Movie #105 - Chicago

Chicago
Miramax
2002 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 53 min
Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Taye Diggs

Movies of musicals... what a refreshing revisit to the early cinematic triumphs of the 30s, 40s, and 50s :)  And Chicago, with all that jazz (pun intended), harkens back to those happier, more care-free, get-away-with-murder days.  But there's something dark about this movie version, dark but very appropriate.  They don't just burst into song, they live the song through repressed fantasies in their heads.  It seems more real this way, less Broadway-y and less Hollywood-y. 

My only regret is that Taye Diggs doesn't sing at all.  Hugely missed opportunity, if you ask me.

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.