The IT Crowd

Occasionally crude, this British sitcom by the same producers that created the British version of "The Office" is quite clever.

The show is populated with 2 extreme geeks and a manager who knows little or nothing about computers.

Episode one opens with Jen getting the job and the boss telling her she would be working in the IT department because of her knowledge of computers. "You did say you have experience with computers, didn't you."
"Oh sure, I have experience receiving emails and ah..opening emails and ah..closing emails and ah..deleting emails..

You expect it to be a goofy sort of comedy, and it takes a couple of episodes to really get invested with these characters, but from the start, it's a clever, engaging comedy. I've been watching it on Netflix streaming and even Jeanne enjoys it! A little crass at times, there are some moments that are laugh out loud funny!

Ben Hur - 1959

Filmed in 1959, Ben Hur was a hit when it was made. Not many films in those days were produced for such a large sum. It cost $15 million, a huge amount then and the film took 11 academy awards.

I've seen it before and watched it again recently. Nearly Four hours on 2 discs from Netflix. This is a movie that requires a real commitment, but it stands up so well that the time just flies.

They used to show this film every year at Easter time, but with easier methods of getting your favorite movies, they don't seem to show repeats as often. Remember the old days when Wizard Of Oz was shown each year?

If you haven't seen Ben Hur, or haven't seen it for a long time, it's worth seeing it again.

Wild Target

This is a surprising little comedy. It's avilable on both watch instantly and DVD rental on Netflix. The situation is quite funny, a hit man sent to kill a con artist and Rupurt Grint (Ron Weasley in Harry Potter Movies) gets scooped up in the drama.

This isn't going to have to laughing out loud, but you may find it amusing, I did.

Captain America

I'm crossing over with this review because I am creating a stained glass Captain America shield for the couples art show in December that we're in.

But the movie! Very good! I didn't read the Avengers very often when I was a kid and Cap seemed to be a guest story in large comic books occasionally. So I was exposed to him as a reader, but not immersed in the story.

I really enjoyed the story line. After the movie, my son, Christopher and I had a conversation about movies in general. He overheard some youths talking about an action type movie and they were complaining that it spent too much time on the story and not getting to the action. We are both appalled at that attitude, since we've both been to "nothing but action" movies and they were horrible! The story line is what makes the action worthwhile, it's what makes us invested in the character, what makes us care if he suceeds or not.

We are both happy to report that the Captain America movie has a great story line. Chris Evans is made to look so wimpy in the beginning, you can't help but love the guy! And you can't have a great hero without a great villian, enter Hugo Weaving (agent smith from the Matrix), just a great actor! Tommy Lee Jones is a surprising character that is supurbly cast.

What the heck, just go see the movie, you'll find it worth your time.

Source Code

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan

Here's a science fiction movie that one of the actors describes as being a cross between Ground Hog Day and Speed and De'ja vu on a train.

It's very good, very entertaining, and could easily be ruined by hearing too much about it.

You should see it as soon as you can before someone ruins it for you.

You may recognize Jake Gyllenhaal from "Moonlight Mile" or "The Prince Of Persia". The director, Duncan Jones also directed "Moon", which was a selected film at the Sundance Film Festival.

This is one of those movies that has something for everyone, it's sf, but Jeanne even got engaged in it!

Adjustment Bureau

I waited till it came out on home video, but I've been excited to see this movie since it was announced. The short story by Phillip K Dick, who has brought so many great scifi stories to us is superb.

Just great, pure fantasy.

I highly recommend it.

Rango

I heard from several people that Rango was pretty good. "It has Johnny Depp as the voice of Rango." That was the only concrete statement about the movie. I had seen previews and it looked mildly interesting, so I didn't have high expectations, but I thought I'd give it a try.

Right off, it was very quirky and the animation was excellent, but then it just went on and on. I felt no real connection to any of the characters. None of them really stood out, so it was a one character drama that didn't work. Halfway through, there was a moment that Jeanne and I looked at each other and admitted we were pretty bored by it and yet we endured that last hour. Pain and suffering. Just a stupid movie.

Paint Your Wagon

If the movies you like say something about your psyche, then this movie must say a lot about me because I just love it! When Lee Marvin sings, "I was born under a wandering star," in that deep, gravelly voice, I just thrill!

"By Gum, they're Mormons!"
"Whats A Mormons?"
makes me laugh everytime I hear it.

There's just something stupidly madcap funny about this lowlife, decrepit musical.

Netflix has got it and Amazon has it for a great price. No reason to miss it.

"Got a dream boy, got a song, paint your wagon and come along!"
"Where am I goin' I don't know, when will I get there, I ain't certain, all that I know is I am on my way."

I like to have this one playing in the background for company once in awhile. You can watch it with little or no attention and enjoy the music and the adventure.

The Dilemma

The Dilemma should have been a great movie. Ron Howard directed, Vince Vaughan and Kevin James are excellent comedy actors. There were moments that were pretty funny and yet after it was over, Jeanne and I both thought it was worth watching, but we won't need to see it again.

So what went wrong? Maybe it was the subject matter, which tended to be rather serious and wasn't handled in a slapstick manner..it was somewhat, but there were many instances where they played for the one laugh when there should be been much more. When Vince had the plant problem, they gave you a couple of laughs, but the problem cleared up way too soon and wasn't played for the comedy.

Queen Latifa was completely wasted in this movie. Was she the token black person? She was given some stupid embarrassing lines and that was all! Her character was a waste of space and should have been a great comedy element.

In fact, that's what was wrong, this was a comedy that was played too seriously or else it was a drama played for laughs, it just didn't do either as well as expected. There just wasn't that heart warming feeling that we expect from great films. The ending hockey scene was meant to be great finale, but it seemed forced.

Ron Howard just phoned this one in. No one took the time to tweak the script. Someone should have stood back and asked..is this funny? Sadly, it wasn't.

School Of Life

This movie came out in 2005 and I'd never heard of it till I stumbled onto it on Netflix. What I liked about this comedy is that they didn't go for stupid, easy laughs that so many comedies go for. They played it straight, let it be funny without going for stereo types too much. It's a great story about a teacher who has been overshadowed by his father (John Astin) for years and now he gets his turn to shine. But the new teacher is pretty spectacular.

This was worth watching twice and it's just that good. Jeanne and I were both inspired by it and it may belong on my list of favorites.