Movie Musings

We don't watch a lot of movies, but in the last week, we've seen 3 new ones (not theatre-new, but released on DVD-new), and I enjoyed them all, so I thought I'd share some thoughts...

Tangled - I was a little apprehensive about this one, because the last few Disney movies I've seen (save Toy Story), I haven't been thrilled with.  But I really enjoyed this one.  Rapunzel is one of the most likeable of all the Disney princesses, in my opinion - even if her likeability is a little unrealistic (I find it hard to believe that someone who's locked in a tower for 18 years is as fun, outgoing, and well-rounded as Rapunzel is).  The animation was beautiful, too.  Sometimes I forgot the scenes were drawn, and not real.  Kendall thoroughly enjoyed it, too.  Although, as with all Disney movies, there is a pretty scary scene at the end. 

127 Hours - we've all heard about Aron Ralston, who had to cut his own arm off after being trapped for 5 days in a canyon.  And when I was telling my brother about it, he wondered how they could make a full-length movie out of that story.  But while watching the movie, I never once thought it dragged, or it could've ended sooner.  This is such a great story of determination and the will to live, and at times you almost forget that this actually happened to someone!  And that he lives at the end!  There were several times I thought to myself, "There's no way he's getting out of there...oh, wait.  He did!"  I really recommend this one.

Red - You wouldn't think that an action movie about a group of retired assassins, involving lots of killing could be cute, but it was!  You kind of have to check your logic at the door, because Grant and I found lots of holes in the storyline, but it was a very enjoyable movie to watch, and the acting is great.  Helen Mirren's character is great (she's a mix of Martha Stewart and Jason Bourne), and John Malkovitch's character is hilarious.

As an aside, I love watching movies that are set in places I used to live.  In Red, they go to Pensacola (although it's not really Pensacola - I think it was filmed in Louisiana).  And then they go to Mobile, Alabama, which I never lived in, but it's only 45 minutes away from Pensacola.  And before we had kids, I used to fly in and out of Mobile all the time when I would go home to Pensacola, because it was cheaper.  The part of "Mobile" that they showed was the airport, and since I had all those airport experiences, I was very quick to point out that what they showed was, in fact, definitely NOT the Mobile airport.  The Mobile airport is one of the smallest I've ever been to, and is pretty far outside the city.  What they showed wasn't a very big airport, but it was surrounded by tall buildings, and the real one is not.  Oh, and they showed mountains in the background, and there are NO mountains anywhere near Mobile.  Also, Mary-Louise Parker's character mispronounces the city's name.  She pronounces it the way you would say mobile phone, but it's supposed to be pronounced "moh-beel."

Okay, that's the end of my nerdy geography-in-movies moment.

Like I said, we don't watch a ton of movies.  So when we do, I tend to be a little picky in what I want to see.  I really did enjoy all of these movies!  Up next is a toss up - Grant really wants to see Tron, and I really don't.  I really want to see The Fighter, and he really doesn't.  So we'll see!