Yours, Mine, and Ours - Friday Night: Dinner and a Movie

Dinner at the usual place: Lasgne and Rigatoni.

Dennis Quaid is not Henry Fonda, and Rene Russo is not Lucille Ball, but this retelling appears to work. There was nothing seriously stupid in the movie to make me want to run out the theater. As usual, the children in the two families don't fit together and make a common pact to split the marriage. After the children get conditions to cause a breakup into action, they discover that they like each other and no longer want the split. This is all followed by a Hollywood Ending.

Rip Torn plays a rather worn out Coast Guard Commandant in this movie. Although Rip is still regularly making new films, this picture makes him look like forty miles of bad road and one tends to wonder about his health. Linda Hunt plays a deliciously unique housekeeper with a relaxed counterpoint to Quaid's shipshape view of how a household should be run.

New previews: The Shaggy Dog with Tim Allen (instead of Tommy Kirk) turning into a dog, due out Mar 10th. Last Holiday with Queen Latifa playing a lady given a short time to live, due out Jan 13th. And (of course) Nanny McPhee due out Jan 27th.

Pride & Prejudice - Saturday: Movie and a Birthday Dinner

First the statistics. All told there were 5 men at this movie (counting my son and myself). The men were out numbered 10 to 1. The average age for the women was estimated to be around 45 years. For some strange reason, the owner of the theater group attended this showing. (I didn't ask him why. I think he took his Mom.)

In some ways this film felt truer to the period. The people weren't as pristine as in the A&E version. We liked the "country dancing". (No we did not get up and dance along with the film.)

It was nice to see a film with good actors, but not famous names. Looking on IMDb, we saw that some had played in Charles II: The Power & the Passion.

High points of the movie:

• "Oddball" Donald Sutherland not totally sucking as Mr Bennet
• Mr Collins' sermon (Even my few were not that bad.) Did he really say that?
• Mr Collins not being as weasly, just totaly fish out of water in all his settings
• The "dance" of the characters as they wandered though the ball, always just missing each other
• The wounded puppy dog looks of Darcy
• The painful shyness of both Mr Bingley and Jane Bennet ("My sister won't even tell me" remarks Elizabeth)
• Darcy talking Binkley through what he needed to say to propose. (You say ... then Miss Bennet responds ...) Priceless.
  

Oh, and I want a long coat like Darcy.

Both Lydia and Wickham seemed underplayed in this version, though Lydia does bounce a lot.

Dinner after the movie was at the usual place. Greek Chicken, three Rigatonis, Capellini, and Vegitarian Lasagne. Afterwards we went home for cake and ice cream.

Previews: Glory Road (due out Jan 13th) is not a remake of the Heinlein tale of a Knight Errant, but about college basketball. Oh Well.

We got to see the Nanny McPhee preview on the big screen. (Due out Jan 27th) We can't wait. Emma Thompson both wrote the screen play and is the main character.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Black Friday: Movie and Leftovers at Home

We do not go shopping on the "Day After Thanksgiving" (period).

We go to movies. This year we waited until the daughters were home from college to see the latest Harry Potter.

We missed all the fun stuff from the book, like Fleur meeting the older Weasley boy, the screwy clothes at the World Quiddich Tournament, and Hermione's teeth suddenly getting nice for the dance.

Daniel Radcliffe still looks like a younger version of my son. Hence all the squealing last week about "Naked Harry" the day after the movie came out. Not that the scenes showed any more than one would see if he were in swimming trunks, but its the thought that counts.

The scenes about the boys awkwardness asking the girls to the dance were a hoot as was the dancing. It wouldn't be so painful if I couldn't remember 9th grade, but I was more of a Harry at that time than a Ron.

Followed by a repeat of Thanksgiving Dinner.

No new interesting previews.

Walk The Line - Friday Night: Dinner and a Movie

Dinner at the usual place: Apple Baked Pork Chops and Rigatoni. Are you noticing a pattern here?

My wife thought that this would be a chick flick because of Joaquin Phoenix, but it was like all the guys came back from deer camp to see this movie. In fact there was the distinct flavor of spilled gasoline on workboots in our end of the theater.

The movie covers twenty years, marriage and divorce, drug addiction and arrest, and many groupies in Johnny Cash's early years. It covers the obvious physical interaction between John and June in their relationship and one can see the small cuts of the scenes that describe the foundation of their love like the 10 second cut involving the Friendship Baptist Church.

Oh, and I loved Momma Maybelle with the shotgun helping to run off the drug dealer.

Alex Baldwin does not play a villain in this movie either. Robert Paterick (T-2000) plays Johnny Cash's hard drinking father.

New previews: Tristan & Isolde due out Feb 3rd.

Update: Did anyone else notice Acidman as one of the inmates in Folsum Prison.

Friday Night: Dinner and no Movie

Dinner at the usual place - Lasagne and Rigatoni

No movie tonight. Pride and Prejudice is out in limited release until Nov 23rd and we aren't about to drive 3 hours just to see a flick. Another busy day tomorrow with cleaning and stuff. Still need to get the bikes and pool stuff put away before winter.

Frederica Mathewes-Green does have a nice review of Pride and Prejudice in NRO though.

Nanny McPhee

Colin Firth and Emma Thompson.

Already out in the UK. Due out in the US on Jan 27th.

Click the name above to view the trailer via Apple.com or visit IMDB.

Alec Baldwin is not a villain in this movie either.

Friday Night: Dinner and no Movie

Dinner at the usual place - Steak and Rigatoni

No movie. We have to be up early to drive to a Hammered Dulcimer Workshop.

Legend of Zorro - Friday Night: Dinner and a Movie

Dinner at the usual place - Lasagne, three Rigatonies, and Capelleni (the daughters are home for the weekend, the whole family is at dinner)

Nice continuation of the story from the first movie. This movie takes place ten years later after their son has grown into a pre-teen. The apple surely didn't fall far from the tree.

Mildly plausible story line. The Illuminati are the villains in this movie, not Alec Baldwin. Nice explosions (there are at least five of them) and nice Rocky Horror moment where the cooked Carrier Pigeon is served.

Previews were for an Usher movie, In The Mix (no release date given), an Antonio Banderas movie, Take The Lead (again no release date), a longer Potter preview, Goblet of Fire due out Nov 18th in general release, Zathura due out Nov 11th, and lastly Fun with Dick and Jane a remake of the film with the same name due out Dec 21st with Jim Carrey playing the George Segal part and Téa Leoni playing the Jane Fonda part.

Take The Lead looks like it will be fun and we are already scheduling our time around Potter.

Elizabethtown - Friday Night: Dinner and A Movie

Dinner at the usual place - Greek Chicken and Rigatoni

This is a "cute" movie. "If it wasn't this, ... It would be something else."

Alec Balwin plays the "evil" capitalist in this movie, though how he managed to spend 900 million dollars on the roll-out of an athletic shoe is beyond me. Maybe he shouldn't have bought so many Super Bowl ads. Of course the fiasco is blamed on Orlando Bloom's character, but really what company (other than dot-com startups) give a 20-somthing the authority to spend close to a billion dollars. Not very realistic.

Interesting cameo parts: Paula Deeeeeen from the Food Channel, Bruce McGill (D. Day from Animal House) as the shifty family friend, and Jed Rees (a thermian from Galaxy Quest) as the Groom from the wedding party at the hotel. From his IMDB filmography, Bruce looks like a well employed character actor.

The one person I didn't recognize was Loudon Wainwright III as Uncle Dale. Yes, I know he is a few years older than me, but the last time I saw him he had much more hair. Must have been 30 years ago. The concert was sponsored by the radio station where I worked back then. Right, so we all age.

As I said, a "cute" picture. We'll probably buy the DVD.

In Her Shoes - Friday Night: Dinner and a Movie

Dinner at the usual place, Chicken vs Rigatoni

In Her Shoes, starring Toni Collette, a National Treasure, and Whats Her Face. Shirley doesn't use the line "Come in, I'll put on a pot of Bourbon" in this movie, it was in one of the previews.

There are the obligatory Rocky moments to make sure that you know that it is set in Philadelphia, the cute "active seniors", and a jewel of a character played by Norman Lloyd.

The ages of actors playing the characters don't quite feel right. The grand daughters feel appropriate as they are 38 years younger than the grandmother, but the father being only 10 years younger than the grandmother looks a little odd. The funny thing is that Cameron Diaz is 2 months older than Toni Collette, but her character is 4 years younger (and we believe it).

Worth going to. As the local review says, it was "charming nonetheless". I predict that we will save a copy on DVD when it comes out.

update: The audience was mostly women and the average age of the men (what few there were) was in the mid-forties. The only reason why the men's average age was so low was that a couple parents dragged their teenaged son along.

Previews were for Pride and Prejudice due out Nov 11th, Rumor Has It (Here's to you Mrs Robinson) due out Christmas (Dec 25th), The Family Stone due out Nov 11th, and there were probably others. (I didn't take notes.)

Friday Night: Dinner and no Movie

Dinner at the usual place, Steak vs Rigatoni

No movie tonight. Nothing on that we wished to see and the Toni Collette movie In Her Shoes doesn't open until next week.

So I ended up getting malled instead. Random shopping in the mall.

Just Like Heaven - Friday Night: Dinner and a Movie

Dinner at the usual place, Lasagne vs Rigatoni

Just Like Heaven is either a strange ghost story, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, or a twisted retelling of Snow White without the dwarves. Jon Heder has a central part in this film and he doesn't dance. Donal Logue provides some comic interludes as a shrink (not counting the bit about JJ and The Tongue). Dana Spybey-Waters is just the cutest thing as the sister Abby (in an Ith sort of way). Her character's handling of her rambunctious daughters is inspirational, especially where she fields the thrown ball with the serving spoon. My wife was not interested in going but was advised to go by our eldest.

Worth going to. It only had one small Sit-Com-ish scene that made me itchy to leave the theater, but then I am sensitive about that. That part passed quickly.

The Man - Friday Night: Dinner and a Movie

Dinner at the usual place, Lasagna vs Rigatoni

"The Man" (PG-13) set in Detroit with Samual L Jackson (ATF cop) opposite Gene Levy (dental equipment salesman/Turkish Weapons Dealer). Gene's characters tend to be a little over the top and that grinds my nerves. This wasn't too bad and Gene's character really drove Sam Jackson's character up the wall, even though he ended up being a civilizing influence (F*** Crying Out Loud).

Miguel Ferrer plays a supporting role.

Probably worth saving as a DVD.

The Friday Night: Dinner and a Movie Concept

My wife runs a business Monday through Friday which leaves her with little contact where she can have meaningful conversation. Since our children are all old enough to look after themselves, every Friday is scheduled as Mom and Dad time where we eat out at our normal restaurant and then take in a movie at the world's first cineplex.

We have a standing reservation at 6:45 which gives us plenty of time to eat and make the movie without rushing. The restaurant is a little family operation with a couple dozen tables and a bar. We know what to expect and the wait staff knows us well enough.

Of course we don't always take in a movie and we don't always go out to eat. That all depends on what else is scheduled (like taking kids to college or picking them up). Bookstores are a pleasent substitute for a movie.

Bride and Prejudice Revisited

I received the following from my brother over the weekend. (it was forwarded through my daughters at college.)

> Partly thanks to your enthusiastic "review", we went to see it last
> night with Mom and Dad. What a great movie! We just about died when
> they did the Bollywood production number on the beach in LA, and the
> twist on the familiar plot of "Pride and Prejudice" was fascinating.

> When we left, two college girls behind us were dancing as they made
> their way out, so we were thinking of you two.

The Bollywood Musical: Bride and Prejudice

We went to see it last night, my wife for the second time and my son and I for our first. Wow. This is definitely a must-purchase when it comes out in DVD.

Bride and Prejudice is a musical in the Bollywood tradition, but that only speaks to the use of color. People break into song or dance at times, but I didn’t find the songs as intrusive as in the great Hollywood musicals from the 40’s.

As I said in my earlier post, this presentation is (in many ways) a tribute to the A&E rendition from 1996.

Here’s where I stand on that. Back in 1996 when the mini-series first played on A&E, we recorded it on VHS. Over the next several years, my daughters would hold weekend marathons playing the mini-series from end-to-end. They must have done this at least 20 weekends out of every year, possibly more often. The result is that we all know the story, my son (and our Quaker parakeets) could hum the theme song, and the tapes wore out.

When we bought our DVD player one of the first movies we purchased was the full-frame $70 DVD of Pride and Prejudice. That DVD got played as often as the video tapes with the advantage that the picture was clearer and it was easier to pause the show for dinner.

When the $30 wide-screen version came out in 2001, we got a second copy so that one (or both) could be away at college.

Needless to say I know the story as presented by A&E.

No one can beat Colin Firth in his portrayal of Darcy, but the Wickham presented in this film is much more of a rake and the Bingley is less gee-wiz and more sexy. But then you have seen the actor playing Bingley when he plays Sayid in “Lost”. The Bakshi(Bennet) parents are just as much fun as always, but each in their own way.

Time and again scenes echo the settings found in the A&E version. The sisters talking to each other while looking in a mirror, the settings around the table at dinner, the father in his study . . .

Mr Kholi(Collins) is just as much of a boor, but is played sort of as a cross between Alan Rickman’s character in Galaxy Quest and Tom Green. This Mister Kholi is not a clergyman, but an accountant in LA who lives in The Valley. He is back in India looking for a wife because all of the Indian girls in the US are too independent. One memorable quote from Mr Kholi is “No life without wife.”

The settings range from interior and sea side part of India, to the suburbs of London, to Los Angeles. Ah but the musical number in LA (with a Bollywood twist) is something to behold.

Even though we all know how the story turns out, it plays well.

Make sure you stay through the credits to see the “Out Takes”. I could be wrong, but I’m sure that in one of them I saw Harvey Weinstein of Miramax talking on a cell phone then get dragged into a dance by the extras.

We all enjoyed it and my daughters went to see it a second time at a theater near their school. I would recommend it even if it sounds like a “chick flick.”

Bride & Prejudice

From the makers of Bend It Like Beckham comes a Bollywood retelling of the classic Jane Autin tale.

No thats not right. Its more like a Bollywood tribute to the A&E mini-series.

All of the best bits from the A&E series are replicated in an Indian setting, but as a musical. Darcy, Bingley, and Wickham are all there, but Bennett becomes Bakshi and Collins becomes Kholi.

My wife and daughters went to see it last Saturday afternoon and they said it was a hoot. This is going to be a must purchase when it comes out on DVD.

This movie came out last Fall in the UK and is just available here in limited release. We have it in only one theater in one of the four mega-plexes in town and IMDb doesn't list it as available here.

Anyway, I have been instructed to set aside monies to purchase the DVD when it comes out and I have been told that I will get to see it (as will my son) in the near future. I'll let you know my impressions next Saturday.