March Rentals
March 17th, 2009Due to the recession, we’ve stopped seeing movies. Neither of our jobs are secure so our main priority is having enough money and food to last through the recession if either of us lose our jobs. That said, Redbox has $1 rentals so if we have two spare hours, we’ll get a flick.
Here’s a skinny and a rating on what we’ve rented recently.
City of Ember - I was excited for this one because it looked really good, but it was really, really bad. I mean, barely watchable. There’s too much to criticize and I’d rather use my words saying beefing something up rather than cutting it down. So I’ll simply say this, it’s not even worth a dollar rental. 1 dead zombie 
Miracle at St. Anna - I have no idea why this movie slipped so far under the radar. Maybe it’s because it’s Spike Lee, a mediocre at best Director. But whatever, it was way better than that overrated snoozefest Saving Private Ryan.
If you want to see a good WWII movie, see this one instead.
It’s about four black soldiers in Italy. One of them finds the head of a statue and is convinced it’s good luck as bullets fly, his friends get turned into bloody pulp, artillery hits all around him, and he manages to survive. He comes across a little Italian boy and saves his life.
As much as I dislike Lee, he finally put out a movie that I really, really liked. Some of the racial issues will piss you off, as they should, and the film itself is beautiful, shot in the mountains of Italy. As a bonus, the Italian actress in it is quite attractive. 9 dead zombies 
Traitor - Written and Directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff, this movie stars Don Cheadle as an American who for most of the movie, you’ll wonder if he’s a terrorist or a hero. Great job by both Cheadle and Nachmanoff.
Props also for showing we’re not entirely good and they’re not entirely bad. A good dose of reality is what we need sometimes. Cheadle shines as do several of the secondary characters who you will grow to be fond of, despite being “bad guys.” 8 dead zombies 
Beverly Hills Chihuahua - Yeah, don’t laugh. I actually sat through the entire movie. Sometimes when you’re with the girls, you have to let them watch their movies.
Seeing dogs talk with moving lips at first was annoying but 10-15 minutes into it, I stopped caring and was able to watch the movie. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, but not something I’d rush out and rent. 4 dead zombies 
Quantum of Solace - Hands down the worst James Bond movie ever made. James Bond goes emo, and this movie seems more like a My Chemical Romance video than James Bond. Forget the martinis, James Bond needs a hug. Don’t bother. If you want to read my full review, read it here. 2 dead zombies 
Anything you’ve seen recently that’s worth watching, let me know and I’ll look out for it. Oh, I’ve watched Amelie again and liked it just as much the second time as I did the first time I saw it.
I liked Slumdog Millionaire. For kids movies, so far this season its been Kung Fu Panda and Walle, both really enjoyable. I listed to the audio of Ember when I used to commute and really liked the story. It sounds like they really botched the screen adaptation.
i loved slumdog millionaire. i really enjoyed the way it explored how a couple of brothers in the same circumstances make different choices in the name of survival and how those choices both reflected who they were at their core and what they eventually became.
i know twilight is now out on dvd and my girls can’t wait to see it again. i thought the movie was something of an improvement over the book because the book REALLY needed an editor to take a machete to it. cutting a lot of the extraneous crap to make the movie was a good thing. still not terribly impressive to me but there ya have it.
Scott - I still haven’t seen it. It’s supposed to come to Redbox soon. Wallie I actually liked but I think I’ll skip the Kung Fu Panda.
Lime - Good to see you loved Slumdog too. That’s 2 for 2. I’ll have to see it.
Twilight, I heard the books were horrible, but if the movie’s an improvement, I might rent it.
I’ve been stashing away every penny I can too. We haven’t even rented any flicks this winter. Our rentals are $3.99.
The guys did go to Watchmen and they liked it. It wasn’t my thing, so I stayed home. No sense spending money on something I’m not that excited about.
Miracle at St Anna and Traitor are both on my must see list. Kudos to you for watching Beverly Hills Chihuahua! I don’t like talking dog movies, and I definitely don’t like chihuahuas!
the books were pretty bad.
Get ye tuchas to the library - FREE RENTALS!! Woohoo!!!
I didn’t even know half the movies you discussed, but I ADORE Don Cheadle, so thanks for that recommendation.
I just saw Slumdog Millionaire (for free - woohoo, Pamela had passes) and while I surprised by the violence (why has nobody mentioned this?), I did enjoy the movie and the Bollywood dance at the end.
Have you seen The Iron Giant? I simply love that movie and cry at the end every single freaking time.
…I *was* surprised… *sigh*
Iron Giant that cartoon? I know my son loved that movie, but haven’t seen it all the way through. I guess I should. I think we even own the DVD.
Yeah, Cheadle is one of those underrated actors. He was excellent in Traitor.
Zombie, Kung Fu Panda is my favorite animated kids film yet. I know it doesn’t look like much from the previews, but it is absolutely funny and sometimes touching. Jack Black, if you appreciate him, is at his best. The ancient Kung Fu master Ugway is just adorable–and old turtle that can see the future and trusts his visions implicitly even though he has no idea what they mean or how it will play out. Ty Lung, the baddie, voiced over but the actor that played Al Swearengen in Deadwood, has got to be one of the coolest cats going. The only wasted actor in the show is Jolie as Tigress, but nothing to get upset about.
When Richard’s daughter was younger, we finally got so sick of talking animal movies that we instituted a no-talking-animal movie ban. To this day, I cringe when I see talking animal movie trailers.
I liked Miracle at St. Anna, but then I like Spike. Get on the Bus, Malcolm X, and Bamboozled were all great.
I went to a students’ film festival last night, and if it’s any indication of the movies we’re going to be seeing in 10 years, it’s a good omen. There are some EXTREEEMELY talented young filmmakers out there, doing amazing things with very little.
Scott - OK. I’ll look out for it then and watch it without Mrs. Z.
SME - I’m not high on Lee. I liked Malcolm X and Crooklyn was ok, but hated Do the Right Thing and School Daze.
As for low budgets, I’m stoked about what I’m seeing too. You’ll see people be more creative with lower budgets. Heck, look at the difference between El Mariachi and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. The former had $7k to work with and was excellent. The latter had a huge budget and sucked.