At the Movies

I haven't blogged movie reviews in a while. That is due to two factors: no great movies at the theatres and not watching many movies period for me. So, in the span of a few days, I saw 3 movies that are of varying styles. Here are my reviews:

I watched On the Waterfront this weekend. As we all know, I am not an old movies fan, at all. I felt that I needed diversify a bit, so I am hitting some of the "classics." A couple of weekends ago, I finally watched Psycho (not just the scary shower scene, the whole movie!...who knew there was plot around that scene??!). Last weekend was Marlon's time on the screen. Psycho completely underwhelmed me, I cannot even explain. I don't really fault Hitchcock because back in his day, what he did was new and industry-altering. A first viewing in the 21^st century just doesn't create such excitement. I cleaned throughout the whole movie, to have something to do (and we all know how much I love to clean!). In contrast, my butt stayed securely on the couch through On the Waterfront. Now, the background music was corny (at times almost superseding the dialogue) and some of the cinematography was cheesy, but overall, I enjoyed the movie. I was truly surprised 'cause I really had low expectations. It took me like 6 weeks to finally bust it out of the envelope and watch it. I will be mocked for the following comment…but I loved that Herman Munster was in it!!! Yeah, I know he did other work than the Munsters, but he will forever be Herman to me…not a union thug On the Waterfront!

Against my better judgement, I decided to try Ben Affleck out. Hollywoodland. There has to be a good Affleck film at some point, right? Wrong! Yeah, didn't enjoy it at all. Interesting piece of Hollywood history, but that is about it. Just not worth it at all. There is just nothing else to say about this one…

Third film…Spidey!!!! Yeah, last night, I plunked down my $9 for a view of Spiderman 3. I loved the villains…Sandman and Venom. Thomas Hayden Church was a nice choice as Sandman, but the special effects for him were great!!! Topher Grace as Venom was not so exciting, but the character itself, great pick, well developed (technically speaking). The one thing that the Spidey series is able to do is to really add the comic book effects without ruining the movie. There is one scene where Spidey is running to go save someone and he runs right in front of an American flag…I could just picture that as a cell of a strip. Tobey balances the two characters well…adding the "evil" Spidey this time too. I cannot say I was doing back-flips through the aisles of the theatre, but a good flick. I didn't like the 2^nd so much…didn't like the villain or the storyline all that much. This one is a definite improvement in my eyes.

I have a feeling that I will be making my return to the movies now that I have some extra time on my hands and I have changed my Blockbuster queue a bit so I get a better mix of movies (instead of all oldies). And of course, the summer movie season is upon us (mind you, I find the fall/early winter season better for "serious" film…not just blockbusters meant to sell tix to the kiddles).

Anyone else seen something worth watching these days???