Inception (2010) ****

Wow!  That was weird!  I’ve been looking forward to this movie for a while.  It got great reviews in the past week since it’s been out.  The theater was crowded… and they’re showing it in two theaters at the same cinema. 

This movie started out very confusing.  I thought I must have missed something in the five seconds…thirty seconds into the movie… that I was opening my box of Goobers.  I was like, shit! I just looked down for a second and something really important happened and I freaking missed it!  I just did not get it for a long time.  I heard Pam three seats down from me saying, “I don’t get it.”  Then, a few minutes later, Linda whispered, “I don’t get it.”  From there, it started to get pretty good and I was thinking, “Boy, this is really, really cool… I wish I knew what the hell was going on.”   By the end, I was like, Wow! That was one of the coolest movies I’ve ever seen… I want to see it again!

So, if you haven’t seen it yet, trust me, it’s worth the wait.  Just pay attention because it gets confusing… but it’s really great in the long run.

What I can tell you that won’t spoil anything is that Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his team need to design a rich heir’s dreams to plant an idea in his mind: Inception… which is believed to be impossible, but Cobb knows it can be done… it’s just extremely difficult, and extremely dangerous.  The team must “share” the dream with the man and each team member has a different important job to do for success. 

Let me tell you, this cast was impressive!  I love Leo, but everyone else was superb, as well.  I didn’t even recognize Ken Watanabe… I don’t know why… he wasn’t disguised or anything.  Just some good acting, I guess. Marion Cotillard is gorgeous and fantastic.  Ellen Page was good, too.  Although, I have this problem always seeing her as the smart-ass Juno in every role she plays and in this one she was smart, but not smart-ass.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt was great… kind of Keanu Reeves-y.  Michael Caine was in it for a really small part… I’d almost call it a cameo.  Tom Berrenger was in it, too.  It was funny, I didn’t realize it was him only because he has completely grey hair and he looked really short.  I always thought he was taller.  Anyway, everyone was great.  Leonardo better win the Oscar this year… not necessarily for this movie, but either this or Shutter Island.

As someone who remembers their dreams a lot and frequently wonders their meanings, this movie was very, very interesting to me.  I didn’t really learn anything though… oh well…LOL!  I think when this movie comes out on DVD, people should make a drinking game out of it.  Every time someone says the word “dream” everyone drinks.  They say it A LOT.

Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) **1/2

I went to this movie because it was the only movie out that we hadn’t seen that the other girls wanted to see.  Linda and I hadn’t seen the first two Twilight movies or read the books, so we weren’t sure we’d even follow the story… joining in the middle stinks.  But, most sequels are able to stand on their own, so I wasn’t too worried. 

There were a couple things that were a little unclear, but it didn’t make it too bad.   I watched the movie and it was pretty good.  Not great.  But I could definitely understand why teen and preteen girls love this series! Nothing too gory and several very attractive characters.  But I’m 40-something, so I didn’t get quite the same feeling as the younger crowd probably.

I have since seen Twilight… they were showing it on Showtime Movies on Demand.  I don’t know if I liked that one as much, but it was helpful to see the beginning of the story.  It cleared up a few things and I’m glad for that.  It also kind of got me interested to read the books.  I think I will do that.  If I find New Moon on HBO or Netflix, I will watch that one, but if I don’t, I really don’t care.

I like all of those actors in these movies except Kristen Stewart.  If they had cast a different actress for that role, I probably would have loved this.  My son thinks she’s ugly.  I don’t.  But, I hate the way she always looks down and doesn’t seem to look anyone in the eye and never smiles.  I thought it was just her character, but I’ve seen her elsewhere and she’s kind of like that.  It’s creepy.

I didn’t really understand why she would go for Edward over Jacob.  Jacob is really warm and Edward is really cold.  I don’t know why they like each other… it doesn’t seem like they have any fun.  Edward is so serious… well, vampiring and protecting the one you love is serious business, but Jacob seems more fun to me… and hotter, in many ways.  After seeing the first movie, her attraction to Edward is a little more understandable too, but I’d still go for Jacob.

I don’t know when the next movie comes out, but I hear they are making the last book into two movies… it’s really thick!  I’m going to try to read the books before it comes out.  Sigh.

Splice (2010) *

If you look down past this post, you will see about four movies in a row with three stars.  Well, that ends here. 

They day before we went to see this movie I was talking to my nephew and saying that I was going to the movies the next day.  He said, “Whatever you do, don’t see Splice!  We saw it and it was so bad, we were laughing at how much it sucked.”  He told me a few things about it, trying not to give too much away in case I did end up seeing it… I was pretty sure that Splice was the planned movie for that week. 

Well, I will extend the same courtesy as my nephew did.  Whatever you do, don’t see Splice. It was so bad, that we were laughing at how much it sucked.  I won’t give anything away in case you do go to see it or rent it or whatever… but really, don’t waste your money… if you’re curious, just be patient and wait until you can see it for free and then all you will have wasted is a couple hours of your life (that you will never, ever get back.) 

After the movie, there was some discussion of how (even though it was science fiction) the characters would not have done a few if the things they did.  But one of our group argued that she believes that the science portrayed in the movie is very possibly going on in reality.  Well, sure… that.  But, there is no way a human being would do what that guy did in this movie… not that he couldn’t, he just wouldn’t.  In science fiction writing, screenplay or book, I’m sure it’s tricky to be realistic inside a fantasy, but this was just bad.  Sorry, I won’t be more specific than that, but when you see it a year from now (if at all), you will know exactly what I mean. 

Adrien Brody, I love you, but I’m very disappointed.

Killers (2010) ***

It’s been a month and a half since I saw this movie and when I just looked at my list of movies I saw but hadn’t written about, I could NOT remember what movie this was.  I had to IMDB it.  As soon as the picture popped up with Ashton Kutcher and Kathryn Heigl, I said to myself, “OOOOHH! Yeah! Cool!”  I really liked this one. 

A little corny, but cute.  It was pretty funny and everyone was pretty pretty, too.  But, since it’s been so long, I don’t want to try write too much about it at the risk of forgetting something important or giving away something I remember that might be a spoiler.  I just don’t know.  At this point it’s probably too late to see it in the theater, but worth seeing on DVD or On Demand.

Sorry!

Sex and the City 2 (2010) ***

I don’t have as much to say about this movie as what happened as a result of it.  I went to see this movie with my usual FPW girls (minus Erin, who is on MML: movie maternity leave).  In the movie, Samantha is given an all expenses paid trip to Abu Dhabi (the capital of UAE).  It’s a very rich city and if I remember correctly, a sheik invited her.  She decided to bring the girls with her.  They were treated like royalty… mostly.  They each had their own butler, their own chauffeured car, and many, many other amenities.  What I really didn’t get was: why didn’t they each get their own bedroom in the humongous suite they got to stay in?  They had to stay two in a room… whatever!

Anyway, it was an entertaining movie… not the best, but we all loved it.  Most of all, in hindsight.  It was very inspirational!  What I mean by that is that right after it ended, Pam looked at the three of us and said that we should go to Abu Dhabi!  Well, the next day, she called us to let us know of some dirt cheap flights from here to Orlando.  It just so happens we have a dear friend who lives with her new husband in a 3-bedroom house in Orlando.  So, 30 days later, we were off to Abu Dhabi (aka Orlando) for a long weekend for less than $150 each!!!! 

Well, you know, we’re all poor (not like homeless poor, but you know) so we decided to do a lot of free stuff while we were there.  We went to Steak and Shake for burgers (under $5, including drinks) on Friday night after we landed.  Saturday morning we got up early and drove to Clearwater Beach… only had to pay a few dollars in quarters for parking.  We brought our food with us.  We swam in the Gulf (it was really, really warm!) I got a sunburn, but only on my scalp right where my hair parts… that’s just now begun to peel… yuck.  The beach was fantastic!  Saturday night we went to Downtown Disney, which is free, and saw some street performers and had a little boat ride. 

Sunday morning we all piled into our friend’s car and went to her church.  It was way different than the Episcopal service I’m used to.  Very contemporary.  Christian Rock music on the stage for at least 15 minutes to begin the service… that was really great!  The pastor spoke for a while… he was very entertaining… funny and fabulous!  I can see why she loves going to church.  She had told me before we flew down that it was important to her that we all go.  I don’t think anyone else got that message and they weren’t planning on joining her.  I had decided that if it was important to her, I would go and think of it as an adventure.  The others didn’t want to go, but we talked them all into it and we all really liked it even though we are all used to much more traditional church services.

After church, we went to a house in her neighborhood where the couple legally changed their names to Mickey and Minnie and ALL of their house is decorated in Disney stuff… EVERYTHING is DISNEY!!!  It was very, very, very cool!!!  Then, we went shopping at a Disney outlet for souveniers.  Later, our friend had dinner for us and invited my father and step-mother, who live about an hour away.  We had so much fun!

Monday, we drove to the airport and before we left, stopped at Chili’s for lunch… I had a craving for Buffalo Chicken Salad for about a week, so I got that and it was terrific!!

Our Abu Dhabi may not have been as luxurious as the SATC girls’, but I’ll bet we had at least as much fun, if not more!

Letters to Juliet (2010) ***

I’m writing this and the posts about my next six movies way after watching them.  Yes, I’ve neglected my blog… oh, boo hoo… you’ll get over it!

I really don’t remember if I liked this three stars worth and I’m not sure I remember enough about it at all to really write a review at all.  I do remember that I liked it.  Maybe at some point in the future I will go to IMDB to jog my memory and  come back here and re-do this.

Sorry! Expect more of the same in the next few.