elijah Woods' character in Sin City). That's a huge bonus in my mind for 300 right off the back.

Now, don't get me wrong; 300 portrays lots of stylized over the top violence. Just not to the extent of causing weak constitutioned me to have nightmares, surprisingly enough. Personally, I thought the plot was a bit weak. Persians invade Greece, and King Leonidas wants to send Sparta to war, but his requests are rejected. King goes off with 300 Spartans to face the insurmountable enemy. Much violence ensues.

The overall look of the movie was very well done with nearly dance-like choreography of the fight scenes, even if the costuming, especially the Spartan army was a bit on the bare side. Have to wonder what the end result would have been had the Spartans worn armor and not just a helmet and loincloth.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars. Visually interesting, but I like more plot.
Knitting Rating: 4 out of 5 Skeins. No worries about missing big plot lines if you don't watch closely. I was able to knit stockinette in the round in the dark of the theater with this movie.

Movie Musings Monday: Well, Kinda

While I did watch a movie this weekend, today's Movie Monday post is all about last night's TV series and season enders for Rome and Battlestar Galactica. So, WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!! *ahem*

Last night's episode of Rome was the last episode of the series. This is the series that finally made cheap-ass me order HBO, which I will be cancelling now that Rome is over. Rome had everything - action, plot twists, intrigue, compelling characters, and beautiful settings. As per my usual, I was too wrapped up in the characters and felt it was rather a let down that Vorenus died after a small skirmish in Egypt. He was stranded on a deserted island last season and lived, rather crappy way to end a character line. I would have been much more torn up if Titus Pullo was killed, though.

OMG! Last night's season finale of Battlestar Galactica is the most amazing episode in the series. Baltar found not guilty, four newly revealed cylons, and Starbuck's back! I was surprised that the usual theme song and sneak peeks weren't shown before this episode. After seeing the episode, I'm glad no revealing previews were given. After Starbuck's return, I tossed my hands in the air and declared this to have been the best episode ever. Almost softened the blow that there will be no new Battlestar Galactica episodes until 2008.

Nine months with no BSG and no new Rome episodes ever; what a sad night.

Movie Musings Monday: The Prestige

"The Prestige" popped out of the DVD player just in time to make my Movie Musings Monday post.

If you like twists and turns and intrigue, GO RENT THIS MOVIE. I love movies that make me audibly gasp, and oh, how this one did. Plus, it has a killer line-up: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, David Bowie, Scarlett Johansson, and Michael Caine. I fully plan on purchasing a copy of this movie on DVD.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 Gobsmacked Stars. Really, go rent it!
Knitting Rating: 3 out of 5 Skeins. While very visual in nature, stockinette or ribbing in the round is appropriate. Lends itself particularly well to knitting vintage Victorian era patterns. Be on the lookout for beautiful lace knits!

Movie Musings Monday: "The Marine"

Because everyone chooses a bad movie rental every once and awhile - even Hubs. Historically speaking, the title of "Worst Movie Chooser" has been mine since Hubs and I started dating. I take full responsibility for "Nacho Libre", Dean Koontz's "Phantoms" (which was NOTHING like the book!), and a slew of bad Christopher Lambert movies. With his recent selection of "The Marine", Hubs now is the holder of that dubious title.

Before the movie began, I had it pegged as a bad movie when the WWE studios logo was shown. And HOW did this movie deliver the cheesy badness. Ridiculously large explosions, horrible acting, and random chick fights were de rigeur. Highlight of this movie is its relatively short duration - long enough to finish 4 rows of my Saffron Cable afghan.

Overall Rating: No stars for you! It was that bad.
Knitting Rating: 2 out of 5 skeins.

Movie Musings Monday: Flyboys

Up for review this week is Flyboys. A movie about a squad of American volunteer WW1 fighter pilots who flew for France. There's also a rather weak love story that's half in mumbled French with no subtitles and typical male buddy movie themes. The highlight of the movie by far were the dogfight scenes. Well filmed and excellent effects.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars. I'd recommend it to fans of other war movies.
Knitting Rating: 2 out of 5 Skeins. I kept bugging Hubs with questions on which character was on the screen as it was really hard to knit and keep track of character faces with aviator goggles and helmets on.

Movie Musings Monday: Gamerz

With a title like "Gamerz" how could I pass by this movie?

Gamerz is the quintessential niche comedy for role-playing game players. The premise of the movie is that regardless of drudgery and crappiness of everyday life, they could find an escape in gaming. Add in a love square (not a triangle) and shadow animated RPG character depictions for the in game storyline, and that's the major gist of Gamerz.

Several of the major gamer archetypes are portrayed very well, too. The over-invested in his character player, a walking rule book player, street-wise strategist, and disgusting habit gamer are all represented. Including a player which shows why most D&D books come with a first page worthy warning that the contents are purely fiction. Many times throughout the movie, I was able to relate the scene to occurrences in gaming sessions I've had. The writers must be gamers, too. :)

On the bad side, while I realize it's a low-budget, indie film, the wobbly camera work left me nauseous in the first 15 minutes of the movie. Also, I could have used subtitles since the dialogue has a strong Scottish accent. (Though, I'm a lamer who needs subtitles to Trainspotting, too.)

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars. I really wouldn't recommend this title to non-gamers though. There's a lot of humor found in the nuances of gaming that may be lost if you've never played an RPG before. If you play RPGs, watch this movie!
Knitting Rating: 3 out of 5 Skeins. I was able to work on a sock and still catch most of the dialogue. Bonus, there is a knitter shown in the movie. :)

Movie Musings Monday: The Illusionist

The Illusionist outpaced my expectations by a mile. I honestly do not remember seeing any in theater commercials, and I rented it on a whim at Blockbuster. What I got was one of the best movies I've seen in quite some time (and have since purchased on DVD). The underlying star-crossed love plotline wasn't contrite nor overly mushy; romantic movie watcher I am not. Seeing the lead character, Eisenheim, use his knowledge and skills learned from his tradesman family to challenge the tyrranical prince of Vienna was inspiring. I tend to like movies that depict characters rising above adversite to stick it to "The Man". Excellent movie with stunning visuals.

Overall Rating: 5/5 Stars. Excellent movie.
Knitting Rating: 2/5 Skeins. Best suited for mindless stockinette in the round. The visuals distracted me from a relatively simple, repeated pattern.

Movie Musings Monday: Nacho Libre

Today marks the start of another new weekly blog feature, Movie Musings Monday. Since August, I've had a Blockbuster Online account. Couple that with an all-consuming knitting habit which works best with me in front of the TV, and I watch a ton of movies and TV shows on DVD. Of course, my reviews will have a slant towards knitting, so I won't be duplicating existing movie review sites. Without further ado, below is my review of Nacho Libre.

I confess to enjoying brainless comedies - the Griswold movies of the 80s, Euro Trip, American Pie, to name just a few. Nacho Libre tried very hard to have even the brainless-level of comedy and missed. Hubs fell asleep during our Friday night viewing; that's the first time in almost 13 years that I've known him that he's fallen asleep during a movie. I started a charted lace project, yet I did not miss any of the movie's plot. Under-appreciated, poorly stereotyped Mexican priest takes up wrestling to help the orphans that live at the monastery and falls for a nun. Add in an a village idiot tag team partner and some poop jokes, and voila, Nacho Libre.

Overall Rating: 0 out of 5 stars. I rented this movie with a free coupon, and still felt that I was due a refund.
Knitting Rating: 5 out of 5 skeins. Complex lace or cable charted projects are a perfect fit with this movie. Even with higher levels of concentration needed, you won't miss much.