Mirkwood Reflections

Titanic National Geographic special This was really interesting - about how many errors were involved in the sinking of the Titanic. From the inferior iron rivets to a insulting comment made by the radio operator, so many tiny things contributed to the sinking of the great ship. It helps that I have been fascinated by the Titanic since I first heard of it as a child. Law-Abiding Citizen Found this one really distasteful. I don't watch a lot of "R" movies and this would be a good example of why not. Really gory vigilante justice film. Even Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx didn't save it. Save your time. Alice in Wonderland Watched this in the theater with my sister - her treat! Thank you, Janet! It was rather surreal, but that comes with the territory, eh? Both Lewis Carroll and Tim Burton fit that category neatly. A beautiful film - lots of vivid colors and interesting things to look at. Sherlock Holmes Not as good as I'd hoped, but maybe I was too tired to appreciate...

April 7 - I just realized I never posted this despite writing it on March 21. So, here you have it. lol Last week, I only watched ONE movie. I know - can you even believe it? Not only that, it was a movie I've seen lots of times already - The Proposal . One of my new favorites. IMDB This past week, I did manage a few more. Went to the theater to see The Bounty Hunter . It was just ok. The funny moments were almost all in the trailer. I felt like Gerard Butler's character was too flawed to be a convincing romantic lead, though I do enjoy watching him on film. I like Jennifer Aniston too, and the supporting cast was also enjoyable. I felt like a lot of it was a rip off of Stephanie Plum - right down to the big blue classic car that Stephanie has to drive. But it was a nice outing with a friend, even if it was a rather forgettable film. IMDB Our book club selection this month was Wuthering Heights , so last night we watched the newest film version (2009). The filmmakers made Heat...

A librarian at one of the libraries I frequent heard me mention that I wanted to watch Gamer because Gerard Butler stars in that violent action flick. Not my normal type of movie. Hers either, but she is a rabid Butler fan and so we discussed his various movies for a few minutes. The next time I came into the library, I found this note affixed to my stack of requested items. "Lisa - For my Gerard Butler fan. Check out Dear Frankie and Attila the Hun DVDs. Good Chick Flicks! Christine, The Library's Gerard Butler Fan" Are you giggling? I was! LOL We then had a chance to talk about those films in particular, which I'd already seen (of course!) and loved. Dear Frankie is a lovely movie and Gerard is particularly charming in it, especially because of his Scots accent shining through. Too many movies don't feature that. Attila the Hun is not a particularly good movie, but I enjoyed Gerard in that one as well. And Gamer ? Interesting premise. Pretty gory, in a vide...

The kids wanted to see Nim's Island long before it came out and I read the book aloud to them this spring as a prerequisite for watching the movie. But the spring slipped by and the movie left theatres before we were able to carve out time to see it. When the kids' summer matinee schedule was announced for a local theatre, I was very glad to see it included Nim's Island . Today we went with a group of friends to see it and I am SO GLAD we did. What a wonderful movie! Who wouldn't want to live on this idyllic island, especially with most the comforts of home, including apparently high-speed internet! I'll admit to being very glad that Gerard Butler played both Nim's dad Jack and the fictional adventurer Alex Rover created by the writer of the same name (played by Jodie Foster). Lots of screen time for Gerry! Lots of appreciation from the moms accompanying their kids to this sold-out show! Nim (Abigail Breslin) is an eleven-year-old girl who lives on an unchart...

300 was not high on my list of movies to be viewed but a co-worker lent it to me after she raved about how much she liked it. I was a bit put-off by the cover (quite gory) and by the comments of another coworker about how the film was filled with "half-naked women". When I told him that wasn't really a problem for me ( lol ), he countered with the statement that there were plenty of "half-naked men" as well. So I began the film with a bit of trepidation, having had such diverse comments beforehand. We had studied the Battle of Thermopylae in our history lessons last year and so I was vaguely familiar with the plot line . I also knew that Gerard Butler was in it, and I had much enjoyed him in Dear Frankie (although not so much in Phantom of the Opera). I think a bit of a history lesson is called for before I give my reactions to the film. "In the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC, an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian Empire at the...