Movie #354 - The Lake House

The Lake House
2006 - Rated PG - 1 hr 39 min
Director: Alejandro Agresti
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Christopher Plummer, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Dylan Walsh, Shohreh Aghdashloo

I hate to admit this out loud... or in print, as the case may be... but I really like this movie.  I know, I know. How cornball of me.  But really, it's different.  And it's a romance, which we already know I like.  And even Keanu doesn't ruin it. 

He's got good chemistry with Sandra Bullock. Which is probably why they keep getting paired up.  And no, a speeding bus does not burst onto the scene and obliterate the lake house, sorry to disappoint.

It's just a pure and simple romance, with not so simple circumstances.  And it's beautiful in this odd construction, weirdly relatable despite the time-traveling weirdness.  Hey, if we blindly accept The Time Traveller's Wife, why not this? Right?

Anyway. I like it for its creativity.  And for how much they make you sweat that ending!

Movie #313 - Inside Man

Inside Man
2006 - Rated R - 2 hr 9 min
Director: Spike Lee
Starring: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe

A bank robbery where the money stays in the vault? Something's up.  The premise behind this movie is heavy on the intrigue.  Denzel vs Clive is an interesting battle to watch, with Jodie Foster interfering at all the wrong (or right?) moments.

This one's nothing extraordinary, but it's always nice to a see a movie with a predictable premise (i.e. a bank robbery with hostages) take a different route.  That said, I don't think anyone here gives a standout performance nor is this a must-see.  It's entertaining and intriguing, but a lot of the middle just drags.  It could be great but to me it seems a bit unbalanced.  Overall though, a good one to watch for something a little different.

Movie #298 - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
2009 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 3 min
Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole, Heath Ledger, Andrew Garfield, Verne Troyer, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell

Admittedly, this movie's plot is kinda complicated and the style is fairly artsy and pretty fantastical.  But it's Terry Gilliam. And Christopher Plummer. And Heath Ledger's last movie.  And although the plot seems complicated, the theme is the simplest there is: good versus evil. 

The movie centers on a traveling stage act where immortal Christoper Plummer allows spectators to enter his Imaginarium.  Inside, they must face a temptation found in their own imagination and choose between the good and the evil choice.  A wager between Dr. Parnassus (Plummer) and Nick (aka the Devil) becomes the central plot, as Parnassus' daughter and friends face their own battles. 

If you hadn't heard about this one yet, Heath Ledger died before filming was complete.  Depp, Law, and Farrell stepped in to help finish the movie, free of charge, as friends of the late actor.  How does that work? Pretty ingeniusly, actually.  Ledger completed all the "real world" shots but not the scenes inside the imaginarium.  The three fill-in actors take turns playing his character inside the fantasy world, where your appearance can be changed by your imagination.  This minor obstacle is worked seamlessly into the fill and not overexplained or hidden.  Each fill-in actor is meant to look as close to Ledger as possible, but it's not a big deal that they're not exact.  Surprisingly, it's not as jarring as you might think.

For all its artisticness and its subbing in of other actors, I really do enjoy this movie a lot.  Although set in modern times, The Imaginarium transports you into another world where all these fantasy elements seem quite commonplace.  Really well done, all around.

Movie #172 - Dragnet

Dragnet
1987 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 46 min
Director: Tom Mankiewicz
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Tom Hanks, Christopher Plummer, Dabney Coleman

Yup, here's a cheesy, dated movie.  I vaguely remember this one as a kid, but haven't seen it in ages.  Actually, this is probably the first time I've seen it all the way through.  Aykroyd and Hanks make a good pair, straight cop and funny cop, good cop and bad cop, by-the-book and by-the-seat-of-his-pants.  They do justice to these characters, which makes the movie palatable.  Otherwise, I'd have been bored to tears.

There's not much else to report from this one.  It's a standard buddy cop movie, your regular uncover the internal corruption kind of plot. Dabney Coleman is funny, mostly for his weird accent.  And Christopher Plummer is in this too, because he's in everything.  I think this is his seventh or eighth appearance on the Wall.  Wow!

All right, one more on this shelf!!

Movie #171 - Dracula 2000

Dracula 2000
2000 - Rated R - 1 hr 39 min
Director: Patrick Lussier
Starring: Gerard Butler, Christopher Plummer, Omar Epps

This movie, evidently, was filmed before Gerard Butler was hot.  Seriously. He's skinny, skeevy, and has crazy hair.  Wes Craven's Dracula is definitely scary, and not as seductive as you might think.... for the ladies anyway.

On the upside, Jeri Ryan makes a hot reporter-gone-vamp, so there's that for the male viewership.  In fact, with this bit part and her teensy appearance in Down With Love, I think I might have just watched her entire movie career in one letter.  Oh, Seven of Nine, where are you now?

So this one's another boy movie (duh) and I wasn't thrilled.  It seems to be made purely for it's vampire violence and sexual content - honestly, how many slutty vampires does this guy need?  It also has a huge cast of TV show stars.  The curly-fro guy from That 70's Show, Foreman from House, the new squintern guy on Bones, and of course, Nathan Fillion.  He makes a pretty cute priest, I might add.  Cuter than Gerard Butler, too.

In a long list of things that came out in the year 2000 with the number 2000 in their title, just because, this one falls somewhere in the middle. Not great, not horrible.  Just more white noise with all that vampire stuff that's out there now.

Movie #3 - 12 Monkeys

12 Monkeys
Universal Pictures
1995 - 2 hr 10 min - Rated R
Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer

Here's my first *unopened* DVD! 12 Monkeys is the first movie in this Triple Feature DVD pack. It also includes Mercury Rising and The Jackal which are next on my list to watch, making this order seem to go off my alphabetical trail. But really it's not, since the whole set is categorized under 12 Monkeys.

Anyway... here goes.

Does it get any better than a 90's era Bruce Willis flick? This is only the second time I've seen 12 Monkeys and I couldn't remember much about it. I remember that the first time I saw it, I was a bit disappointed. All that hype, you know? But now, with more than a decade's added perspective, I can definitely see what made this movie such a big deal. And it has more to do with the inventive premise than it does with Brad Pitt's naked, crazy ass.

Of course, all I could think about when I saw Brad Pitt in this (a great performance, by the way) was that quote from Clueless about Brad Pitt being hot in everthing, "except 12 Monkeys, when he had that weird eye thing."

Also on my mind was the Christopher Plummer double feature that I had this afternoon. First as 1 in 9, then as Dr. Goines in 12 Monkeys. Three movies in and I've already got repeat actors!

As for the movie itself, I loved it this time around. Brad Pitt crazy but harmless, Bruce Willis watching himself die, and that no-name-actress I haven't seen in anything since this movie, dying her hair blond. Man, that's a good ending!

So, we're down three movies... only 600-something left to go! I might squeeze in a fourth tonight, if I can convince Mike to watch Mercury Rising. I'll be back whenever I finish my next viewing!

Movie #2 - 9

9
Focus Features
2009 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 20 min
Director: Shane Acker
Starring: Elijah Wood, John C Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau, Fred Tatasciore

This one is nice and short at 80 minutes, so I'm moving right along today.

9 is another good one - not one of my favorites, but fun to watch. Something about Elijah Wood as the main character, though, makes this heroic post-apocalyptic plight akin to a LOTR adventure. Just substitute a small troupe of robot Beanie Babies for the Hobbits and voila! And as for the whole the-nine-robot-Beanie-Babies-are-pieces-of-the-scientist's-soul business? That sounds like Voldemort's horcruxes to me...



Still, the movie is an enjoyable one. Lots of fun visuals, an intriguing premise, and an incredible cast of voice actors including Christopher Plummer and John C. Reilly. I wouldn't think watching a team of tiny, artificially intelligent beings battle robotic skeleton cats would be so riveting, but there you go. Ellie seemed to enjoy it too, but I don't think she was really following the plot.


Overall, though, this was another dark, bleak movie... two of those in a row plus this rainy weather is really bumming me out. Where are the comedies at right now?



Looks like I still have a ways to go before I get something lighter. 12 Monkeys is next - one of a triple feature collection that also includes Mercury Rising and The Jackal. I don't get anything funny until move #7. Argh.