A pause on the journey

And I ain't talkin Christmas.

IT'S TIME FOR SIFF *dances*

Yep.. it is time for the Seattle International Film Festival. 4 weeks of independent and foreign film madness.

Last night the pre-planning kicked off with an evening introduction to the festival.

Dennis went with me. (He needs a nickname - NBF is taken.. I'll think on it)

Well.. we started at my place for a quick dinner, that turned into let's play with Milhouse. Milhouse was feeling very spunky and totally dug having someone new to play with. Once Dennis brought out 'DOT'(The red laser light of Lisa happiness) even Lisa came out to play.
( got a little long winded :)  )

Hide Oh Christian what I do for you. This was on top of my Netflix view now queue, so.. I watched it.  It is not horrible, terrible. Christian actually gives a pretty strong performance. It is just that the movie makes NO sense, there are scenes in it that I dtill don't get. The BIG twist comes at the very end, actually with the last line, so you have to wait around to find out what is actually going on. Even when you get the twist, there are still several scenes that actually have no relevance to the overall plot (what there is of a plot). And do not get me started on the facial hair/feather in long hair thing he has going on at the start of the movie, OR the way it looks like some hedge clippers attacked his head in most of the movie (his hair was actually lopsided). 
Rating: 4. I only watched it for Christian Kane and it was NOT worth it
Scruff: More then I ever should have to see .. see above

Bon Cop, Bad Cop I had heard good things about this movie and it was a delight to watch, nothing really new- it is a buddy type movie. The twist (since there always has to be a twist) The Bon Cop is English speaking Martin Ward (Colm Feore), and the bad cop is French Speaking David Bouchard (Patrick Haurd). They are both over wrought stereotypes, but there is na sweetness to their chemistry that is wonderful. (Even David's ex wife who lives in the bottom of the house suggests Martin go upstairs and sleep in her ex-husband apartment). The best parts are not when they are trying to piece together a pretty sloppy plot, but when they are bantering in a mixture of French and English.  The whole movie plays on the differences of French and English and its usage.  I would love to see these 2 paired up again trying to get the bad guy.
Rating: 9. Would pick up DVD on Sale
Scruff: YES, both the David (since he is "bad" *rolls eyes) and of course the criminals

Alice Upside Down Luke Perry and Penny Marshall are in supporting roles in this tween journey story. Her mom is dead, her dad moved them to a new town and her brother is instantly popular, and that is just the start to what is wrong with Alison's life.  It is pretty standard fare, nothing OMG original. If you are a fan of Luke or Penny they both put in good performances with the material they are given.
Rating: 2. MEH
Scruff: NONE. but it is a tween movie. Luke is all smooth :)

OSS 117: Le Caire nid d'espions (OSS: 117 Nest of Spies) This is a fantastic spy spoof. It is shot in black and white and mocks it with great respect. So many tiny moments that made me laugh out loud, it is not politically correct and can be a bit offensive at times, but it really is a slice of the 1950's. If you love spy movies this is one to get in line to see. I know SIFF is having a free screening this month and the sequel is slated as the closing moving at SIFF this year. It is a spy movie. Bad guys kill good guy's (OSS117  yes that is his name) best friend (they seem really slashy in the flashbacks- like over the top subtext). He is sent down to find out who killed him. But you don't see this for the plot, you see it for the small details where it sends up the originals.
Rating: 9. Would pick up DVD on Sale
Scruff: NONE and I am a happy girl

Bella  This is the story about how one day can change your life. The lead male is sporting a mountain man beard and longish hair, but I could tell that they had ruined his good looks with all the additional hair. Sure enough Eduardo Verastrgui  was one a male model. without all the fur on his face, he is a handsome man. Here he is in the movie and here he is sans fur. Besides the fur, this is a beautiful delicate movie. The leads are well suited to each other. There is a bit of non straight forward story telling, and once or twice it was a little confusing, but over all this is a lovely movie and I would have liked a more concrete ending, but it was enough to complete the story.
Rating:  5. I would recommend this on a case by case basis
Scruff: see above enough said.


My Faraway Bride (My Bollywood Bride) Oh Jason Lewis how low have you sunk and how you need a few extra sandwiches.  Jason Lewis stars in this cultural fish out of water movie as a man who falls in love with an woman from India. She leaves and does not tell him why, so he stalks her follows her back to India and tries to win her heart. She happens to be a big star and engaged to the director that made her famous.  You know the rest. Lots of musical numbers and some iffy acting round out this predictable movie.
Rating:  2. MEH
Scruff: Yes, smattering of scruff on most of them Indian men. Jason was working the 5 o'clock shadow a few times.

Hit and Runway Not the point of the movie- but I had to laugh at Kerr Smith (Justice and Eli Stone) and Peter Jacobson (House) playing boyfriends. Kerr looks sooo young.  The point is of this movie is more the friendship that develops between gay Elliot (Peter Jacobson) and  straight Alex (Michael Parducci). Elliot is a writer and just undiscovered, Alex wants to write a screen play but he has little idea how to put his concepts to paper. They end up as writing partners and the movie cooks along. The fist hour and 20 mins are funny and  just joyous to watch, all the characters are engaging and even with low production value it is still a fun movie. Then the last 30 mins it takes a much darker turn and the pace totally changes, it was a little jarring, but still gave us a nice ending, even if it was awkward to get to it.
Rating:  5. I would recommend this on a case by case basis
Scruff:  The gay characters are smooth and the straight characters sport bits of scruff

Beaten I can't say much without giving away any of the twists in this examination of a marriage falling apart. Robson Green stars and as usual he is just perfect and wonderful in this role of a man making tough decisions. This is really dark and not for people who don't love the angst.
Rating:  5. I would recommend this on a case by case basis
Scruff: None.. Robson avoids  scruff and I love him for it- even though he is a very furry guy

Inspector Lewis (Lewis) This marks the return of Inspector Morse's partner after his death. A really good case that begins when a young girl is shot in the sleep lab. Just a crackin' good mystery, as the suspects and bodies begin to pile up Inspector Lewis tries to adapt to his return home and a new partner who is also full of surprises.
Rating:  7. Would watch again with friends
Scruff: Thankfully none

Bollywood/Hollywood  I think this was meant to be a comedy of manners, but it was just weird. It was very much a Bollywood movie, and it switched between English and Indian without subtitles at times, other times they subtitle heavily accented English, it just seems like a mess. It is a pretty straight forward movie
Rating:  3. I watched it so you don't have to
Scruff: Bits here and there nothing too much

Got my DVD of Ten Inch Hero  today (let's just say that Blockbuster does not make it easy- but they do make it cheap.  *sigh* I really do love this movie- one of the better straight up indy RomCom's made lately. Hard to believe it was filmed in 2006 and was released last year and now finally on DVD.

WOW it's James McAvoy day and I did not even plan that.


Becoming Jane Wow, I did not enjoy this movie at all. Anne could not save this movie. She reminded me so much of Elizabeth Bennett, that I could not see her as Jane Austen.  James McAvoy was just annoying all the way around and at times seemed very Wickham like and was sporting some serious Mr. Collins hair.  The story ambled along and drug itself out and was just not something I could engage with or enjoy. I will stick to the Austen movies.
Rating::  2. MEH
Scruff:  Not much .. it is the Regency period (a few of the unsavory men sported scruff)

Penelope James McAvoy again and again a movie I could not love.  The premise is cute. And the resolution is adorable, but most of the cast bordered on shrill and annoying. Christiana Ricci is Penelope, she is cursed with a pig face and her mom hides her from the world so they will not judge her. Once she find "one of her own" to accept her and promise to love her forever the curse will be broken. It is probably 20 mins too long. It is not as bad as all the critics say, but it is weak and could do with a better edit. Some of the set up shots looked great, but it did not stay in flow with the movie.
Rating: 5. I would recommend this on a case by case basis
Scruff: Minimal amounts over all

Vanity Fair Of all the movies I saw today this is the one I disliked the most. It is very dark and the plot crawls along, not even Reese being ultra cute could not save this overly heavy and weighted film.  At over 2 hours long it is way too long. It also seemed to have like 6 endings, I was so ready for it just to be done.  I considered a few times just turning it off, but I wanted credit for sitting through it.
Rating:  1. KILL ME NOW - I GAVE UP HOW MUCH OF MY LIFE
Scruff: Here and there, not too much.

Love Song  Oh Christian Kane what I do for you. This movie is begging for a perv edit, of just the singing. It is a cute premise, but the female lead could not carry her part at all. She is a great singer, but she was like a piece of dry bread next to Christian, who was really working it.  Christian plays well and sings pretty and does the charming rouge really well.  I could do without the longish hair (just an aside that s2 Angel hair about ep 7 - that is the hair he needs to keep).
Rating:  7. Would watch again with friend  (looks at evila_elf)
Scruff: None that I noticed. Chris might have been covered in grease with long ass hair, but he was shaved.

Coming Soon:  The cast is fairly insane in this little 1999 movie. Just check out IMDB (be sure to see the full cast to get a few extra little cameos). James Roday (Psych) sporting a massive amount of Hugh Grant floppy wedge like hair is a bit of a romantic rival to Ryan Reynolds, who has questionable fashion sense, a headband and chin pubes. This movie is about 3 rich girls who are trying to have an orgasm.  It is a sweet movie, with some questionable acting and a pretty low budget. It is quirky and sweet in the best ways. Just a sweet movie that does not go for cheap jokes, but lets the humor develop and flow.
Rating: Would watch again with friend  (looks at evila_elf)
Scruff: See above . Chin pubes, I say no more

I think I have a tiny cushion now, so no need to mainline films daily. :)

The Ant Bully Ugh .. nothing new here just a swift shovel to the back of my head telling me that it is wrong to judge people that before you know them, or to make assumptions about people you don't know.  The animation was okay, but overall I was not impressed.
Rating:  3. I watched it so you don't have to
Scruff: Only one guy had some.

100 Women (Girl Fever) Cute idea, horrible execution. Boy and Girl have "encounter" in dark elevator, he decides he loves her, but he has no idea who she is, so he is determined to figure out who she is. Since he is the maintenance man he finds ways to break into their dorm rooms and check out their bras (since he has a pair and is looking for the match).  He ends up beating up a bully (who likes to beat up women), and helps out his sex obsessed roommate (well he is more dick obsessed (as in his own) then sex)  You are suppose to be surprised by who the girl is (but I had called it pretty early on) It is okay- but would be better with a little tighter script and a new cast.
Rating: 3. I watched it so you don't have to
Scruff: various degrees of frat scruff.


Terra (Battle for Terra 3D)  You know, it seems like good and bad movies come in streaks. This was not a very good movie. The opening credits were beautiful and breathtaking. The plot- well it suffered from trying to do too much. The human side was pretty well explained, but the Terra side got lost. They were a very peaceful race, but they had a secret army just in case they were attacked (WTF) A couple other things happened that made me 0.o, but I will not spoil specific plot points. If they would have just done the Terra side it would have been a better film, bringing in the humans screwed things up - LOL  
Rating:  2. MEH
Scruff: none all military guys or aliens

My Girlfriend's Boyfriend AGAIN, interesting idea and low budget and really bad supporting cast made it hard to watch.  Deborah Gibson was cute as the photographer. I was surprised that we have not seen more of Sean Runnette he was great. TALL, he kept hitting the tops of doorways, he looked a lot like Zachery Levi  (Chuck), but had the physical comedy of John Ritter or Dick VanDyke. He was great with the prat falls, but he did not have the rest of the cast supporting him.  The overall premise is that this guy and girl are getting married (Cory and Cliff), Cliff is gay and is in love with Wes. The maid of honor is  Liberty and her boyfriend is Jake (Sean Runnette). With much contrived plot, Jake is trying to design a new tennis shoe and needs to get to a meeting so Wes tells him to pretend to be gay and break up with Liberty and go to the meeting, and that is when things get really complicated. Sadly, the most chemistry in the movie was between the bride and maid of honor, I was so waiting for a "We are gay too" announcement, but never got that. I have wasted way too much time on this movie now. But Sean Runnette - he was by far the best thing, and sadly he has been in very little since this movie.

Rating:  3. I watched it so you don't have to
Scruff: none- everyone was clean shaven for the wedding

The Pleasure of your Company (Wedding Daze)  What a delightful RomCom with Jason Biggs and Isla Fisher. They are perfectly matched. There are some cringe worthy scenes, but at the end of the movie I had a smile plastered to my face, this quirky group of characters. Everyone is a little stretched personality wise, but somehow it all seems to work together to create a lovely group. The cast includes: Michael Weston, Joe Pantoliano, Joanna Gleason, Edward Hermann, Mark Consuelos, Rob Coddry.  I even went to Swapadvd.com to add it to my wish list as soon as the credits were over. oh the premise, guess that helps. Jason Biggs proposes to his girlfriend and she promptly dies. After a while of depression, he decides to propose to the next girl he sees (Isla Fisher) and this charts their rocky walk to the church.  

Rating:  9. Would pick up DVD on Sale  (I actually already have it on its way from DVDswap.com
Scruff: Sloppy boys = lots of scruff and that makes me cry a little on the inside.

Love and other Disasters Catherine Tate squeeeeee.... Matthew Rhys squeeeee What a delightful movie, again it left me grinning from ear to ear, the ending was clever and fun and wrapped up all the story lines  Brittney Murphy is "Jacks" a Brit/American hybrid who has a collection of crazy friends who she loves muchly. She spends so much time helping then navigate their love lives that she forgets she deserves on as well.  She is really working the Audrey look, like WHOA.. (but you can see where her extensions start, or it is a sloppy dye job and that is distracting) 

Rating:  9. Would pick up DVD on Sale  (on my wish list at DVDswap.com)
Scruff: Sadly all the men had some scruff and to compound that transgression. Matthew Rhys' hair is long- not a good look for him.

I must thank Streaming Netflix for helping me catch up this weekend, it makes it so easy to cram in a ton of movies :)

The Ten Ten stories designed to explain the 10 commandments are introduced by Paul Rudd and there are too many known names to list them all, but each story brought another - HEY IT'S....  I expected this to be horrible, and besides one story that contained a bunch of shit jokes, it was pretty well balanced and enjoyable overall. If you like Paul Rudd or the guys in The State, then you will most likely enjoy this.

Rating:  7. Would watch again with friends
Scruff: yes.. lots Men trying to appear manly for some reason means scruff


Meet the Robinsons I did not really like this movie most of the way through, but it redeemed itself quite a bit with the ending.  Premise is this little orphan is trying to find a family and he wants to know why his mom dropped him off on the step of the orphanage.  He is a boy genius and tends to blow things up. The animation style is allot like 'The Incredible's'.  There is a villain and an evil hat and time travel, but I really did not find myself caring until the very end, then it was sappy and sentimental and syrupy. So, not bad, I have seen worse cartoons but I have also seen WAY better ones too.

Rating:  5. I would reccomend this on a case by case basis
Scruff: Just of the evil variety

BachelorMan This movie was HORRIBLE, I probably did not get the joke, but the premise is this single guy sees himself as this super hero known as "Bachelor Man" (complete with cartoon inserts and a nifty uniform). He falls in love with his neighbor and works to change so that she will love him too.  It is just terrible with huge road blocks placed in front of the couple not for actual plot development, but for the cheap laugh.

Rating: 1. KILL ME NOW - I GAVE UP HOW MUCH OF MY LIFE 
Scruff: A fair amount, but I did not care, b/c I did not care about the movie

Made of Honor A cute rom com, kinda what you expect. Kevin McKidd was a nice change of pace. Patrick Dempsey is a womanizer and has a set of rules in regards to women - ie never sleep with the same woman 2x in the same week.  When his BBF goes off to Scotland, he realizes he is in love with her and when she gets back, she is engaged to the perfect man (Kevin McKidd). Patrick then vows to be the best Maid of Honor ever so he can win her heart. Lovely Scottish Countryside, but I thought some of the Scottish stereo types were a little over done at times.  It is a cute movie.

Rating: 7. Would watch again with friends
Scruff: a bit here and there, but nothing too horrible


The Jane Austen Book Club  I loved this movie. It made me want to have my own Jane Austen book club, just as an excuse to re-read all the books and talk about them. *sigh*  I do also want a Grigg (Hugh Dancy with an odd American accent) of my own as well.  No. Seriously. Really. I would have liked if they went into to more discussion about each of the books, I think some were way under appreciated, but overall a strong cast and a contrived but good plot. I kinda remember this movie not getting a lot of love, but I really enjoyed the whole thing.
Rating:  9. Would pick up DVD on Sale
Scruff: None that I noticed, but then I was probably at Grigg's hair and eyes too much. Did I mention I want one JUST LIKE that with the bad American accent and everything.

The Big Tease  A sweet mockumentary with Craig Ferguson as a Scottish hair stylist who wants to compete in the "Platinum Scissors" competition. First he needs a invite.  This is played for laughs but is a sweet movie about believing in yourself no matter how much stuff is stacked against you . TONS of stars make appearances through out the show and I had to smile that Mary McCormack (she is Mary on IPS) made an important appearance. Fun movie to watch.

Rating: 5. I would recommend this on a case by case basis 
Scruff: yes .. and messy scruff at that.

 

Simple Men  A very independent movie - it is about 2 brothers who are looking for their father, but they are both also running away from things. The script does some interesting things with repetition and circular dialog. But overall I never cared for any of the characters too deeply. It is well shot and if you like quirky movies, where the dialog and emotions are not very much like real life, but stylized- you will enjoy this movie

Rating:  5. I would recommend this on a case by case basis
Scruff- mostly scruff free, but a few of the guys sneak in beards

School of Life Ryan Reynolds is pretty. Chris Gauthier (Vince on Eureka) is made of awesome, especially  as an PE coach. The movie is pretty heart warming. John Astin show up briefly and sets the tone for the movie. David Paymer plays Matt Werner. Matt's dad,  Stormin' Norman Werner (John Astin) has won teacher of the year for 42 years straight and then he dies. Matt decides to try to win the next year, but ultra cool teacher Mr. D (Ryan Reynolds) shows up and works his own kind of magic with the students. This movie became much more then a silly little comedy about 1/2 way through and left me crying for the last 1/3. It is a sweet under appreciated effort.
Rating:  7. Would watch again with friends
Scruff: a tiny bit but for the most part smooth

Superbad I thought Nick and Nora was a much better movie. I just never really cared about any of the characters. I kinda liked McLovin for all of his dorkness, but the overacting and cheap jokes wore on me after a while. If I were a boy I think I  might have been able to relate to the movie, but since I never was male and never saw the big deal about alcohol, I had trouble relating.

Rating: 2. MEH
Scruff: None really they are H.S. Students

The Alibi (Lies & Alibis) The first scene is Jerry O'Connell in an American  flag thong - please put some clothes on that boy and show him to the buffet- he was way way too thin.  This is a good caper story, it takes a while for it to all build and come together and at times is a weee bit confusing, but if you like Leverage, or Hustle, I think you would enjoy the movie. It is not flawless - but is a fun ride. Steve Coogan is awesome in it.

Rating:  8. Would Watch again by myself
Scruff: A little bit of scruff but not too much

You Don't Mess with the Zohan  if all the racial stereo types were not bad enough, the dick jokes, Mariah Carey trying to act, the part that I hated the most was Cat hacky sack. This is just a terrible movie with a ton of known names.  I liked Zoolander, but this movie was just a lame and terrible movie,  I would have to suspend my disbelief sooo much that it would no longer exist (that makes no sense and neither does the movie)

Rating:  3. I watched it so you don't have to
Scruff: Lots and lots ..