Movie Monday: Catching Up!

Warning: **SPOILERS**
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This post contains spoilers for MAMMA MIA, THE MUMMY 3, STEP BROTHERS, TELL NO ONE & PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
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Mamma Mia: I expected a lot from this movie. When I heard way back when (six years ago?) that they were making a musical based on ABBA songs, I was totally excited. Yeah, I like ABBA. Whatcha gonna do about it? Then I waited and waited for it to finally come to the US. Then I waited and waited for it to finally go on tour. I missed it earlier this year when it went through Seattle, it only played for a couple of nights and conflicted with things I already had going on. So, when I found out there was going to be a movie, I got REALLY excited. finally, it would be my chance to see the show. I went in with high expectations. And I got... well, truly i'm not sure what I got. It was fucking insane. First of all, Meryl Streep... not a great singer. Secondly, she was totally the wrong age to play the character she was playing. That part should have been played by a 40 year old woman, or even 38 or 39. If you pay attention to the plot, you'll see. I was also excited about this movie because well, I seriously have a thing for Pierce Brosnan. And he was not bad in it. I loved the scene with him and Meryl Streep singing SOS. HO-OT! It's not that I hated every minute of it. In fact, I would say there was probably about 30% of the movie that I thought was pretty awesome. I loved Amanda Seyfried as the daughter, and was seriously impressed by her voice. But there were so many parts of the movie that were completely ridiculous. After watching people with flippers dance on a dock, watching Meryl Streep in her fucking HORRIBLE wardrobe choice of overalls that did her NO favors, watching Christine Baranski sing with that crazy haired guy, it all came to a ridiculous and AWFUL head during the end credits. Seriously? Seriously, Pierce & Colin, you thought putting on those fucking horrible spandex outfits was a good idea? Because I'm pretty sure I don't think that was a good choice. It was so shocking, I couldn't even laugh. Then I laughed. A lot. Because it really seemed like the entire cast and crew must have been drunk for the entire shoot to think that this movie was a good idea as it was. A couple of days afterwards though, I couldn't get it out of my head. I kept thinking about it, and how great it would be if I'd had a couple of margaritas beforehand. I bought the soundtrack. SHHH, no one else knows that. I hid it in my glove box. I admit it, I mostly just bought it for Pierce. Sigh... In any case, despite how I felt about it at the time, and how unsure I still am about it, I feel that one day I will watch it on DVD with a gruop of ladies and laugh. A lot.

The Mummy 3: After watching Journey to the Center of the Earth a few weeks ago, I remembered that for whatever reason, I really like Brendan Fraser. I think he is kind of adorable and I just think he seems like a nice guy, the kind of guy you'd want to hang out with. Maybe date. The boy next door who becomes more. In any case, I loved the last couple of Mummy movies (although this one was missing the gorgeous Oded Fehr), and hoped for good things from this one. Well, it was just all right. It wasn't awful. It wasn't great. It wasn't as good as the other ones. Maria Bello was weird. I almost didn't recognize her, and then I just thought that was a really odd role for her. I didn't like the son. For one thing, he just looked like a puffy James Marsden to me. For a while, I thought he WAS James Marsden in the previews, but realized in the movie he totally wasn't. In any case, I found his character annoying and pointless. I did like the idea that they had agreed to be a 'normal' couple, but in reality they both craved adventure. I also liked the parts with the Yeti, that was hilarious and kind of awesome. I thought that the special effects were good. The powers that Jet Li had with controlling the weather were cool. And of course, I always love John Hannah. Sliding Doors is one of my favorite girly movies to watch over and over, and I just love him in that movie. Now when I see him in other things it just makes me happy. All in all, it wasn't bad, but I wouldn't bother paying to see it in the theater, it would be a fine one to save for DVD or cable TV.

Step Brothers: This movie became worth the price of admission early on when I heard Mary Steenburgen say "What the fucking fuck?" while holding a hose spraying her son and new stepson and obviously trying not to laugh at the antics of Will Ferrell and John C Reilly. This movie was completely funny. There are certain things I see that will never stop being funny no matter how many times I see them. Mulder singing Shaft on The X-Files. That scene in Hitch where Will Smith accidentally kicks Eva Mendes in the face while mounting a Jet Ski. Will Ferrell being trapped under the makeshift bunkbed as it collapses at the same time John C Reilly asks "Do you like guacamole?". These two make such a great team, I am pretty sure I'd see almost any movie they made together at this point. Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins were hilarious as the parents, and the small side story line involving Will's characters brother and his wife was pretty hilarious. If you liked Blades of Glory, Talladega Nights, etc, you will love this movie.

Tell No One: I got the chance to see this wonderful French movie while I was visiting Philadelphia. I don't know if it will go into wide theater release (it should!), but you can probably catch it at a smaller or independant theater near you. I saw it at The Ritz in Philly and I know the independant theater here in Bellingham will be showing it in a couple of weeks. The movie follows main character Alexandre, who is still in mourning 8 years later over the loss of his beloved wife Margot, who was brutally murdered. He was a suspect at the time, and when the police find two bodies near the place where Margot's body was found, they reopen her case and consider Alex the prime suspect. Then, things take a surprising and thrilling turn when Alex starts receiving e-mails from a person implying that Margot is alive after all these years. I LOVED this movie. It was everything a thriller could be. It moved well, not to slow, not too fast. The acting was great, especially by Francois Cluzet, who plays Alexandre. He portrayed this still grieving husband's shock and slight crazed edge as he finds out that his wife might not have died all those years ago. The dialogue is good, so it's not as distracting to read the subtitles. The movie also stars Kristin Scott Thomas as a family member. She plays the part wonderfully, speaks French well, and basically did a great job. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who likes dramatic thrillers.

Pineapple Express: I finally got to go see Pineapple Express on Friday evening, and it was worth EVERY PENNY. I have not laughed that hard at a movie in a long time. I have a confession, I'm pretty sure that I'm totally in love with Judd Apatow. This movie, Step Brothers, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Superbad, Talladega Nights, The 40-year Old Virgin, Knocked Up. I've loved them all. But this may have been the funniest so far in my book. Remember earlier when I talked about things that will never stop being funny? The scene in this movie where James Franco puts his foot through the windshield of a cop car trying to kick it out, then it gets stuck and he's driving around like that... um, I laughed so hard during that scene that I was crying. I couldn't STOP laughing! There were just so many great things. It does get fairly violent towards the end especially, but it's not as graphic as it could be, and still remains secondary to the hilarious, pot-induced bromance that is this movie. If you have liked Apatow's other movies, you will definitely love this one. I know I did!