Movie #345 - The Kingdom

The Kingdom
2007 - Rated R - 1 hr 50 min
Director: Peter Berg
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Jeremy Piven, Richard Jenkins, Kyle Chandler, Danny Huston, Kelly AuCoin, Minka Kelly

This movie's disturbing and a kinda depressing, but really good.  It starts in Riyadh, where a family compound for an oil company is suicide bombed and obliterated, killy hundreds of men, women, and children.  It sets off an international incident, forcing Jamie Foxx and friends to get over there and get involved.  The Saudi government isn't happy that there are Americans there to investigate the incident, and tempers flare.  Some serious $h*t goes down and lots of bullets fly.  Good stuff.

Most surprising thing about this? Jennifer Garner isn't so bad at action flicks.  Creepiest thing about this movie? The Saudi kid's last line.  Argh.

Movie #246 - Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day
1993 - Rated PG - 1 hr 41 min
Director: Harold Ramis
Starring: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky, Brian Doyle-Murray, Marita Geraghty

If you had to live one day over and over, with no consequences, what would you do?  To answer your question, Bill Murray tries everything.  He starts off in denial, then embraces it and breaks the law, then tries to use the time to make something right in the world, then woos the woman of his dreams.  How can he make an eternal February 2 turn into February 3?

Check with Andie MacDowell.

I love this movie so much and always have.  It's such a clever premise and so expertly executed.  And they don't waste time trying to explain why this happens to him, which makes it better.  Sometimes stuff happens and we don't know why. This is an extreme example, but hey. My point remains.  Bill Murray accepts his unusual fate with gusto, and doesn't waste too much time trying to figure it out.  It sucks, but it's his lot in life, so he deals with it the best way he can.  Buy nailing Nancy, punching Ned, and learning to play piano.  Do what you gotta do, you know?

And he even gets his own happy ending, when all is said and done.