Home Sick Movie Reviews- Weekend of August 26th

Hi there - remember me? Yeah, I'm sorry. I was chasing down a cold all last week and was lucky enough to catch it for good on Friday. This was bad becasue of all the aching, nose-blowing, whining, etc. But this was good because I got to spend some quality time with my favorite fuzzy blanket, laying on the couch, watching TV all weekend.

Thanks to TBS and their all-movie weekends, a stop on Friday at Blockbuster, and a good collection of DVDs at home, I was not without movies all weekend long. And this is what I have to say about them all.

Funny Farm with Chevy Chase (from the collection)

I love this movie. Funny Farm and The Princess Bride always come out when I'm not feeling well. They're funny, they're light, and they cheer me right up. Also, if I happen to fall into a drug-induced coma while watching, I can wake up at any point in the movie and still know what's going on. I'm still shocked when someone tells me they've never seen Funny Farm. This usually happens after I make a Redbud or a Yellow Dog reference. (And if you don't know what I'm talking about right now, you need to go see the movie.)

Serendipity with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale (courtesy of TBS)

Very cute. I've seen parts of this movie before but never the whole thing all the way through. John Cusack was born to play the slightly pathetic, yet still so lovable, yearning-for-love guy, wasn't he? He was cute, Jeremy Previn was so funny, and Kate Beckinsale is beautiful, of course. A sweet love story.

Transporter 2 with Jason Statham (Blockbuster)

I love Jason Statham. I don't care how cheesy the movie is. He could read the phonebook out loud, then win a highly improbable fight wherein he is outnumbered and unarmed except for a jar of mayonnaise and some yarn I'd still say I liked it. The fast-action driving scenes are exciting, the fight scenes entertaining, and the balding man with the ambiguous accent is foxy. I loved this movie.

Mona Lisa Smile with Julia Roberts (from the collection)

What a surprise! I really liked this movie. I borrowed it about a year ago from my mother-in-law and haven't watched it because I thought, for some reason, that I wouldn't like It. I have no idea why because it was fantastic. I can't imagine being a college-aged woman in the early 50's like these girls were. What an incredibly hard time to grow into adulthood. I thought the actors were all fantastic and I wanted all of their hair-dos and skirts! I've loved Ginnifer Goodwin since seeing her on Ed, and despite her incredibly irritating voice, I thought Kirsten Dunst did a great job as the one you love to hate. This was the first time I had seen Maggie Gyllenhaal in a movie and I thought she was excellent. I spent the whole movie trying to figure out why she looked familiar to me. I still don't know why. Julia Roberts, of course, was excelent and the whole really was delightful. I'm still surprised.

Lucas with Corey Haim (courtesy of TBS)

This movie is so sweet. Watching it makes me feel all awkward and embarassed like back when I was in school. Little nerdy Corey Haim is so cute and pathetic, and that redhead, IMDB tells me her name is Kerri Green, she's the same girl from Goonies with the cute face and slight whine to her voice. Lucas is sappy sweet and light and perfect to watch while you're home sick on the couch with a box of tissues.

Wedding Crashers with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson (Blockbuster)

What a disappointment. I love Vince Vaughn as much as I love Jason Statham so it hurt me greatly not to like this movie. I liked parts of it. I laughed in a whole bunch of places. I even loved the ending, but as a whole, it dragged. I found myself looking at the clock constantly because it felt like it went on FOREVER. Funny, funny, booooring, funny, funny, booooring. This is how it went. Like a series of excellent, related skits, threaded together with slow set-ups that pulled it down. So disappointing. But despite the occasional boredom and the extra weight Vince Vaughn packed on for the role, he was still quick and funny and cute. Owen Wilson, though, really needs to get that nose fixed.

Well, that's it from the couch. I'm starting to feel better and now I'm back to work so the movie-reviewing will have to go on hiatus for a while. Until next weekend, at least. I still have The Matador from Blockbuster to watch, so maybe I'll have more to say later.