After watching this film, it is no wonder that this movie was nominated for a Golden Globe. The Simpsons film was one of the most hilarios films I have never seen. Granted, I never would have payed money to see this film but that is why there is Netflix. With returning voices of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Pamela Hayden, and even Billie Joe Armstrong, this movie was a complete cast.
The plot is very simple and short. The Simpsons are forewarned by their crazy grandfather in church of evil that would ruin their lives. Soon after, Homer brings home a pig that was about to be slaughtered. Marge yells at Homer telling him that this was the evil that would ruin them. Of course Homer does not listen. Homer begins keeping all of the pigs poop in a big silo in their backyard. Marge finds out and tells Homer to go and dump into recycling. Lisa, previously, got the city to build a large metal fence around the lake that was being destroyed from pollution...it was idiot proof (haha). Homer is not your everyday idiot. He becomes distracted with donuts and has to race time. He ends up tossing the silo into the lake and the lake becomes a pollute monster. (Interesting plot, huh!) The "EPA" or the Environmental Protection Agency finds out who dumped the silo and the town becomes enraged and hunts down the Simpsons. The Simpsons cannot get very far because of the big glass dome surrounding their town keeping them away from the rest of the country. Maggie, finds a sink hole (also in their backyard) and tells the rest of the family to hop in. They escape.
The Simpson's are now out on the run and the only place Homer wants to go is Alaska. They go to Alaska. The kids only have so much fun until they watch the news and find out that the government and President Schwarzenegger are planning to destroy Springfield. The whole family (except Homer) rush back to Springfield in attempt to save it. It takes Homer a little bit longer but eventually he goes. They save the town from the government and Springfield is restored.
My rating is a 8.5 out of 10. There was a very good amount of sattire. Usually when TV shows try a movie, they flop. But to me the Simpson's was the best and has set the bar for the rest.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Cinema Paradiso
My rating of Cinema Paradiso is a 9.5 out of 10.
My first most memorable part of this film was when Toto yelled to Alfredo "UP YOURS!" because no child would dare yell that at an adult today...unless you have as good of friendship as Toto and Alfredo. Alfredo knew that Toto was only joking or did not mean it.
My second most memorable part was when there was a fire underneath Toto's bed from the film. His sister almost got hurt. But their family portrait of his mother and father was burned in half with the part of his father being gone, eluding to the fact that his father was dead and he was but a memory now.
Third would have to be in the very beginning the priest previewing the films that the townspeople would watch but he would "delete" all of the "pornography", which to most of us today is just kissing.
Fourth is when the film catches on fire and Alfredo is the last person inside, Toto rushes in to save him, but Alfredo is burned on his face to the point where he is blind for the rest of his life.
Fifth would be the first time Toto (also known as Salvatore as he begins to grow up) saw Elena. He began to film her because she was the most beautiful thing.
Sixth would be when Toto first speaks to Elena and forgets what he was going to say and talks about the weather.
Seventh is when Toto promises Elena he will wait 99 evenings for her and when she would open the window shutters to her room, that would mean she is finally in love with him too. That evening never came.
Eigth would be when a man comes to town with lots of money and offers to buy the old theatre and turns it into Cinema Paradiso and Salvatore continues working the film booth there. The film is not flammable any more, the pictures are more clear, and kissing is now allowed.
Ninth would be when Toto is leaving and Alfredo whispers into his ear, "Do not come back. No matter what. Do not come back. Nothing will be the same. No one will be here. If you come back, I will not let you into my home. I will not speak to you. Now go...go...". Toto never returned but when he did, everything was different.
My tenth memory would be the last scenes scrambled together. Toto receives a phone call telling him that Alfredo is dead. Salvatore returns to Giancaldo, Sicily only to find that Alfredo had been right. All of the old buildings he remebered, gone. Recognizable faces of people that he shared his childhood with, gone. Film...not so. Alfredo had kept all of the "pornography" scenes from the priest's day, and had kept them for Toto. The scenes represented what love was and also what was missing from Salvatores life.
My first most memorable part of this film was when Toto yelled to Alfredo "UP YOURS!" because no child would dare yell that at an adult today...unless you have as good of friendship as Toto and Alfredo. Alfredo knew that Toto was only joking or did not mean it.
My second most memorable part was when there was a fire underneath Toto's bed from the film. His sister almost got hurt. But their family portrait of his mother and father was burned in half with the part of his father being gone, eluding to the fact that his father was dead and he was but a memory now.
Third would have to be in the very beginning the priest previewing the films that the townspeople would watch but he would "delete" all of the "pornography", which to most of us today is just kissing.
Fourth is when the film catches on fire and Alfredo is the last person inside, Toto rushes in to save him, but Alfredo is burned on his face to the point where he is blind for the rest of his life.
Fifth would be the first time Toto (also known as Salvatore as he begins to grow up) saw Elena. He began to film her because she was the most beautiful thing.
Sixth would be when Toto first speaks to Elena and forgets what he was going to say and talks about the weather.
Seventh is when Toto promises Elena he will wait 99 evenings for her and when she would open the window shutters to her room, that would mean she is finally in love with him too. That evening never came.
Eigth would be when a man comes to town with lots of money and offers to buy the old theatre and turns it into Cinema Paradiso and Salvatore continues working the film booth there. The film is not flammable any more, the pictures are more clear, and kissing is now allowed.
Ninth would be when Toto is leaving and Alfredo whispers into his ear, "Do not come back. No matter what. Do not come back. Nothing will be the same. No one will be here. If you come back, I will not let you into my home. I will not speak to you. Now go...go...". Toto never returned but when he did, everything was different.
My tenth memory would be the last scenes scrambled together. Toto receives a phone call telling him that Alfredo is dead. Salvatore returns to Giancaldo, Sicily only to find that Alfredo had been right. All of the old buildings he remebered, gone. Recognizable faces of people that he shared his childhood with, gone. Film...not so. Alfredo had kept all of the "pornography" scenes from the priest's day, and had kept them for Toto. The scenes represented what love was and also what was missing from Salvatores life.
Friday, January 23, 2009
The Graduate
"Mrs. Robinson, I think you're trying to seduce me...Mrs. Robinson, aren't you trying to seduce me?" "Would you like me to seduce you?" "I'm going home now", one of the most memorable lines in the history of films comes from the 1967 film The Graduate. Starring Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddok, Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson, and Katherine Ross as Elaine, this eventual love triangle becomes one of lust versus love but also adds that pinch of comedy to lighten the mood.
When Benjamin Braddok returns from college, he is consistently hounded with the question, "What are doing next?", and he states "Drifting...because it's comfortable". Now this could be taken many ways but as we see throughout the next couple months and years of young Ben's life, he is drifting but not as comfortably as he would like us to think. Mrs. Robinson enters the film when she asks Ben to drive her home after his party, so as any good gentleman would do, he did. Little did he know that there was more than bourbon on the rocks waiting in the bar. Mrs. Robinson tells him to come in side, he follows. Mrs. Robinson asks him what he wants to drink, he states bourbon. Mrs. Robinson asks him to come upstairs to Elaine's room, he starts walking up the stairs. It is here in Elaine's room that we learn what Mrs. Robinson really has in mind. She tells Ben that she finds him attractive and that she's available whenever he is. Availability is not her problem. The first time they do the dirty (well at least for the late 1950's, early 1960's) is at the local hotel and the room clerk asks him, "Are you here for an affair sir?" and Braddok panics and stammers over his words and says, "What?" shocked and scared that somone knows. But the affair the innocent room clerk meant was a party that was being held. Braddok laughs it off and states that he only has a toothbrush with and gets his room key.
After a couple months of the affair, Elaine Robinson returns home for a while before heading off to Berkely College. This is when Mrs. Robinson goes off the deep end and tells Ben that he must never take her out on a date but does he listen? No, of course not, he's Benjamin Braddok. Braddok eventually falls head over heels for Elaine and this upsets Mrs. Robinson to the point where she tells Elaine about Ben but puts a twist and says he raped her. Stupid Elaine, she believed her mother and left Ben to live with his thoughts. Smart but quirky Ben, follows Elaine to college and kind of stalks her to eventually trap her and tell her his side of the story. Of course, a week later they hook up because Elaine believes him but does not tell him that she is already engaged and to be married. Braddok finds this out almost a little too late but finds out which church Elaine is getting married at and again, stalks her down. He breaks into the church and the last scene we see is that of Ben yelling and Elaine screaming, her fiance yelling, Mrs. Robinson slap Elaine across the face, and Ben and Elaine run out, hop on a bus, and drive away.
Yes, all of the above is true but there is a follow up movie. The 2005 film Rumor Has It, starring Jennifer Aniston, Shirley MacLaine, Kevin Costner, and Mark Ruffalo, we learn that a famous movie filmed in the 1960's, The Graduate, was based on a true life story. No one had ever learned who this family was or how much of the story was factual but Jennifer Aniston's character, Sarah, knew something was not right with her and her family. Sarah eventually finds out that she is right about her quirky family and learns that The Graduate was written about the love triangle between her grandmother, Shirley MacLaine, and her mother who passed away thirty years ago. This follow up to The Graduate was the true closing we needed. The audience needed a sense that everyone's family is messed up but in the end it is possible to find true love even after you've had many problems.
I gave both of these movies a 9 out of 10 on my rating skill. Both kept us laughing and in suspense as we never knew what to expect from any of the characters. Shirley MacLaine is amazing and Kevin Costner is the best person to play a still sick-minded man. Anne Bancroft is just the woman to act seducively and Dustin Hoffman has the perfect expression for a movie where he hardly spoke at all. "People talking without speaking", a line from the song The Sound of Silence, perfectly describes what Hoffman accomplished in this film.
When Benjamin Braddok returns from college, he is consistently hounded with the question, "What are doing next?", and he states "Drifting...because it's comfortable". Now this could be taken many ways but as we see throughout the next couple months and years of young Ben's life, he is drifting but not as comfortably as he would like us to think. Mrs. Robinson enters the film when she asks Ben to drive her home after his party, so as any good gentleman would do, he did. Little did he know that there was more than bourbon on the rocks waiting in the bar. Mrs. Robinson tells him to come in side, he follows. Mrs. Robinson asks him what he wants to drink, he states bourbon. Mrs. Robinson asks him to come upstairs to Elaine's room, he starts walking up the stairs. It is here in Elaine's room that we learn what Mrs. Robinson really has in mind. She tells Ben that she finds him attractive and that she's available whenever he is. Availability is not her problem. The first time they do the dirty (well at least for the late 1950's, early 1960's) is at the local hotel and the room clerk asks him, "Are you here for an affair sir?" and Braddok panics and stammers over his words and says, "What?" shocked and scared that somone knows. But the affair the innocent room clerk meant was a party that was being held. Braddok laughs it off and states that he only has a toothbrush with and gets his room key.
After a couple months of the affair, Elaine Robinson returns home for a while before heading off to Berkely College. This is when Mrs. Robinson goes off the deep end and tells Ben that he must never take her out on a date but does he listen? No, of course not, he's Benjamin Braddok. Braddok eventually falls head over heels for Elaine and this upsets Mrs. Robinson to the point where she tells Elaine about Ben but puts a twist and says he raped her. Stupid Elaine, she believed her mother and left Ben to live with his thoughts. Smart but quirky Ben, follows Elaine to college and kind of stalks her to eventually trap her and tell her his side of the story. Of course, a week later they hook up because Elaine believes him but does not tell him that she is already engaged and to be married. Braddok finds this out almost a little too late but finds out which church Elaine is getting married at and again, stalks her down. He breaks into the church and the last scene we see is that of Ben yelling and Elaine screaming, her fiance yelling, Mrs. Robinson slap Elaine across the face, and Ben and Elaine run out, hop on a bus, and drive away.
Yes, all of the above is true but there is a follow up movie. The 2005 film Rumor Has It, starring Jennifer Aniston, Shirley MacLaine, Kevin Costner, and Mark Ruffalo, we learn that a famous movie filmed in the 1960's, The Graduate, was based on a true life story. No one had ever learned who this family was or how much of the story was factual but Jennifer Aniston's character, Sarah, knew something was not right with her and her family. Sarah eventually finds out that she is right about her quirky family and learns that The Graduate was written about the love triangle between her grandmother, Shirley MacLaine, and her mother who passed away thirty years ago. This follow up to The Graduate was the true closing we needed. The audience needed a sense that everyone's family is messed up but in the end it is possible to find true love even after you've had many problems.
I gave both of these movies a 9 out of 10 on my rating skill. Both kept us laughing and in suspense as we never knew what to expect from any of the characters. Shirley MacLaine is amazing and Kevin Costner is the best person to play a still sick-minded man. Anne Bancroft is just the woman to act seducively and Dustin Hoffman has the perfect expression for a movie where he hardly spoke at all. "People talking without speaking", a line from the song The Sound of Silence, perfectly describes what Hoffman accomplished in this film.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
Top 10 Movies
1. Chocolat
2. Twilight
3. Hairspray
4. Just Friends
5. P.S. I Love You
6. Phantom of the Opera
7. The Notebook
8. 27 Dresses
9. The Dark Knight
10. Sleepless in Seattle
2. Twilight
3. Hairspray
4. Just Friends
5. P.S. I Love You
6. Phantom of the Opera
7. The Notebook
8. 27 Dresses
9. The Dark Knight
10. Sleepless in Seattle
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