Movie Monday - Special: Ticket Stub Round Up

I'm one of those people who keeps ticket stubs from the movies that I see. I pull them from my pocket and tuck them into cubbyholes on my desk. I have collected quite a stack of them over probably the last couple of years or so. Probably because I'm half pack rat on my Dad's side. Also it gives me an alibi in case I'm ever falsely accused of anything. But I digress. :)

Anyway...in a recent house cleaning frenzy, I've decided to trash them, but not before I list and rate the bunch here. Indulge my trip down memory lane with my favorite past time. :)

On my scale, 5 Stars is best and means I probably went onto buy the DVD when it came out and conversely 1 Star is worst and I mourn the time and money I lost.

Here goes:

3:10 to Yuma - 9/15/07 - Awesome Western! I give it 5 stars...and I "did" buy the DVD.

Watchmen - 4/9/09 - I wanted this to be a better movie. Too grim and some key good story telling elements were ignored. 2 Stars

I Am Legend - 12/14/07 - Will Smith can do no wrong! Loved it. 5 Stars and I own it.

Beowulf: Digital 3D - 12/1/07 - It was okay. I thought the format was interesting 3 Stars.

Shoot 'Em Up - 9/9/07 - Over the top and graphic in many ways. But I thought the story line was excellent. 4 Stars

Invasion - 8/18/07 - Excellent re-make of a classic! 4.5 Stars

P.S. I Love You - 12/31/07 - I saw this in Arkansas with my MIL. Great movie. 4 Stars

Shooter - 3/31/07 - Great movie. Better than expected. Loved it. 4.5 Stars.

The Spirit - I can't find the stub, but I remember the pain and torment of watching it. The reason it gets one star instead of none is that I liked the comic book look of it otherwise...total Dreck. or is it Bleeck? 1 Star

Crank - 9/3/06 - Better than I expected. Still a few scenes stretched past my capacity for belief. 3.5 Stars

The Dark Knight - 8/9/08 - Excellent movie. Sad because it was Heath Ledger's last movie. 4.5 Stars

X-Files: I Want to Believe - 8/9/08 - I have seven seasons and the first movie on DVD. I thought this was pretty good, but the first movie was much better. 3.5 Stars

The Mummy 3 : Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - 8/15/08 - The first two were much better, but I liked this one okay. 3 Stars

Changeling - 11/6/08 - No secret that I went to see this for Jeffery Donovan, but it was an excellent movie. 4.5 Stars.

Valkyrie - 12/26/08 - Tom Cruise is an excellent actor and he was great in this. 4 Stars.

Australia - 12/7/08 - I thought it started out slow, but I liked this movie very much. Plus...Hello...Hugh Jackman! :) 4 Stars

Defiance - 1/19/09 - Loved this movie! Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber...yum! 4.5 Stars

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - 5/1/09 - I loved this movie! Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber...double yum! 4.5 Stars

Star Trek - 5/8/09 & 5/10/09 - Yes. I've already seen it twice. My heart goes pitty pat at the mere mention of this movie. JJ Abrams is a genius storyteller and I give this 6 Stars...because it's my scale and I can if I want to. ;)

What's in your ticket stub collection?
L

Movie Monday - Star Trek

Yes...it's true. I'm a Star Trek geek and I adored the new movie. In true Trekkie fashion, I've already seen it twice over the past weekend. lol

JJ Abrams did an awesome and excellent job with this updated, alternate time line Star Trek story. I genuinely hope he's thinking about a sequel already because I am.:)
L

Movie Monday - X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I went to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine over the weekend. Sigh.
Love Hugh Jackman. Love the story. Love the movie. Love Hugh Jackman. Did I mention that already? :)








Okay then...Love Liev Schreiber, too.





I've watched all of the X-Men movies and I've enjoyed them all.
This one is a little different as far as storyline with respect to the original X-Men movies partially because it's a prequel, but this fourth X-Men movie is no less action-packed. I loved seeing new mutants with new and different powers this go around.
And I'll definitely be in line on day one when the DVD comes out! Can't wait. :)
In my mind it's worth seeing at the theater.
Go check it out. :)
L

Movie Monday - Changeling

Changeling was a must see movie for me, of course, because Jeffery Donovan is in it. :) And luckily, it was a very good movie too. :)
I recommend it.
L


The synopsis:
Inspired by actual events that occurred in 1920s-era Los Angeles, Clint Eastwood's "Changeling" tells the story of a woman driven to confront a corrupted LAPD after her abducted son is retrieved and she begins to suspect that the boy returned to her is not the same boy she gave birth to. The year was 1928, and the setting a working-class suburb of Los Angeles. As Christine (Angelina Jolie) said goodbye to her son, Walter, and departed for work, she never anticipated that this was the day her life would be forever changed. Upon returning home, Christine was distressed to discover that Walter was nowhere to be found. Over the course of the following months, the desperate mother would launch a search that would ultimately prove fruitless. Yet just when it seemed that all hope was lost, a nine-year-old boy claiming to be Christine's son seemed to appear out of thin air. Overcome with emotions and uncertain how to face the authorities or the press, Christine invites the child to stay in her home despite knowing without a doubt that he is not her son. As much as Christine would like to accept the fact that her son has been returned to her, she cannot accept the injustice being pushed upon her and continues to challenge the Prohibition-era Los Angeles police force at every turn. As a result, Christine is slandered by the powers that be, and painted as an unfit mother. In this town, a woman who challenges the system is putting her life on the line, and as the situation grows desperate, the only person willing to aid her in her search is benevolent local activist Reverend Briegleb (John Malkovich).

Movie Monday - Appaloosa

Plot Summary: 1882, New Mexico Territory. Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch are itinerant lawmen, hired by desperate towns as marshal and deputy. The city fathers of Appaloosa hire them after Randall Bragg, a newly-arrived rancher with money and a gang of thugs, disrupts commerce and kills three local lawmen. Cole and Hitch contrive to arrest Bragg and bring him to trial, but hanging him proves difficult. Meanwhile, a widow has arrived in town, Allison French, pretty, refined, and good-natured. Virgil falls hard, and it seems mutual, but there may be more to Allie than meets the eye. Can friendship and skill with a gun overcome a pernicious villain and green-eyed jealousy?

I really liked this movie. I mean what's not to like with Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris in the leading roles. :) Jeremy Irons is great in the role of a bad, bad guy. There is a little romance. A court trial. A dusty frontier town. And many other traditional wild west offerings which are all set in the late 1800's American West.
Check it out.
L

Movie Monday - Body of Lies

I watched Body of Lies on pay per view the other night. I really enjoyed it. Russel Crowe did an outstanding job changing his persona into a not exactly likable political character for this movie. Leo looks great, even though he gets beat up and spends much of the movie with one bleeding wound or another. The plot is intricate and it's one of those movies you really have to pay attention to in order to understand what's going on.




Which leads me to my epiphany... (warning - mini rant coming) I now remember why I like to see movies at the theater. The phone rings incessantly whenever my family wants to sit in the comfort of our home and watch a movie. With On Demand features we are able to pause, but it's a little frustrating having to stop back up and try to keep up with the movie. My poor husband had to watch the movie in pieces between three phone calls and an errand to pick up one of the kids.
I wish I could say, I'm unplugging or turning off all the phones whenever we sit down to watch one. But I have children. I can't do it.
Is there ever a time when we can shut out the world and do what we want without interruption?
My answer...rarely.
L

Movie Monday - Aliens

Aliens is an oldie, but one of my very favorite all time movies ever produced.
James Cameron is one of my favorite movie directors and in my opinion, Aliens is one of his very best.
It includes the genres of Action/Adventure/Science Fiction and an awesome all around story.
L

Aliens:
Here is a synopsis:
More than a half-century after the events of 'Alien', Warrant Officer Ripley - the sole survivor of the Nostromo - is discovered adrift in the shuttle she used to escape. By now, the Company - Ripley's employer - has colonized the planet where the alien was found. Intent on covering up its illegal actions of years before, the Company strips Ripley of her flight officer's license. But when transmissions from the colony stop without warning, she is called into action again - this time with a group of Space Marines. Now the alien menace is hundreds of times larger, more insidious, and all but invincible. The sole survivor of the Nostromo re-enters a world of sudden, unspeakable horror - one that attacks without warning again and again and again. Written by Derek O'Cain

Movie Monday - Eagle Eye

I finally got to see the movie Eagle Eye on my home pay-per-view the other night.

My husband and kids had already seen it at the movies when it was in theaters. I must have had a dead line or something to have missed it.
It was a really good movie. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
The pacing was great. It was very exciting and I thought the over all plot was very intriguing.
On my scale...I'd give it 4 Stars. :)
L

Movie Monday - Kevin Bacon movies

Recently, I was watching my cable free on demand station and caught two Kevin Bacon movies two days in a row. One I'd seen years before but watching it was like watching a whole new movie. The second I hadn't seen or heard of and while very good it seemed a little like an indie film.

The first from 1999 and very scary was called, Stir of Echoes.




The second from 2007 and very sad and emotional was called, Rails & Ties.








My conclusion...Kevin Bacon is an awesome actor. His range is unbelievable. I've seen many of his movies over the years and I'm always struck by how versatile he is.

Another fun thing about watching old movies especially, and by old I mean more than 7 or 8 years old, is seeing glimpses of actors in earlier roles before they became famous for other things. In Stir of Echoes, is the actress from Law & Order: Criminal Intent and also there is the actress from House.

So if you're in the mood for either scary or sad, I recommend either of these.
L