Entries tagged with motd [A pause on the journey ]

The Accidental Husband Sweet sappy and adorable. Colin is lovely with his suits and his chivalry and his Britishness. The movie is contrived and over worked with an odd Bollywood tribute in the center. If you like Uma Thurman , Jeffery Dean Morgan, or Colin Firth then it is at least worth a sick day in bed or a giggle with girlfriends
Rating: 8. Would Watch again by myself
Scruff- I doubt JDM would be in a movie w/o scruff. Colin - nice and smooth *sigh*

Star Trek Okay- I sold my soul and attended the free screening that was for SIFF members only- so it was full but not oppressively so. (there were a few seats here and there.) It was not horrible and I did jump a few time. I even grabbed NBF's hand once, lucky he is use to that from me. I was surprised to see Jennifer Morrison in a small roll. Simon Pegg as Scotty was awesome casting. I thought that the story telling was clunky and a bit of a mess. McCoy's (Karl Urban) dialog made me cringe every time he showed up. I wanted to blame the actor (he does seem out of place at times), but I am going to blame the script writer. (They seemed to add "Dammit Jim" when every they could - even if it really did not fit the scene). They worked really hard to get some of the catch phrases in, and a few times I cringed, and the audience laughed. There are some overly contrived twists to get to the ending that sets up a sequel, but I will not spoil them.

Rating: 7. Would watch again with friends
Scruff- totally missing - hey it is Starfleet

I am so gonna need to catch up on movies this weekend.

Mood::

mellow

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Seventeen Again Nope not the Zac Efron movie that is "17 Again", Watched this with the nieces on Friday. Tia and Tamera Mowry star in this tale of regression. Due to an experiment gone wrong, Grandma and Grandpa go back to age 17 and have to work out the reasons why they got divorced and rebuild their relationship movie. It is cute and a nice movie to watch with kids. Nothing scary or too sexy- ends well - a cute little fantasy
Rating:  5. I would recommend this on a case by case basis
Scruff: none at all

First Shot Mariel Hemingway is the head of Presidential security. (Yeah I know - just go with me here). She is newly married to Doug Savant and since she works so hard they have delayed their honeymoon. Sebastian Spence is newly hired and when he first arrives and Courtney (Michelle Harrison) sees him she says "that is the hottest man I have ever seen" (He would have looked better in suits that FIT - he looked like he was wearing his daddies clothes.) The President's daughter also commented on his relative hotness. Then the plot thickens - he comes to work and a nice looking guy straightens Sebastian's tie and hugs him, the whole staff figure with the "I left my ex in San Fran to take this job" that he is gay. Is he is isn't he .. well watch the movie - ;). Oh yeah .. there was a point to the movie- Some guys get shot, and the President goes to pay his respects, he gets shot and Mariel, Sebastian and the rest of the crew head out to find the bad guys. This is a good movie actually - it had an interesting plot and moved along well. It is one that I would actually watch again.
Rating:  8. Would Watch again by myself
Scruff- Doug was sporting a full beard (ick) but Sebastian was nice and smooth

Bulgarian Lovers (Los novios bulgaros) This was an odd movie- It is in Spanish and tells the story of Daniel and his Bulgarian boyfriend and his boyfriends girlfriend. Yep, it is complicated. It seems that Kyril (the boyfriend) does not really love Daniel, but he has some connection to him and is more then willing to have sex with him, b/c that is not cheating on his girlfriend. Besides the jacked up relationship, there is an undercurrent of refugees and arms deals. A few times Daniel has these weird fantasies- that are on the edge of surreal and I don't think they help the movie at all. The entire movie you know things are going south, Daniel is in way too deep and his knows it is bad, but he keeps giving of himself and you know he is going to feel the pain.
Rating:  5. I would recommend this on a case by case basis
Scruff: yes and lots of it, like lots all over the place- they even tease us with a shaving scene where no one actually shaves.

Just Married This was actually better then I thought it would be. It was actually a cute little movie about marriage and a hellish honeymoon. Ashton Kutcher and Brittney Murphy star in the movie, with Christian Kane as the foil to the movie. Christian is sporting the short hair (which is nice) and they actually put him in clothes that fit is body (always nice).
Rating:  7. Would watch again with friends
Scruff: a little bit but not so much that it is distracting

Mood::

busy

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Yippee one milestone reached

The Grocer's Son ( Le Fils de L'epicier) Antoine left home 10 years ago and never looked back, but he also never moved forward. He has a crush on Claire who lives next door and has never made a move on her. When his dad gets sick, he is asked by his mother to come home and take care of the family grocery business. He does and his life all begins to fall into place. I rented it for Stephan Guerin-Tillie (He was Cedric in 'Just a Question of Love') he plays the brother Francois, who is not all that he appears to be. This was a lovely little movie, no huge melt downs or misplaced angst, just a simple evolving story of finding where you belong, no matter how hard you fight it. Beautifully shot, a simple French movie.

Rating: 6. I would recommend this to my friends
Scruff: Way more then is healthy Especially from Stephan *shakes head in despair* .

Keeping Mum Rowan Atkinson and Kristin Scott Thomas star as a married couple who are not exactly madly in love any more. Maggie Smith is the housekeeper with a secret who might be able to save this family in this very dark comedy. It was okay, I appreciated the subtle performances from all involved but it was still overly contrived and seemed to offer no consequences to any kind of bad behavior. It was cute, nothing amazing or fantastic. Patrick Swayze makes a cameo as a sleazy golf pro, and I saw more of him then I ever wanted to.
Rating: 2. MEH
Scruff: bits here and there noting overwhelming

W00T Cycling is on :) off to take a break and watch.

Mood::

sick

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Easy Virture This movie is more or less bout, Jessica Biel as an adventurous American woman, Ben Barnes as her stuff English husband. They come home to meet the parents (Kristin Scott Thomas and Colin Firth). The parents fell out of love when he was disillusioned by the war (WWI) and mom has tried to keep things afloat at the family estate. This movie had little point, at the end of the day it is about a journey of Father and Son, but it follows the son's wife throughout the journey, so I think we miss allot of the story telling. Colin Firth and Jessica Biel dance to a tango, and that is the highlight of the entire movie. But Colin is scruffy through most of the movie, so that loses points for it.
Rating:  2. MEH
Scruff: Just on Colin, but it is so not a good look for him

Coraline in 3d I wanted to like it, I heard great things about it and was all excited, I found it pretty flat with the story telling. visually it was cool and at times stunning, but the plot plodded along and at one point I considered walking out. I turned to NBF and he asked me if I wanted to leave, since he was totally bored. I said no, we can see how it all ends, and made it to the ending, but it was just not magical to me, maybe I expected too much, but I really did not care if Coraline actually came out on top or not. Saunder and French do some voice work and were great as two old biddies past their prime.
Rating:  2. MEH
Scruff: none.. they were cartoons

King of Hearts (Le, Roi do Coeur)   Cute French/German/English movie about a Brit who is sent to save a French village. Only the villagers all left and the residents of a Mental Institution have moved in. They crown him The King of the village and he has to try to find and diffuse the bomb before midnight. It is brightly colored and a hoot, you really need to suspend your belief in reality. Cute movie with some nice performances
5. I would reccomend this on a case by case basis
Scruff: nope the 60's seemed not to believe in it.

Only Human (Seres queridos) Sort of a Jewish/Palestinian/Spanish Meet the Parents. Rafi is off to meet Leni's family and everything that can go wrong does and them some, this movie has good energy and a nice cast, but you just really want one thing to go right, since nothing does, at all. Blame is places, ducks are lost, soup is dropped 7 stories, as the whole plot evolves things get crazier and crazier and then boom its over and it was a fun romp, but nothing too memorable.
Rating:  5. I would reccomend this on a case by case basis
Scruff- oh yes, Rafi sports a ton of unmanaged scruff.

only 2 more to 100 .. woot

Mood::

tired

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Regular Guys (Echte Kerle) What a wonderful happy (mostly) movie. The larger story gets ignored at the end, but I don't really care. Christoph's life is going bad fast. His macho ways has him out on the street. His fiance chucked him for a newer and more turbo charged model. As he walks dazed through the streets he looses all of his belongings and ends up first in a gay club and then he wakes up in arms of hunky Edgar. But Chris swears he is straight and Edgar offers him a place to stay till he gets back on his feet. As the story tumbles along, nothing that you expect is true and everyone's first impressions are turned to something different. A fun romp through the murky maze of who likes who and why.
Rating: 8. Would Watch again by myself
Scruff: very little to none

Life or Something Like it It was not horrible, good cast, lovely location (yes - it was filmed in Seattle), but it was to cute for its own good and got bogged down in the small stories and never fully flushed out the main story.
Rating: 3. I watched it so you don't have to
Scruff: Then men were sporting some scruff - :(

Totally Confused I tried but 30 mins into it... I did not care about anything in the movie at all. I think if you lived in Chicago in the 90's you would like where it was filmed, but really there was no clear anything to the movie. The guys were all boring and non-engaging totally .. ugh had to turn it off and try something new.. so it does not count towards my count - since I never completed it.

Mood::

grateful

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Cerberus Oh Sebastian what I do for you. The oversize suit in his first appearance, actually made me cringe. Honestly, the edge of the cuff hit the second joint in his thumb (yes, I checked carefully). Things did look up when he showed up with sleeveless tank, jeans and a gun holster. The boy has some serious guns on him *sigh* Oh yeah, plot. There is a sword that is possessed will give you lots of power. It belonged to Attila the Hun, and is now guarded by Cerberus (the 3 headed guard dog of Hades). Insert a contrived plot to get Sebastian and a happy team out to find the sword and keep it from the bad guys who have suitcase nukes and want to take over the world, and you know how this 2005 TV movies goes. The smart chick you know has to fall for the rough and tough Jake (Sebastian) is Dr. Samantha Gaines (Emmanuelle Vaugier aka Det. Jennifer Angell from CSI NY). Nothing surprising - well no romance surprised me - lol.

Rating:  4. I only watched it for Sebastian and was worth the giggle. I would show it to people just to see his arms. /shallow
Scruff- Smooth sailing the baddies and the goodies

Happy Endings  Wandering through the lives of about 10 people, their search for a happy ending or maybe just a happier ending all intertwines and weaves together to tell a story of normal people's quest to find happy. A huge cast does a great job. Lisa Kudrow, Steve Coogan, Bobby Cannavale, Maggie Gyllenhallm, Jason Ritter, Tom Arnold, Sarah Clarke and Laura Dern. It is a nice movie, nothing too angsty or happy, kinda like life.

Rating:  5. I would reccomend this on a case by case basis
Scruff - Bits here and there, a couple of guys are extra scruffy and a couple are extra smooth

Victim: 1961 film about a man blackmailing gay men to keep quiet. A prominent lawyer goes after the blackmailer himself, risking everything b/c he is gay and could be exposed. It was a really good movie, Noirish. The music was a little too dramatic for its own self at times. Some of the shooting angles and long shots were funny. But over all it was a really interesting and engaging if emotionally distant movie. Dirk Bogarde gives a really strong performance as the barrister in the middle of everything.

Rating:  9. Would pick up DVD on Sale
Scruff: 1961- before scruff was ever invented.

Adventureland I really wanted to love this, and go along for the ride. But .. it is a better rental. I think Nick and Nora was a better version of "Geeky guy who is screw up gets hot girl to love him" then this. I was trying to figure out who the chick was, she was certainly emo and grumpy and the credits revealed all. Kristen Stewart (Twilight). She kinda pulled the movie down for me, and I am not sure if it is Twilight backlash from me or not, but her performance seemed confusing. She has these "big bad secrets" and we never learned what they are or why the screwed her up so much, her angst seemed misplaced, and she did alot to screw up her own life, with no one else's help.   Jesse Eisenberg is fine as our geeky hero with a heart, and brings the needed heart to the movie, but he of course does things to screwed up his life and the lives around him, but we expect that. The music is awesome, and Ryan Reynolds plays a great loser. It drags at times and there are some long shots that go nowhere, but not a bad movie.

Rating:  5. I would reccomend this on a case by case basis
Scruff: 1987 pretty scruff free overall.

ohh maybe I can make it to 100 this weekend, that is a fun test. Seeing Coraline 3D tomorrow with Kurt.

Mood::

accomplished

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Decided to watch a trilogy today .. with Charles Bronson ... and Sebastian Spence:)

Family of Cops I picked up this series for 2 reasons, One- Sebastian Spence - I am a sucker for him and 2- I read reviews that it was not Citizen Kane but an admirable collection of movies. In the first movie we get introduced to the dysfunctional family Paul Fein (Charles Bronson) is the family patricarch, windowed and a cop, he is pretty tough but has a little soft spot for his kids. Oldest Daughter Jackie, is a public defender and unmarried, she is tough and had to raise her brothers and sister, when mom died. Brother Ben (Daniel Baldwin) is a tough cop with a wife and 4 kids, he is not really a dedicated family man, but he is faithful to his wife and his family. Sweet, floppy haired Eddie (Sebastian Spence) is the younger son, he became a cop and has a med school student as a girlfriend, he is pretty level headed and reasonable. Baby sister Melanie, is the typical screw up. She slept with everyone in Milwaukee and so, she moved to CA to be a loser there as well. She gets dragged back for dad's . Once back she ends up sleeping with this guy who ends up dead next to her. The family bands together to prove baby sister is innocent. It plays out with an interesting plot and pretty good performances. It does veer clear of any "romance" or "Lifetimeness" and ends up playing like a crime drama straight up.

Breach of Faith: Family of Cops II We are back with the Fein Family. This time Joe Penny replaces Daniel Baldwin as brother Ben. Sebastian is back as Eddie, and he lost the floppy hair (thanks goodness). They could of subtitled this " This time it's personal" - During the investigation of a priest's murder, the Fein family gets targeted by the Russian Mafia. And it is up to Daddy to keep them all alive and together. It was not bad, had an interesting storyline. Seeing all the movies in order helps keep track of what dysfunction belongs to what kid.

Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion Same cast as II are back again. Once again the family is targeted by bad guys, and once again ~~Sebastian~~ Eddie gets the snot beat out of him (very much up your alley

evila_elf) It is nice to see the relationships change over time and the case held my interest, ( I actually paused when I got 2 phone calls) Charles Bronson, shows his age and sometimes his lines lack any punch at all, but it is forgivable, the rest of the cast does a nice job.

Mood::

complacent

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The Man I love(Homme que j'aime, L' Netflix billed this as kinda a light romance, well they were wrong. It is a story of Straight Lucas and gay HIV+ Martin. Martin is in love with Lucas, but Lucas is straight and lives with his girlfriend. Over the course of the movie the 2 boys develop a romance against the backdrop of Martin getting sicker and sicker. It is a really well crafted movie, that is very sad and had me in tears at the end. Not something I would generally subject myself too.. but it was a really good movie. I thought Jean-Michael Portal who plays Lucas did an amazing job as a man who is torn in several directions. I thought a few of the characters were too good to be true, but it is all balanced well in this gentle movie

kalarynamery this is one of the "gay for you" stories.

Rating: 6. I would recommend this to my friends (too sad for me to watch again, but a really good movie)
Scruff - not bad. Lucas has a permanent scruff working but Martin is clean shaven.

The Man of my Life (Homme de sa vie, L') Yes, it is French film day. :) Charles Berling who plays Hugo is just a beautiful and mostly scruff free person. Just Beautiful. Brenard Campan who is Frederic is heartbreaking in his struggles. The movie is about a family man on summer break in the countryside with his wife, son and assorted relatives. He invites his neighbor, Hugo, over for dinner one night and thus begins a friendship that changes both men forever. The story is not told in order, but it evolves, and then reverses revealing more of what these 2 share. There is no physical contact, the relationship evolves and matures, placing both men on different courses from where they were heading. Visually this movie is beautiful, the director lets scenes evolve and develop slowly, he keeps a third party distance, so you are never really sure what the guys are thinking or where they are. And then as it comes to a crashing end, you are still left wondering what they will do next. Really a deeply beautiful film, about all types of love, beautiful and ugly, resentful and forgiving.

Rating: 9. Would pick up DVD on Sale
Scruff: there is some, they are on vacation, but for the most part they stay smooth and siky.

Mood::

drained

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Wow it has been a long time, I miss movies, but have been catching up on a ton of TV.

Queens aka Reinas This was a really fun Spanish movie. With the impending marriage of 30 gay couples, history is about to be made, but the real story is follows how the parents of 5 of the couples cope meeting each other. It is a little bit fairy-taleish in the conflict resolution, but a really fun film, happy and all conflict gets resolved one way or another. The mothers are the real treat, all neurotic and a little crazy.There are some heaving story lines that are really treated lightly, and some HUGE jumps in logic to get to the resolutions, but overall I enjoyed it and would enjoy watching it again.
Rating : 8. Would Watch again by myself
Scruff Meter: WHOA high, not quite Grizzly Adams, but many many scruffy men amongst the coulples.

Mood::

contemplative

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Finally saw the end of Her Minor Thing (click to read review)

Oh Happy Day Uptight Jonathan and more chilled out David meet one night and end up sleeping together. The next day at work Jonathan meets his new client - David. Jonathan's boss has a strict no dating policy and if Jonathan gets caught he will loose his job. They try to hide their attraction but a weekend in Sussex changes all that. Jonathan's up tightness of course pushes the plot and the angst along. It is a beautifully filmed movie, with some really seductive set ups. There is one song I need to own, but thus far I can't find it. A pretty predictable, but it has a sweet and tender ending.
Rating: 7. Would watch again with friends
Very Scruff Free.. perhaps not total smooth sailing, just a few examples of scruff

Times Have Been Better (Ciel sur la tete, Le) What a wonderful French drama. When Jeremy, the perfect son, comes out to his parents the drama has just begun. This is not a coming out story, it studies the impact that the revelation has on the rest of the family. A family that has been held together by their fantasy of their perfect son being all perfect. You don't see much of Jeremy and Marc (even though they are the cover and DVD art), but you dive into the hollow lives that remain when his parents and younger (non-perfect) son, have to live without Jeremy's perfection (in their eyes) anymore. A really well acted drama that was interesting and held my attention.
Rating: 9. Would pick up DVD on Sale
Scruff: Pretty much scruff free. But really not many "pretties" to look at.

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A pause on the journey

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