Movie #110 - The Chronicles of Narnia

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe
Walt Disney Pictures
2005 - Rated PG - 2 hr 23 min
Director: Andrew Adamson
Starring: Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent, Liam Neeson

I was pretty psyched when I found out they were making a live-action version of this book - one of my personal favorite stories as a kid. I looooooooooooved the animated version so, of course, I had to see this in the theater and then own it on DVD. Of course.

Fortunately for me, this is a worthy incarnation of the classic tale.  In my opinion, the kids are perfectly cast, plus Liam Neeson as Asland rocks. And Tilda Swinton is my girl. So creepy too.

Anyhow, there's nothing earth-shatteringly wonderful about this movie. It's pretty to look at and it follows the book, more or less.  The casting is great, the sets and costumes and effects impressive.  There's not much to say but that it's a great big-budget production of a time-honored classic.  And just to be totally cheesy, I'll also add that the "entire family will love it."  That's probably true.

Movie #64 - Becoming Jane

Becoming Jane
Miramax Films
2007 - Rated PG - 2 hr
Director: Julian Jarrold
Starring: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, Maggie Smith

Okay, guys. Make fun of me all you want, but I love Jane Austen. As the mother of women's fiction, she stands alone as a pioneer of her day. She has captivated generations of readers with her heartwarming stories, all complete with a happy ending, and her works remain among the greatest classic works ever written.

But it seems that one can't write such compelling tales about love unless she herself has had her heart shattered at least once. In Becoming Jane, we spend some time getting to know and love the "real" Jane Austen. And even though you may know the ending, and the sad fact that she lived and died a spinster, you can't help cheering for her to end up with James McAvoy's character.

Anne Hathaway is brilliant and the script outstanding. These period pieces can sometimes drag and lull, until you want to doze off, but Becoming Jane is well paced and brings you a historical personage without any of the drabness you might expect. I love watching this movie again and again, and not because it's about Jane Austen.

But if you're not a fan of her work, don't worry. Her writing life is very much a background feature of this film, and you won't be bored with long excerpts read here and there. It's clear the writing is important to her, but it's never allowed to take the central focus away from her charming personality and sad love story.

She gets her own happy ending, in a way, but you come to care for her so much by the end of this movie, you can't help wishing she got all her heart desired.

Movie #36 - Atonement

Atonement

Universal Pictures
2007 - Rated R - 2 hr 3 min
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Romola Garai

I'd never seen this movie before and I wasn't really sure what to expect from it. I'm 50/50 on the lead actors, typically scared of books-turned-film, and I also had no idea what this was about.

I was pleasantly surprised by this one, however. Enough to go and read the book, I think.

Keira Knightley didn't annoy me and I think I might actually be a James McAvoy fan now. These two were well suited to each other and you really believe their relationship is real. Add one meddling 13-year-old with strong (though false) convictions. And this would-be chick flick becomes a drama about life, betrayal, and how sad life can really be sometimes.

If you haven't seen this because you think it's all about love and sex, please just watch it. I applaud Ian McEwan for being so real you want to punch him in the face. We all have something we regret in life (none of us as badly as Briony, that meddling teen--I hope), but on some level, we can all relate to that deep down in your bones desire to make amends.