Mirkwood Reflections

I went on Friday night with 2 friends to see Constantine. Neither one of them is a Keanu fan. Amy hated the movie. She said it wasn't the worst movie she'd ever seen, but that's the highest praise she can give it. LOL Maryann said it was better than she thought it would be. But me?? I did like it. I don't think it's my favorite Keanu film, although I am feeling a draw to go back and see it again. This is not the kind of movie I would usually go see, and, yes, I will admit that it was Keanu who was the main attraction for me. I wasn't sure I'd go see it even with Mr. Reeves as the main character, but I had heard discussions about the spiritual aspect of the film beforehand and this convinced me to go. I wanted to see how Hollywood would manage to do a film like this with spiritual themes. Would it be effective? Convincing? Would it draw people closer to God or push them away? Ok, a quick plot summary for those of you who haven't been eagerly anticipating

I saw Constantine tonight! Really liked it! Will update my blog tomorrow.

Next up in my extended Keanu Reeves film festival is Johnny Mnemonic , a futuristic cyberpunk tale from 1995. I KNOW where I was in 1995 - being a first-year mama to David who never left my side. I wouldn't call this one of Keanu's best movies. In fact, I would say this is probably one of his worst. :-( Keanu plays Johnny, an information courier who makes his living by transporting sensitive data stored in a memory module wet-wired into his brain. A particularly important memory load puts Johnny and the entire world at risk. The movie is based on a short story by William Gibson, and the plot line is definitely original. Even though the movie is mostly a dud, I did enjoy it. I was curious to see how the plot worked itself out. And even though Keanu's performance is on the stiff side for most of the movie, I still liked it! ;-) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113481/ This movie has not been reviewed at screenit.com.

Evidently someone thought it would be a good idea to do a remake of Psycho. I only watched this movie because Maryann made me. Viggo Mortensen is in it, which is reason enough for her. At least he doesn't play Norman Bates. That unenviable job goes to Vince Vaughn. A garishly costumed Anne Heche takes the role of Marion Crane, made famous by Janet Leigh. Admittedly we used the fast forward feature liberally, but I did know the story beforehand. This appears to be nearly a shot-by-shot remake of the Hitchcock Psycho , which of course is a classic, although not the type of movie I usually enjoy. WHY remake a classic? Very strange choice. I think it is safe to say that the original was far superior. Don't bother with this one. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0155975/ http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/psycho.html

I'm a sucker for an English accent, so when I saw the preview for Around the World in 80 days, it got my attention! It looked like an entertaining light film, and I put it on my Netflix queue and waited for it to come out on DVD. I am glad I made time to watch it! I found it engaging and amusing, as well as inventive in many ways. I didn't expect it to be profound cinema, so I wasn't disappointed that way, nor have I read the novel by Jules Verne, so I wasn't bothered by concerns that the film didn't correctly represent the book. (If YOU feel like reading the book, here is a link to it online! How cool is that! http://www.literature.org/authors/verne-jules/eighty/ ) I found Fogg's inventions to be cleverly rendered onscreen - the electric lights, the beautiful mansion with its spinning ornamentation, the horseless carriage, and more! The costuming was beautiful; I quite enjoy a period flick! Steve Coogan was marvelous as Phileas Fogg. He has such an expressive f

I watched Napoleon Dynamite on January 31. I had high expectations for this movie after hearing it raved about by so many people I respect. I am sad to report that I really didn't like it much. I guess I am not the angsty type. The story really didn't go anywhere and the main character wasn't that interesting to me. I didn't get much of a sense of his thoughts, hopes, and dreams. In fact, the majority of the characters were strange and unlikeable. The best of the lot was Deb, the teen girl that befriended Napoleon and had a tendency to wear her hair in an extremely unflattering side ponytail. She at least seemed to have something beneath the surface. I have put off this review too long and I had more to say, but I can't remember it now. It doesn't help that I have a bad cold. Maybe I will think of more to say later. Feel free to berate me for my dislike of this movie. LOL http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374900/ http://www.screenit.com/movies/2004/napole