The holiday in movies

[sigma7]

Well, got caught up on some movie-watching over the frighteningly-brief break:

-- Hot Fuzz: Very yes. Entirely fun, needs a second watching.
-- Stardust: Muchly enjoyed, even DeNiro.
-- The Simpsons Movie: ...Meh. I'd heard conflicting opinions as to its quality, and I found it to be...about equivalent to an overlong but good episode of its current run. Certainly not of the caliber of its mid-'90s seasons. Worth the rent, but not the new release cost.
-- Spider-Man 3: The completeness kicks in. Yes, I feel the need to complete the trilogy, and...maybe I should've fought that feeling. About 20 minutes in, all the characters are replaced with idiots, and I found myself watching the DVD player timer more intently than the movie. Fail.
-- Blade Runner: I first saw this movie in 1997 (shut up) and immediately thought it could be released in the theatres that moment. Ten years later, I'm sticking with that feeling. A lot of what it popularized (maybe not "invented") is now cliché, or at least familiar, and yet it's rarely done as well.
-- Ratatouille: Classic Pixar, of course -- excellent animation and timeless storytelling.
-- Bender's Big Score: This is how you do the TV-show-turned-movie trick, kids. It's not Shakespeare, and the time-traveling-causality gets a little woogy in spots, but the plots and characters are well-crafted enough to hold it together. And it's consistently funny. (And, in one sequence, adorable.) And it's got a heart to it. Pleasantly surprising.

At some point, I'm going to have to watch The Matrix: Revolutions as part of that completeness urge again. I'm not looking forward to it.

Comments

[paradisacorbasi.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen Hot Fuzz yet. Plan to though.

I feel the same way about Stardust, though Claire Danes threatened to pull the bottom out from under it for me.

I haven't watched the Simpsons Movie because I lost my affection for that show around the time it went syndicated.

Spider-Man 3: Yeah, it's very sad.

Ratatouille was better than I expected.

Not much a fan of Futurama, but this review is making me curious.

And the icon is always a pleasure to see. Always.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

The funny thing about Bender's Big Score is how utterly saturated it is in the show's continuity and mythos -- off-handed references from up and down the show's run aren't just integrated, they fit perfectly. Compare and contrast with The Simpsons Movie in which such efforts just seem ham-handed (no reference to Spider-Pig intended). It even includes a reference to "Jurassic Bark," the episode that has to be one of the most heart-wrenching animated endeavors of all time....

I'm curious as to how a non-fan would react to the flick, as everyone I know who's seen it already has been either a die-hard fan or at least intimately familiar with its continuity....

[jkgriffin.livejournal.com]

The Jurassic Bark part was one of the best parts for me. That one episode got to me so bad I couldn't bear to ever watch that ep again. So I nearly cried when I saw Fry spending time with his dog.

I've seen Bender's Last Score now with some non-fans. While they didn't get nearly as much out of it as I did (being hard-core), even the least enthused person admitted she liked it.

It still tickles me no end that Al Gore does his own voice work.

Haven't seen Stardust or Spider-Man 3. I've been moderately interested in Stardust, so I think it just moved up the Netflix list. Matrix 3 really is that bad, but I know the feeling. I will probably break down and curse at SM3 one of these days.

re Hot Fuzz and Blade Runner - dead on. Except I first saw Blade Runner in the 80's. It's one of those movies I always stop at and watch. Even though I've had the DVD for years. It's just that good.

[iamstillthemoon.livejournal.com]

HOT FUZZ IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!