Milk

When the Oscars took place this past year, I was a little miffed that Mickey Rourke got looked over for Best Actor to Sean Penn for his protrayal of Harvey Milk. After watching Milk last night, Sean Penn was the obvious winner!

This movie was correctly casted! You don't realize that until you see the ending of the film! I thought Sean Penn did a wonderful job as Gay Activist Harvey Milk. Having never heard the story of Harvey Milk, I wasn't aware of how he died, with the exception that I knew he was assassinated. It was interesting to see what the chain of events were that led to his death. As a side note, earlier in the day, TBS was running the first Airplane movie and we hear Leslie Neilson make reference to Anita Bryant. Little did I know that Anita Bryant played a major part as oppostion to Harvey Milk. I will say that in the beginning of the movie, I was bored! As the film progress, I got more into it.

This movie is very topical in todays world. I found that while we have grown to accept the gay community, although there are people out there who still feel threaten by it. While the talk of gay marriage, gays adopting kids, and religious groups who picket funerals of gay people, this will always be a hot button for the world to grasp. Harvey Milk was one of those figures in American history who tried to break down the barriers for the gay community. Sean Penn did a wonderful job in this film!

Marley & Me

For our second straight Jennifer Aniston movie, we checked out Marley & Me. For those who don't know, this is a film based on a book. A book that Howard Stern himself has claimed that made him cry. After a few months of Dakota having "dog issues", we decided to make it an evening movie for the family, granted Cadence bailed out after the first hour of the movie.

The beginning kinda dragged for me a bit, but picked up nicely after the dog got older. The movie picked up some speed as the kids were born and Marley got sicker. The movie had a few funny parts, but nothing that made us laugh out loud. Of course, everyone, including me, cried at the end of the movie!

Kids might have a problem watching this film do to the sex talk between Aniston and Wilson. Plus, some kids might not be able to handle the ending of the movie. I don't know how this movie compares to the book, but this movie was alright to watch. If you get a chance, check out this film.

Management

Every review I've read says that this movie sucks! I am here to tell them that they were wrong! This movie surprised me! First off, it's hard to see Jennifer Aniston and not see Rachel from Friends. In the beginning, that was a problem for me. As the movie progressed and as you felt bad for Steve Zahn, who was head over heels for Jennifer Aniston, the Rachel character seemed to disappear. Steve Zahn, who I don't think had that great of range as an actor, pulled this one off! He was a creepy, albeit sad individual who follows his heart to chase after the girl of his dreams, or at least the first girl that put out for him. Woody Harrelson is in the movie as Jennifer's on again-off again boyfriend. Woody has come a long way since his days of tending bar at Cheers. All in all, this movie blew me away. It was a sweet story, mixed in with a little creepiness. The laughs were all in the right spots and the story didn't bore me. After you find a Blockbuster that hadn't closed yet, give this movie a shot!

Almost Famous

After owning this movie for over eight years and never watching it, Melissa and I decided to give it a shot. I remember back in 2000, this movie was the buzz around Hollywood. Goldie Hawn's daughter, Kate Hudson, was given "the role of a lifetime". Anytime I hear "the role of lifetime", I'm reminded of Robin Williams getting the same hype for The Fisher King, and that movie sucked! As far as the movie itself, it's bark was bigger than it's bite.

Let me state first that the movie is alright. The story moved along nicely. There were moments in the movie that made me laugh. Here is where I had a problem with this movie. The "role of a lifetime" by Kate Hudson wasn't what I would consider a break out performance. Her story had nothing to do with the movie itself, yet her face is all over the movie poster. Another complaint I have about this critically acclaimed film is the ending. After watching one hour and fifty eight minutes of this movie, the last two minutes of the film almost killed the movie for me. I just feel that it left an emptiness in the movie.

Like I said earlier, this movie doesn't suck, but it didn't live up to the hype for me. The heartbreaking part about all of this is that I might only get $2 for it at Movie Trading Company.

Duplicity

This movie sucked! Either this is one of those movies that only makes sense after the movie ends, or there was no point to the story what so ever! I'll go with the latter. After the first ten minutes of this movie, I was lost! I get that both Clive Owen and Julia Roberts are secret agents, but they're going after a hair solution? Really? I got really tired of the director finishing a scene, put the ending in a box, and watch it escape the screen. It's like he was photoshopping the movie. Try photoshopping a story! Is it me or does Julia Roberts disengage from the person she's talking to, and tries not to stare at the camera? As for Paul Giamatti, while I loved him in Private Parts, Cinderella Man, and Man on the Moon, my wife mentioned that he tends to overact in most of his movies. I didn't think so until I saw this piece of garbage. I wish I could comment more about this film, however, I dozed off towards the end of the movie. If you haven't slept well, go check this out! If you're a Julia Roberts fan and must see everything she does, trust me, avoid this at all cost.

Big Daddy

I can't believe this movie is ten years old! It feels like it was yesterday when I went to Cinemark in Plano to watch this movie. I remember how funny it was and how pissed I got when the power in the theater went off and we were given passes to catch the movie at a later time. I finally saw the rest of the movie back then, and I thought the movie was gold! Ten years later, my wife and I selected it as the movie of the night for us. I got to tell you, the film still holds up!

Big Daddy taught us a few things that we can carry with us. McDonalds stops serving breakfast after 10:30 am, spiking can goods in the supermarket can save you half off the price, and if you ever need to make fun of a place, Hooters is there for you! Adam Sandler was great as Sonny Koufax, a bright guy who's life is a mess, but he chooses to cover it up with newspapers. While I actually enjoyed Cole and Dylan Sprouce's performance as Julian, let me go on record and say what I think every other father of two girls wants to say: I hate Zack and Cody! I liked the pace of the movie as the story never stalled for me. Definately, this movie is one of Sandler's best!

Obsessed

As the second part of our Netflix double feature, we checked out Obsessed. After watching The Proposal last night, I wasn't sure if Obsessed could complete a successful double feature. This movie blew me away!

This movie reminded me of three different films, Disclosure, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, and Fatal Attraction. What I liked most was that the guy, who is a victim in this movie, didn't have sex with the crazy bitch. In Disclosure, Michael Douglas did have sex with Demi Moore, and in Fatal Attraction, Michael Douglas had sex with Glenn Close. In this movie, Idris Elba plays a business man named Derek Charles, who is targeted by an office temp named Lisa Sheridan, played by Ali Larter. As Derek's life spins out of control, by no fault of his own, his wife, Sharon, played by Beyonce', has a hard time believing that Derek was faithful, since she used to be his secretary at his office who he hooked up with. The farther Derek and Sharon grow apart, the crazier Lisa gets.

It's been a while since I've seen a thriller where I was on the edge of my seat. This movie is a must rent.