View from the Mountain

There Will Be Blood, not a chick flick

Not long ago we ventured down to the Grandin to see "There Will Be Blood" starring Daniel Day Lewis.

I have accused my wife recently of tricking me into chick flicks.  I will have to retract that statement.

There Will Be Blood is no chick flick.  It is probably the most intense movie that I have seen since Schindler's List.

While Schindler's List shocked you, There Will Be Blood overwhelms you with its intensity and story.

On top of that the images are visually stunning and loaded with meaning.  I suspect film students will be going to see this film forever.

Daniel Day Lewis is in every scene. The emotion and intensity that he invests in his oil man character is hard to even imagine.

While I hesitate to recommend you run and see this move, eventually you will probably want to watch it.

There are some troubling images and questions that stay with you the next day which is usually the sign of a movie worth seeing.

Certainly if you want to convince people that greed can destroy, this is a good movie to see.

If you are looking for a laugh, you will not find it in There Will Be Blood.

Waitress, tricked into another Chick flick

As we waited for the show to start, I happened to notice that I was the only guy in the theater except for a guy "couple."

That is usually a bad sign.

However, i will admit to enjoying Kerri Russell's portrayal of a pie making waitress trapped in a terrible life.

The one real surprise in the movie was Andy Griffith and his portrayal of "Old Joe."  Andy was terrific.

The husband in the movie was more than a little anonying so I was glad to see him get his just "desserts."

The bad dream pirates movie

Well I was right, I ended up at the third pirates' movie in spite of my better judgment.

I called the last pirates' movie, the eye liner movie.  I think the first movie was the best, the rest have been increasingly weird.

This one just didn't jell.  The battle near the end was the only good part.  There were pieces in the movie that made little or no sense.

Even my wife, who is a Johnny Depp fan, thought we should have used our sixteen dollars on a different movie.

The Pirates of the Caribbean at World's End is not a movie I would recommend. 

The Shooter, a great action flick

So here is the strategy to get to see a good action movie.   It might even work out like it did for me.  My wife, Glenda, even found the action movie and chose it as the one we were going to see.

She did that after reading a couple of reviews for "300" which I had been campaigning to see. My oldest daughter was even willing to go to see "300," but my wife suggested we go see "Shooter" instead.

Now I cannot help you out as to which reviews you should have your wife read, but I can suggest that you send her to the Rotten Tomatoes.com site for "300."

Have her watch three or four of the clips that they have, and she will be buying the tickets to "The Shooter" for you.

The "Shooter" is just an action classic that moves very well.  Fortunately you do not have time to ask yourself a lot of questions about the movie.  Still it is one of those movies where you can lose yourself in a bunch of action which has very little relation to reality unless you are shacked up in tiny cabin in Montana and writing manifestos.   My wife even enjoyed it, but wanted to know why no money was ever used in the movie.

I found it nice to go see a movie where the good guys win and the bad guys get nailed.  It took my mind off of doing my taxes which I finished up a couple of days later.

It has my recommendation, and I will likely buy it when it is available on DVD and put it on the shelf next to "The Rock."

The full digital experience, Dream Girls

They say timing is everything.  I guess we have it.  Tonight we went to see "Dream Girls."  We decided to do it all the way so we headed to the Carmike Theater at Tanglewood Mall so we  could see Dream Girls in one of the "theater" style rooms with digital projection.  The tickets for two were $16.50 but the experience was well worth it.

As we were walking out of the movie this evening, we tried to guess what awards the movie would win.  It was truly a spectacular movie with wonderful acting and fantastic music.

By the time we got home, they had already won two Golden Globes.  We got to see the award for best picture, musical or comedy.

According to the Washington Post, Dream Girls, walked away with three awards.

"Dreamgirls" solidified its Academy Awards prospects Monday with three Golden Globes, including best musical or comedy and acting honors for supporting players Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson.

I don't think anyone who goes to see Dream Girls will be disappointed.  The characters draw you into the movie while the music carries you along.  It's a great trip.  There was just enough dialog to keep things strung together.  The movie is a very uplifting one.  It will be come a classic.  It's one that I will be buying for my collection.

There were only six of us in the audience tonight.  I imagine that will be different tomorrow.