Tuesday, December 30, 2008

100th post! And other random things...

1. According to Blogger, this is post #100 on our blog! Thanks to everyone who's been reading. We definitely appreciate it.

2. I apologize for the lack of updates lately. I can explain, though. After finals were over, I was at work almost every day up until Christmas. I work in retail, and so obviously it was our busiest time of the year. Then Christmas came and I finally got to relax. Now things are starting to get back to normal again.

3. We have a new episode of our podcast in the works! It should be up in a few days...maybe even as a New Year's countdown??

4. If you've found us through the Subject:Cinema website, welcome! Please send us an email or leave a comment. We'd love to hear what you think of the blog! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, click on the link (shameless plug...muahahaha).

5. Time for me to "revue" a couple of movies!

Movie revue: The Day the Earth Stood Still

After listening to the Subject:Cinema review of this movie, I knew I had to see it. Nothing gets me more interested in a movie than hearing two widely different opinions about it. The Day the Earth Stood Still is a remake of an earlier movie (which I've never seen). This version stars Keanu Reaves as Klaatu, an alien who comes to our planet to save it. The only problem is, he's saving it from the humans.

I thought this movie was actually pretty good. Keanu basically portrays one emotion through the entire film (brooding angst) which I think is effective. It definitely makes him seem alien. I thought his name was very strange, in a way that didn't fit with the rest of the movie, but it's obviously taken from the earlier version. The rest of the acting is also solid. I thought the movie kind of had a point: humans are destructive and violent. We really do think we're "all that." Oh, and if we don't know aliens exist, but they find out (a) that we're here, (b) where "here" is, (c) how to get here, and (d) how to survive here, wouldn't it be safe to assume their technology is a LITTLE more advanced than ours?

Overall: 3 1/2 stars/5

DVD revue: The Librarian: Quest for the Spear

Flynn Carsen loves college. That's why he's earned 22 degrees in 16 years. That's why he's never graduated (his family must be loaded...unless he's gotten scholarships everywhere he's gone. Which, for him, might actually be plausible). And that's why his Egyptology professor kicks him out and tells him to get a job. So, of course, he starts working in a library. And that's when things get interesting.

Turns out that he's not just a librarian. He's the Librarian, guardian of the world's best-kept secrets. Remember everything you read about in mythology and fairy tales? What if it was all real? The goose that laid the golden eggs, Excalibur (the sword in the stone), a jetpack?? Flynn hardly has time to start polishing the Holy Grail before something is stolen. Flynn teams up with foxy, "psychopathic" Nicole Noone to save the Spear of Destiny from the evil clutches of the Serpent Brotherhood.

This movie was SO much fun! Think "Indiana Jones" with a good sense of humor and less of a special-effects budget. What it lacks in technical tricks, however, it more than makes up for in writing and acting. Flynn (Noah Wyle) and Nicole (Sonya Walger) have great chemistry together. The movie also has Jane Curtin and Bob Newhart as Flynn's overseers at the Library. It's kind of cheesy in places, but it's a great fun, funny, adventurous movie. Originally, it was a made-for-TV movie on TNT (my new favorite cable station!). They're up to 3 "Librarian" movies now; the first 2 are out on DVD now and the third one should be at some point (it just aired for the first time less than a month ago). If you like adventure/comedies or comedy/adventures, definitely give this one a try.

Overall: 4 1/2 stars/5

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