Also saw Mission to Mars (2000) over the Easter weekend. It had some familiar faces, like Gary Sinise, who was in another space movie (Apollo 13) and Jerry O'Connell (TV's Sliders). In my opinion it turned out to be something of a remake of 2001: A Space Odyssey for a new generation.

Is that a good thing?

I wanted to like Mission to Mars, but....meh. Why was Gary Sinise, one of my very favorite actors, wearing eye liner?

Is that a good thing?

Like Shadowlander, I wanted to like it. It started out well enough but when the first crew was lost (with rather bad special effects) and the infamous Face on Mars showed up, I could no longer take it seriously.

I noticed Sinise's eye liner too. I think I'll go watch Apollo 13. It's so much better.

While we're on the topic of space movies, have any of you seen the sci-fi/psychological thriller/drama "Moon", starring Sam Rockwell? It also borrows from "A 2001 Space Odyssey" but it's excellent. Check "Moon" out, if you haven't already done so.

Moon Trailer:

I've heard of Moon and would like to watch it but alas, it isn't on Netflix at this time.

Enjoy TPB, jo! My brother and I saw it in the theater in Seattle back when it first came out, and we were disappointed in how silly it was. I'm not sure what we expected.

"I'm not sure what we expected."

You know, that is the conclusion I came to after seeing The Princess Bride this third viewing. I had heard so much about it over the years, so I really don't know what I was expecting, but I do know I was disappointed that first time. This past Sunday I don't know if I enjoyed the film more than my second viewing, but certainly at least that much. The one part I still find just too silly is the Miracle Max scene. Anyway, it was fun to see on the big screen, that's for sure! *edit*Vizzini, Inigo Montoya, and Fezzik are quite the trio. But my favourite character for humour alone is The Impressive Clergyman.

I watched Gravity recently and what a great movie! I'm already into Sci-Fi and almost any movie dealing with NASA or exploration of space is going to draw me right in. I absolutely loved the film and would certainly buy it to add to my library. My only question about the film was...

In a totally different direction...Wifester keeps bringing home The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug from the library. I just feel so meh and noncommittal about watching it, in huge part to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the many problems that film had. The irony is that if she brought home any of the LotR movies I'd dive right in (we don't own them currently) and begin watching immediately. The first Hobbit film just felt so bloated and so unlike the source material that if I were to see the 2nd film I have to do a literary suspension of disbelief of sorts and accept that this is a Hobbit film set in an alternate universe, or is a "reimagining" (I really hate that word) of the original. The original trilogy wasn't perfect, of course. If you're adapting a work as enormous as LotR into a 10+ hour cinematic experience you're going to have to excise things, or add some elements to streamline the story. But with the Hobbit you've got a very short book to begin with that absolutely does not need such revisions, and even if you add things from the appendices there's still nowhere near enough there to put it into 3 movies. And so after what I like to call "The Hobbit 1: An Unexpected Adaptation" I just have lost all desire to see more of these. Poor Wifester wants to watch it and I keep telling her to, but she wants to watch it with me, so I suppose I'll have to give in give it a viewing at some point.

I really want to watch Gravity, SL! I've heard great things about the cinematography and special effects.

Last week, I watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. I have never watched any of the MI films, and I wasn't terribly interested (not a huge Tom Cruise fan), but someone put it on, and I saw "Brad Bird" and I was sold. I enjoyed it. I'm a huge sucker for spy/adventure films of any sort, so it's probably ranked as one of my favorite films. Jeremy Renner was really great in it.
I'm not sure if I should go back and watch the first three MI's, as they don't have the same director, but I might for the spy movie feel.

SL. I don't blame you on The Hobbit at all. I'm debating on whether I even want to bother seeing the third one in the theaters. If I do, it'll only be so I can have a date night with my husband.

Haven't seen Gravity, I'm sure it's good as most of my friends like it, but that type of movie is just not my cup of tea right now.

I did see Saving Mr. Banks recently and it's probably the best movie I've seen in a long time. I felt like it gave excellent insight into the world of movie making, specifically the studio vs. the property owner. (Which brings following these Narnia movies to a whole new level.)
I had heard that since it was a Disney movie, the company had played themselves up, but I came away feeling like Walt Disney was more of a wheeling, dealing scoundrel than a nice guy and if Disney Co. DID try to make themselves look good, they didn't do a very good job (or they were REALLY awful). The only character I liked was Ralph the limo driver.
My absolute very favorite scene was

The Hobbit films are, as a commentator on YT pointed out, the "George Lucas-fication of Peter Jackson". After watching Desolation of Smaug, I must agree. Thankfully Jackson's Rings Trilogy is still amazing, even with all the issues in adaptation, etc.

----

Thanks to getting Netflix through one of my cousins, I've been enjoying catching up on various movies I've had on my "to watch" list for awhile. Most recently I watched Disney's Treasure Planet (2002).

While not one of their strongest animated films, it's surprisingly good for a box office bomb. The characters, animation and plot were solid though the comic relief were a tad irritating... namely the marooned robot Hawkin's meets on the titular planet. Jack's relationship with the lead pirate (can't think of his name) was especially well done, so kudos to the screenwriters for getting that right.

In the end, a fun adventure romp that I wouldn't returning to from time to time. 2 1/2 out of 5

On Friday, my Dad came home from work with Lone Survivor on Blu-ray. We finally got to really test our Blu-ray player and TV (we got a new TV a couple months ago, we had the last one for 10 years). My Dad, older brother, sister, and I watched Lone Survivor Friday night. Only problem with watching it, I needed a hankie.

SnowAngel

I'm afraid to see Lone Survivor because I know that it will have me sobbing. I've been warned by many friends that no matter how well prepared you think you are it'll have you bawling when certain key moments come along. I watched Blackhawk Down twice and can't watch it anymore because when it gets to the part with Shugart and Gordon I just lose it. Totally lose it. We were at the Medal of Honor museum on board the USS Yorktown in Charleston last month and it was a very somber and solemn place, and among the many displays they had one of the Somalia action which included a video clip on Shugart and Gordon that started to get me misty-eyed. My wife asked me what was wrong and I had to kinda choke it back a bit and we moved on. I am told that Lone Survivor is much, much more powerful in this regard. I'm afraid to see the film and I feel terrible for admitting that but it's true.

I agree with your thoughts regarding Saving Mr. Banks, fantasia. I enjoyed watching it too, and we all liked the limo driver. Your spoiler mentions a scene I liked as well.

I also like your comments regarding insights into the world of movie-making, and the Narnia movies in particular.

I'm afraid to see Lone Survivor because I know that it will have me sobbing. I've been warned by many friends that no matter how well prepared you think you are it'll have you bawling when certain key moments come along. I watched Blackhawk Down twice and can't watch it anymore because when it gets to the part with Shugart and Gordon I just lose it. Totally lose it. We were at the Medal of Honor museum on board the USS Yorktown in Charleston last month and it was a very somber and solemn place, and among the many displays they had one of the Somalia action which included a video clip on Shugart and Gordon that started to get me misty-eyed. My wife asked me what was wrong and I had to kinda choke it back a bit and we moved on. I am told that Lone Survivor is much, much more powerful in this regard. I'm afraid to see the film and I feel terrible for admitting that but it's true.

I couldn't say if that's right or not, I would assume it is. I still haven't seen the second half of Blackhawk Down.

The USS Yorktown at Patriots Point? We went there in '03, wow that was a long time ago, I was just kid then. I don't remember much about it, there are probably a lot more displays now.

Right now, my younger siblings are watching the second half of The Adventures of TinTin which we got on Blu-ray from the library yesterday. After we got the books for the boys, which they are crazy about, I figured it was okay to let them watch the movie. We watched the first half yesterday. My brother, sister, and I are going to watch the second half after my brother's friend goes home. My brother sat down last night to see what the movie was about and why we liked it so much, and he stayed until we stopped it. This is the same brother that won't watch it the first time we got it from the library. And now he wants to watch the rest of it!

SnowAngel

Last night I watched the 1998 Drew Barrymore film Ever After. It was... pretty good. The first half was better than the last half, which derailed a bit into overly sappy clichés. Most of the acting was good, especially the two leads (Barrymore and the Prince). Anjelica Houston was appropriately unlikeable as the evil stepmother, though she did go a bit overly comical near the end.

Overall, an enjoyable enough period rom-com with a first half that is far superior to its second. 2 1/2 out of 5