Movies

Hey, It Was a Holiday Weekend

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Most of my weekend was spent helping Amy set up her new apartment, shopping for furniture, and building things. We did take a break long enough to see Superman Returns. While Lex Luthor’s scheme was a little weak, I really enjoyed the movie. The big question I’d have to ask is “Who is Superman?” If Christopher Reeve’s Superman is the definitive character, then Brandon Rausch did a good job playing him. The way he delivered his lines was very reminiscent of Superman: The Movie.

I would have enjoyed the movie more without the allusions to Jesus, though, and possibly even more without (spoiler warning, highlight this area only if you’ve seen the movie) Superman’s son, the Plot Device Kid.

On the other hand, I thought John Ottman did a good job of taking John Williams’ overexposed themes and making some decent new music. I’ll probably pick up the soundtrack.

Life Doesn’t Stop

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The break for the holidays was not long enough for me at only three days. I spent a lot of time with Amy‘s family in Connecticut and New York, and still happened to make it home for the Christmas movie tradition (The Producers in this case) with Darren and M-D.

Yesterday, Amy and I spent most of the day taking advantage of various gift cards and certificates, shopping among the masses. At the last minute, we decided to see The Chronicles of Narnia because I didn’t know when I’d get another chance.

Today, I’m back to work and my class starts again. I have to set aside time to work on a project for my mother. Life just doesn’t stop, even for a second.

Happy holidays!

Movie Time

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If you haven’t seen the Chronic-cles of Narnia Rap, you’re missing something fun. As far as I know, it’s the first time Yahoo Maps, Mapquest and Google Maps have all been mentioned in the same rap, which also seems to be a thinly-veiled reference to marijuana.

I caught Syriana this weekend. Darren and I had the same reaction afterward — we couldn’t determine whether we thought it was good. Thinking about it now, I believe the movie, while long, had to be four hours instead of two in order for everything to make a little more sense.

Amy‘s reaction was different: at the end of the movie, she woke up.

George Clooney looks like a later Saddam Hussein in the movie. I guess it was sort of appropriate.

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Potter and Plans

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My brother and I caught the latest Harry Potter movie last night. It wasn’t too bad. There seem to be several movies I’d like to see over the next few months. I think it’s going to be a busy holiday season. Hopefully the plans that are still squishy will solidify a bit. I’m flying back to the “home area” on Friday and going into New York City on Saturday for Laura‘s birthday. I’ll finally make it home to Rupert on Sunday — then it’s back to work.

At some point, I’m supposed to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with Amy. That will be a first.

Finally Done With Band Competitions

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My fall season has ended, and I bet I know at least one person who’s happy about that…

I saw the new Steve Martin movie, Shop Girl today. It wasn’t my favorite Steve Martin movie, and it put me in the mood to watch ¡Three Amigos! More importantly, we saw the trailer for The Producers. I wish I had seen that on Broadway with the original cast… or any cast, for that matter.

Hitchcock

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I’m watching The Man Who Knew Too Much (great flick, great freakin’ flick) which I have never seen before — either version. The scene where they arrive at the Albert Hall, the big bill is of course Bernard Hermann (who wrote the wonderful music for the movie) conducting the London Symphony Orchestra.

Then there’s a long scene of just the orchestra playing… twelve minutes of no dialogue! Just shots of the various characters involved in the plot and the orchestra (with Bernard Hermann conducting, natürlich) and the soloist and (huge) choir. No dialogue.

And one of the best ending lines of any movie.